Coffee headaches while travelling?

Have you ever wondered why the rest of the world does not resemble your home? Well, if it did, then what is the point of traveling, is the quip I often get as an answer. The world is a huge place, that is a given, but what seems to escape most of us is the fact that each and every place has its own quaint customs and cuisine. The one way to truly appreciate the ambiance would be to make friends with the locals as well as try out some of their local cuisine.

Every time we travel, we will come across strange customs and new cuisine. Well, other than that, the most essential thing to remember is to respect their customs and traditions, as we would expect them to do while on our homeland. One of the things that I found a little bit difficult to get used to was a lack of strong coffee, while backpacking through Azerbaijan. I did get the coffee I wanted while staying in this great hotel, but the minute I stepped out of the air conditioned doors, well, it became something else altogether.

Azerbaijan is a beautiful country, from the top to the bottom, in ways you would not expect. For one, this place is such a mishmash of traditions and cultures, that I could not believe that I was in a Islamic country. The coffee that I got at the street stalls was nowhere near the black coffee that my system is used to, the result being that by the end of the day I had a splitting headache that was showing no signs of going anywhere.

It is important to remember to pack all of your medicines, the ones that you will need as well as the ones you may not need. With my headache in tow, I headed to the nearest pharmacy only to find out that saridon is not sold as saridon here and I did not know the name of its local variation. So, in the end, I got a herbal treatment for my headache, which was surprisingly effective.

There are a few things you may want to do before you head down Azerbaijan's way for one, get a language translation book if possible. That aside, remember to pack all the medicines that you may need. Try and research more on the place that you are planning to travel to. You can try one of the many sites for booking your hotel rooms and make sure that you have all the details with you when you travel, for example, I left mine in my desk drawer back at home and had quite a time in finding out which hotel I had booked. So if you want to avoid the headaches that I encountered, I suggest in trying to follow some of the guidelines that I have listed.

The cuisine that you will come across in this part of the world is rich in both content and variety. If you would like to experiment then this would be a wonderful place to begin it with. For one, I have never seen meat products being cooked the way that it has been done here here. There is a variety of products of both the vegetarian and the non vegetarian variety available here in Azerbaijan. You can snack on a lot of fast food items or try out their main courses, which are quite delicious. The food here is mildly spiced with spices such as cinnamon and saffron, and there is a ready to eat service available in most of the eateries. But there are a few places here in Azerbaijan which seems to have forgotten some of the basic rules of hygiene. So make sure that you choose the right place and as a precaution, make sure that you drink bottled water/boiled water.

Azerbaijan was an important place in the old silk route and as such, there are quite a few sights to see here. From the Shrivanshah palace to the national museum of Azerbaijan literature. My trip to Azerbaijan has certainly taught me quite a few things apart from not leaving my hotel details back at home. Hope that you would be able to have a great experience as I did on my trip to this warm and friendly country.

Nepal, the republic!

The Hindu kingdom of Nepal has become transformed to a republic, for the very first time in a long long while. While the political ramifications of discharging with the 300 year old monarchy is still being felt in Nepal and many of the neighbouring countries, the current situation should not have changed all that much for the weary traveller.
For one, the same hotels that operated then, still operate now and the only visible evidence of the current constitutional crisis in Nepal can be probably be seen by the speed with which the shops are fast removing their patronage to the king.
Of course, it is a bit confusing, the king is no longer the titular head and all that. But from a travellers perspective, it should not matter much.
All that political drama aside, Nepal still continues to be a draw for many a traveller and is the perfect point to start one's journey to mount Everest.