Travel To Azerbaijan
General Info
Azerbaijan is a nation of beautiful landscape and splendid coastline. It is located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea towards the southeastern end of the Caucasus. The nation is filled with mountains and only seven percent is the arable land. The area's major agricultural zone is found in the Kura River Valley. The Valley is full of scenic beauty and worth a trip.
This nation shares a very deep history of getting its independence twice, but still shares some issues on the Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh enclave with Armenia. Armenian people mostly occupy this region. This conflict has struck Azerbaijan very severely as it has lost its sixteen percent territory and supports some 528,000 internally displaced people.
Since ancient times Azerbaijan is famous for its oil springs and natural gas reserves. Zoroastrians worship fire and when they saw the fire from the vented natural gas they built a temple there. Since then the nation has gained importance and an attraction for foreign countries.
Visa Information
Traveling to Azerbaijan is very simple and does not require much earlier preparations. Only thing to be done in advance is to get your Visa. Although getting Visa is not a problem and is available as regular procedure but sometimes it may take time and so it is always better to have it before hand. Annual visas are granted for single, double or multiple entries and no agencies are required for getting the visas. To apply for the Visa, just contact the Azerbaijan Embassy in your country and fill in a request for visa. The visa application form is quite simple and contains regular enquiry like gender, date of birth, place of birth, trip purpose, etc.
The tourist visas are free if you get them before hand, but in case of immediate visa sometimes you may have to fish out some money. Normally tourist visas take ten working days. Business visas are charged and take around five business days for the business visa to be ready, but by paying a nominal fee of $40 the visa can be obtained within three working days.
The validity of the normal visa is for three months, whereas the business visas have a validity of one year. And if you plan to stay more, contacting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, located in Baku, can extend the validity. Even if you do not have a visa, and you arrived at the Azerbaijan airport you can still enter the country by giving your passport to the airport passport authority. The airport passport control authority will give you a receipt and with that you can check in to any hotel and get your visa tomorrow. The visa can be collected next day from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building, which is next to the Twin Gates in the Old city called as Ichari Shahar. CIS countries citizens need not take a visa to enter Azerbaijan. They can stay in for 24 hours without a visa.
Traveling to Azerbaijan
There are certain things to be born in mind before traveling to Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh is a self proclaimed and unrecognized republic which has close but unofficial relations with Armenia. So it is not possible to reach Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding areas that are occupied by Armenia from Azerbaijan. The Armenian borders are closely guarded and strictly closed, so trying to enter the region may land you in some serious problem. And for the rest of Azerbaijan, the only thing to keep in mind is that, there is a small amount of risk so refrain from demonstrations and public gatherings
Language
The local people are warm hearted and try to speak English. The new generation is learning to speak English but the old people find it a bit difficult and still are well conversant with Russian, which was a prestigious language during the Russian rule. You may be lucky to learn some Russian and Azeri phrases during the trip. So communication is not a problem in Azerbaijan as long as you know some English or Russian.
ttractions In Azerbaijan
The nation has a wide range of attractions, which is making it a great tourist spot. Azerbaijans attractions were famous from historical times as it was a major stop on the Silk Route. The nation possesses extremely beautiful natural scenes carefully cocooned by the historical monuments like Bronze Age petroglyphs, mosques, medieval minarets and the world famous carpets.
Azerbaijan has number of captivating sites to see. It has number of ancient remains, some dating back to even Bronze Age. The glaciers of Caucasus are very popular among the tourists. There are twenty hunting grounds and fifteen historical reserves in Azerbaijan. It has wonderful mountain lakes. The main lakes that attract the tourist are Ghoy-gol, Nohur and Maral-gol. There are various architectural wonders, forts, palaces, and temples that fascinate the tourists from all over the world. The most famous tourist destinations in Azerbaijan are Baku, Nakhchivan city, Sheki, Culfa, Sadarak, Ganca, Babek, and Quba.
Shopping In Azerbaijan
The main shopping center for Azerbaijan is Baku. The famous fountain square has every thing you want to shop for. It has shops for every thing ranging from most modern items to traditional Azeri goods. The tourist love to buy Azeri carpets from the carpet weaving centre at Nardaran. The locally produced silk, ceramics and other craft works are available all over Baku. The prices of the goods are quite affordable and negotiable too.
Entertainment
Regarding the entertainment facilities in Azerbaijan Baku, tops the list. Baku has vivacious nightlife and also excels in number of theaters, operas, and ballets that draw attention of most of the tourists. The prices of the entertainment facilities in Baku are quite reasonable and seem quite cheap when compared to European countries. Most of the theaters play Azeri and Russian epics. There are various private art galleries and handicraft exhibits featured all over Azerbaijan.
Resorts
Azerbaijan has number of luxury resorts for you to have a comfortable stay. One of the chains of hotels is 'Drake and Cavendish Luxury hotels' that are the most promising resorts in Azerbaijan. These resorts have excellent facilities for business trips as well as travelers on a vacation. Another resort called Luxury Spa Resort provides excellent accommodation with a truly atmosphere. These chains of hotels are considered to be best when you are on a honeymoon or a romantic trip
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