Asia

[Visited: February 2022]

While organising an excursion to the mud volcanoes of Gobustan, the person helping me asked for the names of those accompanying me. He also said it was compulsory to travel with at least five people, "for safety reasons", and that a fourwheeldrive was necessary. So when we are on our way south from Baku, we wonder what lies ahead. The highway is easy enough to drive once we leave the traffic of Baku behind. At the village of Qarakosa, we take a right turn. We drive several quiet streets, see metal tubes above the ground that are curving over entrances to streets and houses. A sight that can be seen in all former Soviet countries. When we leave the village behind, the road soon deteriorates further into a dirt track. From here, it is a bumpy ride, and I try to find the best way forward without hitting too many holes in the road.
The dirt track meanders through a barren landscape, and we take some turn-offs to work our way a little higher. We are happy it is not raining: driving this road with mud would be a challenge. We are now also happy with the fourwheeldrive, and imagine the deep ruts would make driving up with a regular car next to impossible. When we reach the top of a hill, we are surprised to find several cars parked, and Azeris dancing to loud music. We have not seen anyone ever since we left the village. We are even more surprised that most of the cars are good old Ladas, once again proving these cars are powerful. The Azeris leave, no one checks our presence: the permit we needed seems useless. We look into the first mud volcanoes - many of which are barely sticking above ground. Some are bubbling inside, some appear calm.
There are higher cones, which you need to climb. You need to thread carefully, so as not to stick your shoes into deep mud. At the top, sometimes a tiny crater with a steady flow of mud, while others have a larger opening at the top with a thick stream of mud coming down. Part of the sides are fresh mud, while others have dried up and show cracks. The more we walk around, the more fun it becomes. We find always larger craters, until we walk a little further east where we find the biggest volcano and crater. Here, large bubbles of mud form, and explode regularly. We are surprised to find the mud is invariably cold. We did not bring towels, there is no fresh water, making a dip in the craters out of the question - no matter how healthy it is supposed to be. Then, we remember that we were supposed at least five people; not one of us understands the reason why. It is time to head to the petroglyphs of Gobustan, a little north.

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Gobustan mud volcanoes (Azerbaijan)

Gobustan mud volcanoes > Azerbaijan > Asia

[Visited: February 2022]

Around the World in 80 Clicks