Azerbaijan Visit Takeaways
City of International Attention. UN Global Climate Change event (COP 29) held in November 2024 banners are seen hanging along the roads in Baku. I think this will draw attention of international tourists and communities.
Public Holiday. Boulevard park, closes on Monday.
Currency Exchange. US Dollars are exchanged in the bank without needing to show passport.
Both cash and debit card. I used both forms of payment using cash and redemption of debit card. I paid cash for travel, buying drinks and food. I paid through card for buying goods in the shopping malls.
Petroleum products. Petrol products could be the backbone of Azerbaijan economy. Along the way to Fire Hill site, the plants for extraction of petroleum products are seen. Fire hill has sites where flames are seen burning eternal.
Weather. Wind blows from early morning that continues till whole day this season. Black cloud spreads in the morning. It feels that there will be rain. But, as the time passes the black clouds start to reduce and disappear.
Land and water. Caspian Sea, highways pass along sea. The other side of highway is a dry and barren land.
Highland tourism. Shahdag has many entertainment activities including paragliding, cable chair, coaster, rough driving.
World Heritage Site. Rocky hills located at Gobustan come under UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Volcano. Mud volcano indicates water source at Gobustan.
Food. Breads and cakes were the common dishes in the breakfast. Milk items such as cheese, yogurt, cream, condensed milk were common in the breakfast. Beaf items were common that include sauces. There was no system of tagging food in the breakfast. Pomegranate is a common fruit seen in historic sculptures and in current food items.
Language. Turkish and Azerbaijani languages are similar as per the driver who accompanied during the city tours. Some people speak Russian language also.
Cloths. Turkish goods are common.
Time and Tide Wait for None and Walk the Wish. I noticed an advertisement on the Facebook by a Kathmandu based travel agency for the package tour to Azerbaijan. I planned to go for it and booked a single person trip in a travel agent at Nepalese Rupees (NRs.) one hundred five thousand rupees (1 US Dollar was equal to around NRs. 141). Next day, the travel agent refused to book because one person planned to shared accommodation postponed the trip. Then, I inquired another travel agency, Kantipur Holidays, about the trip. They had a different option for the trip from 5 to 11 October 2025 with two free days in between at the cost of NRs. 95 thousand for two persons sharing a room. But, they also did not have another person for shared accommodation. Then, I decided for a single person accommodation that costed me Nepalese rupees one hundred twenty-five thousand rupees. The package tour by Kantipur Holidays costed Nepalese rupees 35 thousand more for me than those who shared two-bed accommodation. A lesson is that a single person accommodation costs more than for a dual shared accommodation. Time and cost are important determinants, however, decision to move forward the wish in the given context is important part of life journey.
Drop by drop make Ocean and Where I compromised My Expenditure?: Compromising the cost has both pros and cons. In the given limited budget, I compromised to minimise my expenditure. 1) I had taken some food stuffs from Nepal including roasted peanut packs, biscuits and two half litre bottles of drinking water. That met my snacks during five hour transit from Kathmandu to Delhi for the flight to Hydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku of Azerbaizan, during flight to Baku, and even during my stay in Baku and travel around. A half a litre drinking water bottle costs three Manat (1 Manat is equivalent to around NRs. 83) in Hydar airport. In Baku and around the same bottle costs one Manat. 2) A plate of chicken fried rice is one of the cheapest lunch that costs 10 Manat in Baku. I ate it in most instances. 3) A 330 milliliter cold drink costs five Manat. I drank it seldom. 3) I did not buy any good for me except a simple P cap written AZERBAIJAN that costed eight Manat.
Uncertainty. There was heavy rain from 4 October till morning of 5 October. I doubted about the flight. With doubt I went to the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. The flight for Delhi was around 11 am.
Market and city tourism including highland park (Nizami street)
Highland park is known for ancient buildings and forts
Cars. Branded cars namely Mercedes Benz and BMW are commonly seen (our trip organizer had arranged Mercedes)
Most lands around are dry. Sheep farming is common in dry lands. Sheeps graze in shrubs in dry lands
Beauty. Girls and women are pretty with glowing skin, big eyes and pointed nose
People. An Azerbaijani driver (taking to Mud volcano site) compares Azerbaijani with Armenian stating Azerbaijani are calm and cool and settle issues and grievances through dialogue. Unlike he compares with Armenians who open fire for issues that can be solved through dialogues. He in a funny way uses the term ’ddddddddd’ for opening fire.