There's a special reason he needs to be in Baku: today he's meeting up with Giles, the veteran traveller . That is, assuming they can coordinate--neither of them has cell phone.
While he waits . He goes ahead and visits the palace/museum in the old city, which is actually quite fun, with a labyrinth of halls, rooms, and gardens, with images, clothing and articles from the different periods of Azerbaijan's history to jazz it up a bit.
With emails they prearranged to meet outside the Old City subway station, and he tells Giles to look out for a guy carrying a guitar on his back. I'll be easy to spot, right? Wrong. As he waits, a whole crowd of music students gather--ALL carrying guitars on their backs! 
Now that doesn't happen every day.
Giles has the same trouble the Traveler had with the Soviet era subway signage--but they finally manage to meet up, and go ahead and do another tour of the city together--mainly the Traveler just wants to learn from this fellow and hear his stories.
Giles is not only a skilled traveller, he's also very knowledgeable in a wide array of subjects because, first of all he knows how to think outside of the box, and secondly, he's constantly learning from people he meets along the way. He tells of how after school he worked at a bank for a couple years, hated it, and has never worked a typical 9 to 5 job since . Instead he perfected his business skills, starting out as a door to door salesman, until he was able to work for just a portion of the year and travel for the rest of it. He also has all kinds of stories of people who have managed to make money while traveling. The Traveler wastes no time picking his brain for ideas that might work for him.
"In Mexico I met a couple who would buy concentrated perfumes in Mexico City, then travel south, mix the perfumes and sell them on the sidewalk--and finance their travels that way!"
Giles tells about his epic journey in his younger years, starting in Thailand (where he extended his stay by becoming a monk and joining a monastary) then he traveled across Asia through Afghanistan, then down into Africa where (this was back in colonial times) he arrived in Rhodesia and immediately was handed a machine gun and got a job guarding the workers--just because he was white!
Giles has keen insights into all kinds of cultures--Africa, Asia, the Middle East, as he's an excellent observer. He gives me insights into apartheid in South Africa, the war in Iraq, starvation in Ethiopia, the meaning of Buddhism and why Botswana is an African success story. 
"Why don't you write about your experiences? So many people could benefit from your knowledge and experience."
"When I think of writing I think of it as something I'd do if I were an invalid or had a long term illness--it's just something I'm not interested in, it's too much work."
The Traveler knows he's privileged to be able to learn from this fellow.  "For the first time that I can remember, I've met an older fellow that I can look at and say. 'I hope I can have as many memories, experiences and insights as him when I reach his age' "