I've been eyeing Azerbaijan as a potential place to do some nature exploring. It looks amazing and seems to have some cool unique things to experience.
How safe is it to travel in Azerbaijan? In general but also specifically sleeping in a tent in the forest?
Any tips on stuff to see or do? Both in nature but I also don't mind spending a few nights in civilization and experiencing some stuff there.
i'm not even Georgian and the choice of pic infuriates me - well done anon
Yeah that's in Northern Georgia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gergeti_Trinity_Church
I’ve posted here before about this, I’ll go again:
> I've been eyeing Azerbaijan as a potential place to do some nature exploring. It looks amazing and seems to have some cool unique things to experience.
stayed in Lerik off season, it’s a resort innawoods. Hirkan National Forest is right on the Iranian border, I saw guards with AKs and fences along the road that took me there, beautiful woods. They talk about Quba and the candy cane cliffs and the mud geysers, never saw those though. The center of the country looked dreary and arid.
How safe is it to travel in Azerbaijan? In general but also specifically sleeping in a tent in the forest?
Very safe, Aliyev makes sure of that. Police might mess with you a bit if you’re nieve, maybe ask a small bribe, but it’s harmless. You can travel SUPER cheap there busses go everywhere in the country
Any tips on stuff to see or do? Both in nature but I also don't mind spending a few nights in civilization and experiencing some stuff there.
Baku gets all the investment, the old city’s comfy and there’s jazz festivals and shit. Lankaran, Lerik, and Astara have tea farms and are mostly resort towns for Russkies (lots of Russkies live there). Sheki has the Palace of Sheki Khans which has a great English speaking guide and its own cuisine, famous for its silk scarves you can give to your female loved ones, I recommend. Ganja is the second biggest city with a good amount of old sites too, as well as the mausoleum of Nizami, their national poet (I got sexually propositioned as a man by a guide there, he wasn’t aggressive though and it was pretty awkward kek)
I can answer other questions the best I can
If you have an Armenian surname they'll reject you at the border
look up transcaucasian trail, anon - they've started trail-building in azerbaijan this year. maybe too late to apply for this season but something to keep in mind for next year.
That looks great. If you have any insights. Do you think doing the trail yourself with a tent would be an issue? From what I've found it looked ok.
Sorry about that, actually not intentional. I just searched for Azerbaijan and picked the first image I saw.
loads of people take the map/route and hike it themselves, the TCT people actively encourage it as a way of getting the locals involved/interested in the project - everything i've heard has only been positive
The Northern regions are nice, but the weather has to be taken really seriously. Not even locals would dare use a tent, you could die if it snows.
Friendly reminder that tents are usually only rated for ambient temperature not for snowfall, many will collapse and if that happens you could die.
I hitched a bit in the country but it was sketchy, general crime isn't unheard of.
Thanks. I've done quite a bit of hiking in the northern parts of Sweden and Norway so snowfall shouldn't be an issue for any of my equipment. That said I'm probably aiming at doing this during spring so hopefully I'll avoid most snow besides at the tops potentially.
I'll probably do a solo trip but as a man so hopefully that will make it easier.
Do you have any ideas on other stuff to see or do? I wouldn't mind staying a bit after the hike to see the country a bit.
Oh also substance abuse is a problem in rural areas, so camping on the fringes of settled areas may be unwise.
Local men suffer mohamedism so solo travel as a woman is unwise, the shiite areas you'll find in the north are better because you won't get that sunni arrab missionary shit
anyone been to nakhchivan?
Going to both Georgia (that place in particular) and Azer soon. Tell me what else there is to do in this entire region than visit a monastery. Like theres gotta be more... right?
Yes it will be very hilly
so hills are the main attraction.... are the woman white?
>so hills are the main attraction.... are the woman white?
Georgians are mostly white:
Azerbaijanis look like this:
Swarthy, but not koksal baba swarthy, I liked em. Almost no one speaks English though, be ready for that, there are escorts there
Their government is evil as fuck. If you are not a radical turk/Muslim you should not support their government. They hired tourists a while ago to say how nice some of their recently occupied territory is. Look up the Artsakh blockade and Ramil Safarov.
go to georgia, its easier to travel around in and has more beautiful landscapes
keep your shit in r/armenia please shill