When you hear of Azerbaijan, what comes to mind? If you thought of a country far between Europe and Asia, rich with culture, history, and beautiful city lights, then you are right.
The journey began with a six-hour flight to Türkiye, followed by another two hours and thirty minutes to Baku. The skies of Baku opened and rain fell, even though the grey weather the city welcomed its visitors with warmth and care.
The streets of Baku feel like time-travelling, some areas have maintained the archaic architecture that makes you feel as though you have been teleported to a royal film while others have embraced modernity with skyscrapers beautifying the city.
It is built as a "5-minute walkable city," meaning residents can reach essential amenities like shops, cafes, schools, and pharmacies in under five minutes.
Black City and White City
The Baku black city was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, being an oil refinery industry, it earned its name following the soot, pollution, and oil spills from the refineries and factories that blackened the buildings and the local environment.
Despite the soot, the area was an economic "gold mine" producing a significant portion of the world's oil supply.
White City, was developed as a new dawn and restoration of this industrial land into a clean, modern, and sustainable district.
When you walk through white city, the fresh air and clean roads are a contrast to what the area used to be.
Food
Azerbaijan knows how to fill the stomach, every restaurant you walk into will make you feel at home from the interior décor that represents their culture and to the food.
The appetizers are already on the table when one walks in. Olive juice in jars, different types of cheese that tasted so good that will make lactose intolerance bow down. Beside the cheese is hot bread and salad.
If you’re not familiar with their food presentation, you might fill your stomach with the bread salad, cheese and juice. Then be shocked when huge trays of assorted meat arrive.
The meat is served in rounds, a tray will be brought that has at least 3 types of meat: Lamb, beef, chicken. They will keep serving until you are completely satisfied.
Tea is constant in Azerbaijan, after every meal and whenever you visit someone, they will serve you tea.
One thing that was very blatant is that most restaurant workers are male.
Cats have hotels
Azerbaijan is a haven for felines. Walking the streets, you will not pass more than 2 blocks before seeing a cat strutting the streets or standing still as locals and tourists pet them.
Tiny colourful cat houses are spotted around the streets. One written “Cat Hotel” with a tiny mattress inside and 5 ventilation windows shaped as cat heads.
You would see shopkeepers coming out with food and water, and the felines would surround them to fill their stomachs and quench their thirst.
Due to comfort and the safety, they feel around the people the fluffy animals feel completely at ease lounging outside a local shop or a designer shop. Customers would pet and take pictures of them as they walked in and out.
Old Town
Your Baku trip cannot be complete without visiting the Old Town. Arriving here is the ultimate time travel, the street is a maze, leading to medieval fortress walls, preserving layers of Zoroastrian, Persian, Arabic, and Shirvani history.
The face of the old city is the Maiden Tower, which became the first location in Azerbaijan. to be classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
You will be forgiven if you stood at the foot of the tower and shouted “Rapunzel, Rapunzel let your hair down” because of the archaic feeling that comes with the tower.
Other monuments include the Synyg Gala Minaret, the fortress walls and towers, the Maiden Tower, the Multani Caravanserai and Hajji Gayyib bathhouse, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, the Bukhara Caravanserai and Gasimbey bathhouse.
The bath houses follow the Islamic traditions of purification, since private homes historically lacked running water public baths were necessary for basic hygiene and wellness. There were separate days for men and women.
Oldest Mosque
Further East in Shamakhi district the oldest mosque in Azerbaijan stands tall but buried with dark history. In 1918 hundreds of people who went to seek asylum were burnt alive by Armenian military militia.
The mosque has also been reconstructed several times over the years due to destruction caused by earthquakes.
The Organic Wine Tasting
After the mosque we headed straight to Shirvan Meysari Wines in Shamakhi for wine tasting. There’s a giant purple grape fruit structure as you walk in.
At winery there’s a restaurant that is highly advisable to enter and eat before going for wine tasting.
Meysari Wines is the country's first EU-certified organic winery. The tour starts from how the grapes are processed to the last stages of bottling.
Walking in the winery the smell of the wine welcomes you. it’s like bruised grapes but layered with the aroma of a love letter forgotten inside an old wooden drawer.
Eventually we walked into the dinning area where a long table was with 7 wine glasses per person were placed. The room built as a medieval dining area has dim lights to make the experience more memorable.
One by one we tasted the wines, accompanied by pieces of different types of cheese, almond, oats, salmon and honey. Each wine tasting different leaving a memorable aftertaste that of how velvet would taste if it were edible.
As we were leaving the we bumped into new weds who had chosen the winery as their wedding photoshoot area.
The darkskin love in Azerbaijan
If you are a dark skinned and are scared of strangers asking you for photos while at the same time showering you with love then do not Go to Azerbaijan.
When we arrived walking into the ladies’ room, I find two women in uniform cleaning the toilet. I say hallo and walk in one of the stalls. Coming out one woman walks up to me and says. “Beautiful girl, my friend photo” pointing her friend who wanted to take a picture with me but was shy.
I pose and take the picture; the friend also takes a picture. I left.
Boy! Was I wrong thinking that, that would be the last time someone asked for a picture. Most the photo sessions happened in washrooms.
Walking the streets was also an interesting experience, people would just shout “Beautiful” “Marvellous” “African Queen”, “Black Princess”, followed by the chefs kiss.
The common question would be Where are you from? I would say Kenya and they would try and remember famous people from Kenya like “Eliud Kipchoge”.
Azerbaijan is more than its beautiful skyline, historic walls, or endless servings of tea and meat. It is a country where the past and present exist side by side, where strangers welcome you with warmth, and where even the smallest moments a cat sleeping outside a shop, a compliment shouted from across the street, become unforgettable memories.
