As we entered Azerbaijan from Georgia we were told that they would give us three days to reach the capital Baku where customs would impound our bikes in case we sold them. How would we then ride around the world? This is a country of 2 halves in very many ways. The incredibly corrupt official half and the genuine and friendly general population. The west of the country that is lush, green with great roads and the east which is brown, dry, barren with tracks pretending to be roads. The poor majority who drive around in their Ladas and the oil rich few who need desparately to show that they have money and so buy ridiculously big cars and where the very latest in gaudy fashion. The lovely and genuine old buildings and the brand new constructon that are all trying and failing to look old.
After desparately trying to find a hotel in Baku we got one of the most expensive there was in the Old City. It was fun getting them to reduce the price by a third. The next morning there was a note on the bikes from 2 ex-pats. Phyllis and Ben who were also bikers and invited us to get in touch with them. As a result we are staying in their house whilst they are taking part in a Hash House Harriers event in Armenia. How trusting is that? We even went to a Hash party in their place and tomorrow we are running a hash. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about then look Hash House Harriers up on the net.
We are off to Turkmenistan by ferry on Monday so wish us luck with getting in otherwise we may be sat on the docks in No Mans Land unable to go into Turkmenistan or back to Azerbaijan because our visa for here has expired.
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