The Lada Legend - On the Road to Dashkesan: Yevlax
Yevlax, a city of 60,000 or so, was, according to Wikipedia, famous for having a "bad reputation for fever in [the] summer" of 1914. We took that into consideration before starting out from Kim's in Mingecevir. We had a couple of things we needed to get done. One was visiting the one thing Yevlax is not famous for even though it should be, another was meeting a friend who was told to get on a bus in Baku and head to Yevlax to meet us, and the final one was to meet up with Narmin (who has been one of the Colonel's biggest fans) and her family.
The road betwen Ming and Yev is one of those roads that was made for cars like the Colonel. Narrow, no traffic, gentle curves, minimal potholes. And a lot of villagers ready brimming with local knowledge. We set out with only a general idea of where exactly in Yevlax we were going. We knew the infamous "chopped-in-half" Lenin statue was there somewhere, but where? It wasn't like the old days when finding the Lenin statue meant going to the central square.
Our first attempt at asking a local was met with limited success. "What? There's a Lenin statue with its head cut off?" Next.
Next up, a taxi driver loitering about like taxi drivers do. He knew the answer but didn't want to give it to us. The entrepreneur in him suggested that we pay him to guide us there. Where's the fun in that? Eventually he relented and told us that the infamous statue stood not two minutes from where we were. His instructions were pretty clear: go up the road, turn right onto a road that is full of potholes, and then you will see it.
It's an impressive sight when you come upon it. There, in the middle of a junk yard, is a massive Lenin statue chopped in half. There some other Soviet-era relics scattered about which really add to the ambience. We took our customary photos, paid our respects, and rolled off down the road to find the bus station.
Our friend managed to make it in one piece; a pretty impressive feat for someone who touched down for the first time in Azerbaijan a mere twelve hours before jumping on a bus to the regions. Next stop was Narmin's for a little Yevlaxian hospitality.
Narmin has been a big fan of the Colonel since day one. She and her parents welcomed us with open arms, fed us, allowed us to cook kebab, and housed us for the night. Two expressions were coined that night that will go down in Lada Legend lore: "Meat hands" and "We're on the express train to meat town". Needless to say, there was a lot of meat consumed that night.
In the morning, we bade farewell to our gracious hosts and continued on to the oil bath capital of the world: Naftalan.
The road betwen Ming and Yev is one of those roads that was made for cars like the Colonel. Narrow, no traffic, gentle curves, minimal potholes. And a lot of villagers ready brimming with local knowledge. We set out with only a general idea of where exactly in Yevlax we were going. We knew the infamous "chopped-in-half" Lenin statue was there somewhere, but where? It wasn't like the old days when finding the Lenin statue meant going to the central square.
Our first attempt at asking a local was met with limited success. "What? There's a Lenin statue with its head cut off?" Next.
Next up, a taxi driver loitering about like taxi drivers do. He knew the answer but didn't want to give it to us. The entrepreneur in him suggested that we pay him to guide us there. Where's the fun in that? Eventually he relented and told us that the infamous statue stood not two minutes from where we were. His instructions were pretty clear: go up the road, turn right onto a road that is full of potholes, and then you will see it.
It's an impressive sight when you come upon it. There, in the middle of a junk yard, is a massive Lenin statue chopped in half. There some other Soviet-era relics scattered about which really add to the ambience. We took our customary photos, paid our respects, and rolled off down the road to find the bus station.
Our friend managed to make it in one piece; a pretty impressive feat for someone who touched down for the first time in Azerbaijan a mere twelve hours before jumping on a bus to the regions. Next stop was Narmin's for a little Yevlaxian hospitality.
Narmin has been a big fan of the Colonel since day one. She and her parents welcomed us with open arms, fed us, allowed us to cook kebab, and housed us for the night. Two expressions were coined that night that will go down in Lada Legend lore: "Meat hands" and "We're on the express train to meat town". Needless to say, there was a lot of meat consumed that night.
In the morning, we bade farewell to our gracious hosts and continued on to the oil bath capital of the world: Naftalan.
posted by kent @ 8:31 a.m.
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