Azerbaijan - A Caucasus Adventure
"Do you want to go kiss?", said the young mini-skirted woman. I stared at her. "Only 15 Manat ($10)", she said. I was in Sheki, in the Caucasus mountains of Azerbaijan, close to the border with Georgia. The trip to Azerbaijan was accidental. My initial plan was to visit Iran. I wanted to use a land border to enter Iran. So, I thought of flying into Baku, Azerbaijan, spending a few days there and then travelling southwards to the border to enter Iran. The reason I wanted to use that border was because it is a notorious border. There were supposedly American, Russian and Iranian intelligence agents and recruiters, money exchange scammers and other unsavoury characters over there. I wanted to see what happens. But my Iranian visa got rejected. I surmise that it was due to the U.S. Green Card stamp in my Indian passport. The rejection letter said that I should apply through a local sponsor in Iran. I do not know a single person in Iran, so that was out of question. Me...
