9AM We arrived at Istanbul.
Big problem, I failed to realize that Azerbaijan required an evisa unless one was flying directly from New York City, in which case visa on arrival is possible. I applied right away on my fixed phone and it said it should take anywhere within 3 days.
11AM I arrived at Baku. Immigration would not let me through with just the confirmation email since it didn't contain the actual visa. My options are either to wait for the email or get on a flight out of Azerbaijan in the next 24 hours. I had the impression that they would let me roam around the airport. They locked me away without letting me go anywhere by myself. I tricked them to let me to the lounge so I could grab some food. They wouldn't let me stay an extra minute and no one answered the phone either on the visa hotline or the Azerbaijan Embassy in New York. I had no options and I called one of the agencies who do visas. They said it'd be impossible to get the visa in a few hours and even if I do, it would be starting 3 days from the day that I apply. They were also not working since Monday is some kind of a holiday. The next 10 hours was very, very boring. I went to the bathroom a few times. At least there was stable internet so I spoke to Steven Ovadia for around an hour. Imagine house arrest with no internet. That is what I experienced.
I decided to buy a cheap ticket to Armenia through Kiev at 166 USD. I chose this over the one to Georgia directly because this is cheaper, saves lodging for tonight since Turkish Airline would fly me to Istanbul and my flight picks up from there after a 1AM to 6AM layover.
10PM The immigration officer picked me up and gave the passport to the steward. I didn't even have possession of my passport on the plane to Istanbul.
Big problem, I failed to realize that Azerbaijan required an evisa unless one was flying directly from New York City, in which case visa on arrival is possible. I applied right away on my fixed phone and it said it should take anywhere within 3 days.
11AM I arrived at Baku. Immigration would not let me through with just the confirmation email since it didn't contain the actual visa. My options are either to wait for the email or get on a flight out of Azerbaijan in the next 24 hours. I had the impression that they would let me roam around the airport. They locked me away without letting me go anywhere by myself. I tricked them to let me to the lounge so I could grab some food. They wouldn't let me stay an extra minute and no one answered the phone either on the visa hotline or the Azerbaijan Embassy in New York. I had no options and I called one of the agencies who do visas. They said it'd be impossible to get the visa in a few hours and even if I do, it would be starting 3 days from the day that I apply. They were also not working since Monday is some kind of a holiday. The next 10 hours was very, very boring. I went to the bathroom a few times. At least there was stable internet so I spoke to Steven Ovadia for around an hour. Imagine house arrest with no internet. That is what I experienced.
I decided to buy a cheap ticket to Armenia through Kiev at 166 USD. I chose this over the one to Georgia directly because this is cheaper, saves lodging for tonight since Turkish Airline would fly me to Istanbul and my flight picks up from there after a 1AM to 6AM layover.
10PM The immigration officer picked me up and gave the passport to the steward. I didn't even have possession of my passport on the plane to Istanbul.
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