Baku day excursion part 2

Things I forgot to add yesterday.

- There was this cool rock at Gobustan that when you hit with another rock it makes music sounds.
- when we went to lunch we got stuck in a lift which is a mild fear of mine. More the getting stuck part and no one knowing I’m stuck but we were with our driver and he can speak Azerbaijani so I was less stressed. He pressed 30 buttons and it worked again. We tried to take the stairs on the way back but had to do half half cause one of the doors to the street was locked.
- we saw the first oil rigs on our drive. They are incased by glass to protect.
- to get married in Azerbijan you have to take. blood test so both parties have all info haha

Jet lag is such a problem for me this trip. Can’t sync in time.
This morning was a struggle but there was hot water so I did manage a quick rinse in before getting ready.

Traffic was bonkers so driver was a bit late but did come. 🎉
We scrambled in so we didn’t piss off every else behind us. They do like their horn here.
It’s raining so even more chaotic.
Still significantly more organized that other cities. They follow the rules for the most part.
It took us about 30 minutes to get to the fire temple. Didn’t open for 10 mins so we looked around the gift shop. Found this ornament vase thing which I LOVED but only from one side. It was also expensive( 100 Manat ) so we didn’t buy it but maybe old town has some things. 👀 We’d like a souvenir from here because it is so bloody random.
Paid 10 Manat less than quoted so that makes up for yesterdays extra 10 for the mud volcanoes. I had assumed we underpaid because we didn’t buy the guide option but we did. Nice girl showed us around.

It’s called Atashgah temple or fire temple. It has 3 religions attached the building. First fire people who did have a proper name… Hindus and Seiks.
It was originally used by the fire people with natural occurring fire but they mucked it up when they stated digging for oil so now fire is not from the land.
It has 26 rooms and she showed us many of them.
Different things found at the sight and figurines depicting scenes. The usual. They had a punishment room and it’s self inflicted to remove sin and get to heaven. Only for top level people. Took us a few rooms to realize they actual kill themselves, not just hurt themselves with the fire. They lie on a slab and differs methods but the stone Is hot so it’s probably even more painful to half simmer your body for who know how long until you die, rather than an also horrendous, but quicker few minutes on full burn 🥴🥴
They also starved themselves/ didn’t drink and became paralyzed half bodied etc.
Sounds fun.
They had a cremation spot for these people. Other people went on top of building in the center and fed animals essentially.

One scene was of someone looking after animals-the sight had a specific sacrifice stone for the animals.
another scene was someone paying someone to pray for them because they didn’t have time.
Pomegranates are a big deal here but the fact they are red helps with the ongoing fire theme. Lol
Will nearly took his head off entering each door. I had to bend so he had to BEND.

Got through it all quite quickly then headed to fire mountain. It was quite built us cities/villages along the way but with a much bigger trash and graffiti problem. A lot of butchers doors wide open. One had a truck of sheep next to it 😔
Only good thing was they didn’t appear stressed waiting so at least it’s not unnecessarily drawn out for them.

Arrived at Yanardag. Super basic but super cool. The mountain has been burning for either hundreds of years … or 70 ( depends who you ask 😆😆) because of the gas in the soil.
Got some pics. It was raining so we didn’t linger but pleased we saw.
On our way back now.
Going to give our driver a decent tip simply for offering us a solution because I was so sick yesterday.
I will then message original driver to see if he can drop us to the airport haha.

I think we was pleased with his tip.
I don’t mind at all. He really did us a favor and did it with a smile. I would have eternally been disappointed if we had missed it because of me.

We are currently in a Resturant called Shakespeare. Had an English menu out front but we weren’t given one inside so are winging it by pictures.
Best food. First food in ages where every flavor was what I wanted. Love me some chicken fingers and lettuce haha.

We then went to Maiden tower. Due to the price I climbed it and Will didn’t. He wasn’t particularly interested but I wanted to do.
Lots of stairs.
It’s the symbol of the city. Gotta get involved. The view from the top would have been better if it wasn’t raining. The glass had water drops so hard to see out.
The glass exists because a few suicides because of the tale of the tower, people took inspiration.
So they put a stop to that.
Personally not how I’d want to go but moreover I’d pick somewhere higher. Not a 100% guarantee ..

We then went looking in some shops. I over paid for a few things but i don’t mind. What’s an extra dollar to me. These people sit in these shops day in day out. He had a good day today. 🤷🏼‍♀️
Bought a new coin purse cause I broke my other one yesterday.
And a magnet. Not satisfied with the magnet but it will do if I can’t find a better one at the airport tomorrow.
I loved a carpet one at the temple this morning. Should have bought it.
We then went to the Palace of The Shirvanshahs. It’s the old royal palace. Really needed your imagination but I liked the throne room, bathhouse, crypt and courtyards. There were a few little pray rooms too. Would have bought a jumper but they didn’t have my size.
I really want something from country 50 so I settled on a mug. Everything else I wanted will likely break along the journey 😔

Have organized an airport transfers and have spent an hour cleaning my shoes. Made an absolute mess and clogged the shower. It was already clogged but now it’s in a bit of a state. Ha.

Very impressed with how progressive it is here. Even Will commented they have statues of Women. How good and unexpected. One was featured on the literacy building as one of the country’s most recognized contributors.
Like a minute later we walked past a statue of a girl in a tube top on the phone in the shopping district. She even has boobs.
For a Muslim country this is considered butt naked. And yet there she was.
We then walked past a lingerie store.
Good job Azerbijan 👏🏼👏🏼

Packed. Went out for dinner. CHEAP. Had to use our remaining Manats and now going to bed cause very early morning tomorrow!!Read more