Our choice of vacation locations, as my husband would tell you have always been governed by the list of locations on the drop down menu of tajhotels.com. Not sure when in life, but I became a Taj hotels loyalist, willing only to give up on that choice of hotel under extreme duress. We know there are very few locations where one does not find a Taj. But well, even if that’s not the case, there were enough locations which had a Taj, and hence enough places to cover from the comfort and hygiene of a place where the staff knew exactly what one wants.
So how surprising would it be, if after this entire monologue about my preferred hotel, I would tell you that I switched to Mariott. Well, it’s not that long a story, because our choice of location had not yet made it amenable for Taj to own a property. You see, when looking at international destinations, I (ahem!) would generally relax that requirement in favour of some other names.
Well, as usual, we ended up planning just 3 weeks prior to the time we actually wanted to go, about where we wanted to go. Its quite normal- for some reason, we have never had our vacations planned months prior. Now if its international, there is the visa angle- so here is our starting point- which country does not require visa, or has the e-visa facility? The shortlisting begins.
Then comes the actual criteria of what we didn’t/ wanted to do. We didn’t want to do a beach or too cold a clime. We didn’t want to do the forests or the big cities… we seemed to want to do a bit of it all- or well do something different. So what seemed to most to be a choice made with the finger touching the globe as it was whirled by the little one, it was actually a unanimous choice. We finalized on Azerbaijan.
Minimizing layover and travel time meant that we stayed in this airport hotel at Sharjah. Tempted as were were to meet my sister in Dubai, with exactly five hours available for our beauty sleep, we chose to hit the beds at the transit hotel- or the only one available at the blessed Sharjah airport. If it wasn’t for the Starbucks pastry and croissant available at the airport the next day, my nightmare of the night spent in the window less- basement (Seemingly so) room would have left an indelible mark. The only piece of appliance I missed in this windowless nightmare was the coffee machine- there wasn’t much else one could wish for. Transiting you were- so why waste time with luxuries- seemed to be the motto there.
Anyways, glad for the beauty sleep, we took our flight to land at Azerbaijan- Baku to be specific. Yes, Baku of the Formula One fame. Not much of a fan myself, it was the easiest way to tell people of where you were going! It also seemed to be the only place that had a connection for us to enter the country.
The month of December spewed chilly winds though nothing that we coudn’t manage, prepared as we were with exactly all the woollens one owned- well, what else would one expect with folks whose wardrobes were attuned to the balmy climes of the Maximum city. In fact, with the backdrop of the Caspian sea, and the promenade that the city boasted of, we could have spent our days just walking along unperturbed by the population which kept to itself, barely interested in the difference in skin colours. Morning or night, the walk along the promenades was among our favourite pastimes. The market being a 10-minute walk, one could easily find a taxi to take you there if one so wished, been caught up at the other end of the promenade, not realizing the kilometres one would have walked just feeling the breeze through the hair along the sea.
Not ones to let time in a land unknown just pass us, eager beavers as we are, we made sure we had listed all that we wanted to visit. So there was this volcano- wow! Imagining as we did the molten lava we had seen spew during our visit to Hawaii – viscous and silver with red lining- we were most excited to have our daughter see the vision she missed ( of course, coz we had gone on our honeymoon to Hawaii). They called it Gobustan.
So here we were shunted at a designated stop from the luxury of our minivan (We took a private tour) into – what we were told- was a Soviet vehicle. Imagine our excitement- as if the volcano wasn’t enough- we actually would be seated in a Soviet vehicle! Imagine our disappointment at finding ourselves cramped in the most basic of a 4-wheeler contraption one could find at this time and age. Driving through landscapes that had no green color, but with a lot of mirages of – not water- but oil. Well, the truth was that these weren’t mirages. But actually oil wells, inside people’s homes, outside of them, and just about everywhere. Difficult to imagine- but that’s what we witnessed. Of course, our very native guide in his remarkable English- seated next to a burly Russian (coincidence) driver told us about the Government being in possession of any oil well discovered by a citizen anywhere. Seemed to make sense- its not like folks had the wherewithal to deal with oil refining in their backyards.
Looking forward to seeing the molten lava (mud volcanoes though they were called), we reached a greying landscape of mounds/ hillocks where we disembarked our rides only to be told we had arrived at the mud volcanoes! So here were warm (molten) mud spouting volcanoes spewing more like the jammed drain in the sink as it gurgles the water in (of course in the opposite direction). Excited we were. Coz all the way in Azerbaijan we had seen volcanoes. We were told the mud was considered good for health – skin et al (much akin to the experience with Dead sea- maybe another time on that one). Shivering in the freezing cold winds without much sunshine to keep us warm we nodded at each other’s consent for not trying our luck for the sake of better health/ glowing skins.
So here we were riding back, once again shaken and stirred in our Soviet vehicle, wondering why a much sought-after tourist venue couldn’t have better roads leading to it. But then who were we to complain, having questioned ourselves with precisely the same question for every road one frequented in our own native country.
Happy to get transferred to our warm Minivan, we were out to make another discovery of a culinary kind- that of tea and jam eaten together as a combination. Fresh jam and hot tea (mind you, not au latte). It was the most satisfying experience and one we found difficult to replicate in all our endevours of exotic teas thereafter. It seemed it was a tea-time ritual much cherished by all and sundry- natives and foreigners alike! The restaurant abuzz with folks relishing this simple combination chattering in Azerbaijani or Russian.
Yes, language was an issue- there was not much English speaking except with the guides, because we chose them such. But what surprised me about the country was it’s openness as a culture given the significant Russian influence from time of yore. So despite being a majority Islamic country, one would feel it to be more European than Middle Eastern – dressing, demeanour, et al from much more “Western” climes than I had perceived before I landed there.
But the most exciting sight had been seeing the Burning mountains. So here were these mountains which due to the methane that oozed out of them, had caught the fire which seemed to burn endlessly, the methane continuing to spout. No amount of wind or rain seemed to deter this. Of course, we had a great time in the freezing cold warming ourselves against the mountains, but also clicking some miraculous moments as we caught the fire in our hands – well, virtually!
While the most exciting, it wouldn’t be able to compete with the amazement my little one had in visiting the miniature book museum. Placed as it was in the labyrinths of the old city, cobbled roads one could preferably only walk on, rising and falling with the quaintness of a town one wished one could spend a lifetime in. So the museum had several volumes of books.. including (to our astonishment) the Hanuman Chalisa! Yes, the collector had done his bit in building the collection, much revered for the age as well as the diversity of authors that was done justice to.
From books to carpets… our walks around the city (we always feel its the best way to discover the sights and sceneries) revealed to us the much-known variety of carpets the country had to offer. Colourful and available in all shapes and sizes.. including as mementos in the form of coasters. We knew we weren’t going to miss the Carpet museum. Glorious in its coverage of the main expression of the country’s art, spic and span in its maintenance, comprehensive in its coverage of the variety and origins of the art, the museum also provided a glimpse into the weaves with actual craftsmen/ women stationed there displaying the art form!
Many stories, with many locales- the Zoroastrian temple, the cave paintings, the snow topped mountain slopes … several attractions there were to a land not frequented by many of our kiln. The excitement of discovering a different world- one which has known to be in frequent strife with its neighbours, Armenia (yes, the border not too far away from where we were) makes it an intriguing escapade for ones out to discover what more this planet has to offer. Races, lifestyle, languages, food- the adventure touched various aspects of our known lives- leaving us in wonderment and enriched by the experience of another unique destination.
Its time to whirl the globe again!