Gobustan is a stony, wind-scoured landscape of low hills and mesas south of Baku, near the shores of the Caspian Sea, and on its rocks, people carved images over thousands of years: hunters with bows, boats with rowers, dancers, wild cattle, deer and goats. More than six thousand petroglyphs have been recorded here, dating back as far as the end of the last ice age, and the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape was listed by UNESCO in 2007.
Walking among the boulders, with the Caspian shimmering in the distance and the wind whistling through the rocks, you find carvings on almost every surface, some faint, some sharp and clear. The boats are particularly intriguing, suggesting a long tradition of navigation on the Caspian. At the foot of Boyukdash, a Latin inscription left by a Roman legion, the Twelfth Fulminata, in the first century AD, is one of the easternmost Roman inscriptions ever found. The visitor centre at the site has a modern museum that explains the history and meaning of the carvings.
Nearby, the area is also famous for its mud volcanoes: small cones that bubble and burp grey mud, sometimes with flames from escaping gas. Azerbaijan has a large share of the world's mud volcanoes, and visiting them is a strange and memorable experience. The roads to them are unpaved and become impassable after rain.
For riders, the main approach is the highway south from Baku toward Salyan and the Iranian border, a busy, fast road along the coast, with oil and gas installations, industrial areas and the sea on one side. The landscape is arid and open, with strong winds, especially the cold northerly wind that sweeps across the Absheron peninsula. Summers are very hot, winters cool and windy; spring and autumn are the best times to visit.
Qobustan, about twelve kilometres away, and Sangachal have fuel and basic services; Baku, an hour's ride to the north, has everything. Try a plate of plov, the Azerbaijani rice dish, which comes in dozens of varieties, or kebabs with fresh herbs and flatbread, and drink a glass of strong black tea, often served with jam. Back in Baku, the walled old city, with its Maiden Tower and Palace of the Shirvanshahs, makes a good end to the day.