AZE: Baku Eye
Seaside National Park, Baku, Azerbaijan
Happy New Year, folks! Let's continue with the sightseeing in Baku, Azerbaijan. Opening its doors, or should I say cabins, to the public since March 2014, Baku Eye is a Ferris wheel in Baku that offers panoramas of the capital city and the Caspian Sea. For some reason, it's also colloquially known as Devil's Wheel. The Ferris wheel features 30 cabins, two of which are VIP cabins.
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AZE: Baku Eye <YOU ARE HERE!>
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As a continuation from the previous post, here are a few photos that I took along Baku Boulevard during the day as I made my way to Baku Eye.
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| Despite Islam being the main religion, represented by the green colour on the flag, Azerbaijan is a secular country. |
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| I regret not going inside the lotus-shaped Deniz Mall. |
Designed to look like a rolled carpet, Azerbaijan Carpet Museum features a huge collection of local carpets with historical and modern weaving techniques and materials.
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| Perhaps I was hungry, but I was immediately reminded of Swiss roll when I saw it. |
There were quite a lot of people walking along the promenade on Saturday afternoon.
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| Built in 1974, Baku Sports Hall has got 1,736 seats. |
I mentioned about Baku Crystal Hall and National Flag Square in the previous post. Here are clearer pictures of them taken from a distance.
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| There used to be the world's fourth tallest flagpole at the square that was dismantled in 2017. |
Let's now zoom in on the Ferris wheel, which measures 60 m in height. For a quick comparison, London Eye is 135 m tall and Singapore Flyer is 165 m tall.
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| The diameter of the wheel is 75 m. |
Anyone above the age of 12 is charged AZN 10.00 (~S$7.75) per ride, while those aged 6 to 12 only need to pay half the amount. Children below the age of 6 can ride for free.
Pikachu, Melon, my BFF and I got a normal cabin to ourselves.
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| Each cabin is designed to fit eight people, while the VIP ones are for four people. |
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| It's unfortunate that irresponsible people exist. |
Not to be missed is the sight of the vestiges of Sabayil Fortress. Approximately 175 m by 35 m in dimension, it was constructed in the early 13th century. Unfortunately, the structure collapsed during a major earthquake in 1306 and remained under water until the Caspian Sea receded in the 18th century, resulting in the resurfacing of the remnants.
In a blink of an eye, our cabin started to descend.
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| “Sunsets are my escape into the reality I want to continuously live.” – Rachel Roy |
Yes, I'm a proud owner of Pikachu and Melon!
It's mentioned that one revolution takes 15 to 20 minutes, but looking at the timestamps of the photos that I took, we were inside the cabin for only about 12 minutes only before we had to go out.
I can't get enough of the view from the promenade for sure.
The wheel was built by Vekoma Rides Manufacturing, a Dutch company specialising in amusement park rides.
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