ARN’s Natasha Thomas reports on the sights, sounds and flavours of Azerbaijan.

Day One

Baku – Let’s be honest. Many of you probably haven’t heard of the city or if you have, it would probably would never figure in your list of ‘must see’ travel destinations.

The capital of Azerbaijan was certainly uncharted territory for me. But thanks to flydubai and the Jumeirah Group, I have been given an opportunity to explore one of the worlds most modern and cosmopolitan yet culturally rich and diverse cities situated at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.

With a flight time of just three hours from Dubai, Baku is much closer than I thought.

On landing it was refreshing (and eye opening) to see how modern, clean and developed it is. In my opinion, its infrastructure is at par with most developed cities around the world.

I checked in to the brand new Jumeirah Bilgah Beach Hotel located on the Caspian Sea shore. In typical Jumeirah style, it’s opulent and luxurious yet classy and comfortable.

With each room facing the Caspian Sea, you truly get a room with a view.

My first evening was spent settling in and bombarding the hotel manager and our Azerbaijani hosts with endless questions about the culture, language, food and demographics.

Later in the evening, I attended a concert of Georgian jazz singer, Nino Katamadze. Extremely popular in the region, Nino’s music was certainly catchy in spite of me not understanding a word. It was interesting to see how popular this genre of music is in the country, especially among the youth. Unlike some of the heady, head banging concerts I have been to before, it was refreshing to attend one where you could just sit back, relax and just sway to the music.

Attending the concert has given me an idea – every time you go to a new destination and a local artist is performing – buy tickets. Music has no language. A traditional concert is the perfect place to join the residents to find out how they unwind.

On that musical note, it’s time for me to sign off.

From the itinerary, looks like tomorrow is going to be a packed day of exploring Baku’s old city and trying out some traditional Azeri food. Watch this space for more.

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