Waitin’ on a Train

In retrospect, writing in my last update from Baku that – the weather is calm so the ferry (departing Baku) should be on time give and take a few hours – was forgetting the complexity of the area and why we had to fly over Georgia. Azerbaijan is peaceful and there are no signs of the sudden conflict that exploded in Georgia two weeks ago. Yet while we were patiently awaiting the boarding of the ferry, the lack of any activities around us was slowly becoming a concern.

The ferries we take are essentially a transport ferry with a few spots to take passengers. These ferries do not have a timetable for departures or arrivals, but rather they depart when they are full. So as the hours passed and there was nothing being loaded, I was beginning to get an ominous sense that something was up. And at 8PM I was told, that “yes the ferry will not depart today”. The reason is that the train cargo that was to fill up the belly of the boat is not coming. And the reason that it was not coming was that the trains come from Georgia and as the Russians had bombed a bridge that the trains use, there was no train. “Hopefully there will be a train in the morning” I was told.

Now Friday has passed and part of Saturday and the cyclists are still in Baku’s port. But a rumour has it that they will be loaded on the ferry today.

Not long ago I was standing in front of a stand of flashy travel magazines, one of them announcing on its front page “a perfect vacation”. Looking at it, I remember thinking of the expeditions our company provides, one of them of course being the Silk Route Tour and a thought crossed my mind. That thought was that if ever we decide to advertise our tours it should say that our Expedition Tours will deliver anything but a perfect vacation but plenty of unexpected adventures.

So the 2008 Silk Route Tour continues and we will bring you the latest adventures as they occur.