On some mornings, you may be gently woken by warm, dappled sunlight cascading through the curtains, filling the room with the promise of the new day ahead and accompanied by far off church bells or twee birdsong nearby. This morning we had a large group of goats herded through and around our campsite, with hooves … Continue reading Day 25: Crossing the border to Kyrgyzstan →

After a simple breakfast of tea, biscuits and an omelette, we were privileged enough today to visit the greatest historical site in Central Asia: the Registan of Samarkand. The name of the city conjures up the most fantastical and legendary images of traders on the Old Sik Road, the great medieval empire of Tamerlane and … Continue reading Day 24: Samarkand to the side of a dusty track in the middle of nowhere →

We awoke early to one of the best breakfasts of the trip so far courtesy of the hotel. In the traditional courtyard in the centre of the hotel we encountered a buffet of epic proportions which included pancakes, eggy bread, fruit, cake, nuts, omelette, melons and bread galore! We filled up, although Paul wasn't feeling … Continue reading Day 23: Bukhara to Samarkand →

After somehow managing to program the air-conditioning using the Russian labelled remote, we woke in a warm but not overpowering bedroom and like forward to trying out breakfast and picking up our fresh laundry. Breakfast was like a personal buffet for everyone as soon as they sat down, with a large pot of tea (or … Continue reading Day 22: Khiva to Bukhara →

The fires of the gas crater were still blazing merrily away in the morning, jut as they had uncontrollably for almost fifty years since an industrial accident set in motion by the Soviets had ignited them. Every so often, when the wind blew in the right direction, you got a heavy waft of fumes like … Continue reading Day 21: Like a bat out of Hell to Khiva →

We woke to our first proper morning in Turkmenistan with a mix of cautious curiosity about the city we'd driven all day from the port to reach, and for Katie a dose of crippling stomach pains. As Tom and Paul weren't in such digestive turmoil we decided to check out breakfast since it was included … Continue reading Day 20: Ashgabat to the Gates of Hell →

At around midnight the captain started speaking over the tanoy. Bleary eyed but excited to disembark we sat up but then heard lots of cheering, singing and clapping coming from the seating area on the floor below. Relieved as were we to disembark it seems we were not as excited at the Turkmenistanis. We were … Continue reading Day 19: Turkmenistan border and Ashgabat →

These days will be etched into our collective memory as some of the most tedious and uncomfortable and uncertain days of the journey, and this is with three weeks remaining (written 5th August). As we had boarded the ferry and around 5am had set ourselves up in the seating area, the only tourists to have … Continue reading Day 17-18 Turkmenistan ferry →

We awoke bright and early and arranged to meet the Swiss at the port at 9am. They had been up even earlier to get their vehicle washed. We were slightly late to the port, even though oddly there was no cars on the road. However our lateness was rewarded as Elias and Marcel had arrived … Continue reading Day 16: Turkmenistan ferry process →

We woke on Saturday with cautious anticipation of being able to catch the ferry that had previously been anchored off Baku for around 4 days due to high winds across the ocean. Not knowing first hand when the boat might make our way to shore, save for a marine tracking app on one of our … Continue reading Day 15: Baku (Part Two) →