Did you know that Azerbaijan claims to be the oldest oil producing region in the world? Or that its capital, Baku, was home to the world's first mechanically drilled oil well in 1846? Or even that the country was supplying half of the world's oil by 1901?
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October has always been one of my favourite months and I don’t think I’m alone in that. We were away for much of this particular October, visiting three countries in the Caucasus region: Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.
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Baku is a city that blends old and new effortlessly. Its old town has been perhaps too neatly restored, though you can find back streets that still feel genuinely old. Outside its walls are avenues of grand houses built by the city’s first oil barons, and beyond those some of the most striking modern architecture you will find anywhere.
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The pleasures of travelling aren’t restricted to the time when you are away from home. There is the fun of planning a trip of course, and the longer-lasting enjoyment of the memories you bring home with you. And often those memories are not of the major, famous sights but of the little things.
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The Diri Baba Mausoleum is a Sufi pilgrimage site of historical and architectural significance. Built into a rocky hillside opposite a medieval cemetery in the 15th century, it houses the tomb of a unknown sheikh.
