Seeing the Caspian has been an obsession of mine since I read Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. I visited Iran after the book, but not the Caspian Sea, due to time constraints. I did get Azerbaijan’s view of the Caspian on this trip. It wasn’t too glorious; I probably went to the wrong place. I will try again from another spot.
Having said that, do visit the Caucasus. I experienced amazing hospitality in my week-long visit. Here goes:
Total Cost
Flight
8,000 UR + $31.50: Air Azerbaijan from Istanbul to Baku, booked through Chase portal ($131.50)
Hotels
23,000 UR points (as statement credit): 2 nights, Hyatt Regency Baku ($230). It’s a Cat 3 Hyatt, so transferring to Hyatt made no sense. I also needed the night credits for requalification, so I didn’t book through the portal
20,000 IHG points: 1 night, Holiday Inn Tbilisi
8,000 UR points (transferred to Hyatt): 1 night, Hyatt Place Yerevan (I wanted to stay here all three nights, but they weren’t available for the other two nights)
60,000 Hilton Honors Points: 2 nights, DoubleTree Yerevan
Others
Local Transportation (train, mashrutka, metro): $42
Food: $46 (food is actually cheap there, I just went to some nicer restaurants)
Azerbaijan Visa on Arrival: $20
Total: ~$140 + 39,000 UR + 20,000 IHG + 60,000 HH
Itinerary
10 September 2018: Istanbul to Baku on Air Azerbaijan, Hyatt Regency Baku
11 September 2018: Baku, Hyatt Regency Baku
12 September 2018: Baku to Tbilisi, Overnight Train
13 September 2018: Tbilisi, Holiday Inn Tbilisi
14 September 2018: Tbilisi to Yerevan by Mashrutka, Hyatt Place Yerevan
15 September 2018: Yerevan, DoubleTree Yerevan
16 September 2018: Yerevan, DoubleTree Yerevan
17 September 2018: Yerevan to Kiev to Almaty on Ukraine International Airlines
Wanderlust 