Trailblazer Guides are produced by people who know exactly what information is needed - not just to get from A to B but to be entertaining as well as informative.
- The Great Outdoors
Azerbaijan with excursions to Georgia
by: Mark Elliott
UPDATES
From Mark Elliott, the author, 12 April 2012
Azerbaijan and the Eurovision Song Contest
"Euro-pop, glitzy outfits and dodgy dance moves" make their way to Baku this May with Azerbaijan hosting the Eurovision Song Contest - the show that so many Brits love to hate but can't help watching anyway. At least on TV. With some mocking friends. And a good round of drinks. But, how many will actually go all the way to the Caspian coast to see the show live? If you're considering it, you'd be advised to grab a copy of Trailblazer's Azerbaijan Guide before you go. Now in its fourth edition it's the definitive guide to Azerbaijan. But with its recent influx of oil wealth, beware that Baku is changing very rapidly and there have been many important changes in the three years since the last edition was researched.
VISAS
Most importantly, since October 2010, visas are NO LONGER available on arrival at Azerbaijan's airports. Getting a visa now requires somewhat of a palaver with invitations or tourist vouchers. Although things are quicker and a little easier in Georgia and (reportedly) Iran, you should normally allow a couple of weeks to arrange the visa. So hurry!
For Eurovision, however, the authorities are supposedly making an exception. If things go to plan, those with a confirmed ticket for Eurovision events, members of the Eurovision "fan club", official Eurovision guests or accredited journalists going to the event are all supposedly going to be allowed to receive their visas on arrival at Baku airport. You'll need to fly in between May 10th and June 1st, 2012 (or from April 15th for official invitees). Details are on the website http://www.visaforazerbaijan.org.uk/eurovision.php but you would be wise to check very carefully as the system has not yet been tested and without an Azerbaijani visa pre-stamped in your passport you might still find that airlines are unwilling to let you check in.
BAKU ACCOMMODATION
Beware that since the last guidebook was researched, the Baku accommodation scene has been through some breathtaking changes. For up-market and business travellers there is good news with a large number of sparkling, new, world-class hotels opening in 2012.
Gleaming Hilton and JW Marriott towers have replaced the once iconically ugly Hotels Azerbaijan and Absheron. Built in lavish Parisian style, the Four Seasons should soon be open in the Azneft corner of the Old City. Up in Batamadar (a little beyond the Botanical Gardens, near bus route 3 and not as far out of town as you might fear) is the remarkable new Kempinski with its aquapark and waterfall. The nearby Monolit Hotel has a wine tasting cellar though it's rarely used.
However for budget travellers the news is almost unmitigatingly bad:
All of the following have closed down:
1000 Camels Hostel
Cenub Hotel
Hotel Velotrek
Hotel Azerbaijan
Hotel Absheron
Station Hostel
That means that the only really cheap option in Baku is the Caspian Hostel, essentially a single dorm room in a simple, Old City family house.
The Hotel Araz is still open and still decent value if you don't mind a busy road outside and a bit of a bus ride into town (it's the "wrong" side of town for the Eurovision venue). However, the cheaper rooms that once shared bathrooms have all been upgraded to en-suites so they are no longer really a backpacker priced option.
Normally the best idea if you're on a lower mid-range budget is to trawl around the Old City where there are ever more mini-hotels. Given the visa rules that have put off most casual travellers of late, many of the cheaper places (ie under US$90) are half empty meaning that you can often get a decent discount. This is especially true in summer. But less so in May. And with Eurovision likely to cause a major demand spike, such ideas are unlikely to work during the contest.
The Eurovision finals will be hosted in the "Crystal Auditorium" - a brand new and somewhat controversial venue near National Flag Square, named for the vast flag-mast that was briefly the world's tallest (until overtaken by an equivalent in Tajikistan). The nearest accommodation is in the busy Bayil Area (see p112 of the guide). Normally I wouldn't necessarily advise visitors to stay here if they wanted to see old Baku as traffic tends to get clogged in the one way system - but for that very reason you might actually prefer to be in Bayil for the Eurovision Song Contest as the auditorium will be walking distance away saving an undoubted traffic jam and probably pricey taxi fare.*
*Note that if you do take a taxi the smart new London-style cabs are, counter-intuitively, generally cheaper than old lurking Ladas - at least for shorter distances. And best of all they are metered - a previously unknown form of stress relief in Baku.
Baku Public Transport
In late 2011 Baku decided to renumber all the bus routes. The principle is that buses within the city are now numbered with only (one or) two digits while those heading further afield to the Absheron will have three digits. Thus the 36 to Mardakan has become the 136. Sadly not all changes are so simple and there appears to be no easy-to-reference list of all the changes. Good news, however, is that there is now a direct bus to the airport from the southeast corner of Vurgun Gardens. It departs every 30 minutes until 6.30pm and costs 40q. At the airport it waits at the side of the car park furthest from the terminal as though to be deliberately hard to find for anyone except the airport staff who are the main passengers.
Beyond Baku
Azerbaijan's massive changes aren't limited to Baku. One of the biggest and most astonishing transformations has been the once-dowdy regional centre of Qabala that is now being groomed as a big rural resort area with a theme park and gigantic and glitzy new hotel-complex in what was once a peaceful riverside glade. Internal air travel has become easier with return tickets now available for pre purchase, new airports functioning at Zaqatala and Lankaran and foreigner mark-ups no longer so offputting. Hiking on the Xinaliq-Laza routes has become virtually impossible due to new regulations which will, hopefully, be relaxed in future years. Reaching Xinaliq has, however, become somewhat easier with a minibus that now leaves most days from Xinaliq around 7am and returns from Quba about 2pm.
Maps
When I first researched the Azerbaijan guide, Internet was in its infancy and even in 2008 there were few online maps. Now, however, gomap.az has arrived offering excellent zoomable online maps that - as far as I can see - offer pretty accurate representations of the country's infrastructure and have good city-scale maps too including points of interest.
Thank you to Balint Toth for the following update. The information has not yet been checked by Trailblazer but it will be for the next edition.
August 2010
First of all let me congratulate on your book, it is brilliant.
I'd like to add footnotes here to a possible future edition.
I just came back from Azerbaijan(August 2010), i spent a week there.
I and my friend tried to find the mud vulcanoes near Baku. To save money we got off a bus at the right place, in front of the "oil factory site", not far from the petrol station. We started walking up the hill but after 10 minutes we had to go back down because the police were after us. They took our passports. Their biggest concern was that we both had cameras with us. We had to follow them, got into a police car and we ended up in their headquarters in Baku not far from the airport where we were interrogated. I am a photographer so i take lots of photos. They searched our bags, viewed all of my photos, many of them they found suspicious, i had to explain why i took them then i had to delete them. After 5 hours we were free again.
So i dont recommend anyone to try and find the mud vulcanoes alone especially with a camera. Much better to take a taxi.
They told me i cannot take any photos of the following objects: anything that has to do with oil, army, navy, trains, train stations, airports, metro, metro stations, anything that can be considered strategic.
I stayed at the Caspian hostel which is a very nice place.
In Xinaliq i was warned 2 times not to cross the way of the soldiers, not to go in that direction at all. Maybe with a local guide it is possible.
I got to Xinaliq through a driver arranged by Kheyraddin, i would recommend him to anyone, the driver was in time at my hostel in Baku, everything was done perfectly. I was the only guest at the guesthouse.
From Robert Younger and family, August 2010:
My family and I have traveled most everywhere in Azerbaijan & Georgia and have found your guide invaluable. We have even made the epic vehicle journey from Baku to Batumi. We have spent the last week on holiday in Azerbaijan and I thought I pass along some information that I gathered along the way. There are some new hotels in Lahic and Ilisu. We stayed in the Evi Motel in Lahic and quite enjoyed it there. There is a place to stay in Ilisu - did not stay, but was quite surprised by the large swimming pool. There are new tourist information centers popping-up in many of the tourist destinations eg Sheki. If you have not been in Azerbaijan in some time, I think you will be surprised at how things are continuing to develop.
p.167 Map and text on page 191,Hazra to Samur. We were pleasantly surprised to find a new road connecting Hazra to Samur.
