Well, I can't say Uzbekistan has really lived up to expectations, but perhaps that's the cumulative effects of a four week tour talking... together with rather rose-tinted expectations in the first place. Although modern Tashkent was a welcome change, and... Read more
Day one of the final part of our Central Asia Overland trip. We've a free morning in Tashkent while Amanda (our Explore leader) goes to collect the new arrivals from the airport, and we start sight seeing this afternoon. It... Read more
We arrived in Taskent at 7pm last night having left Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) at 4am - a long day of sitting on the world's highest coach seats, suffering the smelliest squat toilets of the entire trip, and spending hours negotiating the... Read more
Tonight's the end of the Crossroads of Asia portion of our trip, so we had our farewell dinner with those not continuing on to Uzbekistan, and our last night in little old Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan has turned out to be a... Read more
Xinjiang was definitely saving the best 'til last, although lunch at Ali's family's home was a definite pre-Kashgar highlight. The main treats encountered in this part of the world were: the livestock market - strangely (or not) reminiscent of Hereford's... Read more
Yarkand has provided definitely the most fun night out so far (and, it turns out, the whole trip). Famed for its mosque, royal tombs and old town (not much left of that; or perhaps it was just the effects of... Read more