Arriving in Baku

How did Marko and I decide to spend our vacation in the Caucasus? Last year we were in the eastern part of Turkey and were wondering what it might be like across the border, further east. And one thing led to another and before I knew it we had airplane tickets on Turkish airlines through Istanbul to Baku, Azerbaijan and return from Tbilisi, Georgia.

It started when we checked in at the airport in Slovenia. The lady at the counter read and re-read our destination and finally had to ask, where is this Baku anyway? Are you really going there? What will you do there? Do you have a visa? Is it safe? I have to say it is slightly creepy when the people at the airport have never heard of the destination where you are going. But I guess not many people travel from Slovenia to Azerbaijan.

We spent the first night in Istanbul at the same place we stayed last year and it felt nice that the staff actually remembered us. The next morning we continued our journey to Baku. We need a visa for Azerbaijan that is issued at the airport. It all went smoothly without any complications. We did not have a hotel reservation in Baku because it is not possible to book budget hotels online so we just picked something out of the Lonely Planet guide and asked a taxi driver to take us there. He obviously knew that we did not have a reservation so he offered to take us somewhere else, in the same area and within the same price range. It was all the same to us and I guess he made a nice commission for bringing us there.


The Maiden tower is the most famous attraction in Baku and it was very close to our hotel so it was the first place where we wandered. We climbed to the top for the views of the whole area, the port on the Caspian sea, the Old city and beyond it the newer parts of the city. We noticed that the new buildings that are being built are not all glass and modern but rather built in a way that blends in with the existing architecture and the yellowish stone of the Old city buildings. Thus it is hard to tell where the old part of the city ends and the new begins and the magic of the old city seems to be more preserved.



The language in Azerbaijan is Azeri, but most everyone also speaks Russian. No English. We speak English but no Russian. So communication was interesting, at least at the beginning.

Our hotel did not serve breakfast so we had to find something to eat the first morning. We asked the lady at the reception who spoke a few words of English mixed with Russian and hand signs for a suggestion and she pointed down the street where we should turn left and there we will see a Cafe sign. We followed her directions and found the place with stairs that led to the basement and we went in. There was no one there but the owner happily came over from across the street.

We managed to convey that we were there to eat and he produced some menus. In Azeri. OK, forget the menus. We tried to explain that we wanted breakfast which I am not sure whether he understood but he excitedly offered us chicken. This we understood because the Russian word for chicken is the same as the Slovenian word for chicken and because he also demonstrated a chicken cackling so this part was now clear. I told him that we want breakfast, not chicken. And he again offered us the chicken with rice. We got the rice part because the word he used was pilaf and that made sense. So once again I shook my head no, I really do not want chicken for breakfast. He seemed a bit distressed but then came up with an offer of kartof. What? We were clueless. He started thinking, probably how to demonstrate, but then he had an idea and went into the kitchen and brought out a pot and showed us the contents: mashed potatoes. That made sense, I know the German word for potatoes is Kartoffel. But I had no intention of eating reheated mashed potatoes so I shook my head no. Now the guy was getting frustrated and he finally offered us grecka, somehow letting us know that that was his final offer and we either take it or go hungry. Once again he brought a pot from the kitchen and we deciphered that grecka is buckwheat, we have it in Slovenia and were surprised that they eat it there as well. So the guy took our expression of recognition of grecka as a yes and was off to the kitchen to prepare our meal for us, the chicken with the buckwheat and some fresh vegetables. All in all the meal was not bad, it is just that I would never have ordered something like that for breakfast. So we seriously needed to learn more Russian. Or find a restaurant with a menu in a language that we could understand.

Home alone

Yesterday I drove Marko to the airport, he has gone on a business trip for two weeks. And this morning I dropped off Matej, he is off on a school trip for a week. So, I am home alone. What to do? Go hiking, of course! Which is easier said than done. The hills and mountains are still white with snow – and this includes the hill behind my house which got a fresh sprinkling a few days ago.

I set off towards the Kamnik Alps, a huge mountain range not too far to the north of Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia. I took my winter clothes, including hat and gloves and was prepared for the conditions so I figured I would just go up as far as I could before the snow devoured me. While driving to the foot of the mountains I had the radio on and they were discussing skiing conditions. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to grow up in this country where it seems that I am the only one who doesn’t ski.

It was actually very nice going up the trail at the beginning, the sun was shining and since I went up the southern slope the snow had mostly melted so it was easy for the first hour or so. After that there was more and more snow the further I went and I finally gave up when I started sinking knee-deep into the snow. I met skiers on the way (obviously, people don’t hike up mountains in the snow, they go there to ski off them!) and I decided it was really time to turn back when I reached a clearing that looked like the aftermath of an avalanche. Enough snow for me today, thank you.

Nanos

I finally gave up on waiting for the snow to melt and some nicer weather to come around to allow me to go hiking. So I had this idea that if I go hiking somewhere in the southwestern part of Slovenia which is closer to the Adriatic seacoast there might be less snow. Thus Marko and I set off towards Nanos, a well known mountain about half way between my home and the seacoast. Catching my first glimpse of Nanos while driving there on the highway and seeing it all white it became obvious that there was no chance that I would be able to avoid snow that day. But since we had already set out to climb the mountain we went forward anyway.

It turned out to be not so bad since the sun was shining most of the way up even though the temperature was close to freezing. As we climbed higher the snow was getting more and more frozen and slippery so it was dangerous going. And at the very top, the last 15 minutes or so it clouded over and a wind was blowing so hard that once again it made me wonder whatever it was that made me go up there in the cold, freezing weather. As usual on such trips, when I finally reached the summit and warmed up in the mountain hut, I was really glad that I made the effort. I got a good dose of the sun and some much overdue exercise.

Cabo Verde

What could possibly be better than to go someplace warm during the cold winter months? The male part of our family chose Cabo Verde islands and I sure did not complain. Sun, beach, sea, palm trees, who could ask for more? A fleet of buzzing mosquitoes during the night and scorching heat during the day hardly affected the relaxing, peaceful atmosphere.


We are not beach enthusiasts so apart from taking a stroll along the sandy beach and a quick swim we spent most of the time exploring the islands. The island of Sal, where we arrived, is very touristy, with numerous hotels, resorts, restaurants and countless touts selling souvenirs. We flew to the capital city of Praia on the Santiago island where we did most of our sightseeing.

Although volcanic in origin the islands are not totally black from the lava as some are covered in lush tropical greenery.


There are some historical sights to see, such as the ruins of the first European settlement in the tropics.


We rented a car and drove the length of the island, all the way up to Tarrafal to spend a day on the beach with locals, no tourists in sight (except us, of course).

The most unusual sight was our visit to the local salt mines where busloads of package tourists were brought to take a swim. I stopped eating salt for the rest of the trip.

Ararat

The second part of our summer vacation was climbing the Ararat mountain. Having climbed Kilimanjaro two years ago I thought that Ararat with about 700 m less height would be easy. What I forgot to take into account is that Kilimanjaro is close to the Equator while Ararat is not therefore it is much colder on Ararat even at a lower altitude.

Climbing Ararat requires a permit and a hired licensed guide. We used a local Turkish trekking agency which took care of all the arrangements. Marko and I joined a group consisting of two French girls, a Norwegian guy and us. We were accompanied by two guides, one of whom also performed the role of cook. Our stuff was carried by horses while we had to drag ourselves up there. Once again, comparing this to my Kilimanjaro experience, this time there were no porters to serve us, put up our tents, bring us coffee in the morning, we had to take care of all of this ourselves.



The expedition started with getting us, our guides and our stuff on a truck that drove us to the start of the trail at an altitude of about 2400 m. There our stuff was placed on horses and we continued on foot to the first camp at about 3300 m. Along the way we stopped for tea at nomadic villages that are scattered on the slopes of the mountain. The locals offered souvenirs to buy and I bought a scarf because I felt I should give them a chance to earn some money as their living must probably be hard. After reaching our camp we spent the rest of the day putting up our tents, resting, taking a short hike up the mountain for acclimatization, eating dinner and getting to sleep early. The lack of oxygen at that altitude was noticeable, at least for me, but I was glad I didn’t feel any other effects - such as a headache - of the altitude.

The next day we continued our trek to the second camp at an altitude of about 4200 m. The distance was not too long but it was considerably colder than the day before and dealing with the lack of oxygen was again a struggle for me. While it was sunny in the second camp, there was a fierce wind blowing which soon forced me to find some warmth inside my tent. The rest of the day was spent resting and getting ready for the summit at night. There are no toilets anywhere along the trails on Ararat and finding a private place to go at that altitude where everything is exposed was quite an adventure. The best thing to do was to either wait until it got dark or to just duck behind a large stone (where everyone else had done the same thing before so it was quite messy).



The final push to the summit started at 2 AM. Only one of our guides was ready to go, the other one decided to sleep in. The guide made tea for us to warm us up and we had a little food although by now the altitude was getting to me and I started feeling a little nauseous. The wind was still blowing and it was literally freezing cold.

We made our way up the mountain where for the first two hours it was still more or less rocky with only occasional patches of snow. It was slow going again for me because of the lack of oxygen and I had to take deep breaths of air between each step. But I made it to the top of the ridge where there was now much more snow on the ground. Before starting the Ararat expedition we were told that we must bring crampons as part of our equipment. It turned out that the crampons were not really necessary, as the slope with snow is not too steep, the snow is frozen and therefore is not wet and slippery and we all had good hiking shoes which made the going safe even without crampons.

It was cold and getting colder. The sun started to come up at around 5 AM giving us magnificent views. The most amazing sight was seeing the shadow of the whole mountain in the morning sun. Although I was very cold and I could hardly feel my fingers and my toes, I managed to fish out my camera from my backpack. And sadly discovered that it wouldn't work, presumably because of the cold. I placed it inside my jacket pocket but obviously because it was so cold I could not sit there and wait for it to warm up. Marko and I continued struggling up the mountain to an altitude of about 4900 m where I decided that I had enough of the cold and of the lack of oxygen and it seemed pointless to continue because it was getting colder and windier by the minute. So we turned around and descended back to the warmth of our down sleeping bags in our tent. The rest of our group made it to the summit and they told us later that it was indeed incredibly windy so they also quickly turned around when they reached the summit.



Returning back to the valley after such an ordeal is always wonderful, as the going is so much easier, the sun was up, it was warm and we all anticipated the return to civilization with a hotel, clean bed and a hot shower.

We spent a few days after the trek sightseeing around the village. The agency that arranged our trip also took us to a place with hot springs where we could bathe in water that looked blue and smelled of sulphur. It felt good to soak in warm water after the expedition.

Istanbul

For this year’s vacation my family decided to visit Turkey. It was our first visit to this country ever and we were thrilled! We were told in advance that the Turkish people are the friendliest people around but it was not just the hospitality that impressed us. We all love places with Asian flavors, such as the busy streets, crazy driving (we didn’t drive but we knew that this was not one of those places we would go by car), bargaining for prices at the bazaars. Of course we visited the most important historical sites of which there seems to be no end, including a few palaces, mosques and museums. We took a boat ride on the Bosphorus and ate the famous fish sandwich in the harbor.



And we made sure we also had enough time to relax, to enjoy the local food, drink Turkish tea, experience the water pipe, shop at the bazaars and mostly just forget about the hectic pace of our jobs and demands of school back home.



Our son Matej only joined us for the Istanbul part of the trip, being eager to return home to spend his last days of summer holidays with his friends. Marko and I continued our Turkey experience in the eastern part of Turkey. Due to the distance of over 1000 km we decided to fly to the city of Van as any other means of transport would have taken us two days in one direction.



Compared to the bustle of Istanbul, which is a very modern city, the eastern part of Turkey is much more remote and thus less touristic and it seems like a world away from everyday life. We based ourselves in Dogubayazit, a small town that serves as the starting point for the Ararat climb. The town is a mixture of the modern with Internet cafes and contemporary shops scattered among more rural street vendors, children carting vegetables to the market, men drinking tea on the streets. Yes, mostly men, not many women are seen on the streets. When the holy month of Ramadan began, the streets were empty as no food or drink is allowed during that time and that includes drinking tea.

Malta

This should actually have been my trip to Morocco. I registered a long time ago to attend a conference in Marrakesh, Morocco and since the location sounded so exotic I knew I had to go. But a few months before the conference the organizers announced that the location of the conference was moved to Malta due to what they cited as unsurmountable bureaucratic difficulties. I have no idea what went wrong during the organizing process although I have a vague sense of how frustrating it must have been trying to get things done on the African continent.

My initial disappointment of not getting to see Morocco was quickly overcome by my eagerness to see Malta where I had never been before and it seemed exciting enough. I was thrilled by the beauty of the small island of Malta where a visitor can see remains of Roman architecture scattered everywhere over the island. And since the island is so small it takes only a half day bus tour to see all the major sights that there are to see. Unfortunately I did not have time to explore the museums, churches and other attractions so I think a week of vacation might be just the right amount of time to see everything and not get bored.

The people of Malta are very friendly, they all speak English since it is a former British colony, their currency is Euro and the country is a member of the European Union which makes it an easy travel destination for us Europeans.