Baku and Tbilisi are the two largest cities of the caucuses and have some similarities and difference. Baku is the larger and wealthier of the two. Baku has money — a lot of money. They pump it out of the ground there and have for more than 100 years. The first commercial oil well was drilled there, 11 years before the one drilled in Pennsylvania. They also had the first offshore oil platform and were a prize Hitler sought, but didn’t capture in World War II. Tbilisi does not have oil, but also seems to have some money as Georgia has been quicker to open its economy to the West.
The easy availability of cash in Baku has probably held back western influence, because the Azerbaijanis don’t need the outside capital as much. Azerbaijan still requires a visa to enter. Georgia does not. Though both cities have embraced tourism now, Baku has done so only recently, while Tbilisi has been welcoming tourism for years. Both cities have beautiful old cities and stunning modern architecture. In its on right, Tbilisi’s modern architecture is pleasant and scaled for the city. Baku, on the other hand has modern architecture to rival any in the world and more on the way. They plan to build the tallest building in the world on one of 41 artificial islands to be built in the Caspian (sound familiar?). Stunning modern architecture is never far from view in Baku.
The two cities, separated by only a $9, 9 hour bus ride with a cranky, old Turkish guy as a seatmate also have many differences. I originally thought the guy was Azerbaijani and when he would rant to or at me, I would say in Russian that I didn’t understand, thinking as Azerbaijani, he would understand Russian. It wasn’t until after a rest stop that a nice, young Azerbaijani man across the aisle told me that he was Turkish and likely didn’t understand my Russian (that most Russians probably don’t understand). Apparently, the Azerbaijan language is close enough to Turkish that the two can understand each other. The cranky, old guy mostly directed his anger at the guy in front of him who had put his seat back. I was afraid he was going to start a fight by banging on the man’s seat and shining a light in his eyes. At this point, I would have happily watched this man get pounded into a pulp, but the close quarters of the bus meant that I probably couldn’t escape unscathed.
The cranky, old guy eventually gave up and settled in for an uncomfortable ride. I spoke some to the Azerbaijani man across the aisle, who had a beautiful spirit and was full of hope as he had won a green card to come to the United States. He had friends in Boston who could help him find work in a restaurant and he was working on his English. He had a Masters in Economics from a university in Baku and eventually hoped to get his PhD in the US. I wished him luck.
Curiously, Azerbaijan is a Turkic country, not only is the language similar, the cuisine is similar and the people are considered ethnically similar (not exactly sure what this means as I am not a geneticist.) Even more curious, the Azerbaijanis make “non” in tandoors. When I told a tour guide that we normally associate tandoors and “naan” with India, he seemed surprised. This cross-culturalism has long been documented. Hindus used a Zoroastrian temple at Ateshgah to practice their religion dating to the Silk Road. Somehow, the Turkish influence skipped Georgia. The cuisine and the language both bear little or no similarities to Azerbaijan.
The Georgian cuisine has some wonderful vegetarian or vegetarian adjacent dishes. Georgians also eat pork. I was particularly fond of Ojaxuri. this dish has potatoes, onions, peppers and pork (other meats can be substituted) cooked together and caramelized. They also make a dumpling called khinkali which is very similar to a Chinese soup dumpling. The have a eggplant dish that is rolled with a walnut paste that is also tasty. I was not particularly fond of khachapuri, which is probably their best known dish. There are a few variations, but it’s essentially a flattish bread with a georgian cheese baked into it, sometimes with an egg on top. I didn’t like the cheese that much. I thought it could be improved by adding a red sauce, replacing the cheese with mozzarella and maybe putting some fresh basil on it.
The nice lady who checked me in and fixed my breakfast at the hotel in Tbilisi told me that the only language in the world similar to Georgian is Basque and no one know why. This was part of a larger lecture on why I shouldn’t speak Russian (it’s the language of the oppressor) delivered in the kindest way possible. I was also told by Gulchera in Uzbekistan that they prefer their own language. So, as Russian is useful, I would expect it to slowly die away from the region as English moves in as the favored second language.
Azerbaijan is Muslim (though officially secular 80 percent of its people are muslim). Georgia is Christian. I definitely feel religion more in Georgia than in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan prides itself in its accepting attitude (the largest entirely Jewish city outside of Israel is in Azerbaijan). I have probably seen more burkas in Georgia than in Azerbaijan. Both cities feel European, though geographically both are in Asia. In the novel ‘Ali and Nino’, sometimes called the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ of the caucuses considers Baku as part of Asia and Tbilisi as Europe.
Both countries have had human inhabitants for a very long time. Evidence of humans in the Baku region date back more than 20,000 years and Baku is considered to be one of the oldest inhabited cities in Europe (if you consider it in Europe). Georgia has been making wine for 8,000 years and is one of the oldest vitricultures in the world. Azerbaijan also makes wine — primarily out of pomegranate and rose and not for as long as Georgia. Although all of these wines are drinkable, I would give props to the sweet Georgian red. Both countries will do wine tours as will, shit, Kansas. We have to talk about drunk tourism sometime — it’s gotten out of hand.
Both cities have a tradition of bathing, I previously posted about the Taze Bey Hamam in Baku, so won’t rehash it here. Tbilisi was built over sulfur springs. According to a tour guide, the Georgian King discovered the springs while hunting pheasant when he (his servant) killed a bird and it fell in the spring. When he (his servant) retrieved the bird he discovered the hot water (and terrible smell) and decided to relocate his (yeah, this was really him) capital here. It good to know that over thousands of years, humans still choose absolute morons to lead them. Georgia also converted to Christianity because the King thought a solar eclipse was punishment from God. Out of desperation, he tried praying to St. Nino’s God as the eclipse ended (as eclipses do). Yeah science!
Anyway, EVERY travel guide, every blog post says, don’t miss the sulfur baths in Tbilisi. I would say, go ahead, miss them. I’m a guy who hasn’t many spa treatments he doesn’t like. The $13 I spent here, not worth it. And it was $13! Less than lunch at Applebee’s (also a waste). For $13 you get, an awful smell that stays with you, a shower from a pipe — no shower head, a sauna, a hot tub, tea, a 10 minute massage (I think it was actually closer to 5 minutes) and a very thorough scrub. The smell alone should drive you away (let me reemphasize, a Georgian King built his capital here because of these springs). Yeah, skip the sulfur baths and do Taze Bey twice.
Overall, I enjoyed both cities and countries. Both are worthwhile to visit both and see their differences and similarities. One other similarity is the traffic. Crossing a major street in either place is akin to attempting suicide. When I have discussed the traffic with Tanya, she wanted to know if it was worse than Ho Chi Minh City. Answer: Yes, in HCMC, they are all on 125cc motorcycles. I could jump to the side and clothesline the the offending driver. After that we could have serious discussion. That strategy would not work well with a BMW. I also think she would just give up and call a cab everytime she wanted to cross the street, then be horrified when he hit a U-turn across four lanes to her there. I should also note that there are a lot of hybrids in Tbilisi. Overall, Tbilisi seems serious about climate change — their tourism and wine depend on it. Baku, not so much. When you’re pumping oil out of the ground, you see know reason to think about anything else, so you buy a giant BMW.
So, once again, if I had to be exiled from the US for a while, where would I go? Almaty. Crossing the streets comes without fear and the Arasan baths give it a clear advantage.