The Head of the Kur

As if we hadn't had enough excitement with all the Novruz partying, the following weekend was the first international rowing competition in Mingechavir. The President's Cup, as it was called (and surprisingly 'president' was not referring to Ilham Aliyev, but rather the president of the Azerbaijani National Rowing Federation, Elchin Zeynalov), was 4 days of rowing excitement with teams from, Russia, Georgia and Iran. The first two days were the sculling and the final two were the canoeing and kayaking events. On the morning of the first day we tried to haul ourselves out of bed for the opening ceremonies. As with most events here information regarding the details was difficult to come by. The only news we had to go on was word of mouth from Azeri friends and the unusual number of large blond men in town. So we did not jump out of bed in case it was all for nothing. We mosied across town to the banks of the Kur river. It didn't look like people were walking in droves to anything in particular. From the opposite side we could see buoys and a small crowd gathering so we continued on our way with brighter prospects of actually viewing an interesting sporting event here. Sadly when we arrived we discovered we had missed the opening ceremony. (Darn we missed another plethora of speeches) but the events were underway. sort of. It was hard to tell. There was a lot of hubbub around, people in speed boats racing to and frow but there was no schedule and certainly no announcer so we really had no idea what was going on. There was a kind of program that had some information about the future of Azeri rowing, the new sports complex and some general information on the competition but no details like times and specific events. So we talked with an Azeri student Mike helps out who was covering the event for his university paper, and he tried to get more information for us There was lots of media around along with several police officers and government officials. So we hob nobbed with them. This event also marked the official opening of the new Riverside Hotel which charges exorbitant prices for nice enough rooms but sadly there's no other infrastructure in Mingechavir to draw tourists. Why would anyone come here to vacation? There is absolutely nothing to do! But I digress. The hotel restaurant sported Euro-style furniture that should have stayed in Europe and it was so new they still didn't have menus. But the staff was very friendly and helpful. Back to the races we saw that a group of rowers was making its way to the finish line. We weren't even really sure which team was which as very few of the boats were marked and only the Iranians actually had uniforms. We hung around for a few more races, which were mostly won by the Russians or the Iranians. They were just so much bigger than the Azeris and the Georgians. There were also some women doing some warm-ups and I hoped to see one of the women's events. Sadly it was not to be. At around mid-day we were starving and over-heated so we went to lunch at the cafe on the other side. After some sustenance we decided to check out the new sports complex. Although far from finished, when it is completed it will be pretty amazing. But again the question I have to ask is why? But the answer I believe lies in the fact that Azerbaijan is vying for the 2016 Olympics. All I have to say is they have a LONG, LONG way to go!

The next day I had to go back to Ganja. I thought I had to go to work but then it turns out I didn't so I came back to Mingechavir to take in the rest of the rowing fun. In the meantime the Russian team had gone home. I guess they didn't have any canoers or kayakers. These events were a bit more heated, or wet for some. We saw some angry disqualifications quite a few people fall out which can't be very fun. The racing boats are pretty tippy. On the last day we tried really hard to get up early but again- no luck- and today there were huge crowds. And then we realized they were all college students who the government forced to come to the event. The students weren't really paying attention and

most were trying to sneak off. We had been blessed with small crowds the days before which was much more comfortable- no staring or stupid 'What is your name" questions. But today was a whole nother ball game. We escaped to another viewing area beyond the hotel pool and had some nice conversation with some Iranian team members. There biggest shock was coming to Azerbaijan and finding out that no one spoke English so they were happy to talk to us and clarify some things about the competition.

Well, it wasn't the head of the Charles but it was a pretty nice way to spend a couple of days outside! They even got the cotton candy out for it. Who knows the world may be watching the rowing's best of the best in Mingechavir in 2016!