After a month of traveling through the poorer parts of the ex-Soviet Union on incredibly bad roads (for the most part), arriving in Azerbaijan was quite a shock! In our <3 days in the country (we could only get a 3-day permit for the truck), I discovered that: the roads are great there are Western […]
Thoughts on Azerbaijan Read More »
The other quick stop we did in Azerbaijan was to the mud volcanoes (otherwise known as sedimentary volcanoes). These weren’t too far from the Gobustan Petroglyphs in fact, and were definitely worth the quick side-trip to see. It’s an amazing, moon-like landscape, with the Caspian Sea in the background with both fresh and baked mud
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Because you can never see too many petroglyphs (and I don’t say that facetiously – I actually find them fascinating), one of our quick stops in Azerbaijan was to visit the Gobustan petroglyphs. This National park is home to more than 6,000 rock engravings dating from between 5,000–40,000 years ago – some of which are
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Woke up early after only about 2 hours sleep, thanks largely to the snoring efforts of my traveling companions, and decided to just get up and start exploring Baku. Made my way downstairs at the hostel to be confronted with doctors and patients and wheelchairs on the first floor… WTF??!! The running semi-joke is that
Turkmenistan was a fascinating country, and there were plenty of things that struck me as we journeyed through it. Those that were particularly common/memorable: Flat desert scenery Fancy green signs Gas pipelines with a U-shaped dog-leg every couple of hundred metres Image of the President all over (yes, that is an LED screen!) Green roofs Pristine
Looking out the window at Turkmenistan Read More »
After a couple of wonderful days in the fascinating city of Ashgabat, we were back in the truck for the 540km trip to Turkmenbashi to find a ferry to transport us across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. The road was pretty good (for a change), and although it was 4 lanes for most of the
Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan over the Caspian Sea Read More »
If I ever again hear anyone complain about how Canberra is a planned and dead city, my response is going to be: “Go to Ashgabat”! The capital of Turkmenistan is a truly bizarre experience. Completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1948 that killed a large fraction of the population (though the Soviets denied this
Ashgabat – Turkmenistan Read More »
I remember first coming across a picture of the Darvaza Crater a few years ago and desperately wanting to go see it for myself. So you can imagine how excited I was that it was on our itinerary for this Silk Road overland trip! The story goes that the crater was formed after a natural
The Door to Hell – Darvaza Crater – Turkmenistan Read More »
Turkmenistan is, in a similar fashion to North Korea, a very closed country, which can make it quite difficult to visit. We needed Letters of Invitation (one of our group was refused this because in his photo he wasn’t clean-shaven and yet didn’t have a full beard … just a 5-day growth) and Visas, both
Konye Urgench – Turkmenistan Read More »
Uzbekistan does not make it easy for most nationalities to visit. My Letter of Invitation and Visa cost AUD$650 and took a month to obtain (my passport had to be sent to Washington in the USA). I’m guessing this must be easier for French and Germans, as they seem to make up the largest number
Uzbekistan Reflections Read More »
