We were really excited to visit Uzbekistan, the altitude and heat had got to us while exploring the mountains so the idea of leisurely strolls around Silk Road cities sounded like a rather appealing change. We crossed the border from near Panjikent in Tajikistan, the border only reopened this year after a long time being…
Category: Central Asia
Exploring blue lakes and gushing waterfalls in the Fann Mountains | Tajikistan
Life is very calm in the Stan’s, we don’t get hassled, taxis don’t honk for our attention, it’s all just very peaceful and easy – except for when we arrive at a shared taxi stand and suddenly dozens of men crowd around us. It’s bizarre! They fight to get our bags out of the taxi…
The Pamir Highway | Part Two, Driving alongside Afghanistan in the Wakhan Valley
Day 5 | Bulunkul (3737m) to Langar (2740m) Before we left Bulunkul Village I asked Genghis if he could take us to Bulunkul Lake about 2km from us as I’d heard the morning reflections were amazing. The rumour was true, the view was absolute perfection with the colourful mineral hills mirrored in the glassy water….
The Pamir Highway | Part One, The high mountains of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
The Pamir Highway is a highlight for anyone travelling the Stan’s. It’s the second highest international highway in the world, climbing up to a staggering 4655m! It’s got a few nicknames like the Roof Of The World, due to its height, and also the Heroine Highway as apparently most of the heroin that’s trafficked through…
A horse ride, hike and traditional yurtstay at Kul Ukok | Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan is THE place to go horse riding in Central Asia, so as a belated birthday treat we went on a one day horse ride to Kul Ukok near Kochker. We were driven to the horsemans house where we found out he didn’t speak any English except for the word “problem?”. I was quickly given…
Hiking to Song-Kol and staying in yurts along the way | Kyrgyzstan
Most people hire horses for a three day trip to Song Kol lake but we didn’t really want to go through the pain of sitting on a horse for that long, nor did we want to spend that much money. So instead we opted to hike for three days and stay in yurts along the…
Exploring the badlands of Kyrgyzstan
One thing we hadn’t expected to see in Central Asia was red rock deserts but we were treated to a beautiful display along the southern shores of Issyk Kul Lake. We’d seen the desert as we drove to the ethnic festival and decided we had to come back and explore more of the area so…
Dead goat polo & an eagle attacking a child |Nomad Festival, Kyrgyzstan
We knew we’d miss the world famous Nomad Festival in Kyrgyzstan this year but as luck would have it, a smaller ethnic festival was taking place so we jumped at the opportunity. It was set along the shores of Issyk Kul lake which is the 2nd largest alpine lake in the world and a sight…
Hiking to Ala Kol and Altyn Arashan in two days | Kyrgyzstan
A single photo of this milky blue, glacial fed lake surrounded by snowy peaks was enough to entice us to visit Central Asia. So when we reached the town of Karakol in Kyrgyzstan we had to figure out how to get to this jaw dropping lake named Ala Kol. Most people do a three day…
Crossing the remote Karkara Border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
The Karkara border is a rather remote place to cross from Kazakhstan into Kyrgyzstan but we really wanted to do it to save lots of backtracking. We read blogs online and researched as much as possible but it all came down to luck on the day. So here’s how it went down: 8am, 11th July…
NON STOP TRAVELLING 