Getting around day-to-day

Even tho' there are lots of Mercedes and BMWs and Russian Lada cars around, most people here do not have cars. Taxis seem to be the most common public transportation and is also entrepreneurial. You can see them parked morning, noon, and night near apartment buildings and housing compounds, bazars, offices - anywhere there are potential fares. 

I suspect that many men who do have cars, also probably have a magnetic "taxi" sign they put up on top when they have the time and inclination to earn money for tea.  I'm not surprised that many men who emigrate to the USA already have much experience driving taxis in their home country. 

The public transportation system here makes it possible to get just about anywhere at a low cost plus a wee bit of walking. Marsrutkas are mini-vans that travel over a specified route for the same price regardless of how far you are going, i.e. they are jitneys. You simply wave your hand when you see your route number on the street and they stop and pick you up. You pay the fare as you get off which is 20 gepik, about 25 cents. (This photo is from Sumgayit.)

Marsrutkas are also the way to get to other towns in rural Azerbaijan. Every town has an avtovagzal (bus station). Marsrutkas have signs on the front windshield with the destination and the driver usually waits until there are sufficient passengers. I've taken a 4 hour ride from Masalli to Baku for 5 manet. It helps to have along an iPod and snack, tho' there is a 15 minute rest stop. On one trip I met a young Khazikstan pediatrician who moved to Baku with her husband and spoke a bit of English.

Buses usually go to larger cities such as the route between Baku and Sumgayit or to Ganja. They also travel specified routes, but with a lot more comfort and less crazy driving. Baku has a fairly new bus station designed to look like a ship and includes a large clothing bazar. Once you arrive there, many buses are lined up that take you to different parts of the city. All PCVs know that Bus 65 will take you near to the PC office.

There is also a railway system to some parts of Azerbaijan, but it does not have current comforts - little maintenance or upgrading since the end of the soviet system - but a bit of mystic of the Orient Express.