A travel to Azerbaijan (from my desk).

Today I was travelling from a satellite. I was travelling with google earth. of course I had also the help of some pages of travellers, but the help of google earth was great, to feel like if I was on the road.

I tried to check how could be a trip from Istambul until Azerbayan by land (by boat it is also possible, from uzbekistan, and those trips sound really nice, but I havent done today).

Since the begining I knew, as every student who has seen a worldmap, that there are only three ways to reach azerbayan from Turkey: by Georgia, by Armenia, by Iran.

So, I first started my trip as all the trips, in the Embassies asking for visa.

First surprise, no possible to go from Armenia to Azerbayan. There is no open border, as far as I know. I checked with google earth all the small villages in the border and i couldnt see any road trespassing....just some casernes! the war finished, but they continue without any direct relationship!

Second surprise, also no open border between Turkey and Armenia. That's some old thing: I guess since the armenian genocide in Turkey in 1917, they haven't open any border. Again, I was slowly following the all border of Armenia, trying to find a play to cross. there are some roads paralell to the border line, but nowhere that seems to be a check point.

So there is only two possibilities: i have to pass, in my imaginary travel, throught georgia or throught Iran.

The border between Turkey and Iran, I know it. it is close to the city of Dogubayezit, where I spent some wonderful days in 1992. I was there in a nice kurdish hostel and we were invited to an armenian marriage. There I visited the faboulous Izakpashasary, magic in the middle of teh desert, and we even rented some motorbikes for enjoying the roads around Ararat mountain and meet some old people who told us their souvenir from the genocide (they showed us the ruins of a church where 75 years ago many armenian people was burned). I have a nice souvenir of Dogubayezit.

And very close, is the border. By google earth is possible to see the inslations of the checkpoint and many, many trucks making a line to cross. I guess if i wasnt in google earth I would have been waiting longtime for my bus passing here. in the meanwhile I found a pic of the gate in the checkpoint, with a nice picture of Jomenei. The gate is in a valley, surrounded by dry hills full of barbwire and militars. as always, turkish militars have paint big turkish symbols in the earth, probably for making it visible by google earth. I felt happy to sea that somebody has made such a big work for us, the net travellers!!

I pass that border. its easy because in the Iranian Embassy they say that now you can get a visa for one week almost in the moment (normal visa needs one month or more). So I cross. In the iranian side it is the first mosque. that one with veryy brighty roolf.

I past the city of Bazargan. Than I cross Maku, that is like a farwest city, builded in a impressive pass between high rocky mountains. Than I continue travelling inside Iran, throught tabriz, until the coast, looking for the border with Azerbayan. I followed a road until the sea and than I reached Astara . It is funny because Astara are really two cities, both with the same name, each one at one side of the border. Both cities are at the sea side. It is the caspian sea. I arrived to the caspian! It is a very pollued sea. The most dirty in the word. In most of it you cant swimm and actually the seaside it not very well kept, but just because it is so wild, I fond it also nice. it was nice to arrive here.

Over the river that is used as a border there is a bridge. I have always loved the borders that are bridges. It is an old metal bridge. The bridge is mostly Azeri, but there are checkpoints in every side, one from each country.

Here, in the checkpoints, I saw many trucks. Waiting for papers. That is a great signal, that means the border goes fluently.

You can get the visa for Azerbayan in the Airport of Baku (it is expensive, 100 euros!) but nobody knows if you can also get in the land border. I try, and as far as internet is free, i enter in Azerbayan. First step of the travel, reached!

I should notice now that i havent find also any border between Iran and Armenia. Than means that from its four neighbors, Armenia has fighted with all except one. Armenia, by land, can only be reached from Georgia.

From Iran i found a nice border with Nagorno-Karabaj. It is in the city of Jolfa and the border is also a metal withe bridge over the Aras river. there were few trucks also there, so i suppoused that is the way that people fom Azerbayan uses to reach Nagorno-Karabaj: throught Iran! I hope the transit visa of Iran is easy to get!

In anycase, as long as i dont want to come back by the same way, after Azerbayan I will go back to Turkey through Georgia.

There I find a surprise: The border is veryyy close to Marneulli, a city where I made a workcamp in 2002. In Marneulli i was working in a project of integrating azeri and georgian people. Now I see it so close what seems to be a border. I saw a bridge and a river. It is called the red river, but I'm not sure is the right border... I'm confuse. I continue checking and I find a real border really in the north; In lagodekhi, more at the north (very close, too much close, to chechenia already). Here the border is again a birdge over a huge river (first time I liked it, now I start to get bored of bridges) and it is decorated in very old soviet fashion. Doesnt seems as having many cars, but i heard it is the favourite border of people cycling over central asia. I will not, so I go back southwest, to Marneuli and the redbridge.

This bridge, at least, is made in bricks. Seems older and nicer. But here the acumulation of trucks is really incredible. Most of trucks cross by a new bridge a bit upper, but I love the old one, that seems to have been here as a border for many centuries.

I'm lucky because I read that now it is not need anymore to get the Georgian visa in advance. Europeans can get it easily in any border. Good new, because when I came here, it was really hard and slow to get it.

So, i cross the Kura River and I am in georgia.

From here the trip is easier, since the border between georgia and turkey has been easy from many years. Now I want to go to Armenia, but i have been too long in the computeer, so I'll do other day.