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Updated information WARNING – Tank Cemetery in Puta still out of boundsIn the 2nd edition of the book we gave directions for visiting the tank cemetery in Puta but in the 3rd and current edition of the book we advised that they were now out of bounds. This is certainly true as in June 2007 we received an email from a reader who was arrested for trespassing there and kept in custody for eight hours and subjected to interviews from numerous different military personnel. NABRAN ACCOMMODATION Shälälä at the top of the strip up a rather rough track has a pleasant café perched over a small stream and trickling cascade (though hardly a waterfall as the name suggests). However, loud music spoils the scene somewhat and the place’s motel is a rather sordid, hardboard-walled knocking-shop. A bare room with one double and one single bed costs 50,000M. The toilet is a frightening shared longdrop out the back for which you’ll need a torch and a strong stomach. Xäzär is a huge Soviet-era holiday complex full of families and not attuned to drop in tourists. Chiraq Qala (mobile tel 50 357 7037) has a new terraced row of sea-facing units. They’re concrete and hardly aesthetic but are great value – sharing hot showers and a wc between pairs of rooms (double or twin, 50,000M). The long communal balcony has a few settees for looking out to sea and there’s a gravel car-park in front. Prices may rise once this place is ‘discovered’. Tropikanka (mobile tel 392 9588; Jehkhun) has four 150,000M bungalows with two double beds, hot shower and a divided toilet (ie it doesn’t get wet from the shower – rare here-abouts!). Cheaper huts with separate shared facilities a short walk away (including hot showers) cost 50-100,000M according to demand. There can be road noise by day but at night you’re in earshot of the waves. Bulaq was so unfriendly that I decline to review it. Orman (mobile tel 50 354 6989; Sveta) is well managed by a competent Russian lady and offers about the best value on the strip. Rooms are unpretentious and a little old but clean and with en suite shower and wc – 60-80,000M/double, 30,000M/pp in multi occupancy bigger rooms (no singles). The woodland setting with an attractive steep bank to the north is also handy for the beach. Sadly noise from the neighbouring Shahdag turbaza can spoil the atmosphere. Turbaza Dostluq along with next door Shahdag and the equally huge Xazar, Dostluq is one of the last of the great, Soviet-era summer camps. It sprawls a considerable distance through the woods amid big trees, and contains several cafés and the Stargate Disco. Generally you’ll need a putiovka, which costs $470 for three people for a two-week, full-board stay in a pretty basic hut. Miravi (mobile tel 50 380 7651: Suleyman) has three $50 full facility bungalows with sea facing balconies and bigger $60 ones set back in the trees with a big double, twin, wc and hot water when the generator works. Music can be disturbing in summer. The place seemed a bit disorganised when I visited. The two caretakers couldn't find the keys to most of the huts, the ‘always available’ generator wasn’t running and Jamal (mobile tel 339 8278) seemed keener to show me a private place that would be cheaper! Nonetheless, from what little I could see the place looked pretty nice especially if you can wangle a discount. The Sahil (mobile tel 50 315 5100; Emin, $50-70) looks great from outside. There’s a very pleasant setting and at the rear a small wooden bridge leads back to a field of mature oaks. However, despite a thorough renovation, most of the huts are old Soviet-era constructions and still lack bathrooms – not what you’d expect for $50. The shared facilities are admittedly modern and clean but sometimes a considerable walk from the accommodation and the water smells sulphurous. The $70 rooms do have a basic wc and shower and sleep up to five people but are actually less attractive than the $50 ones. Breakfast is included and is served in the rather attractive restaurant. Borchali (mobile tel 50 333 0010; Jeyhun, mobile tel 50 336 5779: Dr Imran) is a good value cheapie for individual travellers with new, single bed rooms at 30,000M and (for me at least) a vodka on arrival! The 50,000M rate includes three meals, discounts are given for long stays. Within the same building there are good showers and decent-enough squat toilets shared between groups of four rooms. The rooms under construction with private bathrooms when I was there are due to cost 150,000M. The site is peaceful; it’s at the edge of some open woodland, set back but not too far from the coast road. Elvin (mobile tel 50 349 6464) has a variety of rooms around a circular forest clearing where the road from Borchali dead ends. Formerly one of my favourite places in Nabran, it has gone rapidly down hill since 2000. Once great value huts were being offered for four times the real value in 2003. Very poorly maintained, the windows no longer fit in their frames, the toilets and bathrooms weren’t properly serviced and the slovenly management seemed only interested in selling the whole place - a million dollars for five hectares if you’re interested! Nonetheless, if a good new owner takes over this place does have potential. The forest clearing is very pleasant, although there needs to be some focus for the circular centre. There’s also a nice streamside café. Salam (mobile tel 50 318 2754: Dustmet) is a small place near the road but on a bank beside a nice streamside valley with a fountain tower and spring. Most rooms have musty double beds and cost from 100,000M. This seems a little steep given that the lukewarm separate showers and bearable wc are shared – access is from the terrace. The upper rooms have balconies with sea views. One hut at the far end of the complex has solar-heated water and an en-suite squat toilet. It was nice enough but they asked me an outrageous $120 (sleeps up to five). Lotos (mobile tel 50 373 0786: Mezahir) has en-suite $50 twins/dbls and $80 two-room (dbl + sngl) apartments in (mostly) wooden two-storey holiday houses. These don’t quite make the most of the potentially lovely forest setting – the balconies face other the houses rather than being slanted to give woodland views and the generator is noisy especially in the front rooms. The owner was not particularly friendly at first and if in a bad mood may be less than an asset to your stay. Tural (mobile tel 50 324 4339: Tofiq) is pretty dismal. There are scrappy separate outside toilets and the attached disco, considered its attraction, is noisy and annoying if you don’t want to go. The rooms have no real redeeming features beyond perhaps the price: 60,000M/double bed, 80,000M/two double beds. The manager is larger than life Tofiq, who formerly ran the Gamitirchisi. He will doubtless regale you with tales of his one-time film-star prowess. The two establishments next door are both marked Palermo and are similar to each other, both with two-floor terraces of rooms. Alinka/Palermo (mobile tel 50 317 1644: Aliya), reached through an underpass beneath the disco, is slightly cheaper for en-suite rooms and has some 50,000M twins with shared bathrooms. The ‘real’ Palermo (mobile tel 50 336 8773/383 6208: Sabir) has more reliable hot water in its better 120-150,000M doubles, cold water and squat wc in others. Palermo will sometimes include three meals in the price. Motel Qafqaz was closed at the time of research. Locals claim it’ll be repaired and that rooms with sea views should cost around 100,000M. Take the road through Nabran village then swing north to find Greenville and Kardinal Greenville (tel Baku 938950, mobile tel 50 337 3699, website www.greenvillebaku.com, $50+) is a vast complex off the quiet back lane that leads to Samur. The forest around is delightful but the whole complex is out of place – a needless intrusion of city life into rural bliss. Nonetheless this gives a possible base for forest ramblers. To reach the beach you’ll need to drive a considerable distance. The rooms have big double beds and relatively tasteful, modern décor (the shower has a curtain, the linen matches). For $50 you don’t get a sitting room, though there is a fridge and an unequipped kitchen area. For $100 you get an additional upstairs room with two single beds. Apart from the swimming pool, Sapter Caspian is better value. The only other place as yet in this isolated area (1.3km to the south) is the Kardinal (mobile tel 50 327 4806: Elchin, speaks some English, or mobile tel 50 327 4810). This is an eccentric if jerrybuilt spired ‘castle’-restaurant, which is in the process of building a few similarly-styled huts. Continuing south of Nabran village Shalom (mobile tel 50 611 0227: Rövshan). Small and basic but with a hope of hot water, choose between a small double with baby bed or twin room. Sea views from upper terrace. Costs $10-20 according to demand. Atlant, nearing completion at the time of research, sits behind a Las Vegas folly of an arched wall complete with castle towers! Liable to be pretty exclusive, one imagines. The Sapter Caspian (mobile tel 50 341 8368: Vali), the renamed former Improtex Resort and Nabran’s original upmarket resort, is now rather out of fashion, mainly as it lacks a swimming pool. Nonetheless, its 25 modern, well-spaced bungalows remain clean, spacious and good value - $50 gets you a mini-mansion with an air-conditioned lounge/dining room, little kitchen, satellite TV, very decent bathroom, two single bedrooms and a small double. A tennis court is available to guests at no extra charge. Nabran Istrahat Zonasi (mobile tel 50 314 8000, $50-80) was only just finished when I visited so it may be a little unfair to judge it. Nonetheless, the quality of the workmanship appeared to leave a fair bit to be desired. One bonus is its waterslide in the pool at the rear of the complex. The $50 units have two single beds, $80 have two doubles. Both have big sitting rooms, hot shower, wc etc. For stays of three days or more, prices include breakfast and dinner. El Paso (mobile tel 55 784 1459) has no sign. Its four simple if pleasant pink huts face the sea and there’s a nice, rose-surrounded café bar. Cold water, rough floors. Twin $20 B&B, triple $30. Karvan (mobile tel 50 319 1462) is a rainbow of seven, two-storey units with somewhat disconcerting, rail-less spiral stairs to the upper bedroom (small double bed). The hot water shower sprays the en suite toilet. Not bad but expensive if you pay the full $50. Palma (tel Baku 275 259, mobile tel 55 791 1104, email shassanov@mqs.az, $30-100) is the archetypal Edward Scissorhands place with two ‘streets’ of sharp-roofed ‘houses’. Dominating the central swimming pool is a restaurant with disco; music blares out day and night. There’s also a sauna. The rooms are somewhat lacking in style: the showers have no curtains so water pours onto the wc. The upstairs $30 twin rooms are good value and have bigger bathrooms than the downstairs ones (which instead have big sitting rooms and often cost more). The $60 apartments have two double-bedded rooms. $100 gets you a whole ‘house’. Contrary to the shamelessly fictitious brochures there are no palm trees and no sea views! The site looks pretty bare at present but will improve as the flowers and young trees mature. Malibu (tel Baku 472560, mobile tel 50 363 2884, website www.malibu.in-baku.com). Standard bungalows ($60) have two bedrooms (double + twin). The older ones ahead and left from the entrance gate are better and more spacious than the newer ones. A few $80 bungalows have extra double bed rooms. There are also a few $25 fan triples around the perimeter. Each shares a good wc and hot showers between pairs of rooms. There are two pools: the bigger new one has a swim-up bar and is often crowded with boisterous locals in summer. The place remains open in winter and heating is reliable. Don’t be put off by the photos on the website – they are rather dated and since then the flowers and trees have grown a fair bit making the complex look much more attractive. Nonetheless, the place really packs a lot of people in a small space so when full the atmosphere is like a Butlins holiday camp. They no longer rent mountain bikes, but there’s still a tennis court. The restaurant is pretty good. Oberlux (mobile tel 50 310 0494: Rafiq), another major new complex that will need time for trees to be planted and hide the stark setting of the modern red-roofed townhouse-style buildings. All the rooms have a fridge and full facilities, albeit with a shower that wets the decent wc. Tennis court, cold-water drinkable spring and very nice swimming pool. $40 double, $60 double with sitting room and fireplace, $80/100 for 3/4 room apartments. Note that the approach is hidden making the place easy to miss. Xan Chinar (mobile tel 50 321 8476: Musa) has rose-fronted huts that look sturdy but are less attractive than first impressions may suggest. Still it’s good value at a negotiable 100-150,000M/twin or double with wc and hot water. Kaspar (mobile tel 50 375 5450: Gosha, 331 2614 Gurban) is easy to miss behind a small café just north of a little roadside bazaar. Most of the basic waterless huts are 30,000M but there’s a new two-storey block set behind with 50-80,000M doubles with heated water and wc. If these prices hold it’s about the best deal on the strip. Gamitirchisi (mobile tel 50 321 3359: Intiqam) is a big, Soviet-era holiday camp with mostly pretty but abysmal waterless multi-person huts rented in 12-day stretches (325,000M per person with three meals). Often full in summer, you might be able to find a place at 3-5 shirvan per person if it’s empty. Just a handful of bungalows have en suite wc but these usually fill fastest. Istisu (mobile tel 50 334 5164: Vidadi) is behind the Istisu public baths and uses the naturally-heated (if pretty grey and gritty) water in the en suite showers. Rooms may cost as little as 70,000M in the low season but now generally start at 150,000M, or 250,000M for the somewhat tatty double-down, twin-up units that open straight onto the beach – unique in Nabran. There is a particularly acceptable, mid-market café offering NZS beer. A whole spit-roast chicken costs 20,000M |
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