Teze Pir Mosque, Orthodox Church, Old Town, Metro

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Baku, Azerbaijan

Having arrived in Baku from my overnight sleeper I had the day to orient myself before my 3 day trips. I tried exchanging money at a bank but they wouldnt accept Georgian money.

Walking north of my apartment away from the central sights in the south was a long city park. At the western end was a theatre and I found a restaurant for some food. I ordered a Pide for 5.80AZ ($4.25).

I then wanted to find some Mosques and Orthodox Churches away from the tourist area that I had found on google maps. I stumbled across a local Mosque I hadnt seen on the map.

This section had very narrow streets and lots of walking around. Eventually I found the second orthodox church having not been able to find the first. Turns out there is only one but labelled twice incorrectly on google maps.

Nearby was the grand Teze Pir Mosque which is easy to spot with its tall minarets. This was some large sprawling complex, not just the mosque.

Downstairs were meeting rooms with lots of men in caps. The main mosque was richly decorated with decorative art and Islamic calligraphy.

I gave up trying to find the other Mosques and Churches not realizing at the time google map had duplicate listings. Back on the main street I asked in another bank about changing my leftover Georgian money. Officially they did not but the security guard told me to wait then exchanged my 30G for 13AZ, which was a bad exchange but at least I got rid of what was $25 Cdn.

I then made my way to the old town. Much of the centre was closed off for the grand prix which was to be a constant nuisance during this trip.

I only planned on scouting the old town on my first day. A vendor invited me into one of the Caravanserai's. I only planned on looking and taking pictures. They took me into their store and started showing me rugs. I asked for small ones only as I only had hand luggage.

Not planning on buying anything I ended up with a blue rug. They offered me two but I already bought two in Georgia as well as two jackets, and had to fit all of this in my hand luggage. The rug was 35AZ ($25).

After scouting a bit more of the old town I darted all vendors and tried to head out. I still needed cash.

The metro station is outside. I believe fare is only 0.20AZ ($.15 cents). You buy a paper card and load it. Escalators were not scary deep like Tbilisi.

It was two stops back to the central railway station where I arrived this morning. Finally I found a bank and was able to exchange 50 Euros so I had some cash.

I'd also been looking for a barber. Normally I get my haircut before travelling but didnt have time with all the rushing. I was told in Armenia I could get it cut for $5 but didnt find a barber. I found one here and the guy waiting spoke perfect english so explained to the barber what I wanted.