At 2:30am, my car sped down the wide, almost empty, motorway. We shot
past huge impressive buildings that made me feel like I was in some kind of
alternate universe. Russian, Islamic, Orthodox, Asian, all were represented.
Then I came to a street with all the name brand clothes: Gucci, Armani, Prada,
you name them and their here. But when I came to what appeared to be the huge
stone walls of a fortress, and drove through a narrow gate between looming
stone turrets, I knew I wasn’t in Melbourne any more.
I am staying in a small Hotel in Icherisheher (www.icherisheher.gov.az), or the Old
City. The original site and buildings of Baku. Narrow, cobble stoned roads wind
like a maze inside the walls. (And the way we sped through them made me feel
like I was in a scene from a Bond or Bourne movie.) I am living 1 minute walk
from the most iconic image of Baku, Qiz Qalasi (Maiden Tower).
At 10:00am, my car was stuck in what seemed to be one long traffic jam
as we made our way to the office. Up past the construction of the new symbol of
Baku, the Baku Flames, (the photo of the tall glass buildings) and again
past shops bearing the names of international brands, huge Russian style
government buildings with bronze statues of Presidents and Bolsheviks and new
and old apartment complexes with washing hanging out the windows and cats which
seem to be everywhere.
So first, and very surface level impression: this is an amazingly
diverse and friendly city of about 2.5 million people. Little Russian sedan cars
dodge large Japanese SUVs, and everyone goes where ever they need get to where
they want, but fast, very fast. It was a good day.
