Category Archives: Central Asia

There and away – Driving through the ‘Stans.

Posted on October 13, 2018 by awtytravels

As I sat scribbling this post on my notepad, on the plane back home, it occurred to me that the past two car journeys had been the first ones, in Central Asia, where we hadn’t been serenaded non-stop by some … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan | Tagged Ackbar, Asia, Bishkek, Border, Car, Central Asia, Charyn canyon, Cholpon Ata, Driving, Galaxy, horses, Karkara, Kazakhstan, Kegen, Kensu, Kyrgyzstan, Mountains, Pamir, People, Photography, Road, Road Trip, Steppe, Tien Shan, Travel, Travel literature, USSR, Valley of the Castle | 19 Comments

The devil’s horsemen.

Posted on October 2, 2018 by awtytravels

For the Parthians shot as they fled, being, indeed, more adept at this than anyone except the Scythians, and it is certainly a very clever manoeuvre – to fight and to look after one’s own safety at the same time. … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan | Tagged Ammianus, Asia, Carrhae, Central Asia, Cholpon Ata, Crassus, Genghis, Giovanni da pian del carmine, Hungary, Issyk Kul, Jailoo, Kazakhstan, Kyrchyn, Kyrgyzstan, Magyar, Marcellinus, Mongol, Nomad, Parthians, Photography, Plutarch, Res Gestae, Scythians, Travel, WNG, World Nomad Games, Ystoria | 13 Comments

Genghis’ Camp.

Posted on September 21, 2018 by awtytravels

This didn’t feel like Central Asia. The road was smooth, the ride quiet, the old Mercedes van that did the honours as our marshrutka, or collective taxi, wasn’t packed to the gunwales. Our driver, a faded Denver Broncos hat planted on … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan | Tagged Ala tau, Central Asia, Cholpon Ata, Ethno Park, Felt tent, Food, Gorge, Issyk Kul, Jailoo, Jew's Harp, Kyrchyn, Kyrchyn Jailoo, Kyrgyzstan, Lake, Lenin, Lenin statue, Mountains, Music, Nomad, Throat singing, Tien Shan, WNG, World Nomad Game, Yurt | 19 Comments

Throwing wolves by the lake shore.

Posted on September 13, 2018 by awtytravels

Generalisations are often prone to error and misrepresentation, but – sometimes – they do hit the mark. I, for instance, always attached an aura of upper class, or in other words a certain whiff of snobbery, with all activities performed … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan | Tagged 2018 WNG, 2018 World Nomad Games, Altai, Buzkash, Cholpon Ata, gögbörü, Grey Wolf, Hippodrome, Horse, Horse riding, horsemanship, Ippodrom, Issyk Kul, Jailoo, Kazan, Kok Boru, kokpar, Kyrchyn, Kyrchyn Jailoo, Kyrgyzstan, Lake, Mongolia, Nauryzkhan Khajnabi, Nomadic sports, Polo, Russia, Sand, Sport, Wolfpack, World Nomad Games | 14 Comments

Be Right Back.

Posted on September 9, 2018 by awtytravels

I’ve been in a place where Hungarians dress up like they used to do a millenium ago, speed to a full gallop and then throw arrows into a padded target, whilst Kyrgyz flags flutter in the wind, yurts are everywhere … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan | Tagged Archery, Asia, Central Asia, Cholpon Ata, Issyk Kul, Kyrchyn, Kyrchyn Jailoo, Kyrgyzstan, World Nomad Games | 12 Comments

The 5.29 train to Aktobe.

Posted on September 1, 2018 by awtytravels

This post dates from over a year ago. It wasn’t meant for publication on this blog; a book was going to be its destiny, a book on travels in Central Asia. Alas, this wasn’t to be; yet, I liked this … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Kazakhstan | Tagged Aktobe, Aktyubinsk, Aqtobe, Aralsk, Aralskoye More, Asia, Bas relief, Carpe diem, Central Asia, Failed books, Family, Kazakhstan, Kupe, Kyzyl Orda, Kyzylorda, Lenin, Long distance, Long distance trains in Kazakhstan, Plazkart, Propaganda, Russia, Steppe, Train, Train journeys, Trains in Kazakhstan | 16 Comments

To the last city.

Posted on May 23, 2018 by awtytravels

No, that’s a misnomer. Tashkent was, if anything, Uzbekistan’s first city, at least in the modern sense of the term. First one to be occupied by the Russians, first one to be reached by a railroad, first to host all … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Uzbekistan | Tagged Asia, Central Asia, Christianity, City, Cityscape, Cycling, Earthquake, Food, G55 AMG, Hotel Uzbekistan, Islam, Islam Karimov, Karimov, Kazakhstan, Korean, Kosmonavtlar, Lenin, Marx, Mercedes, Mirobod, Soviet, Soviet Union, Street photography, Urban photography, USSR, Uzbek Koreans, Uzbekistan | 9 Comments

Looking up in Uzbekistan.

Posted on May 18, 2018 by awtytravels

Remember shoegazing, that 1980s genre? Well, had any of those musicians been in Ulug Beg Madrasa, in Samarkand, they’d have missed this. Sometimes it’s useful to be walking with one eye to the heavens and one to the floor. Especially … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Uzbekistan | Tagged Amulet Hotel, Bazaar, Bibi Khanum, Bukhara, Chasma Ayub, Chorsu, Chorsu Bazaar, Cupola, dOMES, GoPro, Hero, Islam, Job, Madrasa, Madrasah, Mausoleum, Religion, Samarkand, Tamerlane, Tashkent, Ulug Beg, Uzbekistan | 15 Comments

Buxoro PFC home: an excursion into Uzbekistan’s Premier League.

Posted on May 15, 2018 by awtytravels

It is normally the case, at least for me, to be stumbling upon great finds almost entirely by chance, and today was exactly one such case. We were sitting on a topchan at the hotel, yet again cheered by endless … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Uzbekistan | Tagged Bukhara, Buxoro, Central Asia, Fans, Football, Goal, Pakhtakor, Paxtakor, Premier League, Soccer, Super League, Tashkent, Ultras, Uzbekistan | 10 Comments

A sunset over Po-i-Kalyon

Posted on May 4, 2018 by awtytravels

Showcasing Bukhara must be the easiest job ever, or so I thought with the clarity that suddenly comes when you’re into your third pint-sized bottle of Portland beer (the fact that an Uzbek brew had the picture of a clipper … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Uzbekistan | Tagged Afghanistan, Bokhara, Bukhara, Central Asia, Chor Minor, Dushanbe, Eastern Approaches, Fire cult, Fitzroy Maclean, Genghis Khan, Iran, Isfahan, Islam, Madrasah, Madrassa, Mausoleum, Minaret, Mir-i-Arab, Muslim, Nadir Divan-Beg, Po-i-Kalyon, Portland beer, Siddikyon, Somoni, Tajikistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Zoroastrianism | 16 Comments