Qobustan : Mud Volcanoes and Petroglyphs

About an hour drive from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, it a UNESCO world heritage site, Gobustan which is also written with a Q.

There is a prehistoric cultural site as well as a geothermal phenomenon that attracts tourists here and I was on my way to see the Mud Volcanoes. I was told that there is a government managed site that one can drive to and see these. I also heard that the real ones are in the wilderness and need a 4x4 vehicle as the roads to it are non-existent.

As I was driving, I saw a really beat up car drive by fast and overtake me on a single lane road. The driver pulled up on the side ahead of me and had his hand out motioning me to stop. I usually don't stop because I've been a subject of many scams and extortion schemes like these.

However, I decided to stop and hear what the guy had to say. He could not speak English. I heard something that sounded or meant like water volcano, mud volcano, 20 manat, park car near camera, 10 km drive. I figured he wanted to take me to see the volcanoes in his beat-up car.

I agreed to go with him, parked my car near a store close by that had an outside facing camera. I got into his 45+ year old Russian built Lada that made me question how it was still continuing to function. The upholstery was gone, the window glass raising/lowering handles were missing, the passenger door could only be opened by the driver AFTER he opened the front passenger door first. And of course, there were no seat belts.

The road was so bad that my rental car would not have been able to make it. The driver was driving like a madman, 60-70 kmph on a really rough and undulating road. I worried if the door flew open, I would be flung outside without the seatbelt making this my last trip!

It seemed like there were a lot of such Ladas around. I saw a bunch and soon encountered one on the wayside with its hood open, 4 passengers inside, with its driver expectantly flagging down other vehicles.

My driver stopped and discovered his compatriot needed gas, got some out of a bottle and gave it. I could see the simplicity of construction of the car from decades ago. Then we got going with the added strong stench of gasoline in the car.

For ten kilometers I saw very interesting, undulating, rock-strewn landscape and finally the driver announced 'Mud Volcano'!

Sure enough, I was staring at a conical small muddy hill and the top of it had big bubbles coming out every few seconds.

The entire area had many such structures.

The chocolate textured mud was flowing down from the cone and solidifying, breaking into pieces before it got covered with new clay-flow.

The methane gas is flammable, and the driver/guide went to the top of one mud-volcano and struck a matchstick and the cone caught fire. The fire kept burning for a few seconds.

After checking out few more mud-volcanoes, the driver took me to the water volcano. It was huge. You could see the methane bubbling out through the lake like space. The shore of this volcano had soft clay which was warm to touch.

After about an hour visit, it was time to re-experience the race car like performance of the old Lada while holding on to dear life.

I found my car parked just like it was and got ready to pay for the trip. The driver wanted twice the amount. It seemed that he wanted money for 2 people, and I was the only passenger to pay for the other non-existent passenger.

I had been scammed in a restaurant in the morning and so I held fast. The driver said his originally quoted 20 manat ($12) was too low and threw the bill back to me. I calmly took it and said, thank you, bye. Noting that I was not falling for his scam, asked for 30₼ and then 25₼. I gave him 25₼ as I was thinking of giving him a small gratuity anyway.

Now it was time to go to the next spot, the UNESCO site featuring petroglyphs from the Mesolithic period.

There is an interesting museum that shows the history and geology of the region. After visiting that, one can drive a couple of kilometers to see the petroglyphs in the nearby limestone hills.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Azerbaijan, in sharp contrast to the -7C weather just a few days ago. In the bright sun, I struggled to see the glyphs but finally managed to see animal figures.

There were many glyphs, and the next one was easy to make out.

The horses were next on the path laid out for visitors.

Other creatures like wild boars were next.

From a hillock, I could see far in the distance.

Few other horses were on the next big rock. There were many visitors today, owing to the good weather.

Surprisingly there was a cherry tree with blossom near the next petroglyph.

The rocky landscape for miles in each direction was beautiful.

Further on the path were small wells dug by the pre-historic inhabitants for collecting rainwater.

From these hills, the great view, the sunny day, the gentle breeze and the idea of people 40-50,000 years ago drawing something that I could see today, all combined into a fantastic experience. It was a day well spent in Qobustan.