Gobustan National Park and Baku by Night

Funny passenger.

Fooling around at the museum.

Our guide explaining an exhibit.

Walking to the petrogylphs.

Two examples

The mud volancanoes, that leak slowly.

Boiling mud.

The funky restaurant where we had lunch.

The Crescent Hotel and two of the four additional towers.

Another beautiful Soviet era building.

The pedestrian walkway at night.

The Flame Towers lit up.

The Flame Towers lit up.

Sunday, May 11th.

This morning we traveled south to the Gobustan National Park. The UNESCO protected Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape is a national reserve that covers three areas of a plateau of rocky boulders rising out of the  semi-desert of central Azerbaijan. Here we found a collection of rock engravings bearing testimony to 40,000 years of rock art. During our visit we explored the Gobustan Museum and ancient petroglyphs which were both very crowded with tourists and school kids here on trips. We also visited some nearby bubbling mud volcanoes which were less than spectacular to be honest. I have seen much better in Yellowstone, Bolivia and New Zealand. After our morning exploration we headed back to Baku where we had a late lunch instead of dinner which freed up time for exploring without the group. Across the street from our hotel is the much-loved Seaside Boulevard. I was told there was no better way to get a feel for Baku’s relaxed, Mediterranean atmosphere than by strolling along the capital city’s promenade. So I took the opportunity to go for a walk with Pauline, a woman from New Brunswick, along the shore of the Caspian Sea and although the city sites were lovely it was somewhat ruined by the stench from the water itself, which I discovered by looking over the seawall, was very polluted. After having a drink in the bar with John, Pauline and Sherril when I got back, I went for a walk by myself to the pedestrian walkway by the old city. It was a very windy night but I enjoyed people watching and checking out some of the shops. I saw my first McDonald’s there which was incredibly busy. I was back to the hotel and in bed by 10:30.