Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Turn Left at Lenin’s Statue: Travels in Central Asia.

Posted on 03/08/2020 by awtytravels

It’s taken three years, five revisions and a list of rejections as long as Donald Trump’s comb over, but at long last Turn Left at Lenin’s Statue is here – or, rather, on Amazon. Here’s a little bit of a … Continue reading →

Posted in The Book | Tagged Amazon, Amazon self publish, Asia, Book, Central Asia, China, Ebook, Kazakhstan, Kindle, Kyrgyzstan, Lenin's statue, Literature, Pamir, PRC, Russia, Self Publish, Tajikistan, Travel, Travel writing, Turn Left, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang | 44 Comments

Mountains, alleys and oppression. A taste of what’s to come.

Posted on 22/07/2019 by awtytravels

It’s been my hardest trip. It’s the one I’ve been the sickest, the loneliest, the most confused and bewildered. But it’s also been a source of endless grins, of unexpected solutions to sudden problems, of sweeping views and of deep, … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Central Asia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan | Tagged Alley, Almaty, Central Asia, Kashgar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mao, Mao Zedong, Mountains, Old town, Oppression, Osh, Pamir, People's Republic of China, Sary Tash, Summer, Turkestan, Xinjiang, Zedong | 10 Comments

There and away – Driving through the ‘Stans.

Posted on 13/10/2018 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 02/10/2018 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 | 14 Comments

The 5.29 train to Aktobe.

Posted on 01/09/2018 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

Confessions of a graphomaniac.

Posted on 08/08/2018 by awtytravels

Doctor, dear doctor, help me for I’m a graphomaniac. Yes doctor, I love paper. I adore the smell of the thing, the muffled noise of a pencil running on a smooth sheet. In a nutshell, doctor, I love writing. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Odd ones out, Random memories | Tagged Asia, Beirut, Central Asia, Drawing, Graphomania, Graphomaniac, Italia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mapping, Maps, Memories, Middle East, Mitsubishi, Moleskine, Norris, Note, Pamir, Pen, Sri Lanka, Staedler, Travel, Travel literature, Travelling, Writing | 26 Comments

To the last city.

Posted on 23/05/2018 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 | 11 Comments

“Out of Steppe” by Daniel Metcalfe, Arrow – Random House

Posted on 06/01/2018 by awtytravels

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

Disaster by design: the death and partial rebirth of the Aral Sea (Part 3).

Posted on 06/10/2017 by awtytravels

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

Disaster by design: the death and partial rebirth of the Aral Sea (Part 2).

Posted on 25/09/2017 by awtytravels

I’d seen Serik a long time before we met in the parking lot outside the Altair hotel; in fact, I first read about him on Al Jazeera. Dubbed “Aralsk’s only tour guide”, he’d accepted to be my guide for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Kazakhstan | Tagged Aqespe, Aral, Aral Sea, Aral sea ships, Aralsk, Asia, Beached boats, Boat, Camel, Cotton, Desertification, Disappearance of Aral sea, Ecological disaster, Ecology, Impact on health, Kazakhstan, Lenin, Moscow, North Aral Sea, Salinisation, Ship Graveyard, Ships, Soviet Union, Travel, USSR, Uzbekistan, White Gold, World Bank, Zhalanash | 22 Comments