Iran Is Just Across the Lake...

One great thing about my job is that it sometimes requires me to go places I wouldn't normally go.  Just over a month after we arrived, I was asked to accompany the Mary McBride Band, who was in Azerbaijan for their second U.S.-sponsored tour.  Mary McBride is a country/folk/pop group, and they were giving concerts all over the country.  I covered two concerts in the south and one in the autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan, which is completely separated from Azerbaijan by a piece of Armenia.  Since the two countries are at odds, the only way to get their is by flying south over Iran and looping around. 

But first, the trip south.  The scenery going south isn't really anything remarkable, but the commercial enterprise is.  At one point, we started passing all these bath tubs on the side of the rode with umbrellas over them.  Cold drinks?  No. Live fish.  This young gentleman was showing off the freshness of his wares by dangling one from a string so passersby could see that it was still wiggling. 

We also stopped at a roadside stand where a woman was selling potatoes, onions, corn, and pumpkins.  You can buy cooked corn from the black pot over the fire at the lower left corner. In the picture below that, we were told that the bed frame is hooked up to car batteries to provide heat at night.

We also saw workers tending the fall crop in the strawberry fields.

After about 4 hours of travelling, we reached Lankoran, and stopped to pose for pictures by the giant samovar, which represents the region's tea production, and then headed on to the hotel.

The hotel was billed as a 4-star beach hotel, but wasn't quite there as far as I was concerned.  Don't get me wrong, it was fine, the room was serviceable, and the staff was welcoming.  But the dilapidated topiary creatures, dying foliage, and railroad track cutting off access to the beach don't shout luxury (the price wasn't 4-star either, so no complaint from me).

The concert that night was my first experience with a U.S.-sponsored cultural event and it was great.  There was a good crowd, and the music was great.  The music was so good, that during a rendition of "Route 66" a 75 year old man just couldn't stop himself and came up to dance - and he danced well!  The video we took went viral in Azerbaijan, getting about 50,000 hits - which is about half of all the Facebook accounts in the country.  Watch and you'll see why.

Shortly after that, it started to rain.  To the audience's credit, they just pulled out their umbrellas and carried on, but the band eventually had to cut the concert short so their equipment wouldn't be ruined.  The rain didn't stop mobs of people taking information from a booth on educational opportunities in the U.S., or taking part in a quiz for the chance to win one of the band's CDs.

Back at the hotel, we dried off and then ordered a local specialty - fish stuffed with chestnuts, walnuts, and fruit.  It was very good.  I also introduced the band to one of my favorites- fatty tail kabob (something I became enamored with in Tajikistan).  One of the guys enjoyed it, the other was so enthused that we ordered another one.

The rain let up enough for me to go for a run the next morning.  There wasn't too much to see, but I was intrigued by this contraption in a park that looks like it would be used either for torture, or a space launch.

After breakfast, we hopped in the car and started heading back toward Baku, but stopped in the town of Salyan for that evening's concert.  When we asked around for a place to eat, we were told there are no restaurants, but after a little more searching, we found a place with good doner.  If it wasn't a restaurant, I'm not sure what it was.

After lunch we went to a local music school for the band to meet the students and give a little concert.  It was really cool to see the classic musical terms explained in local language.

The kids really enjoyed the concert.  One of them requested that they sing Sweet Home Alabama, which wasn't part of their usual song list.  We managed to pull the lyrics up on our iPad and the band did a great rendition, with the requester singing back-up.  After the band played, some of the kids demonstrated local music, which was a really cool way to exchange culture.

 I got home at about 10pm that night, and was up again at 5am to head to the airport for our trip to Nakhchivan.  I've included a small map to give a better idea of what I mean about the placement of Nakhchivan.  I couldn't see much of Iran when we flew over because it was cloudy most of the way, but there was one mountain sticking above the clouds, which was pretty cool.  At any rate, the city of Nakhchivan is separated from Iran by a relatively small lake and it was a little strange to know it was so close, since it is otherwise so much off-limits.

Our Charge d'Affaires (acting Ambassador for those not familiar with dip-speak) came to Nakhchivan as well, so I spent most of the day with him going to meetings and managing any press interest that popped up.  We started with a visit to a museum dedicated to Heydar Aliyev, the previous president of Azerbaijan (and father of the current one).  He is generally revered in Azerbaijan for pulling the country together and out of poverty, so his likeness is everywhere.

Inside, it was even more impressive, with some incredibly fine carpets made with his likeness woven in, not to mention paintings, vases, books, and other artifacts either having belonged to him, or created in his honor.

After that, we met with the Chairman of the Nakhchivan Supreme Council (a pretty cool title, I agree), which was very enlightening.  We also got to visit a local military facility, complete with an impressive martial arts demonstration followed by tea with local commanders.

During the tea, I was introduced to a new sweet - sugared walnuts.  I haven't figured out exactly how these work.  They are still in the shell, although apparently not the outer shell because they are smooth.  They don't seem like young walnuts, because they are black and not green.  But there is no crunch to them at all.  Maybe this is something I can learn about while i'm here.

It was quite warm that day, and we had a bit of time before the concert, so we took a drive out in the desert to the salt mines, which were wonderfully cool.  No longer used for mining salt, the tunnels and caves are now used as a sort of medical facility as the air is supposed to be very good for respiratory ailments.  You can even rent a bed and spend the night in the cave.  It sounds vastly better than the idea of radon baths in Tajikistan, or even crude oil baths, which are offered in Baku.

The concert that night was the best of the three that I saw.  The crowd kept growing throughout and by the end, most of the people were dancing.  Given that Nakhchivan is so isolated, this was a really unique opportunity to share American culture, and it was very well received.  I hope we can do more things like this.

During the concert, our visit organizers told us that we were invited to a dinner hosted by local authorities at 7:30pm.  Our flight back to Baku was scheduled for 9pm.  (Anyone who has ever traveled with me knows that would be terrifying because I was planning to be at the airport at 7:30).  They told us not to worry and took our ticket confirmations to go ahead and check us in.  They scooped us up promptly and took us to a nice restaurant with tables set up outdoors.  We enjoyed a traditional dish called Piti, which consisted of meat, chickpeas, and potatoes stewed in a clay pot.  We also got to sample some picked herbs from the nearby mountains.

Shortly after we arrived, the band showed up as well, and we enjoyed a really great meal.  I was glad to see the band again, because they were really great people and I enjoyed the time I spent on the road with them.  Alas, at about 8:30, they told us we had to go to the airport.  Miraculously, we still had time for tea and sweets after we reached the VIP section of the airport.  They also gave us some nice parting gifts like local jams, tea, turkish delights, salt from the salt mines, and vodka.  We are having fun trying everything. 

I got home around 11:30pm and then it was back to work the next day.  Quite a whirlwind trip, but it made for a great way to see places I wouldn't easily see otherwise.  I'm looking forward to seeing more as time progresses.