Azerbaijan

I was suppose to go to Azerbaijan for a week, but I messed up my visa (no matter what anyone tells you, you must be out of Azerbaijan no later than the "valid until" date) so I had to leave early. I spent most of my two days there on a train to Baku, then trying to find a way to extend my visa, and finally trying to find a way to leave so Sarah and I didn't have to pay a collective fine of ~$1000. I took three pictures there. This is one of them.

Here's a picture of our room on the train. Not too shabby.

Some pictures I didn't take: Yanar Dag is a perpetually burning fire near Baku. Azerbaijan's GDP octupled in the last 15 years due to the massive reserves of oil and natural gas located within its borders. There are a couple of natural gas fires like Yanar Dag that never stop burning.

Azerbaijan seems to want to turn Baku into a city like Doha or Dubai. They recently completed these flame towers that dominate the skyline.

I stayed in Old Town, where the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Maiden Tower, is located. Built in the 12th century, legend has it a father wanted to marry his beautiful daughter. The daughter, to stall the wedding demanded he build her a tower. Once it was completed, she threw herself off the tower. If I were the Azeris, I might make up a different story for my main cultural landmark.

The other picture I took was of Novruz celebrations. Novruz is the Persian holiday (Azerbaijan and Persian history are closely intertwined) that celebrates the New Year and the coming of spring. People jump over burning fires and make wishes, and parade giant puppets and standards representing the four elements through the streets.

This is the official Novruz, uh, grass patch. I saw it everywhere in Baku.

New Apartment

Sarah and I recently moved into a new apartment.

We also hosted a creative writing competition at my school last week.

Slesa Fortress

Slesa Fortress (also known as Moktseva Fortress) stands on two hills overlooking the Mtkvari River three miles north of Atskuri.

The backside of the fortress.

Slesa Fortress was built in the 10th and 11th centuries, but its only recorded history concerns its defense against the Ottoman invasion of Georgia in the 16th century.

Slesa had two "deaf" towers: towers that have no doors or windows. From this picture you can see the Ottomans still found a way in.

Like Atskuri Fortress, Slesa was placed as strategically as possible: it is located next to the main road and river leading to Tbilisi on the highpoint in the valley.

There were a couple of storage holes located around the fortress.

I dug in them for a couple of minutes and found some pottery shards.

There was a monument next to the fortress, but I'm not sure what it's for.

I found a set of bull horns and a sharpened stone, possibly an arrowhead, at Slesa.

Mtskheta

Mtskheta is the spiritual capital of Tbilisi. Christianity was declared the state religion of Georgia here in 337. The town served as the capital of the ancient Georgian Kingdom of Iberia, and at times served as the capital of Eastern Georgia when Tbilisi was under threat. The town now serves as the headquarters of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and the town itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, or the Living Pillar Cathedral, was built in the 11th century, and is still the second biggest church in Georgia. Christ's mantle is supposedly buried here.

We saw a baptism and a wedding while we were in the cathedral.

I'm not sure why there is a zodiac in the church.

There is a miniature version of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in the cathedral.

Jvari Monastery, or Monastery of the Cross, was built in the 6th century.

The view of Mtskheta from Jvari Monastery was something to behold.

Now here's a door I wouldn't want to open.

Tbilisi Tangent Time: What were the citizens of Tbilisi protesting on March 9, 1956? Georgians idolized Stalin, and they were horrified when Khrushchev denounced Stalin and began de-Stalinization. This plaque commemorates the violent dispersal of a peaceful pro-Stalin rally. Wrap your head around the ethics of that.

Armenian Wedding

My host family's relative got married a few weeks ago, so Sarah and I got to see part of the two days worth of ceremony.

The first day the elders share a drink and agree to the marriage. Then the couple shares a drink and receives gifts of gold.

There is then a feast to celebrate the unification of the two families. This was the first course.

The waiters danced with meat on skewers before serving them.

This traditional Armenian dance involves putting your arms in the air and swaying back and forth. This is a good option if you don't know any of the more complicated Armenian dances, or you are plastered.

The couple's throne

The second day began in my host family's house. The families of the bride and groom must buy their new in-law all of their clothes for the day, so the groom's family brought the bride's dress to our house.

Food and drinks were once again shared by the elders.

The groom's family danced outside before my least favorite wedding tradition: driving the family's cars through town honking and making as much noise as possible. The wedding ceremony and legal proceedings took the entire day.

A couple days later we had a lot of alcohol left over, so we played a traditional Russian drinking game. First, you drink a lot. Then you play a group version of Go Fish; the last person with cards gets a charcoal mark on his face.

There were no survivors.

Ishak Pasha Palace

Ishak Pasha Palace

Ishak Pasha Palace is 6 km outside of Dogubeyazit, a Kurdish city 35 km from the Iranian border with spectacular views of Mount Ararat. We had to travel from Kars to Igdir to find a bus to Dogubeyazit. All the shops in town were closed the last day we were there to honor the three PKK leaders killed in France. This is the view from our hotel room (yes, that's Mount Ararat in the background).

Dogubeyazit was located on the mountain next to Ishak Pasha Palace until the 20th century when it moved into the adjacent valley. All that's left of the old town now is crumbling buildings, a fort, and a couple mosques.

Ishak Pasha Palace was built from 1685-1784 by the Kurdish rulers of the Ottoman Beyazit province.

Milk wouldn't have been my first choice.

Assassin's Creed leap of faith?

Palace Mosque

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