azerbaijan

This oil rich nation on the shores of the Caspian Sea was welcome relief particularly after the conservative culture of neighbouring Iran. We hit the capital Baku, described as a mix of Parisian style and Vegas glitz with its international restaurants, cocktail bars and designer stores. Feeling almost naked in public after wearing a headscarf for weeks, we headed straight out for an Italian smorgasbord, drank our way through the restaurant’s cocktail menu, and subsequently experienced the worst hangover of the entire trip. That’ll learn us. Outside the capital the more mountainous and remote areas of the region bordering Russia are quite spectacular and we enjoyed our far too brief a visit.

Visited November 2019.