Land of Fire!

I will never forget the day that I saw Baku from the plane.

We reached Baku after having a transit in Ataturk airport for a while where we were amazed by its beauty. Heydar Aliyev (Azerbaijan's) airport was very small compared to the vast Ataturk airport. The little knowledge of English language by the Azeri people was a problem that faced me during this trip.Their official language is Azeri, Turkish and Russian. So basically being born as an Azeri means you're born speaking 3 languages; Russian, Turkish and Azeri!

When I arrived in Baku, it was 8:30 pm yet it was sunny! It then later appeared to me that sun sets at 11 pm and rises at 3 am! What a long beautiful and sunny country I said to myself!

Old Baku was a very special part of this trip; it felt like my oriental dream came to life! The scents of spices, the oriental carpets, the silky scarves and the beautiful Azeri cuisine that all consisted of goat products! They never ever use cows and instead leave them wandering freely in valleys along with wild horses! I felt like I was in a story of 1000 nights and nights, with the magical Azeri carpet occupying the market. I also visited "The Maiden Tower" which is a famous Baku monument from the median ages.

We had dinner at a traditional Turkish restaurant that served spinach with eggs! Also it was the first time for me to try "dolma".

The cultures and traditions of Turkish and Azeri people are very similar. Also many Azeri students usually leave for university education in Turkey, and they also shop in turkey for the cheap prices compared to expensive shopping in Azerbaijan.
Baku City or the Fountain square are the heart of Baku, we noticed the presence of only one fast food and foreign restaurant there "MacDonald" and many people attributed that to that they prefer home-made food than fast-food. Azeri men have a huge appreciation and respect to Azeri women, in contrast to the rest of the eastern society, to the extent that the 8th of May (national day of women's right) is a national vacation in Azerbaijan.

One of the remarkable landmarks was the "Yanar Dag", a mountain that has been lit with fire for over 3000 years now owing to its presence in huge natural oil reserves, which gives Azerbaijan its "Land of Fire" title.
Sheki, a beautiful and green mountainous region that is 6 hours away from Baku. In it you can feel the warmth of the rural cities and kindness of its people.