Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Baku, Azerbaijan
I thought I'd fill you all in on the events of this day... which has nothing to do with my picture except to say it was the culmination of a very long day!
Our flight out of Istanbul's new International airport was early morning which meant an even earlier get-up and check-in. The hotel booked us a taxi from the front door and off we set. Now we'd enquired about travel times to the airport as this was just on the cusp of the rush-hour start. Typically the airport run is about 30 minutes away but we were advised to allow 40 minutes just in case of traffic build up. This was going to be no problem - we always plan ahead, unfortunately our taxi driver had other ideas.
Having studied all about velocity, mass and momentum at college, I/we always put on seatbelts front or back but these seemed inadequate in this particular taxi... a full four-way racing harness would have been better. Whether someone had just beaten his airport run pole time we'll never know but he was sure as hell intent on regaining it this very morning!
Speed signs and limits were just for other drivers this morning as we hurtled down the main highway out of the Sultanahmet. He was only forced to brake when we came across what looked like a road block or accident... mainly lorries for some reason! We came to a stop in the outer lane only for our driver to crunch his gearbox into reverse and driver backwards down the road before we had chance to compute what the hell was going on. We passed a break in the central reservation Armco barrier... low and behold back into first gear and drove through the gap!
So there we were driving up the wrong side of the road with cars coming head on, flashing their headlights (who wouldn't in a situation like this) darting out of the way for this madman.
"What the hell (please insert fruitier language here) are you doing!!!" I shouted or was it screamed to the driver as we both looked for grab handles and planned for the brace position. "It's ok, this shortcut and I put hazard light on"
That's ok then, I thought, perfectly understandable! What seemed like an eternity could only have been about 400 yards for we quickly passed the road block which turned to be a lane closure for road works and the "good" traffic had filtering into the one lane at the crossroads.
Just to keep the tension on heart attack levels we darted back onto the right side of the highway without a consideration for the lights or who had right of way. We sat in stunned silence with our hands gripped vice-like to the roof handles in fear. The rest of journey was somewhat of an anticlimax after that incident albeit at breakneck speed. We arrived in 22 minutes dead... he seemed pleased with himself so I assumed he had just regained pole position. I paid him the fare... I didn't give a tip!
The flight was pretty uneventful except to mention it was full of gymnasts on their way to a competition in Baku. The young South Korean girl gymnast in the seat next to Mrs R was clearly very excited for she practiced her floor routine in her seat for the full duration of the flight... with that dedication I hope she won a medal!
Fast forward to Baku...
Taxis in Baku are wonderful compared to our last one. The state owned ones are Hackney carriages, like in the UK, but purple in colour. Fees are all fixed and very cheap compared to UK black cabs... you can, however, hail private cabs but run the risk of getting ripped off by as much as 1 or 2 Manats (50p or £1), the choice is yours!
We got a purple cab from the airport to our hotel - the Flame Towers, and passed the very reason I wanted to come to Baku in the first place on route, but that's another story. Our hotel is simply a jaw dropping example of modern architecture that reflects the economic wealth of Azerbaijan in oil and gas hence the flame design. We had paid for an upgraded room for a sea view and upon checking in, the hotel had upgraded us to a suite... without wanting to sound gloaty it was bigger than the footprint of our home.
We don't squander time when on holiday and headed out after a very quick unpack and freshen up, which leads to this picture and the previous one. The afternoon was spent gaining our bearings and wandering down the promenade and into town. It was late afternoon and we hadn't eaten so the first diner we came across that took care of that. By the time we came out the light was fading and so we decided to head back to our hotel. It's at this point we realised how high the hotel is situated and it's a bit of a hike up the hills. When we eventually arrived back it was dark and we felt a little disappointed that the three towers weren't illuminated. I must confess I hadn't researched whether these were only illuminated for special occasions or a nightly show... we needed have worried! By the time we exited the lift, we pass a glass fronted balcony overlooking the sea and the opposite tower on the way to our room - the show was in full swing!
I hadn't planned on going out first night for photography as this wasn't that sort of holiday but how could I by-pass the opportunity. "I take it you'll need your tripod?"... bless her!
So we went out into the night... by the way this was Mrs R's idea and the picture her's as well.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Baku, Azerbaijan
I thought I'd fill you all in on the events of this day... which has nothing to do with my picture except to say it was the culmination of a very long day!
Our flight out of Istanbul's new International airport was early morning which meant an even earlier get-up and check-in. The hotel booked us a taxi from the front door and off we set. Now we'd enquired about travel times to the airport as this was just on the cusp of the rush-hour start. Typically the airport run is about 30 minutes away but we were advised to allow 40 minutes just in case of traffic build up. This was going to be no problem - we always plan ahead, unfortunately our taxi driver had other ideas.
Having studied all about velocity, mass and momentum at college, I/we always put on seatbelts front or back but these seemed inadequate in this particular taxi... a full four-way racing harness would have been better. Whether someone had just beaten his airport run pole time we'll never know but he was sure as hell intent on regaining it this very morning!
Speed signs and limits were just for other drivers this morning as we hurtled down the main highway out of the Sultanahmet. He was only forced to brake when we came across what looked like a road block or accident... mainly lorries for some reason! We came to a stop in the outer lane only for our driver to crunch his gearbox into reverse and driver backwards down the road before we had chance to compute what the hell was going on. We passed a break in the central reservation Armco barrier... low and behold back into first gear and drove through the gap!
So there we were driving up the wrong side of the road with cars coming head on, flashing their headlights (who wouldn't in a situation like this) darting out of the way for this madman.
"What the hell (please insert fruitier language here) are you doing!!!" I shouted or was it screamed to the driver as we both looked for grab handles and planned for the brace position. "It's ok, this shortcut and I put hazard light on"
That's ok then, I thought, perfectly understandable! What seemed like an eternity could only have been about 400 yards for we quickly passed the road block which turned to be a lane closure for road works and the "good" traffic had filtering into the one lane at the crossroads.
Just to keep the tension on heart attack levels we darted back onto the right side of the highway without a consideration for the lights or who had right of way. We sat in stunned silence with our hands gripped vice-like to the roof handles in fear. The rest of journey was somewhat of an anticlimax after that incident albeit at breakneck speed. We arrived in 22 minutes dead... he seemed pleased with himself so I assumed he had just regained pole position. I paid him the fare... I didn't give a tip!
The flight was pretty uneventful except to mention it was full of gymnasts on their way to a competition in Baku. The young South Korean girl gymnast in the seat next to Mrs R was clearly very excited for she practiced her floor routine in her seat for the full duration of the flight... with that dedication I hope she won a medal!
Fast forward to Baku...
Taxis in Baku are wonderful compared to our last one. The state owned ones are Hackney carriages, like in the UK, but purple in colour. Fees are all fixed and very cheap compared to UK black cabs... you can, however, hail private cabs but run the risk of getting ripped off by as much as 1 or 2 Manats (50p or £1), the choice is yours!
We got a purple cab from the airport to our hotel - the Flame Towers, and passed the very reason I wanted to come to Baku in the first place on route, but that's another story. Our hotel is simply a jaw dropping example of modern architecture that reflects the economic wealth of Azerbaijan in oil and gas hence the flame design. We had paid for an upgraded room for a sea view and upon checking in, the hotel had upgraded us to a suite... without wanting to sound gloaty it was bigger than the footprint of our home.
We don't squander time when on holiday and headed out after a very quick unpack and freshen up, which leads to this picture and the previous one. The afternoon was spent gaining our bearings and wandering down the promenade and into town. It was late afternoon and we hadn't eaten so the first diner we came across that took care of that. By the time we came out the light was fading and so we decided to head back to our hotel. It's at this point we realised how high the hotel is situated and it's a bit of a hike up the hills. When we eventually arrived back it was dark and we felt a little disappointed that the three towers weren't illuminated. I must confess I hadn't researched whether these were only illuminated for special occasions or a nightly show... we needed have worried! By the time we exited the lift, we pass a glass fronted balcony overlooking the sea and the opposite tower on the way to our room - the show was in full swing!
I hadn't planned on going out first night for photography as this wasn't that sort of holiday but how could I by-pass the opportunity. "I take it you'll need your tripod?"... bless her!
So we went out into the night... by the way this was Mrs R's idea and the picture her's as well.