Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Roberth Nordin
09.05 I woke up and had a shower. It is all quiet in the apartment and from outside I can hear a thumping sound. It might be someone that is hammering. Today we will see our temporary home town in day light. We will take some photos and buy some things. I don’t know what we will take pictures of or buy.
Our "home street" in Baku.
10.30 We just had breakfast. Roberth has left for a new live report on internet. Christer is in the shower and I am sitting down writing this. An exciting day awaits us.
10.50 Still no sign of Roberth. We just had two less smart ideas. First I suggested we should phone Roberth. Soon we realised the weak part in that idea. First of all, his cell phone is here in the apartment. Second, it still has no connection. Christer came up with the idea that we should phone the police if Roberth doesn’t return. We should tell them that we are looking for a Caucasian which is the term for white skinned person. But it is also the name of the people in this region Caucasus.
Nizami street.
Christer by the Caspian Sea.
The Azeri flag and the TV tower.
11.38 Roberth came back without help from phone or police. We gathered up and went outside. Now we are at the beach walk by the Caspian Sea. Next to me is a huge Azeri flag waving. It is at Azneft Square. It is time to check up where to head next.
12.07 It is time for some coffee at the cosy café Chocolate in the Old Town. Here they play music and blow warm air.
12.47 Roberth and I ordered a "Stambul sandwich", rolled, soft, thin bread filled with chicken, tomatoes, plum, nuts and something else. Christer choose something more classic, an apple pie. Once again time for apple.
Old narrow streets and a strange pink door in Baku old town.
Maiden tower
A salesman is showing something interesting.
The big chicken at Fountain square watching Roberth.
13.53 We left the café after we had paid. We walked along among the views. We took pictures of Maiden’s Tower, the city wall, Ismailia palace and the Nizami museum. Now we bought postcards which we are about to write. We are back in the apartment.
15.47 We went to the Shirvanshah palace in the Old Town. We had managed to miss it during the mornings walk. There we were asked by three people if it was ok if they filmed us entering the palace. We said it was and we had to get inside two times before they were pleased. We think we are a part of a documentary. Where will it be shown and who will watch it? Now we are inside the mausoleum. Plenty of stone and not much furniture here.
The mosque at Shirvanshah Palace.
Going down
16.57 We walked around the palace area and saw a lot. We saw the mosque and crawled inside a dark tomb chamber. After that we went downtown again and entered a book store. There Roberth bought two CD:s. Now we are at the restaurant Davet in City Centre mall. We have ordered a lahmaçun each, a local form of pizza.
Taking a look at the shopping opportunities.
18.53 Due to some misunderstanding (three persons, not pizzas). We got not one but three lahmaçun each. Thin bread covered with minced meat. It was tasty but not so satisfying. It eased the built up hunger. After that we walked on and entered another mall, MUM. While Roberth bought more CD:s Christer and I saw a short old man carrying a huge TV in a box on his shoulder. We were reminded that Azerbaijan is a nation of weightlifters and wrestlers. We left MUM to find a new grocery store. The one we found had plenty of groceries but also high prices. Everything was imported and it seems to be a shop for foreigners. On our way home we entered another store. There you pointed on the bread you wanted. The lady behind the counter informed a lady in the cashier about the purchase. You paid to the cashier lady and received a receipt to be shown to the first lady (not Mrs Bush). She took the receipt and passed the bread. As I was to buy some instant coffee I took my jar and walked on in the store. That was the wrong thing to do. The right thing to do was to go to the cashier, not the one for bread, before one could carry on. Now we walked home trying to avoid puddles, heavy rain and wind. Now the call for prayer just ended.
20.22 The rain keeps pouring down. We don’t mind that at all right now. We are sitting down and watching TV. There are plenty of channels to choose from. Right now we are watching basketball from Dubai. Earlier we have seen a laughing and coughing Buddhist monk who spoke/lectured on DMC TV. What other channels might we have?
21.51 We jumped between puddles and raindrops out in the streets. Both Roberth’s and mine umbrella has converted into parabolic antennas but has been forced back into their regular duties. Now we are sitting in a cellar vault in the restaurant Nargiz. It is in the Fountain Square and our agent recommended it. Here we are about to order red beet soup as first course and "lula kebab" as main course. Lula kebab was eaten by us for the first time in an Armenian restaurant in Wroclaw in Poland 2003. We hope it will be just as delicious this time.
Late dinner at the restaurant "Nargiz".
22.37 Roberth and I ordered a second beer each. Our glasses were filled and the last third of one of the bottles ended up in Christer´s glass. The staff is running around here.
23.40 Roberth left a new report on the internet. After that we went home, to our place. Now we will gather up and prepare for tomorrow. We are planning to buy something more and also try using the metro. On the TV we have seen further channels. Among them channels from Sudan, Jordan, Qatar, Libya, Nepal and Armenia.
09.23 I woke up again. My travel pals are still sleeping. Outside it is still blowing strong winds but the rain has stopped. The second and last day in Baku is here.
10.29 Roberth has left us for his duties, Christer has entered the shower and I sat down in front of the TV to write this down. Soon we will join again to explore new areas
Roberth taking photos of policemen when they can´t see him
11.50 We have walked eastbound on the pedestrian street Nizami and now it is time for lunch at restaurant Istanbul-2. As we entered we shook hands with the host/owner and he greeted us welcome. He introduced himself and it sounded like the German city "Mannheim". We assume that we heard wrong. All three of us have ordered a shish kebab. With them we will have bread, salad and Cola. The latter two just came.
12.56 We are trying to ride the metro. Roberth has bought a four ride card for 2.20 manat. There are many who are travelling with the metro. We left from Sahil station just next to our lunch place.
13.11 We went three stations before we went up above ground. It is a slight feeling of suburb here. We are resting on a bench in a park by the station Narimanov, named after the revolutionary Nariman Narimanov whose silvery head is here in form of a statue. He as so many others died under mysterious circumstances during Stalin’s reign
13.30 Roberth has tried to buy some perfume to his wife. The deal was off since the salesman wanted payment in dollars. What the lady in the ticket counter at the metro wanted we don’t know. She charged 0.10 manat from Christer and nothing for me. We got waved away and passed the turnstile. A local guy used his card to let us pass. Is it impossible to buy a single ticket here?
The "electric railway station" from 1926.
The metro station "28 May".
The café (or teahouse) Togrul.
13.40 We went out and upstairs at the station "28 May". We followed the crowd, passed the booth where the lady guarding the escalator sits, up the escalator and up above ground.
13.55 We are now at Café Togrul having coffee in small glasses similar to the once for Turkish tea. To eat we are offered a sliced Snickers, odd. The coffee tastes odd as well.
14.48 We are back in the centre. We made a short stop in a park to cool off our feet before we went to another mall. Roberth has bought some perfume, Christer and I have exchanged money and right now Roberth is buying yet another CD. It wasn’t coffee in the glasses before, it was tea. We have reached this conclusion after consulting our guide book. It said that "Café Togrul" is a teahouse. Logic? Christer has also bought a CD. It cost him 5 manat, about $ 5.60
Roberth shopping azeri music.
Streetlife in central Baku.
Roberth looking for a gift for his daughter Alva.
15.40 On our way home we went inside more stores among them Romaska Market to buy different things such as tea, candy and Azeri brandy. At Fountain Square we met our agent Marina and spoke with her for a while. Now as we have returned home we are making plans for our last hours here. Next thing to do is making coffee. This time it is real coffee. We will make it from the instant coffee I bought yesterday.
17.11 Some new plans are set. We are just relaxing. The phone just rang here. I answered it but the line was dead. As it rang once more Roberth answered. A short conversation followed but it was the wrong number, or?
18.39 We left our home and our paths once again parted for a while and new adventures happened. Christer and I saw new parts of the town and found a place where we might have dinner. We carried on to a souvenir shop. The owner almost tipped over his shelves in his eager to show us all he got. He offered things of glass, hand made small rugs, old coins and bills and a whole lot more. We bought a thing each and got a Soviet medallion and a pin for free. The souvenir man started to talk about ice hockey as he heard that we were from Sweden. Roberth aimed for “his” Internet café but stopped at a crowd of people. Everyone there looked at a girl at the age of about three who was crying. Suddenly the tiny girl pointed at Roberth and cried even more. Facing the fact that he might meet the police or an angry mob made Roberth escape it all. Now we are reunited at Ayli Geca café. I am having piva (beer) and my friends are drinking çay (tea).
Rasulzade street, Baku.
19.17 Roberth visited the same souvenir shop Christer and I just visited. He bought some more perfume to his wife. It was mixed there on the spot and delivered in a glass shoe. Now we are looking at some trees that are decorated with lights in different colours.
19.48 We’ve just sat down at the restaurant Köhna Baki (Old Baku). We have ordered soup as a start and also a main course. We are sitting in a cellar vault of the same kind as yesterday. Fact is that we are in the same building. The waiter was controlled by a lady as he took our orders. Maybe he´s a trainee?
19.55 The waiter just informed us that the beer we ordered isn’t possible to get. He recommended Miller, something all Englishmen usually drink. We said thanks but no thanks. But.. he said, we had an Englishman here and he drank four bottles of Miller! We changed the order to a familiar Azeri beer, Xirdalan. As this was written he poured us the beer, still under strict observation.
21.20 We got our food, wild boar kebab for Christer. The house speciality Köhna Baki for Roberth and me. This dish consisted of filled, fried pieces of meat with the name of the dish sprayed onto them. It reminded us of Gordon Bleu. The soups were delicious and the dishes quite satisfying. On our way home we made a stop and Christer went to buy something to drink. Suddenly I thought I heard someone asking me for a cigarette, in Swedish! I assumed that I had heard wrong, thought I heard a Swedish sentence as something was said in Azeri or Russian. Then a guy asked me, in Swedish if I was from Sweden or Norway? It turned out that he had lived in Stockholm but got fed up with Sweden and moved back home. Now we are about to pack the final things and clean up as good as possible. Soon shower and sleep because it will be an early morning.
Beautiful trees showing Roberth beneath them.
03.33 All of us are awake. In less than half an hour we will be heading for the airport. The long journey home has begun.
05.12 Marina came and picked us up and we were driven to the airport. During the trip through a deserted Baku we saw a lot of stray dogs. It seems that the cats control the central parts and the dogs rule the suburbs. It might have something to do with the amount of cars. At the airport we said thanks and bye to Marina and her driver. After that we went inside and got “help” to fill in some customs paper by a young guy/man. He wanted a bill, preferably Swedish as salary and Christer gave him 20 Swedish kronor. The guy and his friend wanted to know how much it was worth in dollars and we told him that it was around three US-dollars. After that our luggage was X-rayed, we checked in, we passed the passport control and the security check by the gate. I had to open my backpack and show my harmless jar of coffee. Now we are at gate 1 and wait to board the plane to Moscow.
05.19 There is a crowd of people by the security control. A gentleman has brought with him lots of bottles in his hand luggage. It seems to be shampoo, conditioner and similar things. These bottles have been put in a white plastic bag with letters saying something like security. I guess it will be returned to him as they land.
05.40 Ok, here I am seated in an airplane again. It is to be exact number 14A on this Airbus Industrie A320-100/200. The moment has come to say good bye and see you later? to Baku and Azerbaijan.
05.42 We set our watches for Moscow time and just had breakfast. Today it was bread, juice, coffee, pancakes filled with banana, nuts and chocolate sauce, yoghurt and a small cookie to the coffee. It was really tasty. Outside the dawn is here and the moon shines down on a bed of clouds. As we left Baku the lights of the city looked like burning coal.
07.39 We started to descend towards Moscow. I hope we will make it. I don’t want to fly to another airport for waiting.
RUSSIA
08.32 The landing went smoothly. As we got inside a young man guided us to an office. The people there took care of our tickets and told us to be back at 12.30 for our boarding cards. Now we will get acquainted with the airport and have ourselves some lunch.
09.22 We went upstairs to a restaurant. We have ordered Kiev pork chop and Coca Cola.
11.06 Not a huge piece of food but it was tasty. After the meal we kept exploring the far from pleasant area between the check in desks and the gates. The only thing it has to offer are restaurants, cafés and countless rows of tax free stores. Right now Christer and I are sitting down and relax. Roberth got fed up with the easy life and went for a stroll. I must admit that I feel a bit drowsy.
11.57 Christer and I almost fell asleep where we sat. We got up and searched for our wandering friend. Now the three of us are sitting at Café Robinson. We are tired and worn. It could be because of the damp air, cigarette smoke, perfume, lack of caffeine or the early morning? We are having a cup of coffee each. Within half an hour we will return to that office to get the boarding cards. After that remains some more hours of waiting.
12.30 We are in the office at 12.30 sharp. Here we sit in a leather couch and wait for our boarding cards and passports.
Happy but tired travellers waiting in Moscow.
13.05 Passports and boarding cards are handed over to us. We will embark the plane in fortyfive minutes and take off in one and a half hour. We’ve seen others who seem to have waited for longer than that. They brought with them mattresses, blankets and lots of belongings in boxes. Do they live here or is this their way of travelling?
13.40 We passed the security control. A confusing place for sure. I had just removed my shoes and my friends were about to. Suddenly the order came, No shoes! No shoes on the X-ray band that is. My friends kept their shoes on. I got the harsh order, Put shoes in box! Christer was sent back by a security man. The man wanted Christer to remove his shoes for X-raying. Two chairs left of me a Georgian man is sitting. He is national coach for the archery biathlon team?! Does such a sport really exist? We are once more by gate 8.
14.00 We are onboard for today’s second flight. This time it will actually be with the company that we booked our tickets from, Air Baltic. Our destination this time is Riga.
14.13 Time once more to set the time, one more flight and one more meal. This time we will have hot soup with croutons and a ham- and cheese sandwich. We are in the economy class so we have to pay for the meal. The prices are reasonable though.
LATVIA
15.18 We are back at Riga airport. Now we´ve got three hours before we carry on with our journey home. This is for sure a long day.
16.43 Since the last note I have missed, looked for and found my train ticket to Sundsvall. Now we checked in and just had a meal at yet another place in the LIDO corporation. The airport restaurant doesn’t hold the same class as Alus Seta and Dzirnavas but it was tasty and eased our hunger.
Roberth having dinner at Riga airport.
17.43 We are once more by a gate. B6 is the name of this one here at Riga airport. Christer and I have bought some Black Balzam, Latvian herbal liqueur for ourselves and as a gift. http://www.balzams.lv/html/eng/28880.php. Soon it is time to board today’s third airplane and fly with the third company. This time it will be Ryanair.
17.57 Soon we will take off for the third time in fourteen hours. This is the final one. It seems long ago since we got up from our Baku beds.
17.31 We’ve set our watches for the third and final time today. Next time we´re landing it will be on Swedish soil and on the airport calling itself "Stockholm Skavsta" even though it is 1½ hour by bus southwest from Stockholm.
SWEDEN
18.33 Here we are waiting for a bus that will take us into Nyköping. Soon our travelling is over.
22.36 After we had pizza for dinner we made a short train trip from Nyköping there no grocery store or kiosks were open, to Norrköping. On the train Christer and I had to share compartment with some girls in their teens. They discussed their thighs and all the clothes they bought. As we were about to search for a shop in Norrköping Roberth said that all the stores would be closed here as well. "Stalin wasn’t displeased, he was happy and pleased”! said a local duffer. Did he misunderstood what Roberth said or? We went to a petrol station and met another peculiar man. He claimed that we were students who didn’t have any exam to prepare for. He said that it was great to relax at home with a beer. He finally claimed that we must have been ice hockey players. We left the petrol station as quickly as possible and as we were about to enter the train we met a man coming out of the train. He asked us where we were. I told him that this is Norrköping. Are you sure about that?, the man replied. Is it the yearly convention for all fools here in Norrköping or what?
05.20 The first fool, he with the Stalin talk was going with our train and in our compartment. He was on his way to Roberth’s home areas. He played poker, discussed and drank with some men from southern Sweden. The man who had asked if it really was Norrköping was a part of this gang. On Stockholm’s Central station the Stalin fan suddenly got off but soon came back saying that he had realised that no longer lived there. The gentlemen left leaving trash and vomits behind. We travelled on and are now back in Christer´s apartment. Our friend Roberth is going on through the night towards Östersund.
When it comes to riding the metro in Baku the fare is 0.05 manat. What Roberth paid for was a chargeable card for 2 manat and 4 trips for 0.2 manat. Christer paid 0.10 for himself and me.
The persons we saw at the airport in Moscow could be refugees. They had apparently been there for almost a year. They are waiting for a better future somewhere.
Archery biathlon is a sport. http://archerybiathlon.org/
One of the bottles of brandy that Christer bought in Baku as a gift didn’t make it home. He knows that he packed it down but as he was unpacking it wasn’t there. Some thirsty Russian in Moscow where the bags waited for six hours is probably guilty.
You can see 96 photos from March 6 in this photoalbum.
You can see 69 photos from March 7 in this photoalbum.
You can see 13 photos from March 8 in this photoalbum.