I’m growing a bit annoyed by (some) people’s habits here in Azerbaijan. Their driving is reckless and outright dangerous with no consideration for others, the honking is nerve-wrecking, and their inquisitiveness and doubtfulness is close to being rude. People just walk up to my table at a restaurant and pick up my phone to look at it, or they take my sunglasses off of my head to try them on themselves, and a police or security dude took my bike for a test ride while I was busy asking for directions elsewhere. It appears all this is much worse south of Baku. Or maybe I’m just less tolerant today for some reason.
The weather is awesome, however. It is again overcast and I have a nice tail wind. At noon I’d already done the first 100km.
Tried to get some food at a restaurant. Knowing about the (small) size of the portions I ordered three of them, but couldn’t make myself understood properly. People thought I was trying to haggle down the price. Didn’t get much to eat and had to pay more than was quoted originally. Left frustrated and hungry.
Many kilometers and a few hours (as well as a few edits) later…
Ok, I wrote the above after my failed lunch. Meanwhile, almost 100km further down south I’ve calmed down again. Of course, the honking went on during the day, and the driving skills haven’t improved, either. However, I’ve met a couple of nice people (one even drove me around Lənkəran in his Lada helping me find a hotel with Wi-Fi), I have a comfortable-enough place to stay at, and I just had a filling dinner in a simple restaurant where staff spoke Russian and understood that I need more than one portion.
The countryside down here is green again and flat. I’ve crossed the central plains and am now in the Lənkəran lowlands, bordering the Talysh mountains to the west.
Oh, and I had my first dog fight today. Had to kick it in the face to make it leave.
Word of the day: Super-Mini-Market (As seen on a shop near Salyan.)
Question of the month: “Do you work for the post?” (Asked by a couple of young mothers chatting me up when I was confusedly looking for a place to stay in Lənkəran.)
Cycled: 197km (Yupp, leaving early, good winds, and desperately wanting to leave Azerbaijan soon worked together quite well.)
