This is the land of the man bikini made famous by the British comedian Sacha Cohen in his movie 'Borat'. I think Sacha was being very unkind to the Azeri but that can be the nature of satire sometimes. Plus I think Sacha was making as much fun of the Americans as he did of anyone else.
Need to wash clothes and get riding gear thoroughly dry. Need to find that persistent rattle on the bike and rotate the trailer tyres. Opted for a day off the bikes in the small town of Oguz at the base of a mountain range not to dissimilar to the Grampians near home.
The hotel has a lovely garden and the room is good. Rated five star but hey we might have to allow for a difference in standards. Nice nevertheless - the photograph depicts a row of four three bedroom annexes. Apparently during the peak of summer the hotel is booked out with people looking for cooler mountain temperatures.
The staff are very keen to practice their English language skills and chatted away to us about everything from family to religion. At our evening meal we had a succession of waiters coming up and trying their English skills on us while the rest laughed in the background. Should have charged for the lessons because what they charged us for the meal was over the top.
The Azeri are cousins to the Turks ethnically and they speak the same language. Most also speak Russian very well which is to be expected I guess. They are Muslim but alcoholic drinks are sold everywhere and the women folk don't wear any form of special clothing - not even headscarves. Blue jeans and T shirts are the standard for the guys.
It seems to me that the tiny little Christian country of Georgia is the odd one out here in this part of the world. It has it's own language with unique alphabet and they are ethnically different to their neighbours Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Once the chores were done we walked around the town. These people have not had a lot of exposure to west Europeans and we were bit of a novelty. Watched the locals playing soccer for a while. Could have been in Hamilton or any other country town in Australia - just a different game being played.
We met a man who wanted to welcome us and once he knew I was from Australia he wanted to share his general knowledge and he rattled off the major cities and the capitol. He was very proud of his country and his president. Had to admit I didn't know who the president was so he showed me. He seemed to be a nice man and well read.
Tomorrow we head into Baku where we will be for the week trying to organize the ferry crossing to Turkmenistan. We cannot book the ferry and there is no schedule. Some have had to wait weeks and others days - hope we are in the latter group.
Need to wash clothes and get riding gear thoroughly dry. Need to find that persistent rattle on the bike and rotate the trailer tyres. Opted for a day off the bikes in the small town of Oguz at the base of a mountain range not to dissimilar to the Grampians near home.
The hotel has a lovely garden and the room is good. Rated five star but hey we might have to allow for a difference in standards. Nice nevertheless - the photograph depicts a row of four three bedroom annexes. Apparently during the peak of summer the hotel is booked out with people looking for cooler mountain temperatures.
The staff are very keen to practice their English language skills and chatted away to us about everything from family to religion. At our evening meal we had a succession of waiters coming up and trying their English skills on us while the rest laughed in the background. Should have charged for the lessons because what they charged us for the meal was over the top.
The Azeri are cousins to the Turks ethnically and they speak the same language. Most also speak Russian very well which is to be expected I guess. They are Muslim but alcoholic drinks are sold everywhere and the women folk don't wear any form of special clothing - not even headscarves. Blue jeans and T shirts are the standard for the guys.
It seems to me that the tiny little Christian country of Georgia is the odd one out here in this part of the world. It has it's own language with unique alphabet and they are ethnically different to their neighbours Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Once the chores were done we walked around the town. These people have not had a lot of exposure to west Europeans and we were bit of a novelty. Watched the locals playing soccer for a while. Could have been in Hamilton or any other country town in Australia - just a different game being played.
We met a man who wanted to welcome us and once he knew I was from Australia he wanted to share his general knowledge and he rattled off the major cities and the capitol. He was very proud of his country and his president. Had to admit I didn't know who the president was so he showed me. He seemed to be a nice man and well read.
The Azeri like their monuments and grand entrances - this is the arch over the road that took us into Oguz township. I don't know if it has any special significance.
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