For my next trip a crude oil bath

From the New York Times:

The petroleum spas of Naftalan in central Azerbaijan, one of the little-known but once popular vacation spots of the Soviet Union, are making an unlikely return in a country so awash in oil these days that people are swimming in it.

Here in Naftalan, visitors can bathe once a day in the local crude. They and doctors here say it relieves joint pain, cures psoriasis, calms nerves and beautifies skin — never mind that Western experts say it may cause cancer.

Homeward Bound

Leaving Baku back to Newark. I will be at work tomorrow. It was an excellent trip.

Mosque and More Gobustan

This mosque is near the fire worshippers temple. The niche points toward Mecca. It was paid for by an oil baron who is in a beautiful tomb in the front of the mosque.



More Gobustan pictures. One of the most fascinating etchings is from a Roman soldier nearly 2,000 years ago. No pics of that one though.

I was also able to play a percussion stone, an ancient instrument which is just a rock that makes different sounds when hit with another rock. Its more interesting than it sounds: SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* COMING FOR TO CARRY ME HOME! *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*

Viking style boat etching. Archeologist Thor Heyerdahl, who has studied these etchings, speculates that people in this area migrated north to Scandinavia. That would make these original Azeris the first Vikings and the original discoverers of America. Not sure how sound that theory is but interesting to consider.



Unfortunately several days of rain made some back roads impossible to drive on even in a Jeep so no luck seeing the mud volcanoes.

Castle and Fire Worshippers Temple

No longer the natural vent it once was, this is the Zorostrain Fire Temple. The building is from the 18th century but the area has been sacred since 6 AD.

Walk around the open flame three times while thinking of your greatest wish and it will be granted. Want to guess what I wished for?



There used to be countless vents like this but most have burned out. The flame seem to leap out of the ground and even burn in area with no visible places for the gas to vent. You can feel the heat from 20 feet away. I was unable to get a clear answer on how exactly they were lit, the tour guide suggested that this one was lighted by a local shepard about 40 years ago.



This is know as Ramana and is about 700 years old. It is being rennovated so we were unable to go inside. Past the castle the landscape is full of derricks and oily pools as far as you can see.

Gobustan

Today I got a tour guide and a car and went to Gobustan, about 70km South of Baku. The attraction here are the thousands of year old cave etching, made with rock into the soft limestone, and later with metal tools. The tour guide was exceptional in his description of the drawings. Here are some of the more striking ones.

A dancing petroglyph. The ritual is still practiced today.


Various animals including fish are depicted and there are literally thousands of the etchings. The glyphs also show domestication of animals and men on horseback. The women have exaggerated features of large breasts and hips with tiny heads. The men are depicted with strong legs, loin clothes, and genitals.


The ritual is that a couple getting married will run through this three times for good luck. The tour guide said that people still come up here today.