Khazar Golden Beach Hotel & Resort Baku

... br><br>We were stopped at the port entrance by a surly guard and led into another office, this one turned out to be the Ferry Company office, where we were charged another wad of dollars, this time for our transport. It turned out that the $90 we each paid at the other side of the sea was for the passenger and they now wanted another $90 for each bike and $300 for the Landy! Oh, and to add insult, $12 ...

Well, it's taken all day, but we've made it onto the boat. This is one dodgy affair. Happily the few other passengers on this filthy freighter are mostly British, travelling around the world on motorbikes. Everything is filthy, and there is nothing but Molly's ...

Chris didn't feel great, so Damien and I went into town to investigate the ferry, and while we were relieved to discover there was one the next day, we were surprised to find they were after over $600 for the privilege. We got a bit separated ...

... very green villages and lots of poplars. The flat land from here on made for catching up on reading, with occasional interest points, such as the narrow bridge over a big river the police wouldn't let us use, derelict Soviet era concrete modular irrigation trough systems, the main highway under construction, with kilometers of rough, dusty side tracks. As the day was stinky hot, and lots of dust on everything, it wasn't a very ...

... digger roof for the rest of the night, it would be freezing and possibly wet for another 4 hours but at least I'd be safe. I put on my raincoat and wooly hat and grabbedmy headtorch and kitchen knife. I looked out of my tent in the direction of the digger, it was too far away to even see in the darkness of the night. Abort that mission I thought and craweled back into my tent. I imagined getting torn to shreds and eaten alive as they sink their teeth deep in. What a hell ...

... og þar sem hún hljómaði ekki ósvipað móður minni hlýddi ég og svei mér þá ef þessi naglastóri brauðbiti gerði ekki gæfumuninn og ógleiðn fór að sjatna. Í öllu þessu gat ég ekki verið að hringja heim til að láta þau hlusta á mig kúgast, um morguninn var of snemmt að hringja og ég hef ekki getað sent sms síðan ég kom til Azerbajian, bara fengið sms og ýmsir orðnir óþreyjufullir að frétta af mér. Ákvað að hringja frá Duyman hótelinu kvöldið eftir. .

... walked around the Palace of the Shirvan Shahs. This, though not as spectacular as the Kahn's Palace in Sheki, is historically very interesting - I especially liked the story about how the Hammam was used by matchmakers - at the time of building in the late 15th Century the women were all veiled and husbands only got to see their bride's faces after marriage so mothers would go the baths and while all the women were naked they'd pick suitable brides for their ...

... in OIL. Is it good for Tourism? BAKU is a facinating city with the old city within it's perimeter. The Maiden Tower greets you staring out over the sea. A mix of the old and new with beautiful stone buildings, modern shops and a sense of urgency everywhere. Just outside BAKU you can find the home of Caravanese, the earth beltching fire from where the original OIL was ...

... player reciprocated, ending in a bout of girly shoving between the two teams, and 2 red cards.  Mrs R left the tiny, under-resourced stadium concluding that the bunch of jokers representing our country wouldn't get further than the subs bench at Carlisle United. The only other excitement of the afternoon was a young kid trying to steal our flag.   But don't worry, the ...

... on my hips stood and stared directly at him in an I-know-what-your-up-to gaze. He turned and kicked a few rocks attempting to look as if he was casually strolling. I turned and continued on my way into Baku. I glanced into mirrors I passed and reflective windows to see that he was still following me. I stopped again, turned, pumped my chest and froze staring at him. Again, he casually turned and acted casual. When I finally reached the city, amongst crowds of other honest Azeris ...