844 days, 20,256 hours, 1,215,360 minutes, or 72,921,600 seconds. That is the approximate duration of my world tour. I never wanted it to end and now, in a manner of speaking, I suppose it never has to. If you wish to go by country do so by clicking on one above. They are numbered in the order I visited them, more or less. If you enjoy reading about it even a tenth as much as I enjoyed living it then you will not have wasted your time. Grab a refreshing beverage, settle in a comfortable chair, and make a journey across the world, experiencing it as I did. Then get off your ass and check it out for yourself. You're not getting any younger.

Showing posts with label Balakan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Balakan. Show all posts

Personality Cult and Donkey Bloggers (Balakan, Azerbaijan)

May 18th, 2010 - My gracious Peace Corping Zaqatalan host and I hopped on a marshrutka and made our way to the town of Balakan not far from the Georgian border. This city's most dominant feature is the rather grandiose park dedicated to Azerbaijan's late president, Heydar Aliyev. This dude continues to be a phenomenon in a creepy Heaven's Gate cult sort of way. You cannot escape him. There are large billboards of his likeness and monuments similar to the one in Balakan plastered all across Azerbaijan. 

They recently commemorated his birthday with a festival involving flowers. No one really even seems to know the name of the festival, a point I find rather amusing. Commemorating a dead president's date of birth is one thing (Washington, Lincoln, etc.) but continuing to mark his age (his bones just turned 87 by the way) starts to bridge the gap between a healthy tribute and North Korean Kim Il Sung nuttiness.