Azerbaijan started off very hot and with lots of Mosquitoes. I got loads of attention at the border and then at the first town. I was shattered and really wanted to have a relaxing evening and an early night. As I passed a house I heard more people shouting after me but they beckoned me over and I decided to see what they wanted. Straight away they offered me a place to sleep and dinner so I accepted and enjoyed a Georgian meal on my first night in Azerbaijan. It was delicious, pork, cheese, fish and bread. We had a couple of beers but I managed to keep my vodka glass empty thankfully! An incredibly drunk guy drove off and came back with 3 girls. They went into an outhouse. An hour later he drove away again, I didn't ask what they were doing there!
I slept in the front room with the father (Islam) and his son. It was really hot in there and the window was shut to keep out the mosquitoes. Islam also left the TV on all night so I didn't get much sleep! I got going early the next day and cycled along some small country roads. I say roads - they were really just tracks. I had to ford a river because the bridge had collapsed. It was slow progress but I enjoyed it immensely. I stopped for yet another free cup of tea, which I didn't have to drink with sugar thank God! They also forced a shish kebab on me, which would have been welcome if I hadn't just had a massive lunch! I enjoyed it anyway though.The temperature reached 32 degrees, the hottest it had been, it was muggy and I was tired.
At Saka, I climbed up a huge hill to try and find a Khan's Palace. It took a while and a huge climb and was a bit disappointing so I whizzed back down and asked a shepherd if I could camp on his land. He said yes and his son turned up with a huge pot of tea. I was offered a place in a house but I really needed a good nights sleep so I turned it down and slept in the tent.
On the next day, the 1st of June, I felt much better both physically and mentally. I followed a great road through the steppe and everything was much drier. I saw loads of lizards and snakes, many of which are poisonous apparently so I gave them a lot of space when I rode past a sleeping one on the road. In the evening I reached a beautiful thick forest and was chased by two huge sheep dogs. Pretty standard except one of them stopped in the road and was hit by a car at about 40 mph. Incredibly the dog survived, and looked unhurt as it rushed off back to its master. I didn't feel too sorry for it as it would have bitten me if it had got the chance. The car was a mess though. The front of it had caved in and the headlight was smashed. Thankfully they didn't blame me at all and I had a chat with one of the passengers who spoke good English.
That night I asked another shepherd were to camp and he took me to a bit of land surrounded by a river on one side and a fence on the other which was accessible by a tiny thin bridge. I was safe from wolves here apparently! Eziz the shepherd told me about the Caucaus mountains he loved and the wildlife around. He showed me a new born lamb and brought a load of small kids over to see me. I let them have a go in my tent then had tea cooked on a fire before going to bed.
After that Azerbaijan really started to grow on me. The scenery was spectacular. That day I passed through forests, mountains, plains and desert. Azeris have no idea about distance though, I asked one how far to the next town, which I hoped to camp in and he said 2km. 15km later at dusk I turned up in Cegrankegmaz and was invited into a house to sleep. I gratefully accepted and was offered a shower and given a feast! Unbelievable hospitality again. I was only 40 miles from Baku so expected an easy day the next day.
It wasn't! I fought a gale force head wind for 9 hours to get to Baku in the early evening. The ride through the desert was beautiful though. I checked into the cheapest hotel I could find, which wasn't that cheap as Baku is expensive. That evening I went to the port to try to get a ferry ticket to get to Kazakhstan and was told to come back tomorrow.
I went back and had to go to the new port 5 km away. I waited for about an hour for the office to open and when it showed no sign of doing, the que of people retreated for a tea. I had one with them and made friends with the guy who was in charge of the order that people got tickets. He assured me I'd get first choice of the passenger tickets. I went into Baku and tried to get some replacement disc brake pads but no bike shop in Baku has them so I'm going to have to get some posted out.
I got back to the port and after waiting about 3 hours and having a cup of tea at Arif's house I got my ticket for 110 dollars. I rushed to the other port as the ferry was apparently about to leave from there. When I arrived I was told the ferry wasn't even there yet and I had to come back tomorrow so I went back to Arif's house as he had already offered me a bed for the night.
Arif was the best host I've had so far. We had a great meal with some other stranded passengers and he is a mechanic so he let me use his tools to fix my bike. I switched the cog on my Rohloff hub round and changed the chain. I had a shower and his wife washed all of my clothes. He gave me an entire outfit to wear that night and when I tried to give it him back the next day he insisted I keep it. Amazing people!
At 9 the next morning I went to the ferry port again and was let on the boat about midday. The boat left at 5 and took 2 days instead of 18 hours to port in Aktau. I'll blog about my experiences on the boat soon. Next up is the desert so I've got to get my bike ready and find a way of carrying 20 litres of water and 5 days of food.
Will update soon, but I may disappear for a few days because I doubt I'll find the internet anywhere in the desert, which looks to be pretty remote. I hope I can make it across to Nukus, Uzbekistan, without having to take a train.
I slept in the front room with the father (Islam) and his son. It was really hot in there and the window was shut to keep out the mosquitoes. Islam also left the TV on all night so I didn't get much sleep! I got going early the next day and cycled along some small country roads. I say roads - they were really just tracks. I had to ford a river because the bridge had collapsed. It was slow progress but I enjoyed it immensely. I stopped for yet another free cup of tea, which I didn't have to drink with sugar thank God! They also forced a shish kebab on me, which would have been welcome if I hadn't just had a massive lunch! I enjoyed it anyway though.The temperature reached 32 degrees, the hottest it had been, it was muggy and I was tired.
At Saka, I climbed up a huge hill to try and find a Khan's Palace. It took a while and a huge climb and was a bit disappointing so I whizzed back down and asked a shepherd if I could camp on his land. He said yes and his son turned up with a huge pot of tea. I was offered a place in a house but I really needed a good nights sleep so I turned it down and slept in the tent.
On the next day, the 1st of June, I felt much better both physically and mentally. I followed a great road through the steppe and everything was much drier. I saw loads of lizards and snakes, many of which are poisonous apparently so I gave them a lot of space when I rode past a sleeping one on the road. In the evening I reached a beautiful thick forest and was chased by two huge sheep dogs. Pretty standard except one of them stopped in the road and was hit by a car at about 40 mph. Incredibly the dog survived, and looked unhurt as it rushed off back to its master. I didn't feel too sorry for it as it would have bitten me if it had got the chance. The car was a mess though. The front of it had caved in and the headlight was smashed. Thankfully they didn't blame me at all and I had a chat with one of the passengers who spoke good English.
That night I asked another shepherd were to camp and he took me to a bit of land surrounded by a river on one side and a fence on the other which was accessible by a tiny thin bridge. I was safe from wolves here apparently! Eziz the shepherd told me about the Caucaus mountains he loved and the wildlife around. He showed me a new born lamb and brought a load of small kids over to see me. I let them have a go in my tent then had tea cooked on a fire before going to bed.
After that Azerbaijan really started to grow on me. The scenery was spectacular. That day I passed through forests, mountains, plains and desert. Azeris have no idea about distance though, I asked one how far to the next town, which I hoped to camp in and he said 2km. 15km later at dusk I turned up in Cegrankegmaz and was invited into a house to sleep. I gratefully accepted and was offered a shower and given a feast! Unbelievable hospitality again. I was only 40 miles from Baku so expected an easy day the next day.
It wasn't! I fought a gale force head wind for 9 hours to get to Baku in the early evening. The ride through the desert was beautiful though. I checked into the cheapest hotel I could find, which wasn't that cheap as Baku is expensive. That evening I went to the port to try to get a ferry ticket to get to Kazakhstan and was told to come back tomorrow.
I went back and had to go to the new port 5 km away. I waited for about an hour for the office to open and when it showed no sign of doing, the que of people retreated for a tea. I had one with them and made friends with the guy who was in charge of the order that people got tickets. He assured me I'd get first choice of the passenger tickets. I went into Baku and tried to get some replacement disc brake pads but no bike shop in Baku has them so I'm going to have to get some posted out.
I got back to the port and after waiting about 3 hours and having a cup of tea at Arif's house I got my ticket for 110 dollars. I rushed to the other port as the ferry was apparently about to leave from there. When I arrived I was told the ferry wasn't even there yet and I had to come back tomorrow so I went back to Arif's house as he had already offered me a bed for the night.
Arif was the best host I've had so far. We had a great meal with some other stranded passengers and he is a mechanic so he let me use his tools to fix my bike. I switched the cog on my Rohloff hub round and changed the chain. I had a shower and his wife washed all of my clothes. He gave me an entire outfit to wear that night and when I tried to give it him back the next day he insisted I keep it. Amazing people!
At 9 the next morning I went to the ferry port again and was let on the boat about midday. The boat left at 5 and took 2 days instead of 18 hours to port in Aktau. I'll blog about my experiences on the boat soon. Next up is the desert so I've got to get my bike ready and find a way of carrying 20 litres of water and 5 days of food.
Will update soon, but I may disappear for a few days because I doubt I'll find the internet anywhere in the desert, which looks to be pretty remote. I hope I can make it across to Nukus, Uzbekistan, without having to take a train.
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