In Siberia (Almost) – Semey & Astana

Sometime in what feels like the far distant past, but was actually about a week and a half ago, I was in Northern Kazakhstan. That part of the country definitely feels more Siberian than central Asian and Semey is only 40km from the Russian border at its closest point so that’s not too surprising. We actually drove past the city in 2011 on …

Central Asian Sprint Relay: Osh-Bishkek-Almaty-Semey-Astana (7-13th Nov, sort of)

*photos added* Kenet is probably the only vegetarian central Asian I’ve ever met. He was one of the other two passengers in my taxi to Bishkek- yes that’s right there were only 3 of us! (Maybe I’ll rename this blog ‘people I meet in shared taxis as I travel through Asia in search of my …

Oh my Osh – just a short one (5-7th Nov)

*pictures added* Osh is in the Fergana valley  - a place whose geographical exclaves are quite a headache for both cartographers and non local, visa-requiring travellers! Look at the (badly edited by me) picture above... This was Stalin’s doing – apparently he didn’t want any of the republics to become too ethnically homogeneous and therefore …

Yet more Pamir Highway: Murghab to Osh (4/5th Nov)

Despite the desolation, our room is actually kind of cosy. We’re staying in Tulfabek’s guesthouse and a kind faced gent who I assume is the man himself settles us into our room, which mainly involves feeding alot of coal to the stove, and repeatedly emphasising to us the importance of closing the top hatch so …