TRAVEL TO AZERBAIJAN

AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan is an ex-Soviet Muslim country. The face of the typical Azerbaijani is a mixture between Iranian and Turkish, but they wear Russian hats. They speak Azerbaijani (a dialect of Turkish) and Russian. They drink tea in the same way as Iranians do, with the same cups and the same amounts of sugar. They enjoy it in their Arabic shisha salons. But do you know the difference? They accompany him with vodka. When you enter a room, they greet you with Salam, but you take a shot of vodka with them and they offer you with Nasdrovia. They have the kindness of the Middle East, but they have the same serious and challenging look of the Russians. You never know where you are. Soviet buildings, Arab food and posters in Russian. The mix is ​​too chaotic, and for me, this is the best of Azerbaijan

The most secular Caucasian country

Azerbaijan was the first Islamic country in history to declare itself a secular and democratic Republic (1918). It was also the first Muslim country to have theaters and operas. Probably, you're laughing at this last comment, but believe it or not, even today, in ultra-conservative Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, cinemas and theaters are still banned.

About 95% of the population are Muslims, 85% being Shiites and the rest Sunni. However, I invite you to take the smallest neighborhood of Cairo, Dubai or Amman, and surely there will be more mosques than in the entire city of Baku. There is a large number of atheists among the young population, women barely cover their heads and sell alcohol everywhere. From a religious point of view, Azerbaijanis are much more liberal than their Christian neighbors from Armenia and Georgia.

A westernized capital with a lot of history, party and luxury

Why should Baku be among the reasons to travel to Azerbaijan?

 Because it is a city that really shocks and surprises you. As soon as you land, you trade the very modern airport and head to the city center to find yourself in a beautiful and historic old town, a multitude of quality bars and restaurants, luxury cars and streets as clean as those in Vienna. ask: How the hell could this country have been off the maps during all this time? Baku is a very modern city that has been built with the help of oil.

One of the cheapest countries in the world

If you find a country cheaper than Azerbaijan, I will pay you $ 1,000 through PayPal. Do you accept the challenge? Obviously, it's a joke. I'm not going to pay you a hard one. But now speaking seriously. For what you get, this country is too cheap. Definitely, it's cheaper than Armenia, Georgia and even Iran. Out of the lustful Baku, in local restaurants, you will pay a maximum of 4AZN ($ 2) for a good meal. Because the country is rich in oil and gas, the price of transportation is extremely ridiculous. A subway ride costs nothing more than 0.20AZN (11 ¢), and you can find half a liter of beer for only 1AZN (50 ¢). Azerbaijan is the dream of every backpacker.

The greatest landscape contrast

Our beloved Azerbaijan is a fairly small country, but it turns out that it contains 9 of 11 climatic zones: from the high Caucasus mountains to the vast dry deserts, green meadows and coastal area. Also, did you know that half of the planet's mud volcanoes are in Azerbaijan? They are located around Qobustán, 50km from Baku.

The food is not bad

A somewhat strange thought, right? Why should I say such a statement? On my third day of travel, I came to the conclusion that the food in Azerbaijan is not bad ... All the travelers I met always repeated to me: "By the way, the food is not bad, right?"
The food is not amazing, but it tastes good, it's relatively healthy, the kitchens are clean and eating is fucking cheap. At this price, you will not find better food in any other country. My favorite dish was dushbara, a dumplings soup very typical of the northern part of the country.