January 3, 2016: On my last day in Baku, Chris and I decided to go check out the new Azerbaijan Carpet Museum. Although it had just opened when I last visited Baku in September 2014, we ran out of time to go see it then. So today was the day.

The museum building, located on the Caspian seafront walkway, is quirky enough itself. It’s designed to look like a rolled up carpet. Inside, there are three floors of…you guessed it…carpets. And a few other examples of textile arts. It’s worth a visit just to see the inside of the building and how they made use of the space.

The carpets on display showcase the different styles of the various regions of Azerbaijan, but the nuances were pretty much lost on us. There are even some modern carpets on display that look almost like paintings. After three floors of carpets, we were done, but I do appreciate the amount of work that went in to the assorted Azeri carpets that we have packed up in storage in Canada. Some day they will see the light of day again.

More interesting were the live weaving demonstrations showing how the carpets are made. It is not a quick or easy job, that’s for sure. There was also a video showing the construction of an Alachig, a portable dwelling traditionally used in the winter and summer pastures. They look almost cozy.

That’s it for our latest Azerbaijan odyssey. Next up we’re back on MOKEN and getting ready to go cruising.