Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, Azerbaijan
Back from my overnight trip to Sheki I now had two full days in Baku. For the first day I had also arranged a day trip with Gunel for the Ashberon Peninsula. Tomorrow the final day of my trip would be a free day.
Ashberon was a regular group tour that included the Gobustan Rock Carvings, Mud Volcanoes, Yanar Dagh Fire Mountain, and Ateshgah Fire Temple. Since I was booking three days with the tour company with the Sheki trip they added a free two hour walking tour of the old town. I had done this myself but good to have explanations from a local.
Today I had another guide Elmar instead of Gunel. He was a younger guy and looks like the guy that won Eurovision for Azerbaijan also with a similar name. We arranged to meet at 10am so I could rest a bit. Also this was not a group as I was the only one today so had a private tour.
Driving past the Flame Towers he asked if I wanted to go in. I said you needed to go further to see them properly. We stopped at a place called 40 steps, though it is actually more, where we had good panorama shots of the towers and city. One tower is a hotel, one apartment, one offices and at night they are lit up with the flag, as flames, and different light shows.
Heading out we passed the Bibiheybat Mosque. I had specifically asked to go here but Gunel had told me the road was closed due to the Formula 1. However today the road was open. We decided to stop on the way back. In hindsight we should have went first as they closed the road again on return for the Formula 1. What would have been interesting was the interior glass mosaic ceiling designs.
We passed oilfields which supply Russia and Turkey before arriving at Gobustan. Entrance was 10 Az ($7). Its at quite an elevation but cars are allowed to drive to the top.
I always see photos of the 10 dancing figures but they are quite high up on a large rock so you have to use a zoom lens. Also I was surprised how many rock carvings there are as normally I dont see all these in photos.
Mostly they were animals but stick man humans, as well as two pregnant women who looked more like birds. There was an arch you would go thru seven times during wedding ceremonies. There were also holes which were used for collecting rain water.
Next we drove to some waiting Lada taxis and had to switch cars. To get to the mud volcanoes there are no roads so we had to go off roading across bumpy terrain. The Ladas are more designed for this type of wear and tear and are very durable vehicles.
I'd always seen Lada's in Soviet countries but never been in one. It was reminiscent of cars from the 80s growing up with their dashboard design.
The mud volcanoes were actually quite small and not that many. They were bubbling up like the pods in the Alien movie.
We then took our waiting Lada back. It was like something out of the Dakar rally in a high speed chase with the other Lada's ziz zagging and overtaking across the rough terrain while watching your head with all the large bumps.
Next we went to Yanar Dagh the flame mountain. Entrance is now 2 Az ($1.40) and they are building some new visitors centre. You used to just be able to walk in. Its a natural gas coming out of the ground and the heat was quite refreshing against the cool winds blowing.
Next we went to a buffet restaurant for 10 Az ($7). There was actually quite a lot and it came with drink for this price.
It was good value and very filling, but very meat heavy. There were no salads or vegetables. Anything you thought might have vegetable filling such as tempura items or spring rolls were actually stuffed with meat. The even had kebabs wrapped in chicken making double meat layers.
This was too much meat for me and I didnt want to have stomach problems later. Its making me sick remembering as this was not very balanced food. At the end of this street is the Ateshgah Fire Temple in case people ask where this restaurant was.
Entrance was 4 Az ($2.80). Its more than just a temple and the outer complex is a museums with exhibits in each of the small rooms so you have to walk around the site.
Again quite a lot to see in all of the rooms. The fires are actually not original now as gas companies diverted the flow so it has to be artificially pumped in now. This caused many Zoroastrians to leave the area and more to other countries such as India or Iran.
Outdoors the fire is in three places. The main central temple as well as two outer fire pits.
Next we drove back into the city for the old town walking tour. I'd already seen some on my first day. Also the Formula 1 had closed many roads so we couldnt goto the Carpet Museum and Little Venice just south of the city walls.
We went the opposite direction of where I had went which was good so we saw something new. There is one working hammam (bathhouse) inside the old city which we got to take a quick look inside. I'd already been in Georgia and there were not as many here.
Today had been a long and busy day and I still had a free day tomorrow before the end of my trip
see vlog of today - https://youtu.be/hOKs3etD6GU
2025-05-22