20 18 Caucasus (1) Baku-Dubai in Caucasus

Originally, I planned to travel to Belarus and Baltic countries after traveling in Poland and Ukraine, but my wife was worried that it would be too cold to go to northern Europe in May 438+10, so she changed to the south, and finally chose Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. It took a little thought to arrange the itinerary of these three countries. Finally, the first stop is Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, which is known as Dubai in the Caucasus. First, there are direct flights to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Second, if you go to Georgia and Armenia first, it will be difficult for you to enter Azerbaijan because of the tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Georgia was chosen as the last stop because there are many flights from its capital Tbilisi to Europe, which is convenient for us to return to Britain after our trip.

Baku, like Stalingrad, was once a strategic place where the Soviet Union and Germany fought to the death in World War II. In July, 1942,160,000 German troops went south along the Don River, of which 15000 was an oil worker, aiming at seizing Baku oil field. At that time, 70% of the Soviet oil was produced here, and the occupation of Baku oil field was equivalent to choking the lifeline of the Soviet Union. If Hitler had succeeded, the whole history of World War II might have been rewritten. Of course, history cannot be assumed.

During the Soviet period, Azerbaijan and Russia were the only two republics that did not need central financial subsidies because of their abundant oil resources. Now Baku oil field has become a thing of the past, and oil resources have gradually dried up after decades of exploitation. Before the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the oil production here only accounted for about 10% of the whole Soviet Union. But for a country with a population of only 654.38+0,000 million, it is enough for them to live a good life. Among the three Caucasus countries, Azerbaijan is now the richest, and its per capita GDP is nearly twice that of Georgia and Armenia.

2018101On October 20th, we flew from Kiev to Baku. As soon as we arrived at the pick-up hall, we saw the hotel staff holding a sign to pick us up. This is a new terminal building in Baku, which is luxurious and modern. The overpass on the airport expressway is unique and striking.

It takes about 40 minutes to drive to the hotel in the old town. This time, there is no voter accommodation. The main consideration is to stay in Baku for only one night, which is convenient for the hotel to store and retrieve luggage so as to make full use of it the next day. The hotel is not big, and the young man who received it is fluent in English, warm and friendly, and offered to help us with our luggage. We tipped him, but he refused to accept it. He also gave us a local map and circled the main scenic spots around for us. The warm and thoughtful service of this young man left a good impression on us.

Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is located on the seaside and is divided into new city and old city. The existing pattern of the old city was formed after the Silwangsha dynasty established its capital in the12nd century. As we live in the old city, we have time to stroll around the old city on the first day and the second day. The streets in the old city are paved with stones, bright and clean. Except for a few main streets, most streets are narrow alleys. Shuttling through it is like walking in a maze. Fortunately, I can see the wall not far away and I won't get lost. The houses on both sides of the street are not high, mostly two or three floors, and many buildings have carved balconies in Ottoman Turkish style. Houses are mainly residential, with occasional hotels, restaurants, shops and mosques. The old city is very quiet, and almost no cars pass by. Most pedestrians on the road are tourists. The city wall is intact and well maintained.

Passing an unknown old house, there is a lion's head painted on the wall. I saw a large group of people in the tour group listening to the tour guide in front. I'm curious about the story in this old house, but unfortunately I can't understand what he said.

Sirvan Sand Palace in the old city is the main historical building in Baku, which was listed as a world cultural heritage in 2000. /kloc-After the earthquake in Shamaji in the 20th century, King Silvan moved the capital from Shamaji to Baku and built a palace there.

The palace complex consists of three courtyards with nine buildings, including palaces, courts, mosques and mausoleums. The palace is small in scale, mainly displaying some archaeological relics and some palace daily necessities. We took a casual look and found it boring. We came out in less than half an hour.

There are some traditional small shops on both sides of the streets in the old city, with various bronzes, silverware and carpets at the door. These shops are very similar to those we have seen in other Muslim countries such as Egypt and Turkey.

There are some ancient sites and some unearthed stone tablets in the ancient city. I don't know if it was not introduced or we didn't find it. Anyway, there is no way to know their age and origin. Locals don't seem to take them seriously, but simply use them to dry carpets.

The famous Maiden Tower is located in the east of the old city, near the Caspian Sea. It is a part of the palace complex built in 12 century, and was listed as a world cultural heritage in 2000. The whole tower is 27 meters high and has eight columns. It looks very strong and should be an ancient fortification. 1304, a major earthquake occurred in Baku, and many surrounding houses were razed to the ground, but the Maiden Tower still stood tall.

There are many different versions of stories about the origin of the name of Maiden Tower on the Internet. One of them is about a rich girl falling in love with a poor boy. The girl's father disagreed and forced her to break up with the man. The girl refused, and her father confined her to the tower. In order to show her loyalty to love, the girl swallowed her anger and jumped into the rough Caspian Sea from the tower, and the young man jumped into the sea after knowing it. These beautiful love stories can't be found, and they are passed down from mouth to mouth among the people, expressing their pursuit and yearning for love freedom.

There is a quiet small park in the old city with an Islamic pavilion inside. There is a statue of human head in the garden, which looks like meditation. Maybe a philosopher.

The west gate of the old city is a street with European buildings on both sides. There are statues of people between buildings. I went to have a look, and it was engraved with a name written in English. I looked it up online. On the left are local poets and philosophers, and on the right are chemists.

Out of the north gate of the old city, you will arrive at the Fountain Square. In the center of Fountain Square is the famous Azerbaijani poet nizami G? nc？ There are many famous buildings around the statue of VI, such as Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences and Azerbaijan Literature Museum. There are many theaters, shops and restaurants around the square. The square is connected with the pedestrian street, and we will pass here every time we travel.

At noon, we ate in an online celebrity restaurant on the pedestrian street outside the old city, which is called cellar restaurant online. We ordered stewed mutton. The mutton here is tender, juicy and delicious. The liquid in the cup looks like wine, but it is actually pomegranate juice. The pomegranate juice here is not astringent and delicious.

Cross the pedestrian street and cross the underground passage to the seaside avenue. The floor of the passage is covered with marble, spotless, the walls on both sides are beautifully carved, and the passage has an automatic trail similar to the airport. This is the most luxurious underground passage I have ever seen.

Baku Haibin Avenue is a long corridor parallel to the Caspian Sea, which was recently named as a national park. There are many landmark buildings along Haibin Avenue, and this shopping center looks like a crown from a distance.

You can see Flame Towers, the tallest skyscraper in Baku, on Haibin Avenue. It consists of three buildings with elegant flame curves. The fa? ades of the three towers are covered with LED display screens, which reflect the blue sky and white clouds during the day and the surrounding buildings like mirrors. After nightfall, it is like three burning flames, showing Baku people's worship of fire.

We walked along the Caspian Sea from west to east, and a cool sea breeze blew head-on, which was breathtaking. The afterglow of the sunset reflects the buildings in the distance, showing rainbow-like colors.

There is a section of Haibin Avenue where a photo exhibition is being held to show the scenery of all parts of Azerbaijan.

At dusk, Binhai Avenue is quiet and quiet, with few pedestrians, so it is very comfortable to walk in it.

It is getting late. We went back to the hotel from Binhai Avenue and passed the Fountain Square. We saw several fountains particularly gorgeous under the light.

10 2 1 I signed up for a half-day tour online in the morning and was told to wait at the subway station in the old city. I didn't expect to see the tour guide for a long time after the appointment. I thought there was a mistake at the meeting place, and then I met several other tourists waiting there, only to know that the guide stood me up. Traveling in more than a dozen countries in eastern Europe, it was the first and only time I encountered such a thing, which was quite disappointing. So we took the subway to Aliyev Cultural Center instead.

When we arrived at the subway station, we found that our two subway cards needed to be recharged on the ticket vending machine. We don't know how to operate them. We happened to meet a group of girls aged 15 and 16 coming over and asking them for advice. Who knows that they directly handed us two prepaid subway cards, and we have to give them money. They smiled and shook hands, then said goodbye and entered the subway station. I heard that the people here are hospitable before I came here, and I experienced it for myself this time.

Baku subway is as bottomless as many subways in former Soviet countries. It is said that it has a history of more than 50 years, but it is well maintained and the subway cars are quite new.

Geidar aliyev Cultural Center was built on 20 12, and its plot is a tank factory abandoned by the former Soviet Union. The Azerbaijani government hopes that this new building complex can wash away the imprint of the former Soviet Union and show the vitality of a modern city. In 2007, the Azerbaijani government held an international design competition for cultural centers. Zaha Hadid, a famous architect, won the championship with his futuristic scheme, which landed on the ground like a spaceship and became an award-winning scheme. Zaha is an Iraqi-born British female architect. Her works include Milan Glass Tower, Dubai Dance Building, Beijing Yinhe SOHO Complex, Nanjing Youth Olympic Center and Guangzhou Grand Theatre.

This brand-new cultural facility includes a conference center, a museum, a library and a large square park. It was named after the third president of Azerbaijan, Kirdar Aliyev.

The shape of the whole building is streamlined and dynamic, like a flowing cloud. The shape of the building changes with the observer's position and perspective. When I came to the scene, I couldn't help admiring the designer's creativity beyond ordinary people's imagination. This design won the 20 14 design award of London Design Museum.

It is reported that this building is covered with flexible glass fiber concrete and glass fiber reinforced polyester on the steel skeleton as the skin of the panel material. Each panel has a different geometric shape, which is expensive. Azerbaijan is really willing to pay for this building.

The square outside the cultural center is very big, and many local people rest and entertain here. There are many animal sculptures in the square, and a row of large and small snail sculptures caught our attention. The sculpture is very lifelike, and the bright red color is very gorgeous. Adjacent to the Cultural Center is Baku Convention and Exhibition Center, where the 20 19 World Heritage Conference was held. There are many beautiful new residential buildings around the cultural center.

It is said that the Azerbaijani government has learned from Dubai's successful experience, hoping to turn Baku into another Dubai, shake off the shadow of the Soviet Union by building a large number of landmark buildings, and display a brand-new national image, thus attracting foreign investment and tourists and changing the country's economic structure dependent on oil. It can be said that Azerbaijan has achieved great success in this regard. We saw many modern buildings with unique designs in Baku, which brought vitality to this ancient city and won it the reputation of Dubai in the Caucasus.

65438+1October 2 1 In the evening, we arrived at the railway station. It was still early, so we wandered around the railway station. There is a big square in front of the railway station and a big shopping mall next to it. We went in and took a look. There are many shops, and there are also many world-famous brand stores, and all kinds of goods are dazzling. The consumption level here is the highest among Caucasian countries.

Baku Railway Station is small and modern. There is no need for security check when entering the station, and no one checks in. There are not many people in the waiting hall and all kinds of facilities are complete. It's comfortable to wait here.

There is also a high-speed train running at Baku Railway Station. The double-decker train in Byaku Shiki in the picture below is a high-speed train.

The following photo shows the ordinary train from Baku to Biris, similar to the green leather train in China. The train leaves at 9:50 pm and arrives at 10:30 the next morning. Each first-class berth ticket is about RMB in 250 yuan. We bought it online and got on the train with printed tickets. The carriage is more comfortable than the domestic four-person soft sleeper. There is no bunk bed, just the two of us in a box with a TV in it. We slept soundly in the car that night, and didn't wake up until the train arrived at the border at five o'clock the next morning and someone got on the bus to check the documents. Georgia's here!