Atropat Hotel Baku

... perfect English, having he told us, recently returned from several years at London School of Economics! His mate then led us in his Merc at breakneck speed dodging the racing Porches and Ferrari's to a small hotel where we booked in and immediately demolished the mini-bars in both rooms. Off to bed at around 3 in the morning and hopefully ready to crack-on to Georgia in the morning.<br><br>Cheers, Rick.

... to stop her sliding off the oily deck into the sea. Fantastic. I have met a Russian lorry driver called Alexander, who has taught me to play Kazio. He thinks the crossing will take 3 days. I hope he's wrong but he has apparently done this journey many times.

... lost on the metro, but eventually got back to the Gordons. They had a few friends over and we spent all evening outside chatting and barbequeing. It was fantastic and we will all be reluctant to leave the land of real food, showers and beds.

Spent the day in Baku and met up with the Gordons in the early evening. We had showers! I was disappointed to find that most of my tan was ingrained dirt. Graeme took us out for a curry and few beers and we returned to sleep in beds! Chris and I shared a double bed, but he only hugged me once in his sleep. It was a special moment.

... revenu de tout bebe". Pas de temps malheureusement pour aller voir les volcans de boue a Gobustan, j'ai vainement guette une eruption depuis la fenetre du bus mais rien ne s'est produit. Et me voila deja de retour a Bakou pour un dernier jour avant de boucler l'ultime voyage de l'annee (ouf) et trouver de quoi passer sans se faire gauler la nouvelle brigade fiscale de 75cm qui squatte chez moi : "Papa, qu'esse tu m'as ramene ?". Allez, bien des choses a Tous, RV

... it a miss, and do our own tour, cutting out a bit of walking by catching the 20 bus to the far end of the Old Town. Walk through the narrow alleys of the old town, see some flash and tasteful buildings adapted to the old city. Will doubtless be a lot more. Walk a section of the old wall, taking photos through the apertures. See a strange disused fountain full of large chunks of broken green glass. The path along the wall runs out ...

... at the same time sent winds whipping through the streets. Exploring the fire of Azerbaijan further, I visited Gobustan, with its small mud volcanoes burping methane into the windy air. The site overlooked the blue-grey Caspian Sea and its thousands of hidden, swimming caviar-laden sturgeons. Nearby was a Stone Age petroglyph site, with rock art dating to a time when the Caspian Sea was much higher and larger ...

... prevents them from being too miserable about their situation and lack of freedom. If they only knew what they are missing!!! Maybe they do, but it is sad to see such beautiful people terrified and unable to fight for their beliefs because of the strict controls and restrictions imposed by the dictatorship of a religious government. *I actually have the impression Iranians in general do not travel abroad ...

... return there often in the future. I apopgoize for the length of this blog - but I have seen so much and have so much to say. I will be home in just over a week and can not beleive all of the things that I have done to date. The last week will also be a busy one with an art show I wish to attend, a trip to Commiwijne, a day at the private beach, and a birthday party for Henna that will also serve as my farewell. Oh, and I have some work to finish up too..... Tot later, Brenda

... was a mere thin crust of soil floating on a giant bubble of oil. Azerbaijan was rich, rich with black gold. Azerbaijan was so rich in oil that in the 18th and 19th century, Azerbaijan supplied half of the world's oil! This influx of cash created countless oil barons and pumped the economy to levels far better than it's neighbor, Georgia. As we pulled into the station, I could already see, by the state of the streets, cleanliness and new buildings the result of it's now ...