The first 100km was very reminiscnet of Northern France - tree lined roads, lush green fields, cattle and sheep. Soon the mountains were upon us - again similar to the drive through France towards the Alps;
The roads and surrounding areas are significantly better kept than Georgia, and even Turkey. There were many monuments and posters of (presumably) the Azer President;
The lush countryside soon gave way to more desert like surroundings, and more and more pipelines strewn over the countryside;
A quick stop for fuel - where we met the friendliest petrol pump attendants in the east;
Azerbaijan has not got away without it's fair share of road building, and we soon found ourselves crossing railway lines where bridges had failed, and riding for miles on end on gravel roads (parallel to a road in progress). Soon enough tho', we were on the outskirts of Baku - an oil town;
Unfortunately, we met Azerbaijans answer to 'Roscoe P Coltrane' (Dukes of Hazzard), who pulled us for 77kph in a 50kph zone - even though we were travelling at the same speed as all the cars!!
After much Russian/English charades, and an attempt to abduct me to take me to the crime scene (leaving Caroline on the side of the road), he finally settled on a 100USD fine each! Once in receipt of the money, he then reached into his 'glove compartment' for his favourite 'Eau d'Toilette' and gave us both a generous squirt, and a flash of his golden teeth !
He then drove down the dual carriageway with us following, his blue lights flashing, at 60kph (remember we were done at 50kph). A stream of traffic was flowing past at at least 80kph. He then stopped about a mile down the road, and pointed out a speed camera, and shouted 50, 50 50.
Finally on our way, we maded it to the DHL office with an hour to spare, and collected the starter motor - hooray!!
Now we have a long wait for the ferry to Turkemnistan....
Did you get a receipt?
ReplyDeleteThe lack of posts is doing me in... come on Russ!
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