2009 - July 30 (Baku)

I get up very early, not sleeping well. I guess I am anxious to get on to my next destination. I have a very early breakfast of an omelette and find that here it must be browned and nearly crisp on the outside. I ate and walked outside to prowl around the artist quarter before my driver showed up. The sun was not really up and it was dark in the streets. As I walked around I saw the various street vendor stands. I also noticed the vendors themselves sitting there, dozing, apparently having stayed all night to watch over their merchandise. Not all vendors, but the majority of then were there. Another aspect of the secret of Baku that is not part of the travel brochures. It is a bit disturbing and somewhat depressing. It makes me wonder about the lives of those people and how they deal with winter and times even harder than they seemed to be from what I saw.