Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country located in the Caucasus, the intersection point of Western Asia and Eastern Europe.. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Azerbaijan declared its independence and became a separate state.. We have heard the phrase “two states one nation” so much and have received so much love that Azerbaijan will always be in a special place for me.

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People are very confused about How to write Azerbaijani?. I usually tend to type Azarbaijan but Azerbaijan is the correct spelling.

How to Get Azerbaijan Visa?

We cannot enter Azerbaijan without a visa. I’ve read things that it’s because of Iran.. If the visa is lifted, Iran is putting pressure on us to remove it too.. Since he could not control the drug traffic from Iran in Azerbaijan, he was applying these visas.. I don’t know how true. If you are going to Azerbaijan by air, you can get a 30-day gate visa from the airport.. It costs $10. When we applied online, the visa came to our phone in a short time.. Online visa fee is 23 dollars. Since we will cross by road, we need to buy it in advance.. Because visa cannot be obtained from land border gates.. You do not pay any fees when you apply from the consulate.. Anyone who wants to get a visa needs to go to the consulate in person.. We learned that there is no need for an appointment if we go to the consulate early in the morning and put our name on the list, with priority for Azerbaijani citizens.. Even though our friend went to the consulate at around 7.30, he was able to get our name written on the 42nd row.. So you have to go very early in the morning. It gives priority to its own citizens.

They said that you don’t need to fill out any form, but they handed out forms at the door.. This was a visa application form like any other country.. We needed to specify where we were staying, but we were thinking of Couchsurfing or camping.. What visa paper can you write this on? of course no one. We entered the internet in two minutes at the door, found a hotel name from booking and wrote it down.. We didn’t make a reservation.

The attendant at the door lets three people in.. Calling new ones as they come out. He took us in a few hours later.. We gave the officer our passports and the application form.. We may have giggled a little because of the Azeri dialect and was also exposed to the angry gaze of the attendant.. We were told to come a week later.. A week later, when my friend went to buy it, I was told that there was a malfunction in the system.. I was not hopeful for visa. I kept saying, “It’s a dead end visa”. The next day, the system was down, but they gave the three-month visa.. So I got the weirdest visa of my life.

Click here to access Azerbaijan visa form.

Update: As of 2019, visas between Turkey and Azerbaijan have been abolished. Our visa obtaining story also remained a fun memory.. According to the international agreement published in the Official Gazette, passport holders of both parties will be exempted from visa for their 90-day travels in another country.. You can skip the visa section and read other topics and make your travel easier.

Update 2: As of April 1, 2021, passport requirement has been removed when traveling to Azerbaijan. So you will be able to travel with your new chip ID.. Since it is possible to enter Georgia with an ID, those who want to go by land can go to Azerbaijan without a passport, only with a chip ID.. You must have your passport with you as you will be changing two countries.

Azerbaijan Lagodekhi-Balaken Border Gate

Lagodekhi-Balaken Border Gate from Georgia to Azerbaijan we passed through. Actually, we were going to pass through the Red Bridge-Tsiteli Khidi Border Gate, which is close to Tbilisi, but we learned that it was very crowded.. We went to the Lagodekhi-Balaken Border Crossing, which is farther away, which is used by truckers.. 150 km from Tbilisi to Lagodekhi, 70 km from Red Bridge. Thus, instead of waiting at the border, we passed through Georgia the way we were going to do in Azerbaijan.. We’ve saved time.

We went to the passport from the pedestrian path so that only the driver was left in the vehicle.. When I entered Nakhchivan, I saw that the Azeri authorities were very serious.. Don’t laugh too much. We passed without waiting in line.. We found a shadow and started to watch Metehan.. Metehan was also unloading the car (he also unloaded the car while passing through the Georgian border) and carried it to the xray device.. He unloaded almost the entire vehicle, xrayed it and loaded it back into the car.. We had a lot of fun watching him, but I guess he wasn’t having much fun.. We passed more easily in Georgia crossings. The border of Azerbaijan is making a much tighter search.

To enter Azerbaijan by car, we need to have a compulsory 30-day insurance.. He also cost $19(2018). There is also a road tax.. $22 is taken in it. These are all taken at the border crossing.. As in Georgia, you do not have to look for an insurance place after crossing the border.

• Click if you want to read how we moved to Georgia.

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As it was midnight on the way back, they allowed us to drive to passport control without getting us out of the car on our transit to Georgia.. They asked 3 questions: Do you have binoculars, drones, radios? These are forbidden. Fortunately it wasn’t.

Changing Money in Azerbaijan

The currency of Azerbaijan is Manat (AZN), and the penny is called Kepik. Before the Loghadeki-Balaken border there was a small club where you could buy manat. we did not receive. You must buy manat. We had to exchange money as soon as we crossed the border, but the closest place is Zagatala, we wandered around a lot.. Since we went to Georgia on Sunday, we had a hard time finding an open place because we coincided with the holiday in Azerbaijan.. A bank was open, but they didn’t change it because we had TL.. We did not take foreign currency with us because we gave up on going to Azerbaijan.. We came this far at the last minute, we said we have a visa, let’s go. We left the bank and started looking for an exchange office.

They call the exchange office “Valyuta Office”. We got 27 manats for 100 TL in a makeshift cottage.. Has our money lost that much value? Because we thought we were being ripped off in the countryside, we decided to leave the main money exchange business to Baku.. It was a wrong decision. In many countries, it is more disadvantageous to change money at exchange offices in places such as trains, airports or bus terminals, but here it is the opposite.. We were shocked when they gave 16 Manats for 100 TL in the Old City in Baku and we did not exchange it.. We ate where our credit cards were accepted.. For this reason, we were both hungry and broke in Azerbaijan.. One breakfast was 18 manats, now you can imagine. Azerbaijan was very expensive for us.

Azercell Phone Line

We decided to get ourselves a phone line in Zagatala.. Most of them were closed due to the holiday.. They couldn’t understand what we were saying. We couldn’t understand them either.. We wanted to buy Azercell but this was not possible until Baku. We bought a 5GB line in Baku for 5 Manat. 3GB of this was valid where normal 2GB drew 4.5G. Girl said “I upgraded it to 10GB with gift cards”. Then he bought another 5 Manats. They talked and laughed in Russian all the time.. I think they cheated us a bit there. Normally we were not supposed to pay for the gift card.

When my phone fell in Baku Gobustan and its screen broke, I used the hotline on my spare old phone during the repair for two days.. Since that phone was not 4.5 G compatible, our right to 3GB ended in Baku and we were left without internet on the way back.. Again, we had to find Georgia by asking questions.. While I was buying the line, when I asked if it was 4.5 G in the countryside, I was very offended and scolded by the sales girl.. So what was it? i was right. The countryside also does not pull 4.5G.

By the way, when my screen was broken, the repairman we took said that he had replaced the screen, and he received about 1600 TL.. When I returned I found out that only the glass had been replaced.. You never know when and where you got scammed in the big city. Unfortunately, they know you don’t have a chance to go back and ask.. Azerbaijanis in the countryside loved us. protected. He did, but Baku did not.

Azerbaijan Roads and Aznov Application

We searched for Moxax Waterfall from the moment we left the border, but no one knew. Then we decided to give up and go to Baku.. There are hardly any road signs in Azerbaijan.. The main roads are smooth, but the side roads are quite bad.. We don’t have navigation because we can’t get a line. We didn’t have a route because we took Azerbaijan off the route.. Therefore, I did not download an offline map to the phone.. When we decided to come at the last minute, Uran, the owner of Lit Hostel in Tbilisi, gave us a route.

The Government of Azerbaijan has made an application. You enter the Playstore and download it to your phone for free.. Aznov is a navigation program, you can use it for free and offline. If we had information that was not available on the internet before, we would not have had to find Baku in this era by asking questions.. On the way to Baku, we wouldn’t turn around in the middle of the night at an unsigned crossroads.. There was also a vehicle waiting at the intersection at 3:30 am.. We don’t know what he was doing. Maybe he was looking for a way too.

We asked, “Which way is Baku?”. “I don’t know” he said. “How do you not know” said Metehan. He just didn’t know. Maybe he lost his way too. We returned 3 laps in the same hub. pitch dark. there is not a single light. Lines drawn on the ground act as a hub.. Finally we dived from one but not knowing where we were going. When a vehicle came from the opposite side, we stopped it by making a floodlight.. When we asked the way to Baku, we learned that we were on the right track.. How we fucked I still don’t know. It’s a joke…

We heard that road cameras are not working in Azerbaijan. Even if you suffer a penalty, you can leave without paying at the border exit.. No license plate reading systems. You still follow the rules though.

Azerbaijan Food and Drink

We met a family near Ilisu. We were looking for a waterfall again. It was about to be in the evening. When we realized that the path to the waterfall was far, we left it on the way back.. The Azeri woman told us that since you’ve come this far, you should definitely eat Surfed.. “Choose the one with dry meat,” he said.. We went to Serin Ilisu Restaurant’. We asked for a portion as we didn’t know what was to come. Thinking that if we like it, we want more. Good thing we wanted only one pot. It came in a big bowl.. He’s really alone. A dish consisting of boiled dough, dried meat on top. The sauces came with it.. It was in sour (plum) sauces. We prefer to eat plain. I can’t say we liked it very much.. The family, who told us to eat it, came here from Baku just to eat it.. I don’t need to tell you that it is very far from Baku.

They said, “Don’t come back without eating a dish called Piti in Sheki, which is similar to the kebab in our country.”. The mouth of the jug is closed with dough. Chopping bread on plate. The jug is opened and the water is poured into the plate.. The remaining grains are crushed with the mallet that comes in the jug.. A meal with meat and potatoes. Is it very sought after? Unexpected but nice at least. They also said that you should not return without eating dessert in Sheki.. It’s called sheki pahlava. It was a semolina dessert. We loved it.

Drinking tea is a separate ritual in Azerbaijan.. They don’t brew the tea with the bottom base like we do.. They just brew it in the teapot and keep it on the hot stove or it comes in a samovar.. At the first place we had breakfast, there was something like grape jam in small plates next to the tea.. We spread it on bread and ate it.. Turns out he was joining the tea.. I laugh every time I think of this. At the same time, various jams come with the tea, as well as rose water and rose buds.. They do not drink the tea without adding anything.

A bagel cost 1.5 manat in Baku. When we went, 1 manat was 5.55 TL.. 7.4 TL a bagel. My friend had a shake tea on top of the meal. 4 manats. 14.8 TL a tea bag. Cheaper in Bebek. If you want to drink bagel tea, you will pay 20.35 TL.. We took a breakfast and tea with it.. We shared and paid 100TL. If we had bought three breakfasts, we would have given 300 TL only for breakfast.

Couchsurfing and Hospitality in Azerbaijan

We didn’t know where to stay in Azerbaijan. We didn’t have a route either… My Couchsurfing account was not active. I had no reference. As such, I couldn’t use it there much, but I was actively using the Facebook Couchrail account.. We received an invitation from Baku Sumqayt for a post I opened for Georgia.. Emin, who invited us, gave us an apartment.. He came the next day and showed us around.. We talked about the expensiveness of Azerbaijan constantly and because we were hungry.. Not only did he take us to the restaurant and pay the bill, but he also made us take a package with us.. I don’t remember being this embarrassed, this emotional.. If you go to those places, make sure to go and meet him.. If those who will go to those parties write as a comment, I can email Emin’s contact information.

We found a hostel in Baku on our first night because I remembered Emin’s invitation late.. It was a hostel that was later turned into a hotel, or so he told us.. I do not know. It wasn’t very expensive. Name Hostel Mini Street Baku. It was on 74, Nizami street.

We were not even left at the place we entered to ask for directions on the road.. What did we call Nohur Lake, friend?. We couldn’t find that lake but great people are on the familiar road. Until the morning, our table was never empty from people coming and going.. They came to the chat saying “The mansion came from Turkey”. We felt like celebrities. A treat, a treat. They cannot recognize the Turkish license plate because they have not seen it before.. More precisely, no one has ever gone this far by car.. When we say Istanbul, everyone hugs. We officially greeted the people from inside the car. I’ve never seen this much love before. On everyone’s lips, ONE NATION, TWO STATES… While visiting the Shirvanshahs Palace in Baku, the aunt who realized that I was Turkish, took my face with both hands in her palms and prayed so much that if it came true, my back would not fall.. I bring warm greetings from all Azerbaijan to my beautiful country.

Azerbaijan in short

• Azerbaijan currency Manat
• Azerbaijan population 10.02 million (2019)
• Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan
• The roads in the city of Baku are 4 lanes right 4 lanes left. On some roads it’s 5 to 5. The streets are so wide. As you cross the street, seasons change, people age.. Do they manage to pass in a single light? The buildings have a magnificent architecture.
• All streets in Baku are car parks.. Besides the hourly ones, there are also the daily ones.. Starting from 1 Manat (2018). There are stickmen on the streets without parking lots.. They are asking you to pay money so that nothing happens to your car.. They never understood our Turkish plate. Probably not many people go to Baku from Turkey by car.. You should have seen them stoop and stare and the love they showed when they found out we were Turkish.

• To the historical part of every city all over the world Old Town called. Whoever you ask will show you. Didn’t quite work here.. When someone said Old City, we started calling it Old City this time.. He didn’t either.. Turns out it’s INNER CITY. The place where Kız Qala and the closed road are located in Baku is Old Town, namely Icheri City.
• The side roads are very bad and the signage is missing. If you want to go to a waterfall or a slime volcano, Azeris with old cars waiting on the side of the road block your way.. After a bargain begins. We paid 10 manats and rented a car on the way to Balchik volcano.. We realized that we really made the right decision while we were going on the empty land.. It was impossible for us to find our way in that roadless land.. Since there was no road, we would have a hard time with our car.. We thought we’d bring some mud when we got to the volcano.. The man tried to sell us the empty water bottle for 10 manats. The poor are all poor, the rich are all rich. Then he too was ashamed of what he had done and gave up.. We gave the man a headlamp with us as a gift.. We installed new batteries. we are so happy. You can make someone happy if you take something that isn’t there with you and give it as a gift.
• We made our stay in Baku hostel. We paid 15 Manat per person.. We had a Coucrail accommodation with an invitation from Sumqaıt.. The rest we camped. People are very welcoming. Everything from museums to eating and drinking is very expensive for US.

• I’ve seen more cows than I’ve ever seen in my life. On the roads, on the asphalt. They never run. As you pass by, one moves with a flutter of heart whether it will be hit by a horn.. They say that because the weather is hot, they do this to cool off from the wind blown by the cars.. An interesting situation

Azerbaijan Covid Conditions (May 2021)

September 2021 Update: Azerbaijan opened its borders. We can now travel to Azerbaijan.

Quarantine is not applied when entering Azerbaijan and returning to Turkey. Public transport is limited. Restaurants open but restricted. Bars are open but subject to restrictions.

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My Other Azerbaijan Articles

Have you read my other articles about Azerbaijan?

• Places To See In Baku
• Places To See In Azerbaijan

Enjoy…