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Azerbaijan Local Customs

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Visas

by josephescu

You will likely need a visa to travel to Azerbaijan. In addtion to the already usual application forms & 2 photos necessary for the Georgian and Armenian visas, the Azeri one needs a letter of invitation (LOI) from Azerbaijan. Travel agencies sell this kind of document. Simply google "LOI Azerbaijan visa". I used the services of Caucasus Travel, and can reccomend them for promptness.With the LOI in hand, seeing the visa in my passport was pretty straightforward, at the Azerbaijan Embassy in Bucharest. However, some French travelers i met in Baku reported this was not the case in Paris, so they had to rely on applying for one in T'bilisi.Azerbaijan Embassy in Bucharest:ADDRESS: STR. GRIGORE GAFENCU No. 10 postal code: 014132 TEL: + 40 (21) 233 24 66, 84 FAX: + 40 (21) 233 24 65 E-MAIL: azsefroman@azembassy.ro WEB: www.azembassy.ro

Aliyev dynasty

by josephescu

Along with quite a few other countries in Central Asia (Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea, Iraq under Saddam), the cult of personality regarding the ruling leaders is present in Azerbaijan as well, though at a lower scale than in its neighbours – all “reduces” to huge pictures, posters and billboards on building facades, on the roads, railway stations and all public institutions. No statues, no books, no pictures in private cars or in small shops. You can understand that the “cult of personality” has a particular significance for me, bringing back memories from the Ceausescu regime. As in other more respectable places (US, Poland), the power is shared "in the family” – IIham Aliyev inherited Azerbaijan from his father, Heydar Aliyev.One Azeri friend summarised it brilliantly "Aliyev made order out by chaos, but failed to transform order into civilisation”

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What about this map?

by josephescu

Karabakh and Armenia are delicate issues, better don't mention them at all in superficial interactions with the Azeris.Beware of what maps of Armenia you have with you and where you have them. If the map shows Nagorno-Karabakh as a part of Armenia, not only you'll get it confiscated, but you can find yourself in never ending explanations and excuses, and your luggage searched piece by piece several times.Besides, not even the LP guide is safe, once you have highlighted or underlined facts or towns about Nagorno Karabakh.Facts above are based on own experience.

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VISAS

by maykal

Well, officially you need a letter of invitation to get an Azeri visa. I think this rule is strictly enforced by Azeri embassies in Europe, but in Georgia it seems little more than a rule made to be broken. One traveller I met made a reservation at the Hyatt hotel in Baku, receiving a letter of invitation from them a day later....once his visa was issued, he cancelled his reservation and went independently. But my scam was better. My friend in Tbilisi had a friend working in Baku, she sent my details to them and the next day a fax arrived inviting 'Mr Michael, studying at Durban(!) University to Azerbaijan on essential official business'. At the Azeri embassy in Tbilisi, I handed over the fee (US$40) and the letter. The consul read the letter, then looked me up and down, before asking 'you are go Azerbaijan on business?' I'd dressed for the occasion...a pair of scruffy trousers, a shirt...

Just take off your shoes :-)

by Minashka

I am Azeri, so I thought I'd share with you one of the local customs that you don't come across in a lot of western countries. It is a custom to take off your shoes when you enter someone's house in Azerbaijan. Instead, you'll be offered slippers to walk around the house so you won't feel uncomfortable. By the way, don't be surprised if the tea is brought to the table before you even have a chance to sit down :-) It's a tradition to bring a guest tea whether he wants it or not...

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