Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hi, I am Hayley and my hub has been offered a full-time job in Baku which would involve the family upping sticks and moving there. As you will appreciate, I am looking to find out as much as I can. Mike (hub) has worked in Baku month on/month off for the last two years but has lived there essentially as a bachelor, so he is hopeless when it comes to finding out about schooling, healthcare, social-life, new friends, etc!

I am 34yrs old and mum to Harris, who is 7 and Maia who just turned one last week. Harris is just going into P3 after the summer and we need to find out loads to assure him that the move will be a great one, so I need to know about schooling options and what the little peoples social scene is all about!!

Maia is just one and she has some physical development challenges (hypotonia = low muscle tone) and regularly attends sessions with a Physio and Speech and Language Therapist here in the UK. What is the healthcare system like in Baku for ex-pats. Do we use their national health system (if there is one) or are there private facilities? How good are they?

Finally, what do the ladies get up to? I work part-time and study OU and would not be looking to be a full time lady-what-lunches, if you get my drift!! However, I would like to meet other similar gals and at least have a social life that extends from my own front door!

Any help/info/advice is incredibly appreciated - so thanks in advance!!
Cheers
Hayley

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Wrong Thread ( Baku being NOT in Europe , but in Asia ) !
Anyway , I've been there , honestly wouldn't recommend it to married women and children ...come to think of it actually : not to most men , either .

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hello Hayley,
I live and work in Baku (BP Azerbaijan), but not as an expat. Please send me your e-mail, so I could forward your questions to my friends expats.

Kind regards,

Mubariz

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Not especially helpful, Ray51, but thank you for taking the time. Unless I am very much mistaken, Azerbijan is considered by most as Eastern Europe and not ASIA, but hey - what do I know??!!

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hia Mubariz
Thank you for taking the time to reply. If your expat friends have any useful info, please direct them here, as it would save any hassle with email addresses, etc.

I am trying to find out as much as I can about Baku before I get there - I am coming over to check it out in the next month or so.

Thanks again
Hayley:thumbsup:

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Sorry , my brief reply was in good faith and I had no ill intentions ;
I'm so glad to learn that you'll be going there first , to check it out ;
that should suffice , then - Best of British Luck to you and yours !

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Sorry i replied before reading this one Hayley.duh!
Here is web sites for expat medical places:
https://www.internationalsos.com/en/...rbaijan_34.htm

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

I also wanted to add TURKISH-AMERICAN MEDICAL CENTER web address:
http://www.tamc.az/eng/

Hayley, it depends on what company your husband will work for. If BP - most probably it will be SOS. It could be MediClub as well, but MediClub has another weblink: http://www.mediclub.az/eng/index.shtml


Best regards

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hi Hayley.
I lived in Baku 2004/2005 with my family. I loved it.
I went out with my parents and my brother who was 17 at the time and my sister who was 7. I loved it right away. I spent most days up at the Hyatt Hotel sunbathing and "doing lunch". I had a job for a while at BIS, one of the schools. The main other one being TISA. BIS is the smaller of the two and this is the school my sister went to. It's just a nice size actually. Not too overwhelming for the little kids. I'd say most go to TISA but my parents were against this for various reasons.
The schools are good, though work in American...ie American spelling and money in Maths work. This meant we were sometimes unable to help my sister with Maths homework if it was dealing with American money as we've never used US coinage.
We had a driver for a while but found we weren't making use of him enough to justify paying the money for him. Instead we go friendly with a taxi driver who worked from outside our apartment and he became my sister's school driver.
We also had a cleaner who came twice a week. She was great. Really did a good job. I think some people have negative experiences with their cleaners but you just have to find the right one.

We mostly ate out at night. There's so many places to choose from. Some expensive, some pretty cheap.

There's not a huge choice when clothes shopping. There are a number of shops like Zara, Mexx etc. But it's not like walking down the high street back in the UK.

There are a number of supermarkets but be careful which one's you use. Don't go for the ones aimed at expats as you'll pay double the price than if you went to a supermarket that the locals use.

There was afterschool activties every day at school so plenty for them to do.
At weekends you'll find a lot of families up to the Hyatt so they're bound to bump into someone they know.

As for medical care. We were all provided for on my dad's contract. We used SOS. You could get an appointment anyday no problem. We had to use them in an emergency too and found them good.

The social life is good. You bump into other expat women everywhere and you'll soon get chatting and be meeting up all the time.

We loved Baku.

If you want to know anything else feel free to drop me a line.
- S.

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Thank you so much for your reply - REALLY HELPFUL!! I am hearing mostly positive reports, so think that we would probably go for it!

Thanks again!
Hayley

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

hello can anyone tell me more about BAKU as we are due to visit next week for possible employment me my husband and two small kids what is it truly like to be an expat there we are currently in khobar in Saudi Arabia

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hi

anyone from Baku? I would need some help.

thank you

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hi, i am new to this website but glad i have found it !! I will be moving to Baku in November with my (almost 5) son who will be starting at TISA and i am just trying to find out about stuff to do myself etc.... If anyone can recommend where to start i would much appreciate it !

Hope to meet some of you soon
:) KERRIE

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hello,

I need advice, (like the rest of you), we are looking at moving from Uralsk, Kazakhstan to Baku. We have a 10 month old and another due in March.

Could anyone please tell me what medical facilities are like? Does anyone know of anyone who has had a baby in Baku within the last 2 years? Are there activities for toddlers? What is life like for the expat mom's who's children are not at school? How is the outdoor life? Are there woods to escape too or natural landscapes to explore? Is there any sailing?

I have so many questions, but I think I will leave it there and hope to get a reply from someone soon.

Cheers

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

hiya

I was just wondering if u ever went to Baku? my husband and i moved to australia from the UK nearly 5 years ago, and we have 2 children now aged 7 and 2 and he is thinking of accepting a job in Baku but its a expat one so we will all go, just looking for some feedback about the place, as there isnt much around

Many thanks

Sarah

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

hi

i'm in baku. expensive city with bad infrastructure, but safe enough for expats; ask me if you need more details, i'll try to help you.

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hi,

I would like to receive your view on an issue. We -as a family- will be moving to Baku at the end of May. We have a 6 month-old baby. I was wondering whether the pollution in the city is so extreme that our baby might develop some health problems. If the answer is "yes", what can be done about it? For example, where would you suggest to live in Baku, so we will be affected as little as possible from the pollution?


Thanks a lot,

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

hi meltem

i mean the city is not so clean, dust and garbage overall; but the pollution level is not so extreme to cause health problems to your baby. probably you will need a good clinic for your baby's vaccination, etc. bp and some other foreign companies staff go to mediclub, good enough.

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Thanks a lot for your reply. We currently live in Belgium. Our baby is used to going out every day to a park by the lake, getting a lot of fresh air, we cycle a lot etc. So, we have quite a healthy life here. Of course, I do not expect to go on with our life the same way in Baku, but I think we can choose such an area to live that we still can at least walk frequently. Considering all of this, which area would, in your view, meet with our requirements? Thanks..

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

villas in the northern absheron, 20-30 km from the centre; the sea and the air is cleaner;

or flats in the western uptown, on the hills; for instance near the parliament building, youll get some fresh air there.

more comfortable places from the climat point of view (highland forests) are unfortunately more than 100 km away from baku

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hi, hopefully people are still following this thread. It looks like medical facilities for Baku are covered but i have a question about dogs, like are there any particularly good places in Baku (esp in center which will be near where i will work) to take ones dog? I get the impression that i am not going to find any dog parks but any recommendations (center or otherwise, but i am not an oil exec so my housing allowance is about 1200azn [going to see if i can get a few hundred more but not holding my breath). Any info regarding dog ownership in Baku would really be appreciated!

Cheers

-Gaiko

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

I'm from the States and have an opportunity to live in Baku. I read the posts here from last year about the city, and wondered if you, Hayley, or anyone can give me a brief run down on what to expect since your trips there.

I have an 11-year-old daughter and I wonder if it is safe to take her and have her go to a local school for U.S./U.K. expat students.

It's a little confusing in that I've heard a variety of things about Baku -- that it's beautiful but dirty, potentially dangerous even to walk the streets, that decent housing is expensive, etc. Any info would be nice to read. Thanks to all.

-- Califexpat

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hello,

I'm looking for expats living in Baku who would be interested in contributing to a new guide book on Azerbaijan. Previous writing experience is preferred, but just as important is a good knowledge of the city and country. Please contact me for futher details.

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

hello can anyone tell me more about BAKU as we are due to visit next week for possible employment me my husband and two small kids what is it truly like to be an expat there we are currently in khobar in Saudi Arabia


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Re: Anyone travelled to Baku with pet dog??
 

Has anyone travelled to Baku with pet dog? I am looking for any information as we may be relocating and the dog is part of the family. Are there vets ? As a muslim country (98%) are they anti dogs? Have had experience in the past of this. I know pet passport does not cover this area and wondered if anyone had advice about moving out of Baku too. Any info would be appreciated.

Re: Anyone travelled to Baku with pet dog??
 

Anyone out there who has taken a pet dog to Baku?? Having difficulty getting any info.

Re: Anyone travelled to Baku with pet dog??
 

Hope someone is following the tread of this I need some advice asap on how it is to take a pet dog to Baku......

Re: Anyone travelled to Baku with pet dog??
 

It's pretty much the same as taking your dog to any other country.
Look at your embassy page and you're likely to find the info you need. The following is taken from the US Embassy in Baku -
"
To bring a cat or dog from the US into Azerbaijan you must:
* Inoculate the pet against rabies at least 30 days before entering Azerbaijan. No other vaccinations are required.
* Obtain an International health certificate for the export of animals from the United States completed by an accredited veterinarian who certifies animal health status, conducts tests, and records test results for the individual animals being exported. Completed and signed international health certificates for the export of animals from the United States must be endorsed by a USDA area office in order to be valid.
* If you will be transiting other countries, please check to be sure that you have also satisfied that country's requirements for traveling with pets.

Upon arrival in Baku, your pet and the relevant documents will be examined by a veterinary doctor at the airport. The paperwork is acceptable in English. "

However, having previously lived in Baku for nearly 2 years I can say I never saw a pet dog. There must be some though.....Maybe I just wasn't socialising in the same places as all the pet owners :)

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hi there,

My husband has also been offered a job in Baku - I have 2 sons aged 5 and 11. I have spend a fair bit of time looking for info online but haven't found a great deal. The little I have found doesn't look particularly positive!
We are going to take a trip out to have a look but wondered if anyone could give me some info about what it's like to live out there with school age children ?
Yours hopefully

Re: Anyone travelled to Baku with pet dog??
 

[QUOTE=slmch;8611032]It's pretty much the same as taking your dog to any other country.
Upon arrival in Baku, your pet and the relevant documents will be examined by a veterinary doctor at the airport. The paperwork is acceptable in English. "
QUOTE]

( in my own humblest expeience )
It helps , if a 50$ note ( or : greater value ) is attached , at any stage/s of your arrival ...

Re: Anyone Living in Baku? With Family?
 

Hi! I'm from Baku. I can help if some info will be needed about this city.