We left Uzbekistan and went to Baku.

Original plan was to go through Turkmenistan by train and cross Caspian Sea by boat.

However, the political situation was not stable in this region and the passenger ship seemed to go out of service.

I changed the schedule and moved to Baku by airplane.

1. Three Caucasus countries (or three Kavkaz countries) and Caspian Sea on the Google map.

The information of these countries is found in the address below.

https://ko.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%BA%85%EC%B9%B4%EC%8A%A4_3%EA%B5%AD

And information about Azerbaijan is found in the address below.

https://ko.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%95%84%EC%A0%9C%EB%A5%B4%EB%B0%94%EC%9D%B4%EC%9E%94

2. Before going to Tashkent airport, we took a picture with the owner of the shelter where we stayed at.

3. Tashkent International Airport

4. I could see Caspian Sea from the airplane.

5. Baku is the capital city of Azerbaijan.

The blue dot on the map indicates the central part near old castle.

6. Appearance of Baku in the past

7. The appearance of old streets

8. At a restaurant near railway station in the central part of the city.

After reading the pamphlet of New Silk Road, the workers greet me with smiling.

9. The subway is located very deep, probably 100 meters.

10. On the subway, cute kids looked at my straw hat with curiosity.

I took the chance and took a selfie.

11. Right after getting off the subway, the street looked like this.

12. This old castle is central part of city, and people live inside the castle.

13. Smart phone roaming is not serviced with Korean companies.

I bought 3GB usim chip equivalent to 25,000 Korean Won. This is my new telephone number in Acerbaijan.

I had a hard time in finding the shelter.

I had to cancel the first shelter which I made an appointment with, because the condition was too bad.

I searched and checked another shelter by smart phone almost for one hour.

I managed to find a hotel in the central area, paying relatively high expenses.

14. Next morning, Prof. Lee wanted to rest at hotel and I went out for tour by myself.

This picture shows the road leading to shore nearby.

15. The youths are engaged in big chess game.

16. The shore of Caspian Sea.

17.

18. I was wondering if the water was sea-water or lake-water.

The salinity was 1/3 of sea-water, according to the information found at the address below.

http://mn.kbs.co.kr/mobile/news/view.do?ncd=3112255#kbsnews

19. Nice view of sealine

20. An art museum

21. From a dandy modern building, I could smell taste of sea.

22. At this seashore park, I stayed a good while.

23. This road leads to inside of castle.

I sensed hoary antiquity which looked like Eastern Europe.

24.

25. This youth approached to me since I was a Korean.

26.

27.

28. The appearances of inside of castle.

28. I ate lunch at this restaurant. I tried roasted salmon.

30. A store was set using the space of the castle.

31. I entered into a private museum.

32. The model of castle

33. A carpet store

34.

35.

36.

37. The design of a spring was very interesting.

38. I could sense the shelter where people live now.

39. I got out of the castle. I popped on the bus passing by.

I tour the city by getting on any bus which I don’t know the route.

I study the city map and find out where I am. This is my own style of city tour.

This style of touring is possible since my subject area is city planning.

Nowadays, GPS makes finding my location very easy.

40. I met this kind of landscape when I went out of the city toward southwest direction.

41. People made shelters on the slope of shore cliff.

42. When I came back to the city, I could see the dandy building and amusement facilities which I saw in the morning.

I got off the bus and I started to walk.

43. This couple found me far away, and approached to me.

They read the banner written in Korean. I took a selfie with this nice couple.

44. This boy showed interest to me as soon as I got on the bus.

He raised his hand after comparing the picture on the pamphlet and me.

45. I explained about New Silk Road to mother and daughter sitting next seat by pointing to map of the pamphlet.

They were in attractive smiles. I took a selfie with them.

46. These girls seemed to be pan of K-pop. I met them in the train, and they followed me up to the street.

I took a selfie with them.

47. There are lots of small parks and small squares like this in the city.

48. I ate supper with Prof. Lee together. I met this cute baby in the cafe.

49. A dog followed his master and kept silent and motionless for a long time.

The dog had a good manner.

50. A small girl is dancing beside a professional singer.

Categories: 12. Azerbaijan, Course and Diary