Overland into Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan
 

Nakhchivan is an exclave and autonomous republic of Azerbaijan. It is wedged between Armenia and Iran, with a very short border with Turkey.

The border with Armenia is of course absolutely closed.

I decided that this year I would leave Iran and enter the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, then exit to Turkey.

The Iranian side of the border was hell. Iranian borders are always chaotic, but this one was appalling. Just finding the entrance was difficult, then an irritating 'fixer' was foisted upon me. This guy ran around with my passport and carnet getting the stamps. Then to a fuel tax office where I had to pay for the diesel I was taking out of Iran. Very frustrating as I don't believe tourists need to pay this. There was arguing and bargaining and eventually a figure of about $30 was paid by this 'fixer', so not too bad. Then the fixer wants $70. I walked away, complained to an immigration clerk, and then gave the fixer $35. All this would be annoying enough if I knew what was going on, but nobody spoke English, German or Russian, and I spek almost no Persian and no Azeri.

The Azerbaijan side of the border was, to my surprise, very calm, relaxed and professional, the utter opposite of the mess on the Iranian side of the bridge. I paid $20 transit fee and was given 72 hours (not 3 days) with the vehicle in Azerbaijan.

The Jolfa - Nakhchivan highway is amazing, 4 lanes and very good quality. Speed limits are painted on the road surface and I had no issues with traffic police. I was followed by a guy in a car into Nakhchivan city, but my local contact had a word and that was the last of any official interference that I was aware of.

Nakhchivan city is a pleasant place, pretty tiny but with all the ministries of a capital city. There is of course an Aliev Museum too :D

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R...2520Museum.JPG

The Momine Khatun is a very nice piece of Seljuk architecture, tastefully restored in the 1990s:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-f...2520Khatun.JPG

The village of Qarabaghlar to the north holds an equally impressive mausoleum:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-f...arabaghlar.JPG

The local Nakhchivan beer is pretty damn drinkable, and being in a bar was heaven after ramadan-misery in Iran. Finding a cool underground bar with an English-speaking Nigerian waiter was just a bonus.

A little to the south is Ilhan Dağ, probably the most famous natural landmark of Nakhchivan:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8...an%2520Dag.JPG

I also drove down to the south-west corner of the republic, to the very charming town of Ordubad. I think it's my favourite place in Azerbaijan as a whole.

Old timers sitting in the chaykhana under the huge plane trees:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...0Chaikhana.JPG

Nice old street with a mosque:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B...2520Mosque.JPG

North of Nakhchivan there is little of interest (except the Qarabaghlar mausoleum; see above), and so I headed to the Turkish border. There is a pretty good view of Ararat from just beyond:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c...520Highway.JPG

Crossing the Azerbaijan - Turkey border at Sədərək / Dilucu was painless, very friendly on the Turkish side though unfortunately the guy selling insurance had knocked-off early and I had to spent the night there, which was not so bad.

A nice and unusual way out of Iran.

For more pictures, see:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1136194...AncientArmenia

EO

Thanks for sharing. Was a good read. Cheers.