Sometimes you come across a tour and think “that sounds interesting – I hadn’t thought of going there”. Well, this was such a tour. We were to visit Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. It proved to be quite an experience and we hadn’t bargained for the trouble in Armenia when we booked.
So – these three neighbours were very different countries each with their own version of a relationship with Russia which would unfold as we discussed more with the respective guides. All the countries had ancient sites and each had a history of being invaded many times over the centuries. They were all peoples proud of their heritage.
This page is just a snippet from the tour – looking at the three things in the title.
Yanar Dag, meaning ‘Burning Mountain’, a fire fed by natural gas seeping through the sandstone has been ablaze for hundreds of years and Ateshgah, the UNESCO-listed Fire Temple of Baku was built around naturally escaping gas. The extraction of oil over recent years means that the pressure is now lower and the Fire Temple no longer has a natural supply.
A trek over the desert outside Baku in Soviet Era Ladas took us to the bubbling mud volcanos.
These were spread over a large area, some larger and higher than others. The mud contains raw oil which one of the drivers was keen to show us by lighting some paper dipped into the mud.
One of the highlights was a trip up into the Caucuses Mountains. We had to decamp into 4×4 transport from the minibus in order to make it along the basic roads. We had to wait until the road stopped sliding down the mountain before we made our return journey. The alpine looking hotel fed us well but had no heating. So we all slept in our full clothes and coats under the blankets that night.
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