Baku Old Town & New
Baku, Azerbaijan
May 24, 2009
Baku, Azerbaijan
May 24, 2009
I spent a few pleasant enough days there but Baku left a bad taste in my mouth. The Old City was interesting but soul-less. So was the “new” city. The latest oil boom has created the obligatory class of moneyed-elite whose ostentatious wealth is on display everywhere you look. The stench of corruption is everywhere. Crossing the country to arrive here it was obvious that very little of the massive wealth being pumped up from the oil fields is being spent anywhere but on the capital. Inevitably the shiny new high rises are being built on top of the centuries old mansions belong to the oil barons of the last boom. All in all I found the place quite disturbing.
