In Photos: Icheri Sheher – Baku Old Town in Azerbaijan

It was a relief that I’d had such a good flight, as with the time differences and indirect route I’d been awake for around 44 out of the last 48 hours. The Jumeirah Bilgah Beach Hotel (part of the same chain as the Burj-al-Arab in Dubai) was both our accommodation and the conference venue.

On arrival there was long queue to check in, so it took nearly an hour to get into the room. Whilst queuing I noticed there was a city tour setting off in a couple of hours for the speakers and journalists. Four complimentary chocolate truffles, a quick shower and a long time trying to figure out the robotic curtain controls later I was feeling somewhat more human.

By the time I’d taken a couple of photos of the room before messing it up too badly, it was time to head downstairs.

Here I met our lovely Iranian guide for the rest of the day.

Maidens Tower

We drove the 35 minutes to the town centre, and were dropped off at the Maidens Tower in Baku Old Town. Everyone else started climbing up. I went sideways down the narrow cobbled streets, in search of caffeine to try and perk up a little.

I was last here in 2006 and thought I might know where I was going, but Baku has changed considerably in the intervening years. Instead of drinks shops and tea houses, the influx of oil money has led to an impressive array of designer boutiques jostling for seafront space with luxurious five star hotels.

Possibly as a reaction to this, the 3km Baku Boulevard along the seafront is being expanded to become 26km long, which will make it the longest in the world.

Last time I was here I was more interested in taking advantage of the first clothes shops we’d seen since leaving Beijing to travel along the Silk Road. China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are beautiful countries, but don’t have many clothes for sale for tall people. Baku with its oil industry was full of Brits and Americans, and had clothes sizes to match.

More interesting to me this time was seeing the Old Town (Icheri Sheher), as I barely remember it and didn’t know it was already a UNESCO World Heritage site. Having a guide made all the difference as she pointed out the progress made in recent years such as the creation of new schools especially for women, and the advancement of sciences in the country.

This modernisation all takes place against a backdrop of some very traditional industries. We visited caravanserais, and tandoor bakers, along with the inevitable carpet shop.

Moving up the hill we entered the embassy area and caught our first glimpse of the Flame Towers rising above the new city.

Back in the old town we walked through the Bazaar Square to reach a couple of caravanserai on opposite sides of the road, and stopped for an introduction to another Azerbaijan tradition – tea and baklava.

The Multani and Bukhara Caravanserai perform identical functions, but in very different styles – one is open, airy and sunny, whilst the other is full of private niches and underground halls.

We continued on to a third, even larger caravanserai for our evening meal, which was unexpectedly generous.

This trip was arranged by the Azerbaijan Tourist Board, as part of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Silk Road Conference.