In August 2001, I set out, in another old Citroen CX 25, on an
epic road trip from Berlin to Baku, the capital of ex-Soviet Azerbaijan
on the oil-rich Caspian Sea. Driving along the northern Black
Sea shore, I eventually reached the Caucasus. My attempt to discreetly
enter Chechnya was thwarted by the Russian FSB (the ex-KGB), whose
agents arrested me on charges of spying for Chechen rebels. After
five days of interrogation (and heavy vodka-drinking), I was expelled
from Russia on the fateful day of September 11, 2001. After a
surreal excursion to the secessionist Georgian province of Abkhazia,
I finally reached Baku by train. There, I became increasingly
fascinated with the region's oil and pipeline issues.
