“Sometimes a journey arises out of hope and instinct, the heady conviction, as your finger travels along the map: Yes, here and here … and here. These are the nerve-ends of the world…” ―Colin Thubron, Shadow of the Silk…
Take the long way home
Well, I’m home. And not a moment too soon, either. It took over 24 hours of travel, but I made it home in one piece. My bag, alas, did not, but with all the adventures in airlining, I didn’t really…
Last day on the caravan
Wow. Tashkent again. It seems like yesterday that I was arriving in Beijing, halfway across the continent from here. In the past three weeks, together with my six other intrepid caravaners, I’ve covered over five thousand miles of ancient Silk Road.…
Mischief managed
I am the luckiest of all the lucky travellers. Watarimono, you’re sure earning your space in my bag, because today was just about perfect. Around Samarkand One last “sightseeing day” today. We started off after breakfast at the Registan, which is…
The Golden Road to Samarkand
“We travel not for trafficking alone; By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned: For lust of knowing what should not be known We take the Golden Road to Samarkand.” — James Elroy Flecker Hi from Samarkand! This is, sad…
Enchanting Bukhara
More sightseeing today of beautiful Bukhara, which continues to impress me to no end. Historical Bukhara We started off by boarding the van for a short drive to outside the Old Town. We passed some of the streets of the…
Racing through the desert
Greetings from Bukhara! I’ve only just arrived here a few short hours ago, and already it’s my favourite place in Uzbekistan, and maybe close to my favourite place on this trip altogether. The long desert road Today, we drove the 450…
Ancient Khiva
A very early start today, as we woke up before the sun to depart at 5:45am for our flight to western Uzbekistan. Our destination was the ancient fabled city of Khiva, in the Xorazm province, near the border with Turkmenistan.…
Welcome to Uzbekistan
Greetings from Uzbekistan, the third and final country on my travel route. The most populated of the five “stans”, Uzbekistan has a population just slightly smaller than Canada’s living in an area roughly the size of California. Uzbekistan is one…
Ala Archa National Park
Today was our last day in Kyrgyzstan. We decided to spend it visiting Ala Archa National Park, located about 40 km outside Bishkek. Waterfall hike The day was sunny and cool, perfect for hiking. Upon arrival at the national park, we…