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Author Archives: awtytravels
“A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions”, by Peter Robb, Bloomsbury.
Courtesy Bloomsbury publishing If I were to trawl through my notebooks, through the shapeless lumps of bytes that make the impalpable documents folder in my laptop’s solid-state drive, I’d find a page, or many a .docx files, titled exactly like … Continue reading
Posted in Books review, Odd ones out
Tagged A death in Brazil, Bloomsbury, Book Review, Brazil, Fernando de Collor, Lula da Silva, Nordeste, Pernambuco, Peter Robb, Recife
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The years of commuting dangerously. Excerpts of life in Transport for London’s hands.
Like everyone else, I use social media to share utter gibberish (think penguins slapping each other, Russian drivers’ antics, Economist articles) and moan. My social media of choice is Facebook and the primary objective of my tirades, the exclusive subjective … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, London, Odd ones out, Public Transportation, Random memories, UK
Tagged Britain, Commuting, Disruption, Facebook, Piccadilly Line, Signal Failure, Strike, TfL, Transport for London, Tube, UK
10 Comments
A strange capital for a strange country. Dušanbe.
With hindsight, it was surprising that we had no plans for Dušanbe; it was meant to be the last leg of our journey, a simple stop-gap, an interlude between the last leg of the Highway and the flight home. In … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Tajikistan
Tagged Architecture, Bazaar, Capital, Dushanbe, Dušanbe, Islam, Putin, Rahmon, Raspberry, Salafism, Street photography, Tajikistan
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The “Frontier School of Character”: Travels along the Pamir Highway Part V.
To Dušanbe. “In my opinion, eight officers out of ten are corrupted in Dušanbe” Tajik police officer, interviewed by I. Khamonov, 2005 My memories of Khorog are fleeting, for such was the nature of my permanence there. We took possession … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Tajikistan
Tagged Afghanistan, Atatürk, Basmachi, Bolshevik, Bukhara, China, Dushanbe, Dušanbe, Enver Pasha, Khorog, Kulob, Lenin, M41, Marshrutka, Pamir, Pamir Highway, Panj river, Shared Taxi, Tajikistan, USSR
16 Comments
The “Frontier School of Character”: Travels along the Pamir Highway Part IV.
To Khorog. “Recent years have struck a final crippling blow to the roadlessness of Kirgiziia […]. Instead of isolated districts there is now one connected and unified economic whole.” M.M. Slavinskii, 1935 A minute man waited for us in the … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Tajikistan
Tagged Adidas, Asia, Great Game, Ionov, Khorog, Kirgizia, Mountain, Pamir, Pamir Gap, Pamir Highway, Panj, Queen Victoria, Snow, Tajikistan, Tsar, USSR, Younghusband
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The “Frontier School of Character”: Travels along the Pamir Highway Part III
Murghab. “’Tis said to be the highest place in the world” Marco Polo Looking back, the handful of hours we spent on the road between Karakul and the Tajik town of Murghab were my favourite of the entire journey. It … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Tajikistan
Tagged Akbaital pass, Asia, Central Asia, China, Francis Younghusband, Gordon, Great Game, Ionov, Khorog, Kyrgyzstan, Lenin, Murghab, Nicholas II, Pamir, Pamir Gap, Pamir Highway, People watching, Photography, Tsar, USSR
11 Comments
The “Frontier School of Character”: Travels along the Pamir Highway Part II
To Karakul. “I shall wander the wilds of Central Asia possessed of an insane desire to try the effects of cold steel across my throat” George Hayward 1839 – 1870 After two weeks of relentless sunshine, departure day opened with … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
Tagged Akbaital pass, Army, Border Post, Francis Younghusband, Karakul, Karakul Lake, Kyrgyzstan, Land Cruiser, Montains, Osh, Pamir, Pamir Highway, Police, Road travel, Russia, Sary Tash, Tajikistan, Toyota
14 Comments
The “Frontier School of Character”: Travels along the Pamir Highway Part I
Osh. There are many sayings about the excellence of Osh Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, founder of the Mughal dynasty, India “Older than Rome”. “Established by Alexander the Great”. “No, by King Solomon; Suleiman Too is named after him”. The two youths … Continue reading
Posted in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan
Tagged 1990 riots, 2010 riots, Alexander the Great, Babur, Ethnic strife, Fergana valley, Ilyushin, King Solomon, Kyrgyz, Kyrgyzstan, Lenin, Lenin Avenue, Lord Curzon, Manas, Osh, Osh Bazaar, Pamir Highway, Pamirs, Second Kyrgyz Revolution, Uzbek
8 Comments
I might’ve accidentally found a place I love.
A somewhat prolonged absence from the blogosphere could mean only three things: a) writer’s bloc, b) inspiration gone dry or c) having gone travellin’. With the partial exception of a food poisoning from the office canteen – which is deeply … Continue reading
Posted in Central Asia, Tajikistan
10 Comments
A samosa wrapper.
There are street food sellers on Nuwara Eliya’s main street. If one is to walk outside the market, where the porticoed sidewalk shrinks to the width of a catflap, he’d see how a food cart has been parked in the … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Sri Lanka
Tagged Asia, Ceylon, Notebook, Nuwara Eliya, Pakora, Samosa, School, Sri Lanka, Street food, Wrapper
12 Comments
