Some trips get planned months in advance. Spreadsheets, saved reels, a Pinterest board that slowly fills up over a year. This wasn’t one of those trips.
Azerbaijan happened because of a single YouTube video.
How I Discovered Azerbaijan
I was watching a travel video where the creator was making the case for underrated destinations, the kind of content that pitches an alternative to the places everyone already goes to. Their argument was simple: if Dubai isn’t doing it for you anymore, or you want something with the same skyline drama but far fewer crowds, look at Azerbaijan instead.
Then they showed the Flame Towers.
Three glass skyscrapers shaped like flames, lit up against the Baku skyline at night, sitting right on the edge of the Caspian Sea. I was mesmerised. Not “add it to the list for someday” mesmerised. More like the kind of mesmerised that makes you open a flight search tab before the video even finishes.
I’m someone who genuinely likes chasing adventure on a whim, and this was exactly that itch. No months of planning, no elaborate research phase. Just a decision, and then a flight booked.
Sorting Out the Visa
As a South African passport holder, getting into Azerbaijan is refreshingly simple. You apply for an e-visa online, and you’re granted 30 days. No embassy visits, no waiting weeks for a decision. It’s one of the more accessible visa processes I’ve dealt with, and it made the whim-based booking feel a lot less reckless than it probably was.
What wasn’t simple, at the time, was the COVID documentation side of things.
The Flight I Almost Missed
This is the part of the story I still can’t quite believe happened.
I got to OR Tambo Airport ready to fly out, and was turned back at check-in because of an issue with my COVID certification. This was during a period when countries, including Azerbaijan, were still strict about proof of vaccination or testing before allowing entry.
The problem was timing. It was over a weekend, and there was nobody available to help me retrieve the certificate online. I’d forgotten to have it ready, and with no support available until the following business day, I had no choice but to wait it out.
So there I was. Flight missed, bags still packed, stuck in Johannesburg for an extra day I hadn’t planned for.
The one thing that saved the trip from falling apart completely was Qatar Airways’ flexibility. If you miss a flight with them, you don’t automatically lose your money. Your ticket often stays valid for a longer period, allowing you to rebook without starting from scratch financially. I’d genuinely recommend looking into their policy if you’re booking with them, because it made a stressful situation far more manageable.
The next day, once I’d sorted my certificate, I headed straight back to OR Tambo and got back on track.
The Route: Johannesburg to Doha to Baku
My route took me from Johannesburg to Doha, where I had a layover of a few hours, before catching a connecting flight to Baku. The Doha-to-Baku leg is short, somewhere in the region of two to three hours, which felt like nothing after the long-haul stretch to get there.
By the time I landed in Baku, it was the middle of the night, somewhere around 1am. Not exactly the arrival time you plan for, but after the visa scramble and the missed flight, I was just relieved to have finally made it.
Arriving in Baku at 1AM
I’d arranged for my hotel to send a shuttle to collect me from the airport, which turned out to be one of the better decisions I made for this trip. Arriving in a new country in the middle of the night, especially one I’d never visited before and had booked almost entirely on impulse, wasn’t the moment to be figuring out taxis and local currency on the fly.
The shuttle was there waiting when I landed, and I was taken straight to my accommodation.
Where I Stayed in Baku
Rather than picking one hotel and sticking with it for the whole trip, I made a deliberate choice to experience different types of accommodation while I was there. Over the course of my stay, I stayed at:
- Parallel Hotel
- Center Hotel Baku
- Courtyard by Marriott Baku
Each one gave me a slightly different feel for the city, from boutique-style stays to a more familiar international chain experience. If you’re planning your own Baku trip and can’t decide what kind of accommodation suits you, this is honestly a good approach. You get to compare comfort, location, and service without committing to just one option for your entire visit.
What’s Next in This Series
This is just the beginning of the Azerbaijan story. Getting there was an adventure in itself, but the real exploring started once I was actually in Baku.
Up next in this series:
- A full Baku city tour, covering the Flame Towers, Baku Tower, the Haydar Aliyev Center, the Baku Carpet Museum, and more
- A mountain day trip to Gabala and Guba, including the snow, the drive, and everything that happened along the way
If a YouTube video was enough to send me on a whim flight to a country I knew almost nothing about, and it turned into one of my favourite trips, I’d say that’s reason enough to keep this series going.
