Petroleum Paradise: Baku and Beyond

Zipping down the open highway in your clunker of a car, you look at the gas tank meter and see that it’s close to empty. What to do? You futilely wish the car didn’t have to run on gasoline—you could buy an electric car, but they’re still too expensive. So you resolve to figure out how you can live a life less dependent on petroleum in general, and luckily, you see a gas station just off the road.

Playing Nard in Baku

One of the best ways to interact with locals in any country is to learn the national games. These activities transcend the limitations of age and language. You can play with anybody regardless of whether your generation fought in the Great War or the World of Warcraft or whether you share a common language. If you are travelling in Azerbaijan, the game you must learn is nard. Once you leave your hotel Baku seems to be filled with nard games. Men play in almost every cafe and every park bench. Everywhere you can hear the roll of dice and clicking of the nard pieces moving about the board.