Travel info Forum - travelers advice and tips  experiences find a travel companion travelling destinations

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 03-11-2008, 06:37 PM
Zet Zet is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 1
Default Useful information tourists advice for Baku, Azerbaijan

Hello all! I am going to create business in Azerbaijan, Baku ne*t year. Pls, let the know all about this country, is it safely, their raditions, habits, culture and also let me know about local pubs,clubs,things to do, night life in the centre of Baku. Taking into account, that I plan to stay there about 15-20 days during my first visit and then i plan to move there with my family to live, please, advice me how to find any cheap and comfortable accommodation for short and long term lease in Baku, Azerbaijan, cos i'll have to pay for my lodging myself. And also any good school in the city centre for my child and places to have a rest with my family etc.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 03-11-2008, 06:54 PM
Krotte Krotte is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 1
Default trip to Azerbaijan Baku

Hello,

Good to hear that you are planning to visit and work in Baku. I am sure you will like the city and culture and many other things. Weather and people are very warm here. You will get special attention and hospitality. And do not worry about the safety. People are very open and hospitable here. You will see a lot of families with children and many foreigners too. In some places you would feel like in any other place in Europe. I am telling all these to you, because I also used to travel a lot. I am a former UN staff member and had opportunities to travel in all over the world. I also have been in really hot and conflict zones. So I know what the safety means….

There is great reconstruction of roads, old architectural buildings, theatres, museums etc. in Baku. A lot of new schools for e*pat’s children are opened in Baku, a lot of business centers, companies, restaurants, pubs (Red lion, Phoeni*, TJ’s, Shakespeare, Finnegan’s) and boutiques (ARMANI, VERSACE, HUGO BOSS etc…But I do not know if they are original or brought from China )).

If you plan to stay about 20 days, so it is better to rent daily apartment in the centre of Baku, cos hotels in Baku are very e*pensive, the cheapest one is from 70$ per night. For e*ample, when I planed my trip to Azerbaijan, i have found several real estate agencies through different tourist forums: there were a lot of appreciations about www.travelazerbaijan.land.ru and www.bakurealestate.net, to which I decided to make a request. I was offered the apartment in the centre of Baku by 35$ per night in several minutes walking from Fountain Square, with all necessary facilities. They are also deal with long term lease. Use that one, which will offer you the lowest price )).

If you want to have a rest with your family, it better to go to Boulevard. It is especially beautiful in the evening. People walk all night long without any problems (couples, families, friends), there are multicolored illumination everywhere (local parachute tower looks like Eiffel’s Tower), a lot of swings and side-shows, there is a big dipper, from which Baku lies spread before the eyes, live music everywhere, outdoor cafes and restaurants, delicious smell of kabab. For all comers, there are bicycles for rent, on which you can ride the length and breadth of Boulevard or you do it by a motor ship or a cutter. For those who has means, can take a ride on a yacht from President elite yacht club. Also you can go to ELITE entertainment centre, there you can **** bowling, billiard, there is also skating rink and different game-****ing machines.

What about food: Make your stomach be ready to take rich food. I can advise: gutabs (with meat and green), different kinds of dolma, about 32, but the most famous are from grapes leaves and stuffed pepper/tomato/aubergine) and different kinds of kababs ( sturgeon, potato, tomato, aubergine, and from meat: lula-kabab, tika-kabab), soups: dovga, buglama, dushpara, bozbash, fried hen-lavangi (hen stuffed with walnut and pomegranate), different kind of rise (plov). If you want to enjoy not only delicious food, but also want to watch an entertainment program (such as belly dances, folk dances with fire, sabers with national azeri dresses on etc.) I can advice you “MUGAM CLUB”(in the Old city near Maiden Tower), IZMIR (opposite to Hyatt Regency hotel). The program begins at 20:00.

Azeri vines: “Yeddi Gozal”, “Nazli”, “Ivanovka”.

Given that Azerbaijani culture and language is Turkic in origin, it’s not surprising that its cuisine also carries a strong Turkish influence. Doner kebabs are so prevalent on Baku’s streets that you’d swear they were Azerbaijani by origin.

One thing is certain though. Azerbaijanis like their meat, with shashlik (barbecue) as the style of choice. One meal took us on the tour of the animal kingdom with seven different types of shashlik - ground meat, sturgeon (served with narsharab, a pomegranate sauce), beef, veal, lamb, pork, and even vegetables. As our friend joked, “See, we Azerbaijanis can make shashlik out of anything!” Although the meat was perfectly grilled, we were thankful for the plates of vegetables and fresh herbs to help balance our intake of flesh.

Luckily for our bodies, there’s more to the Azerbaijani table than shashlik. Here’s a sample:

Dovga: A warm soup made from plain yogurt, cucumbers, spring onions and oc*****nal bits of ground meat. Although it’s meant to be a starter, we found refuge in it as a light dinner.

Manti: Think large, Turkish-style ravioli stuffed with ground lamb. Served with plain yogurt - and if you are fortunate, a light chili pepper sauce - they are delicious.

Dolma: Grape leaves or vegetables stuffed with ground lamb, rice and spices, eaten with plain yogurt and ground pepper. Our best dolmas e*perience: the small, grape leaf variety served by our home stay family in the hills of Lahic.

Caviar: Beluga caviar is still king. Although its quantities are dwindling in Azerbaijan, caviar is still a big industry. The government controls the caviar business, but somehow a little bit always escapes and finds its way onto the black market. The best place to find it is at Taza Bazaar in Baku. From the moment you enter the market, you’ll hear hushed whispers of “caviar, caviar” from the shadows as middlemen sidle up to you. Follow them to small makeshift tasting rooms whose coolers are filled to the brim with caviar tins. Sample 5-6 varieties at different prices. The 113 gram pots run from $25-$55, depending upon the type of fish and grade. Our favorite was Beluga caviar - smooth and the least fishy of the lot. No small wonder it’s the most e*pensive.

Ayran: Refreshing, thinned-out yogurt drink, often flavored with dill and other herbs. It’s pronunciation is similar to the favorite neighborhood theocracy, Iran. So much so that when a young boy in the market asked Audrey “Do you like ayran?”, she responded “I don’t know. I haven’t been there yet.”

Kutab: A thin pancake whose varieties come stuffed with meat or with spinach and greens. Delicious alone, but if you find yourself at Chudo Pechka, get creative and team the green-stuffed with the baklijan (eggplant and garlic in sour cream) for your very own Azerbaijani veggie wrap.

Sheki Halva: Not the traditional dry halva you are used to, this regional variety resembles a pie with crunchy layers drowned in a sweet syrup.

Pakhlava: Although Turkish in origin, bakhlava has made its way to Baku, with some of the best served up by the local outpost of the Turkish bakery Gulluoglu. The rolled cylindrical variety are full of pistachio nuts, inside and out. Not too sweet, incredibly fresh, and terribly addictive.

The following traditional Azerbaijani dishes evaded our taste buds, either because of short supply or the wrong season.

Dushbara: Azerbaijani-style miniature manti. Teaspoon-sized mutton, onion and coriander filled ravioli served in a stock. This dish is common in the spring, so we just missed it during our summer visit. Travelers headed further to Central Asia, don’t despair. You’ll get your fill of dushbara in Kyrgyzstan, where they are called chochvara and served in a spicy, tomato-based broth.

Piti: Potatoes, chick-peas, vegetable and fatty-mutton stewed with fresh tomatoes or saffron. We’re told that you are supposed to soak the juice up with the bread first and then mash the solids into a paste before eating. For some reason, every cafe we tried seemed to be out and offered us shashlik instead.

And a lot of different delicious sweets: pakhlava, sheker-bura, gogal (better to buy in “Chudo Pechka” or “BON APPETITE”).


apartments in Baku - www.bakurealestate.net
restaurants in Baku - www.restoran-az.com
Baku - www.delaet.biz

Last edited by Krotte : 03-13-2008 at 06:33 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 04-01-2008, 01:35 PM
athar athar is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 2
Default

(http://thetravelbargain.co.uk/cheap_...ys_package.php)


Book cheap holidays to worldwide destinations with us. Call our travel agent to find the cheapest and perfect holiday packages, flights, hotels and accomodation for you. Whether you're looking for cheap holidays in Europe, city breaks or skiing holidays, we will find the best deal for you.

Search late holiday deals from London and save money on last minute holidays. Book cheap package holidays to Bangkok, Barbados, Florida, Paris, Singapore and many more locations around the world.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 04-04-2008, 06:42 AM
helloworldbea helloworldbea is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 40
Default

Thanks for the tips Krotte, I'll remember this when I go on my ne*t trip to Azerbijan.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 04-18-2008, 01:11 AM
matthew26 matthew26 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 27
Default

Whoa! That's quite a post Krotte! I haven't planned on visiting Baku but thanks a lot for the info.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 01:08 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.5
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Travel Forums Advice and discussion of worldwide travel locations and accommodation