Safe At the Buta In Baku

Getting to Baku was straight forward enough, but finding the Buta Hotel was a great adventure. The major arterials in downtown Baku are being renovated in a pattern that makes sense to an Azerbaijani engineer. . .  I had to get closer to the harbor, but every street I took wound up being under construction and shunting me sideways.  Finally, after driving quite aways out south, I was able to head east towards the harbor and Old Town.  But not without going past the beautiful modern buildings for which Baku is known now, and some smaller than small alleys with children playing soccer and adults just being adults (I don't think they like the way my moto sounds).

I knew the hotel was supposed to be in Old Town, but the street listed on their website did not show up on any map I have. So I kept circling in on Old Town (running into a post to avoid a cab and tearing my pants on the way) until I got near. Then (Alors!), I stopped and asked!  Asking was not the masculine thing to do, but the adventure was in obtaining good directions without either party speaking a common language.  With seven Azerbaijanis consulting, they reached agreement on where it was located, and they imparted their consensus on paper.  This pen and paper stuff really works!

I wasn't far, two left turns, a short stretch, then a right to the Shirvanshah gates. I was stopped there, and told I couldn't enter on a motorcycle.  I explained I was going to the Buta Hotel.  "Okay, no problem. Just go 200 meters up that hill." The guard was short by a few hundred meters.  At the top of the hill, I finally spotted the sign for the Buta Hotel, tiny as it was, and turned down the alley.  And there it was, nowhere near any place anyone or the internet had said it would be.  Perseverance pays off again. 

It is a nice little place, and just what I need for some time to rest and prepare for the second half of the trip.  After a warm shower, I feel ready for a walk about to see what is out there.  More adventure?