Marshrutka

Azerbaijan is a country with a pretty extensive public transportation system. You can get from one end of the country to the other in about a day, hopping off and on different buses. For long distances from Baku (~7 hours or more), these buses are very clean, modern Coaches with heating/air conditioning and usually an attendant who gives everyone çay and candy. For all other distances/routes, there exists the MARSHRUTKA. Behold this lovely automobile:


Within cities and regional centers, marshrutkas take routes usually covering the entire town, and charging 20 qepik (about 25 cents) regardless of where you get on/off. On these rides in addition to the seating (usually ~16) there is standing room. Between cities in the country marshrutkas charge between 1-1.5 Manat per hour on the road. On these buses there will usually not be too many people standing, unless it is a holiday or some other occasion where lots of people are traveling.

Being a typical New Yorker who doesn't know how to drive, I am a huge fan of public transportation. I really like the marshrutka system here. If Greyhound was half as thorough as the marshrutkas in Azerbaijan, people would probably still use buses in America. Before I sound like too much of a fanatic, let me lay down some Pros and Cons of the marshrutka (because all us PCV's know very well that there are MANY CONS to this form of transportation).

PROS:
- They go pretty much everywhere: cities, towns, small villages
- If you are on the road somewhere along the route, they will pick you up if you flag them down.
- No tickets needed. Just show up and sit down (or stand up if its full)!
- There are no limits/rules as to what you can bring with you on a marshrutka (although if its taking up a seat you will probably have to pay an extra fare)
- All the drivers have phone numbers, so you can call and make a reservation, or call and tell him where you will be standing so he can pick you up, or call to tell him that you left your iPod on his bus and could he please get it for you...
- Most (read:ALL) of these vehicles are jerry-rigged to have more seats, to have bars to hold on to if your standing, to open only the front door, to have a ridiculously loud sound system, etc.

CONS:
- They stop running at around 6p or sundown, whichever comes sooner
- Cramped. I'm 5'4, and most times there is not enough legroom for me. I feel sorry for everyone taller than me (aka all other PCV's here).
- There are no limits/rules as to what you can bring with you on a marshrutka. Which means that the xanim next to you can bring a box full of live chickens and that old man in the back corner can bring his goat. These animals do not have pleasant smells.
- Xanim's trump everyone else (including the driver). If its 110 degrees in that marsh and everyone is sweating their asses off, but that lady next to you fears that the wind that will come through an open window will get her 'sick', guess who wins?
- The vehicles are jerry-rigged. It is very likely that at some point, you will be in a marshrutka that breaks down. Deal with it. (Luckily for the passengers, most marshrutka drivers are like Azerbaijani versions of MacGuyver and can fix anything with pretty much any kind of material.)
- If they need gas, they will stop for gas. If they want to buy some tendir bread from that stand, they will stop and buy that bread. They stop on their own whim.

All in all, I still kinda wish we had marshrutkas in America. (Some places kinda do: those dollar vans in Brooklyn, those 'dominican greyhound' vans that go from NYC to Lawrence, MA or Reading, PA)