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Tag Archives: Central Asia
The whistling man of Registan.
Denying it would be pointless, and I won’t: I am an unabashed Morricone fan and – the two go hand in hand, really – an Alessandroni devotee. Whilst I appreciate that Morricone’s fame is somehow a given, I’m aware that … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Uzbekistan
Tagged Architecture, Art, Asia, Bibi Khanum, Central Asia, Control, Freeloaders, Islam, Madrassah, Millyi Gvardiya, People watching, Police, Registan, Registon, Religion, Samarkand, Samarqand, Selfies, Shir Dor, Tamerlane, Tillya Kari, Timur, Tourism, Ulug Beg, Uzbekistan
16 Comments
Postcard from Uzbekistan.
I cannot, writing straight away, give you an idea of this marvel. If I were to thread the words, mosaics, pediments, spandrels, bas-reliefs, niches, enamels, corbels, all on a string in a sentence, the picture would still be incomplete. It … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Uzbekistan
Tagged Asia, Central Asia, Jules Verne, Postcard, Samarkand, Shah-I-Zinda, Shohizinda, Uzbekistan
17 Comments
“Out of Steppe” by Daniel Metcalfe, Arrow – Random House
If the passion for travelling off the beaten path, exploring places that don’t make it on the top-shelf brochure at your local Trailfinders (but, let’s face it, they don’t even make it to the bottom one), was a genetic strand … Continue reading
Posted in Books review
Tagged Afghanistan, Aral Sea, Arrow, Asia, Books review, Bukhara, Bukharan Jews, Byron, Central Asia, Colin Thubron, Daniel Metcalfe, Iran, Karakalpakstan, Kazakhstan, Moynaq, Pakistan, Random House, Tehran, The Economist, Thesiger, Travel literature, Travel writing, Uzbekistan, Volga Germans, Wilfred Thesiger, Yaghnobi
12 Comments
Fireworks, mountains and sleeping elephants. Wrapping up 2017, in pictures.
The last trip of the year has just ended; the rucksack’s been duly unpacked and its contents unceremoniously thrown into the washing-up pile, hoping for some merciful hands to put them into the washing machine without the whites turning pink … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, China, Europe, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, London, Overlooked locations, Piemonte, Random memories, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, UK
Tagged 2017, 2017 Fireworks, 2017 in photos, 2017 London Fireworks Photos, Alps, Aqespe, Aral, Aral Sea, Aralsk, Asia, Asian elephant, Bactrian camels, Camel, Central Asia, Colombo Fort, Disappearance of Aral sea, Elephant, Fireworks Pictures, Italia, Italy, Jin Mao Tower, Jing Mao tower, Kyrgyzstan, Land Cruiser, London, London Mayor, Mountains, Murghab, National park, New Year's Eve Fireworks, North Aral Sea, NYE, NYE Fireworks, Pamir, Pamir Gap, Pamir Highway, Shanghai, Shanghai Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, Sleeping elephant, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan railways, Tajikistan, Train, Train travel, Udawalawe
19 Comments
Disaster by design: the death and partial rebirth of the Aral Sea (Part 3).
I’d expected the whistling undertaker from For a Fistful of Dollars to be appearing at every corner I turned. I was to experience this feeling again, in Central Asia, but Aralsk looked – even smelt, if that was ever possible – … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia
Tagged Aral, Aralsk, Aralsk Harbour, Central Asia, Harbour, Hotel, Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Port, Sea, Station, Train travel, Travel
15 Comments
“I’ve once been to Kyzyl-Orda, but never to New York”.
I recently attended a training course which, as corporate events normally do, started with an ice-breaker. Every attendee had to stand up, one by one, and declare to the roomful of colleagues something quirky, or unusual, about himself. When it … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Kazakhstan
Tagged Aktobe, Aktyubinsk, Asia, Astana, Burger King, Central Asia, Communism, Ice breaker, Kazakhstan, Kyzyl Orda, Kyzylorda, Mosque, Murale, Russia, Russian, Soviet, Soviet Union, Steppe, Train, Train travel
14 Comments
Out of the steppe.
There are trips we’ve wanted to do for a lifetime, which work their way up to the top of your bucket list. Well, I’ve just crossed one from mine and if I had to distil it in four pictures whilst … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Kazakhstan
Tagged Aktobe, Aqtobe, Aral, Aral Sea, Aralsk, camels, Central Asia, horses, Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda, Steppe
7 Comments
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
14 Comments
A snowfall that would’ve made Bruegel proud.
It was snowing when I arrived, and it hadn’t finished yet when I left. Everything between the flights from and to Kiev – with their cargo of harmonica-playing, duty-free-vodka-guzzling men – happened under a soft blanket of falling snow. Of … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Kazakhstan
Tagged Alma Ata, Almaty, Altai, Asia, Central Asia, Green Market, Kazakhstan, Kiev, Panfilov, Panfilov Park, Panfilov's 28 Guardsmen, Snow, Turkic, Ukraine International Airlines, USSR, Winter
18 Comments
“The Lost Heart of Asia”, by Colin Thubron, Vintage
Then I heard Pasha calling me to return. It was late and dark, he said, and this was not our country. It doesn’t happen often, for me, to arrive at the last word of a book and think Aw fuck, … Continue reading
