Adventure of the month

Azerbaijan, country #140, genuinely caught me by surprise. Repeatedly. It's not like I went in unprepared. Naturally, I did a fair amount of research. I obtained my e-visa , which was super easy, booked a hostel and signed up for a couple of tours- all before setting foot in Baku. It's just that what I had seen created a certain expectation. I imagined this was going to be very Uzbekistan-ish. Silk road ancient city with formidable walls, teeny tiny lanes and historic buildings possibly housing souvenir shops. And to be fair, that version definitely exists. I covered a lot of it on my first day, thanks to a wonderful free walking tour , which I actually tried to cancel when I realized I was the only attendee. Thankfully, Nijat, the guide insisted and gave me both necessary context and helpful hints for my next few days.  The thing is there is another side to the capital city which had become apparent on the bus ride from the airport into the old town. On that short drive, I sa...