Endings and Beginnings

Photos: Memorial, Dancers, Overlook

Oct. 17, 2022- Baku Again David doesn’t do rain. He told Latif that it’s ok for it to rain when we’re traveling but not when we’re out and about. It worked yesterday until David’s slower pace threw off the weather spirits. We got drenched in the village. The downpour was short lived. David took credit for that. But he felt awful for slowing down the group. However, they were grateful. They’d all been worried about not being able to keep up. David tried the sharkshuka for breakfast today. It was very different from what we’re used to. This was more a scramble of eggs and tomato sauce. Still can’t complain. The food has been nothing less than stunning. The five of us who are in this pre-trip have bonded, but realize we have to be open and welcoming to the newcomers arriving tomorrow. We’ve experienced group travel enough to understand how to be inclusive. We deadheaded back to Baku with a pit stop including rooster supervision at the halfway point. Another squatter, but we’re beginning to master it. Knees protested but we’re more proficient. The three hour ride allowed for more Q & A with Latif. Some gleanings were depressing for Americans. There is a three year family leave for mothers or fathers after a new baby. At 1 1/2 years old, free day care starts. University costs about $2,000 a year while medical school is $3,000. On the other hand, cars are extremely costly and there’s a shortage of used ones. They import many from the US. That’s why our granddaughter is having such a hard time finding one in budget. City overlooks by their nature have to be high. Why did it surprise me that Baku’s was 180 steps up? We walked through a serene memorial park to gaze at the haze covered city. It was a good review of what we’d trekked the first day. The perspective gave us a sense of how much territory we’d covered. Oh yes, the 180 steps were down. The park was terraced so we started at the high point. Lucky for us. Next was the Tagiyev National History Museum honoring its namesake by showcasing his home and offices. Although illitereate, he was an accomplished businessman who made his money in oil and construction. Our only challenge was fitting American sized feet into Azerbaijani sized protective footies. David gave up and Latif convinced the guard to let him in anyway. We’re back at the Shah Palace Hotel busily re-packing for our flight to Istanbul tomorrow. I feel as if the trip is just beginning. Our farewell dinner included music and dancers. It was festive and bittersweet. There was lots and laughter and teasing Latif about coming with us to Turkey. We’re off to Istanbul tomorrow and have a free day. The other travelers catch up with us Wed. morning. Toby

Villages, Hills, and MUD

Photos: amazing eyebrows, host family, MUDDY hill

Oct. 16, 2022-Khinalug, Azerbaijan Never have I ever eaten so much food, and they’re making us eat dinner too. Breakfast was two rooms of buffet delight from shakshuka to halvah. I circled like a shark collecting my goodies. Lunch was in the wilds of Khinalug with the family pictured. Everything was home grown and homemade including cheese, bread, lamb, and jams. Latif insisted we stop at a roadside stand for freshly made crepes stuffed with dill, cilantro and mint called qutab. And we had dinner at seven. The good news is we survived to eat that dinner. The road northwest to where the Khinalug minority lives became progressively treacherous the higher we went (12,000 feet). Forests of oak and beech surrounding picnic grounds and resorts gave way to switchbacks and single lane rollercoaster washouts. The beauty of the first snows on the Caucasus and gleaming waterfalls was lost on us. The graffiti did grab my eye. We zoomed past one rock with “bisexual” writ large and I teased Latif that they were everywhere. He shook his head and smiled. The Khinalug are a group of about 2,000, living 40 miles from the Russian border. They are one of twenty-six minorities each with their own language who live in the mountains. They speak Azerbaijani as well and used to learn Russian in school. Now they learn English. They are nomads, but when some adults move to different pastures in summer, the children stay behind in village dormitories with teachers and other villagers. Students are encouraged to go to university and are given an incentive to return to their village to teach for five years. The village is primitive but connected to the modern world. Every family has a car, internet, cell phones, outhouses with squat toilets, and heats with dung. They also live on a steep hillside that is navigable by mountain goat and Alpine trekkers. Unfortunately, we are neither. Our village walkabout consisted of slipping in MUD, sliding on MUDDY rocks, and avoiding MUDDY dung. Uphill or down, it was dicey. Latif enlisted a villager to steady some of us and we arrived back unscathed. When David got to the top Latif was thoughtful enough to call a car to take him down the treacherous incline to our host’s house. What we didn’t know at the time was that he could have ridden the van to where we had lunch. It was parked outside the house, and as David approached the unmentioned alternative dawned on him. Our hosts were in their 50’s and had seven children and many grandchildren all living in one house. Oh, and, yes, the widowed mother in law. The man worked for the government inspecting monuments in the region. Two of their boys were at university. Several family members had blue eyes. When Latif is asked a question, he answers with a history lesson. The blue eyes were explained by Viking remains found in the Caucasus, resulting in the eye color and word “Caucasian.” I edited his answer down from 15 minutes. Yes, I did use that squat toilet before lunch. It was awkward, painful, and I had Vicki on standby to haul me up if needed. Victory was sweet and I escaped with clean pants and dignity intact. I’ve been practicing squatting for months. It paid off. BTW, I drank nothing with lunch. Tomorrow we head back south to Baku, Toby

Mountain Jews

Pictures: Jewish Cemetery, mosque, man in front of his house (the beige house)

Quba, Azerbaijan- Oct. 15, 2022 We said good-bye to Baku, a park-filled beauty of a city, and turned north along the Caspian coast toward Quba. It is not well known that the Nobel family of Nobel Prize fame earned the money that funds the award by investments in the oil industry here. Since its inception there has not been a prize for a mathematician. Rumor has it that a love interest of Alfred Nobel cheated on him with a mathematician. Our three hour drive went from the bleak landscape surrounding Baku, to apple orchards, to dense forests. We reconfigured our seating in the van so we had more leg room. It made the trip bearable. Gloomy clouds followed us, but David guaranteed it would not rain while we were outside. He was right. Quba is the home of the “mountain” Jews who immigrated to the Caucasus from Persia in the 5th century. Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews arrived in the 17th century. They speak Russian and Farsi and use Hebrew for prayer. There were three synagogues in the community but one is now used as the school. Most are employed in the jewelry business and seem to live well. Viewed from an overlook, it was easy to understand why their community is called the Red Town. Roofs are red tile and red brick is the preferred building material. Although many traditions are similar to ours, there are differences. Mezuzahs are affixed on doorposts in a vertical rather than slanted position. A well-maintained cemetery contained above ground vaults for each person rather than in-ground burial. Headstones featured images of the deceased etched in granite and inscriptions were in Russian Cyrillic writing and Hebrew. Latif introduced us to an elderly man with whom he clearly had a long standing relationship. The man has six children and twenty grandchildren. When he pointed to his enormous house I figured they lived with him. Nope, just his wife and him. The rest is for visitors. We couldn’t go into the synagogue because the person with the key wasn’t answering his phone. We peered in and proceeded to walk by the school, future museum, and Mikva. Jerri knew a lot about Judaism. She said she lives by Jewish principles, but is not formally Jewish. Vicki and Doug are unaffiliated Unitarians. Of course they are. There was no skipping lunch today. We ate at a rustic resort in the forest and enjoyed luscious tandoor made bread and hot soup. Every meal begins with an array of salads and ends with tea and desert. We left there happy and ready for more touring. A visit to a mosque was next and we were ready to enter having brought scarves and socks. It was a humble building with exquisite wall to wall rugs. They whet our appetite for our stop at the carpet factory where only three looms were in use. In season there are at least twenty. It is women’s work and a labor of love, meticulous detail, and stamina. Of course there was a showroom where Vicki and Jerri tried to buy rugs. Unfortunately for all, the credit card machine would only take our guide’s local card and he wasn’t willing to spring for their purchases :( :( Our hotel, The Quba Palace, was our destination for the night. It exceeded all expectations. It’s a 5-star luxury resort on rolling acres of golf courses and woods. We have remote controlled window shades in the room and enough mirrors on the walls to satisfy any narcicist. Dinner was a 5 minute ride away for another lovely meal. The pre-main dish salad offerings get better and more varied. We’ve enjoyed pickled everything, greens (including raw dill, which is actually mild and tasty) tomatoes in pomegranate sauce sprinkled with ground walnuts, mushrooms in cream, and of course, cheeses and breads, The meat dinner was four hamburgers (could be considered kofta) with roasted vegetables and sublimely seasoned fries, Dessert was my dream. There was creamy rich vanilla ice cream and a chocolate volcano cake, which we dubbed our own mud volcano. It was over too soon, but we were ready for bed. Tomorrow we have an early start for Khinalug, a remote village higher up in the Caucasus. Toby

Mud and More

Photos: Bubbling mud volcano, David with bag booties, petroglyph

Oct. 14,2022-Gobustan, Azerbaijan Some practical matters: Maximum income tax is 22% for the wealthier class. Our guide usually comes in at 18%, but during Covid it was reduced to 5% and he got a government subsidy. Education is free to grade 11. Everyone is entitled to free higher education based on entrance exam scores. Over a 400 means university of their choice anywhere in the world. With a high enough score students get money beyond tuition. Under 200 means trade school. Health care is free, although insurance companies are forming to offer “private” care. Being an oil rich country, Azerbaijan has developed an upper class with disposable income. Baku has many high end designer stores especially on a promenade affectionately called “oil worker street.” We headed SW along the Caspian Sea past oil rigs, wells, and pipelines. Even the resorts and public beaches were encroached on by industry. We changed from our van to private cars to navigate the area around the MUD volcanoes. The wasteland moonscape was strewn with varying sized mounds of MUD at the top of which were bubbling pools of MUD. It’s so oil rich there is oil seeping up from the ground. We were given plastic bags to cover our shoes and proceeded to clamor up the MUD slopes. Other than fighting to stay upright, it was a fun challenge. Our guide and drivers steadied us when needed and showed us pictures of themselves soaking in the therapeutic warm MUD caldrons. I dipped a finger in and found it tepid. “So where are we in relation to other countries?” I asked. “Only 150 miles from Iran,” was Latif’s answer. Oops. Our next stop was an outdoor museum where cave dwellers carved images into rocks. Petroglyphs at least 40,000 years old were reachable by a steep stone pathway. School groups were cavorting up and down the route as we creeked and crawled our way up. Latif was great at pointing out the sketches and it was easier to identify them the more we saw. The most recent carving was by Roman scouts. David’s take was “you’ve seen one bull you’ve seen them all.” Lunch was on our own today, but we never had time for it. Latif fed us dry cookies to tide us over. We pushed on to the carpet museum where we learned we couldn’t afford any of the hand loomed products of Azerbaijan. There are no machine made rugs here. A popular design is “buta.” It probably originated in Persia and is popularly known as “paisley.” It was adopted by Scottish weavers from Renfrewshire Paisley and the name stuck. We heard a nearby group speaking Italian and when Latif greeted them it turned out to be Israelis whose parents were from Italy. The 5 of us were utterly trashed when we got to the hotel at 3:30. Our room hadn’t been cleaned. When I called the desk they wanted to know if I was just reporting it or if I wanted it made up. I settled for new towels. We fitfully napped until we could rationalize going to dinner and navigated the steps that blend into the sidewalks for no apparent reason. On our way to Fountain Square men approached us with menus promoting their restaurants. One told David he was Pakistani. When David wasn’t impressed, he added that he was a Christian. David just said, “I’m not’” and walked on. They’re not overly aggressive, but one guy, thinking we were Israelis, wanted to be sure we knew his mother went to university in Haifa. We chose Mado for no other reason than it was crowded with locals. It’s menu is pictorial and tri-lingual, an Azerbaijani Denny’s expect for the tri-lingual part. We ordered cheese guzleme ( flaky flatbread rolled around filling), a chicken shish kabob seasoned with sumac (I’m loving that spice), and lamb in pomegranate sauce. We hit the streets with more pep in search of a pen. We mimed and gestured our way to a basement gift shop where they had an array of school supplies and my TWO new reliable pens. Success. Tomorrow we squeeze into the van for a 3 hour ride to the northern mountain area of Guba (or Quba ). Toby

Baku- Oct 13, 2022

Photos: The new, lion protector of Azerbaijan. The old: Maiden Tower

Dinner last night was at Qaynanna ( I call it gay nana). There was a diverse crowd of locals and tourists. We had way too much food and now know how to regulate our ordering. We tried Gurza (a lamb filled dumpling), pip dolma ( beech leaves filled with lamb much like grape leaves are), and choban govurma ( a mix of lamb and veggies). Flatbread made to order was the star of the show. We quickly realized this is a two~faced city. The architecture reflects its Soviet past as well as a soaring modern present. When invited to embrace Azerbaijan as part of the USSR, the Soviets stayed until 1991, 70 years. With their departure, the old block architecture was embellished with Moorish trappings creating most pleasing facades. Latif pointed with pride at a towering modern structure the “formerly Trump building. We chatted with Latif about his background. He confessed that he’s Armenian on his mother’s side and was born there. He said they have no memory of the genocide perpetrated by the Turks. He didn’t exactly minimize the horror but mentioned that the Russians claim the total population of Armenia at the time was 1.5 million and that’s how many Armenians claim were massacred. Expert clarification is needed. There is evidence of a Jewish presence since the 7th century. Today there are 20,000 Jews in Azerbaijan. Many of them are Askenazi and came from Eastern Europe in the 1800s. An influx of Persian Jews came in the 1500s. Most of the latter live in the mountains to the north where we’ll go in a few days. In our hotel there is a raucous population of Israel tourists. Israel has a symbiotic arrangement with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan sells 60% of it’s oil to Israel, and Israel sells them weapons. At a produce market we were constantly being asked if we were Israelis. The vendors spoke Hebrew and it became easier to answer in Hebrew than to explain where Ohio was. We started out saying we were from the US. Immediately they asked if we were from California. The geography lesson that followed illustrated where Washington, DC was, which they knew of, and where California was with Ohio in the middle. They knew not of LeBron James. Our strenuous walk through the old city took us up cobblestoned inclines and over practically invisible steps. No one was defeated by either. Jerri from Charlotte, NC and I were the only ones to tackle the 137 steps up the Medieval Maiden Tower, and were questioning whether or not it was worth it the rest of the day. No, the tower wasn’t the site where virgins were sacrificed. It took one suicidal young girl to earn that name. Baku’s reputation as a worthwhile stop on the Silk Road resulted from several ancient caravansari with its abundance of water and wells. The ancient rest stops are now converted to retail businesses. We visited the history museum where the stunning architecture echoed the waves of the Caspian. There we saw artifacts through the ages including musical instruments. The display was interactive. If you stood on a round mat in front of the instrument, a musical recording played. Of course I hopped from mat to mat pretending I was a one person orchestra. I had fun! With the heavy Russian influence here, we noticed one carryover that is positive. Streets are immaculate. Everywhere you see”babushkas” sweeping and tidying up. The war in Ukraine is quite threatening to locals. Russia has occupied the area on and off for centuries and still has a “peacekeeping” force. Latif said Russia has military bases in Armenia and “acts” as a mediator, but it is to their advantage to keep hostilities going as an excuse to stay in the region. If you look at a map, a piece of Azerbaijan is separated from the major part of the country by Armenia. As we tried to absorb it all, the Peter, Paul, and Mary song “They’re rioting in Africa” came to mind. The Turks committed genocide against Armenians,; Armenians murdered hundreds of Azerbaijani. And Russians don’t like anybody very much. On the plus side, most Azerbaijani read Cyrillic, Arabic, and Latin alphabets and speak Russian, Azerbaijani, and/or English. Turkish is a close cousin linguistically and takes a few weeks to learn. Here’s a rundown on our group.. Doug and Vicki are from Austin. Both have been pescatarians for 35 years. She was a librarian and administrator. He’s a retired woodwind professor at university. They’re definitely Austonians (?) not Texans. Jerri is from Charlotte and a retired IT developer turned program troubleshooter. Don’t think she’s right wing. She’s been a strict vegetarian 30+ years. Our avoidance of shellfish and pork is the least of the Latif’s problems. He is dealing with a learning curve that we threw at him this morning. It was group introduction time and we came out about our connection to the LGBTQ+ community. He either looked astonished or horrified. At dinner I asked for a clarification of his reaction... The issue is not dealt with here except to stigmatize and avoid that community. Azerbaijan was to host Eurovision and they told the EU they didn’t want LGBTQ people coming here. The EU told them to pull out. They didn’t and turned a blind eye. We assured him that “homosexuals” were represented. Azerbaijanis just chose not to “know it.” Tomorrow we drive an hour to Gobustan on the Caspian coast. We have a 15 passenger van that was built for children. I will try to sleep. Toby

 

Oct. 12, 2022- Istanbul to Baku, Azerbaijan

A heads up: those new to my emails and those who have forgotten my style, I remind you that these accounts are purely subjective and opinionated. Feel free to respond or correct. At least one of the readers has a PhD from Princeton in Turkish history. Have at it. 

You who are more observant readers may have noticed that an email for Oct. 11 is missing. That’s because we spent it on the plane. By the time we got to Baku, we will have been traveling 27 hours.

Everything ran on time today. I was most excited about flying business class for the first time and it didn’t disappoint. The only thing I didn’t count on were young children of the baby variety. It would be nice to have a separate business family class. Fortunately, among the amenities given to us by Turkish Airlines were noise cancelling headphones.

Drinks started coming as we boarded followed by beverage and food menus. Evidently, those who fly business class are not of the murderous kind as we’re afforded the use of stainless flatware, china, and glass tumblers. The ambience was enhanced by a battery run candle on our elegantly draped tray tables. We chose between three mains and a plethora of plated appetizers literally from soup to nuts. Our crew and two private chefs, in toques no less, provided for our every need. kept the food coming and the detritus tidied. 

Other than the headphones, which were to be returned, we had a lovely zippered bag of toiletries. Things have changed since we were on a Brit Air flight eons ago and an electric razor for the men to share was passed around before landing. Ah, pre-Covid.

Beddy-bye time was at our pleasure. The crew made up our chair/beds with quilted pads, blankets (2) and pillows. Having spent too much time figuring out when to take our meds with the seven hour time change, we hunkered down. I’d watched the movie Nomadland so only had a few hours before landing to doze. I took a half an ambien and passed out for what was only two hours, but I felt refreshed. Unfortunately, David’s didn’t have much of an effect at all.

We were on time landing in Istanbul. When we asked for the gate to Baku, Azerbaijan we were told it was 1.5 miles away. That’s without leaving the terminal. I have to say, everything is not only modern, immaculate, and huge, but there is no evidence of construction. I’ve never seen an airport that wasn’t being renovated. Somehow they got their act together, executed, and completed the project. 

Oh yes, the mile and half walk to our gate. The options were to ride a cart or motorized wheelchair both off which sped along at lightening speed. We chose to alternately stroll and ride the moving sidewalks with enough time to sip coffee before boarding. David even had time to wander into a men’s masjid (prayer room) thinking it was a bathroom.

We flew over the Black Sea to Baku, which is on the Caspian Sea. Across that Sea is Russia. Down the coast is Iran, Iraq, and not too far west is Ukraine. Or course there’s the western border with Armenia that’s in dispute and the Syrian border with Turkey. OMG! Now I know why our daughter, Wendy, and son-in-law, Julian were freaking out. In all honesty, our touring is far from disputed borders, wars, and asylum seekers. 

The 2 1/2 hours flight was time enough to serve a multi course breakfast, our second in five hours. I tried gozleme, stuffed flatbread rolled into a tube. It was not their best effort. I’ll have to try it again when it’s not mass produced. 

Our guide, Latife, met us at the airport in Baku and checked us in to the Shah Palace Hotel in the old city. It’s old and charming with updated amenities. There are now only five in the Azerbaijan group. One couple cancelled because they had Covid. That means only 9 in Turkey. 

A nap is in order, then we’ll walk around the corner for dinner at a restaurant Latif suggested.

Tomorrow starts at 10AM with a guided stroll through the neighborhood.

Caucasus Mts. As we were nearing Baku

My bed in business class

Our Chef

 Oct. 10, 2022- NYC-Azerbaijan-Turkey and Back

Here we go again. It’s been at least 3 years since we’ve been overseas. I invite you to join our adventures through the emails/blogs I’ll send. Feel free to forward, print, or share them in other ways. Read or delete as you please. I’ll probably never know.

We flew from Cleveland to JFK a day before our departure for Azerbaijan to assure our connection would go smoothly.  We will fly through Istanbul, Turkey, to Baku and meet our group there. Only 7 of the 11 total travelers chose to go on the pre-trip to Azerbaijan. 

We are traveling with OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) a 50 and over company. This is our 8th trip with them. For the first time we’ll be the oldest in the group and were concerned about our stamina. It was tested getting from Gate 34 at JFK to the shuttle for our hotel. We estimate we walked a mile carrying 15 lbs. each of “gear.” No inhalers or wheelchairs were needed. Aced our first challenge.

Toby