Sweeping into town on the wide new motorway, I was taken aback by the scale of the urban development rising out of the night.

 

We sped past a pastiche of refurbished Soviet-era blocks, garish modern neoclassical towers, and ultra-contemporary high-rises of curved glass and steel lit in a multitude of colours.

 

There were petrol stations that looked like sci-fi spaceports. Glitzy upmarket boutiques. A giant illuminated seafront promenade arcing far into the distance. And above it all stood three surreal flame-shaped towers, their flashing fire-like lights licking the night sky.

 

This wasn’t what I’d expected. This wasn’t how I’d imagined this part of the world. This was Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan – a city you've probably never heard of, in a country you know little about.