The Weekend

So, after only one week in Baku, I was lucky to be invited on a weekend trip to Lenkoran, a small town on the Caspian south of Baku. The five hour drive from Baku was draining at times as much of the travel was through very industrial, nondescript areas over pot-holded Soviet-made roads alternating with newer, improved ones. Nevertheless, I learned first-hand how many different climates there are in the tiny state of Azerbaijan as these rather mundane landscapes gradually evolved into more fertile ones, and by the time we arrived in Lenkoran, we are ensconced in green mountains, oak tree canopies, and clean, pollution free breezes.

There is surely a different feel to the countryside in Azerbaijan as compared to cosmopolitan Baku. Besides being just 10km from the Iranian border, there was a similar feel to the villages we passed through as I experienced in Iran. Yet the differences were clear as well, as red wine and Russian vodka appeared at dinner. Unable to watch the Roland Garros tennis final on Sunday, I found (along with another intrepid tennis fan in the group) an old, run-down astroturf tennis court associated with the local chapter of the Azerbaijan Olympic Committee. The game was kind of awkward and a bit hot in the blazing sun (the sun in Azerbaijan, much like the wind, seems to take no prisoners) but fun nonetheless.

Some out-takes from the weekend above include our cabins, our bus (which seemed to always be on the verge of a collision or accident of some sort), my attempts at getting arty at dinner, the indoor stadium at the regional Olympic center and the entrance to Lenkoran.