Tag Archives: Kyrgyzstan
Uzbek football, Korean streets and the Games. A 2018 wrap-up.
The last trip of the year ended today. I crossed the crucial threshold somewhere between the Brazilian rainforest and the Atlantic, blissfully unaware of it as I slept in my airplane seat wrapped in one of those duvets that are … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Uzbekistan
Tagged 2018, 2018 retrospective, 2018 World Nomad Games, Beirut, Bukhara, Buxoro, Cholpon Ata, End of year, Football, Incheon, Korea, Kyrchyn, Kyrchyn Jailoo, Kyrgyzstan, Night, Seoul, South Korea, Sport, Uzbekistan, World Nomad Games
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The devil’s horsemen.
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
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Genghis’ Camp.
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.
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
15 Comments
Be Right Back.
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
Confessions of a graphomaniac.
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
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
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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
14 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
