Landing in Baku

As soon as the wheels touched down in Baku, Azerbaijan, the entire plane erupted in applause. I had heard of cultures that do this but never experienced it firsthand. It was quite surreal.

Azerbaijan is a country that some consider to be part of Central Asia while others consider it to be part of the Middle East. The people have a Turkish descent, and that’s evident in their appearance, so it really is a unique place in the world where Central Asia, the Middle East, and Turkey all come together. The culture most definitely molded around those three parts of the world. But what is Azerbaijan famous for? Well, Formula 1 racing, of course. I missed it by a few weeks but for those that don’t obviously know, it’s held right here in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Struggling with WiFi and Cash

Like all other flights, once we landed, I had a ‘pusher’ to help me through the airport. This particular pusher wasn’t bad (and I’m pretty much reaching my threshold of patience for men over 50 pushing me around, which they most usually are). He saw that I was trying to connect to the airport WiFi but it wasn’t working. My cell data also wasn’t connecting, but this can take a few minutes after arriving into a new country. I kept trying to load the Bolt app, a ride-sharing service, to get myself a car to my hotel. As we were about to part ways, he knelt down next to me and opened up his Bolt app. He asked where I was going, in broken English, and was going to order me a car from his phone. In most parts of the world, it is an option to pay for ride-sharing services with cash, but I didn’t have the local currency and really wanted to avoid getting any if I could (I usually just end up with extra that cost me a high conversion rate and isn’t budget-friendly). I explained that I would like to use my app so I could pay with a credit card and he kept pushing me to let him help.