Summary We didn’t really know what to expect when embarking on this 24 day pilgrimage. We were a bit trepidatious about some of the countries, and very ignorant about others. We had general impressions - Islamic culture, post-soviet nations, mountains, grasslands, and authoritarian regimes. I was intrigued by the Darvaza gas crater, and both of … Continue reading The 5 Stans of the Silk Road – Epilogue
Bucking the land-border crossings trend, today we caught a plane. We spent the daytime doing some final sightseeing around Duschanbe then headed to the small airport and without any fuss or friction, flew to Almaty. Almaty, Kazakhstan Kazakhstan is massive. I mean bloody huge, and we’re only here for three nights. We skirted our way … Continue reading Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan
Our next country, Tajikistan is immediately a very different place to Uzbekistan. Over millennia, this region has been subject to repeated invasions, from Persians in 600BC, through Alexander ‘the Great’ (not to this country), Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Sassanids, Hephthalites, Gokturks, Samanids, Ghengis Khan, then Tamir (who we met in a previous episode), before the Russians deemed … Continue reading Tajikistan
Khiva, Uzbekistan Our first stop in Uzbekistan was Khiva. Khiva is an ancient city (UNESCO WH), located in an oasis in the desert. Benefiting from the life-blood of the Amu Darya river system, these waters have sustained Khiva as a major trading hub on the Silk Road for over 2000 years. With our arrival delayed, … Continue reading Uzbekistan
When flying to exotic lands, we are used to experiencing marked differences between distant nations. However travelling by car between countries, we time and again found that people don’t exist in isolated nations, segregated by hard political and cultural borders. Over land, the world feels more like a continuum. Individuals inhabit a unique point in … Continue reading Reflections – month two
