Red Lion Hotel Baku

... shouting and thumping of tables. I was delegated to go in to the Customs office and try to remove Pete before the guns came out! After more shouting and tearing of various triplicate forms, the Customs guys eventually processed the paperwork, demanded the usual seemingly random amounts of Dollars and let us through, complete with yet another wad of undecipherable stamped forms.<br><br>It wasn't over ...

... 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.

... il vous plait, comme les opéras de la suscitée Arte. "Non pensarci", donc, raconte l'histoire d'un ponk trentenaire qui revient aider sa famille solidement établie dans la libre entreprise a Rome pour s'apercevoir qu'en fait il doit sauver tout le monde de la faillite morale. Bah ca fait passer le temps je vous le dis. C'était d'un calme dans l'avion, mais d'un calme... Bakou s'est révélée de prime abord une ville comme chez moi. Je veux dire chez moi ...

... and ornate Dom Soviet Government building, and then the Abseron Hotel, the 16 floor mini-Rossia Soviet-style hotel, with a sweeping curved portico and wide steps leading up to the entrance, in which we are staying. Parked in the bus park out the front, in a sea of paved ground extending a couple of hundred metres to the Dom Soviet, which has the road in front of it widened to at least 100 metres. Ah, the days of May Day parades ...

... Sehenswuerdigkeiten. Wem Iran gefaellt, dem wird auch Uzbekistan gefallen, ja der MUSS nach Uzbekistan:-) Es gibt dort auch einige sehr schoene Hotels (oder B&amp;B, es sind keine richtigen Hotels) fuer Individualtouristen. Wenn das Essen besser waere, waere es ein tolles Urlaubsland. Turkmenistan ist ein interessantes Land. Es ist nicht mehr ganz so nordkoreanisch wie noch unter Turkmenbashi (die Wochentage und Monate wurden ja wieder umbenannt und heissen nun nicht ...

... midnight. In an empty airport I spoke to two gentlemen who were hanging around and they advised me that the hotel near the airport, where I intended to stay for the first night, was closed. One of them happened to be a taxi driver (what a coincidence?!) We agreed he would take me to the center - to Hotel Canub - for 20 Manats (approximately 20 USD). The hotel seemed to have been hit by an earthquake, but since it was ...

... Mama who is also part of the womens network and are invited to go look at the school. They invite us into their homes, they share their stories with us, and allow us to be part of the passion that resides within them. They humbly ask how we might be able to help to make sure the children have note books and pencils, or toothpaste and brushes, or even to get them a lawn mower to cut the grass by the school so the children don't have to worry about snakes. They are ...

... after the train it felt like the Hilton. After a few Azeri beers I felt relaxed and glad to be on our way to the next part of the adventure. Best and worst of the Stans The best 1. The weddings 2. The children in Kyrgzstan 3. Registan Square in Samarkand 4. The swimming pool in Ashgabad 5. The relaxed pace and vibe of Bukhara The worst 1. The border crossings 2. The absurdity of Turkmenistan 3. The regular passport checks 4. The strange illogical procedures of anyone in authority