Azerbaijan – 2024

Visited: August 2024

Duration of visit: 4 days

Capital city: Baku

Population: 10.50 million (2024)

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

• Appreciating modernization of Baku, transforming to Dubai of Ex-Soviet Union.
• Contemporary Baku’s landmarks topped with Formula One Grand Prix.
• Exploring Gobustan mud volcanos and Rock Art Cultural Landscape on an exciting trip from Alat port.
• Waiting 2 days in Alat port, before sailing across the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan.

In August 2024, I returned to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, which served me as an easily accessible starting point to reach Turkmenistan. The plan was to travel by ferry from the port of Alat (an hour drive south of Baku) to Turkmenbashi, on the eastern side of Caspian Sea. It was impressive to observe the country leader Ilham Aliyev’s plan to transform the country from a relatively reserved, insignificant and limited state into a modern, attractive, tourist-oriented metropolis.

In this article I describe my second trip to Azerbaijan in 2024: transformation and contemporary Baku’s landmarks, exploring Gobustan mud volcanos and Rock Art Cultural Landscape, waiting in Alat port to cross the Caspian Sea. More articles about Azerbaijan adventures are available here:

Baku was a pleasant destination to return after 14 years, since the city had gone through mayor transformation process, financed by petrodollars. If in 2010 the renovation of The Old City was ending and the construction of modern city was starting, in 2024 most of the projects were finished.

The capital of Azerbaijan was in full preparation to receive Formula One GP.

Large infrastructure projects have been moved to the Nagorno-Karabakh, a recently acquired territory that Azerbaijan won in the war with Armenia.

My first stop were the triple towers on top of the hill called The Flame Towers, which are visible from almost any part of the city. During the day, the glass facades of the buildings reflect in blue, and at night, colorful animations in the national colors are projected. The Flame Towers were inspired by Azerbaijan’s long history of fire worship and represent the eternal fire of modern Baku. Baku’s most prominent landmark is located on a hill overlooking Baku Bay and The Old City. Towers’ heights are approx. 140, 160 and 170 meters.

I was brought to the top of the hill by a funicular with a few tourists, who were otherwise less numerous in the city during my visit. Nearby I visited Martyrs’ Lane, dedicated to the fallen soldiers killed by the Soviet Army during Black January 1990 and in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War between 1988 and 1994.

A pleasant walk through Highland Park leaded me to viewpoints that offer a wonderful panoramic view on the city. Baku Crystal Hall, unfinished State Flag Square, Baku Eye, Caspian Waterfront Mall and Azerbaijan Carpet Museum are located on one side of the corniche, while the other extreme is marked by Crescent Mall Terrace & Park and Baku White City.

Heydar Aliyev Center is one of the most outstanding modern structures, located slightly above the small hill, accompanied by the Auditorium.

Elegant curved style structure, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, is contrasting monumental Soviet style, aspiring to the futuristic vision of the nation. It consists of a conference room, museum, library, auditorium and exhibition spaces.

The museum offers and exhibition of musical instruments, cars, modern art, traditional clothes, sculptures and carpets, wrapped up into extravagant architectural solutions of the building itself. In the area of auditorium, mock-ups of new projects show most of the modern or renovated projects that Baku can offer in 2024. There are more than 20 of them, attracting visitors from ex-Soviet countries, Asia and the Middle East, as well as Europe.

New and modern shopping malls are not only marked by luxury brands, but also architectural creations: Crescent Mall with an extraordinary vaulted structure, which is about to be completed; 28 Mall Baku with international brands to local boutiques; Deniz Mall resembles a lotus flower offering, beside shopping, a universe of amusement, relaxation, and delectable dining.

The Old City hasn’t changed a lot. Walking around the labyrinth of streets, narrow alleys and stairs, getting lost among perfectly renovated houses, museums, hotels, residential buildings and palaces took me back to the times, when Marco Polo wrote: “Near the Georgian border there is a spring from which gushes a stream of oil in such abundance that a hundred ships may load there at once. This oil is not good to eat; but it is good for burning and as a salve for men and camels affected with itch or scab.”

There are more street vendors, wider range of souvenirs, new bars and restaurants. Nizami Street, especially the section of Torgovaya, is converted to a large pedestrian and shopping street, accommodating embassies, banks and fashion boutiques.

Nevertheless, I was disappointed with the small number of foreign visitors, but the early preparation of the Formula One GP track, which passes through the downtown, was indicating that huge crowds will follow the remarkable event.

It seems that the whole elevation of Baku to the next level, as Dubai of Ex-Soviet Union has been well-planned and properly executed under the surveillance of President Ilham Aliyev.

Police, army, private and government security groups keep an eye on everyone and everything. Video surveillance is set to the highest level in Baku. On the streets, in parks, malls, museums or public transport, cameras are controlling every single detail.

I was never stopped by police, but various times warned by security officer to avoid certain areas around government buildings, where walking or taking photos is not allowed.

The Port of Baku, located on the ancient Silk Road connecting Europe and Asia, 70 kilometers from the capital, is a prime transport and logistics hub of Eurasia. The location in Alat is also a new acquisition, finished in 2018, since the original port in the capital became too small and in the way of new development projects in the capital.

Although I have been in contact for several weeks with representatives of the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) regarding the itinerary of their ships that could take me to the other side of the sea, the information I received was very unreliable. In the end, before heading to the port, I decided to devote two days to exploring modern Baku, which had only started to develop during my previous visit in 2014.

I was announced by ASCO representative that their boat Sheki was scheduled to leave the port in the afternoon, therefore, I should approach ASCO office in Alat port at 11:00am. As I started to ask around the office, the employees were directing me to the booth stand of Ferry Chart Company – Turkmen shipping company, which also operates ferries from Alat to Turkmenbashi.

At the end I convinced an indifferent ASCO employee to sell me two tickets to board Sheki (for me and my friend Ales), but he didn’t have a clue when the ship would actually leave the dock. With the ticket in my hand, I passed the security checkpoint and accommodated in the waiting room.

A large room with 50 seats, air conditioning, a toilet and nonoperational television were available only to the two of us, as there were no other passengers. During the day I visited the restaurant and a shop in the harbor, where I freely walked around to pick-up more information. Most drivers wait several days or weeks to board one of the ships or pick up inbound cargo which would be transported to the Eastern European countries or Turkey.

I quickly realized that no one could assure, when the ferry vessel Sheki would be ready to sail.

My friend Ales started monitoring the movement of ships on the Caspian Sea on Marinetraffic web portal. We soon found out that our ship had been moved to another pier and would not be sailing that day or night. In the backside of the main waiting room we found some beds, where we were able to spend the first night in the port.

I was calm and relaxed, knowing that only time can solve the problem. The next morning a new employee of ASCO explained me that Sheki vessel needed maintenance due to technical issues. It would be ready by 8:00pm, when the official departure is scheduled. We decided to leave the port and explore the nearby Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape and Mud volcanos. After hard negotiations we hired a Mercedes taxi with a rather young driver, who could not communicate in either English or Russian.

Over 50% of mud volcanos are located in Azerbaijan. Gases under the earth build up and push the mud high into the air as a release. In the past the eruptions heaved mud for more than 1,000 meters into the air, but now flow of cold mud remind more of hot chocolate fountain. I walked around volcanos that don’t rise higher than 8 meters, while their diameters could be from 30 centimeters to 3 meters.

Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape covers three areas of a plateau of rocky boulders rising out of the semi-desert of central Azerbaijan, with an outstanding collection of more than 6,000 rock engravings, dating back to 5,000 – 40,000 years.

I walked along well-trodden paths and observed various stone carvings that are not properly secured and are rapidly losing their intensity. The rock art represents flora and fauna, hunting, lifestyles, and culture of pre-historic periods of time depicting men, ritual dances, animals, bullfights, camel caravans, the sun and stars. The view of the barren, desolate landscape with piles of stones, the nearby settlement and the Caspian Lake in the background is magnificent.

In the meantime, I contacted ASCO representative again, and somehow according to expectations, he mentioned that Sheki ship would be delayed again. I accepted the refund (60.00US$) and decided to travel by Turkmen ship Bagtyyar, which was much more expensive (150.00US$), but seemed to be more reliable. Other passengers started to arrive in the waiting room, we exchanged some information and commonly established that the vessel should be ready to leave in the evening.

For unknown reasons we were not called on board on Day 2 and I was obliged to spend the second night in the waiting room.

The next morning, I walked around the port and after breakfast even the hairdresser who was off the duty for two days, opened his salon. He professionally cut and washed my hair. When Ales and I returned to the waiting room, all the passengers were gone. According to the security guards, they had been taken aboard the ferry. I was a little worried about missing my departure after waiting 48 hours, but soon another van picked us up and took us to the immigration checkpoint.

We finally departed the port of Alat just before the sunset on Day 3.

The navigation was smooth, the food onboard simple. The cabin was comfortable, small toiled offered the luxury of hot shower, which was highly appreciated after two days abstinence.