Spending a month hanging out in Bishkek has allowed me to do several walking tours with the amazing Rahat of Bishkek Walks. I loved her unusual ideas of building a walking tour about a very specific aspect of Bishkek History (the Interhelpo: The making of industrial Bishkek tour), and exploring the history of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan through […]
History walking tour – Bishkek Read More »
One of the things I love to do while travelling is trying my hand at any local handcraft I come across. I still wear the silver ring I made in Nicaragua, travel with the scarf I made for myself in El Salvador, and will forever be in awe of the women who make the beautiful
Felt making workshop – Bishkek Read More »
Having explored an obscure but interesting part of the history of Kyrgyzstan’s capital on the Interhelpo: The making of industrial Bishkek walking tour with Bishkek Walks, I immediately signed up for Rahat’s Mosaics of Bishkek: Soviet Street Art exploration. I have a particular fascination for street art wherever I go so was very keen to
Mosaic walking tour – Bishkek Read More »
When I was in Kyrgyzstan 2 years ago, I really wanted to participate in the walking tours offered by Bishkek Walks. Dennis from Walking Almaty (the Green Bazaar and Golden Quarter tours are two of the best walking tours I’ve ever done) recommended them to me, but unfortunately I did not have enough time, given
Interhelpo and the making of industrial Bishkek – walking tour Read More »
Just for fun 🙂 Remember at the start of the Silk Road Tour how we got stuck in the mud in Kazakhstan the first day I joined? Well, Gayle, James and the London-Sydney Overland group visited the Tamgaly Petroglyphs today and went to have a look at what our special site looks like 6 months
Stuck in the Mud in Kazakhstan – 6 months later… Read More »
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 »
