Gobustan, Azerbaijan: Mud volcanos

4th September 2013

Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest religions. It was founded by the Prophet Zarathustra in ancient Iran approximately 3500-years ago. Among many of their quite sensible beliefs, the religion states that active participation in life through good deeds - is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay. Also, Zoroastrians worshipped fire.

Little wonder then, that this oil and gas rich nation became a focal point for their worship. Gas flows freely from fissures in the rock and up from the chalky earth, identifying itself in pools of sticky mud which form ripples, rivulets, pathways and eventually mounds of chalky, bubbling cauldrons.  Elsewhere up in the mountains, the natural gas is so abundant that it burns continually from the sides of the hills in fierce and fiery pockets. 

The mud volcanos are a real natural oddity and can be found spattered throughout the world, astonishingly though about 300 of the earth’s estimated 700 mud volcanoes are here in Azerbaijan. They are capable of ejecting millions of cubic metres of hydrocarbon gasses and mountains of mud. These geological marvels really were a sight to behold and while I imagined them to be boiling hot they were surprisingly, stone cold.

I jumped at the opportunity to finally leave the city and see this arid place.  A small group of us from the photography club I have joined headed South out of the city for about an hour.  It was a relief to leave busy Baku, particularly to see something truly organic.  

The capital of Azerbaijan has been engineered in such a way that very little natural-nature is to be found in the centre anymore. Sadly, the natural scrub and many of the indigenous trees were cleared to make way for manicured shaded squares, walk ways and rapidly expanding business centres. Then, in came the imported and very ancient olive and feminine looking Baobab trees which now line the waterfront. While very beautiful nevertheless, the clinical design and continual attention to managing the detail and 'mess' keeps much of what should once have been here, well away. 

There have been some natural pleasures to enjoy however; the pair of courting Turtle Doves who huddle together on the TV ariels below the balcony, mobs of squawking Rose-Necked Parakeets at the entrance to the old city, several Hooded Crows that hop noisily about on the roofs of the city, the Cormorants and Caspian gulls scudding along the Bulvar and a multitude of straggly cats that I befriend in the alleyways. 

I didn't realise how much I had been longing for the freedom of walking in a wild place.  This coming Friday, I will have to opportunity to do exactly that as I leave for the next stage of my journey, to Thailand.