10-Nov-2002 -- 41N 49E was an easy point to reach, and gets Azerbaijan onto the Confluence scoreboard. Leaving Baku about 9 am, we drove north along the coast road for about two hours until we reached the town of Siazan, where we turned inland through the derricks and pipelines of the Siazan oilfield. A series of narrow 4WD tracks took us into the foothills of the Great Caucasus range - grassy rolling hillsides with flocks of sheep and occasional patches of cultivation around the villages. We were able to drive to within a kilometre of the confluence, just uphill from the village of Dag Quschu, and it was an easy walk from there.

The confluence point itself was on the edge of a recently harvested wheatfield on a hillside. The soil was riddled with what looked like mouseholes but whatever creatures had dug these were keeping well out of sight. We were able to line up the zeroes on the GPS by wandering around a bit. Just to the south was a low ridge from which we were rewarded with distant but clear views of two of Azerbaijan's most noted landmarks - Chirax Castle (Picture 1 - confluence in foregoround) clinging to a crag about 10 kilometres due North, and Besh Barmag Dag (Five Finger Mountain) overlooking the coastal plain to the southeast (Picture 2). Besh Barmag is a popular pilgrimage site for Azerbaijan's Shia Muslims.

At Nusret's suggestion we spent the afternoon driving up the valley of the nearby Atachay River to a small Istisu (hot spring) resort. Apparently this place is extremely popular during the summer, but just getting to such a remote spot in a pickup truck or Lada Niva would merit several days of recovery!