Destination......azerbaijan

[IsthatyouJohnWayne 0]

Hello, its IsthatyouJohnWayne (the attractive and highly articulate monkey )

back again from the cyber desert

having been unable to access the internet for some months i have now finally got access again.

Ive read the last 30 pages of the forum(having spent all day here)

and not too much seems to have changed, although some people have disappeared and the Mods seem to have become a bit more autocratic (Denoir 'The Great' especially )

ANYway... thing is on Oct 14. im going on a little holiday for eight weeks,

from Heathrow (UK) to Athens across Greece to Istanbul and then across Turkey to the Caucasus, through Georgia (or Armenia) to Azerbaijan and Baku (the capital city).

Then back home.

But only the first part of the journey is planned and im a bit sceptical about getting across Georgia /Armenia (not least because of some posts ive read in the past 30 pages about the ongoing unrest in th region)

Its my idea to get to Baku, and the attractive young lady with whom im travelling( )is worried about the costs of visas for those countries so we might just stay in Turkey but.....

I WANT TO GET TO BAKU, i heard a BBC report about it on the radio and it sounded like a great place

(+ A 007 film was made there)

Im not too worried about the girl ,last year she went on holiday for a few months to Kibbutzes(?)mangled splling) in Israel

and west bank settlements (and didnt seem at all bothered by the likelyhood of being blown up)

, before that Cuba ,around Europe etc and after our trip shes going to India/Pakistan ( in other words she has more guts/stupidity in relation to travel than me)

She actually wants us to go to Iran If Azerbaijan doesnt work out

however i would really like to hear from the good people of the OFP off topic forum first , esp anyone whos been to the region in question (Caspian sea to Black sea) (or Iran?)

For Azerbaijan i heard that as long you dont go near Russian border (Dagestan, Chechnya etc) you probably wont get kidnapped (which is always nice to know) , or the armenian border...basically half the country is pretty dangerous

so anyone know the region or have more random comments?

such as ...ARE YOU NUTS?

(+ posting a map of the region might help, maybe ill try and find one.....)

p.s. Its completly crazy ,i only met this girl 2 weeks ago in a club but flights/travel insurance are all booked

p.p.s. really crazy ...i mean NUTS...Azerbaijan....

[IceFire 0]

Sounds like you are having alot of fun.

Just don't get killed in Afghanastan or some place like that from the looks of your destinations.

[IsthatyouJohnWayne 0]

My art teacher actually told me to buy a gun on a street corner (and a drug stash) in the region for protection (the gun) and bartering (the drugs)

(but then hes a burnt out hippy)

[IsthatyouJohnWayne 0]

**extra judicial semi voluntary censorship of banned material ( Kingbeast and Yaks were involved)**

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

If you would have done that, you would have gotten yourself a PR

I recommend editing the above comments out as well

[IsthatyouJohnWayne 0]

PR

Public Relations man?

or did you mean PM?

arent you going to wish me good luck on my epic journey Ex-Ronin?

most people ive discussed it with tell me ill probably be coming back in a body bag (half jokingly)

I really have about 2% of the information i should have before embarking on such a journey

anyway ireally would like to hear from any Russians or whoever whove been there (or know something of the region)

Hey Ronin youre Turkish arent you, you must know a bit about the Georgian and Armenian border?

Or just tell me about a few Turkish cities like Athens and Istanbul....and that little turkish island invaded by the greeks...whats it called?

[Supah 0]

Ronin is greek ........ and greeks DONT like to be called turkish ..... better get your "im banned" T-shirt out

[IsthatyouJohnWayne 0]

-Ah i just brought up an old thread accidentaly...now Ronin thinks im looking for trouble or something

bah noone even knows where Azerbaijan is

anyway ive been around this forum since the wild days (there wasnt even an Offtopic forum in them days young whipper snapper, in fact i SUGGESTED an off-topic forum to Suma in the first place)

So dont you younguns go telling me whats Greek and whats not.

Anyway isnt Greece a region in Turkey Nowadays?

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

 

Anyway, I never heard of this Istanthingy place, no idea what you mean.

However, I do recommend visiting Constantinople, the old Byzantinian capital, it is very nice

As for Armenia etc., I wouldn't go unless you have a heavily armed escort, as it is a highly volatile region.

Best thing to do, though, is stay in Greece and visit all kinds of archeological sites on the mainland and relax on the islands

Greece is beautiful - and Greece's islands are paradise on Earth

EDIT: Two more things.

1)PR = Post Restriction

2)You can't win in a pissing contest against me, 'cos I have the big red buttons

[Placebo 29]

I see no relevance to military or what not