I rolled into Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan and the country's showcase city. The ride from Ganja was kinda boring and uneventful, but I have arrived at the Caspian Sea, the largest landlocked body of water on the planet. The uniqueness of the Caspian Sea is that there is no political agreement on weather the Sea is actually a sea or a lake. The scientific community seems to have come to the conclusion that it is a lake, but for now, it is a sea on your maps.
Azerbaijan makes quite a bit of money on their vast supplies of natural gas and it appears that they have pumped allot of that money into Baku. As a result, there are many new and under construction buildings and that are quite impressive from an architectural standpoint. The older buildings also look rather nice, but upon close up inspection, they are just old Soviet apartment blocs (I have come across thousands of these blocks in the former USSR) that have been fitted with new facades, and once entered, the interiors are rather dated and austere. That being said, they do have a very nice curb appeal. With all the new funky construction and updates, many journalists have compared Baku to Dubai. I have been to Dubai many times and I do not agree with that assessment, at least not yet, but it is a nice clean city that appears to be flourishing since the country regained its independence in 1991.
The country's investment in the City's beatification has paid off well. They have attracted many companies who have been sinking money into the City, to include: Ferrari, Bentley, Harley Davidson, Hilton, and every retailer under the sun. The most impressive attractant is Formula 1 Racing and they are currently setting up the course for the upcoming race. It is a street course and I rode a good length of it the other day. I must admit, I felt like a bit of a kid as I rode through the barricades and down the straightaways., it was fun playing F1 driver for a couple of minutes.
By checking the map above, I have Russia to the north, Iran to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the east, so it is clear that as a US citizen, I have run out of usable real estate to go any further. I am will have to figure out a plan if I am to continue.
Stage Distance: 218 mi (352 km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 24,124 mi (38,794 km) Azerbaijan makes quite a bit of money on their vast supplies of natural gas and it appears that they have pumped allot of that money into Baku. As a result, there are many new and under construction buildings and that are quite impressive from an architectural standpoint. The older buildings also look rather nice, but upon close up inspection, they are just old Soviet apartment blocs (I have come across thousands of these blocks in the former USSR) that have been fitted with new facades, and once entered, the interiors are rather dated and austere. That being said, they do have a very nice curb appeal. With all the new funky construction and updates, many journalists have compared Baku to Dubai. I have been to Dubai many times and I do not agree with that assessment, at least not yet, but it is a nice clean city that appears to be flourishing since the country regained its independence in 1991.
The country's investment in the City's beatification has paid off well. They have attracted many companies who have been sinking money into the City, to include: Ferrari, Bentley, Harley Davidson, Hilton, and every retailer under the sun. The most impressive attractant is Formula 1 Racing and they are currently setting up the course for the upcoming race. It is a street course and I rode a good length of it the other day. I must admit, I felt like a bit of a kid as I rode through the barricades and down the straightaways., it was fun playing F1 driver for a couple of minutes.
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| Baku Waterfront |
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| Heydar-Aliyev Center |
By checking the map above, I have Russia to the north, Iran to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the east, so it is clear that as a US citizen, I have run out of usable real estate to go any further. I am will have to figure out a plan if I am to continue.
Stage Distance: 218 mi (352 km)
Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan
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