Taking the Train from Bukhara to Khiva From Bukhara, we boarded another train to what would be our furthest point west in Central Asia and what was undoubtedly our favorite stop on the Silk Road…Khiva. Unlike the last, this train only offered sleeper bed seats making it a much more cozy experience for the duration of our six hours. Uzbekistan definitely…
From Samarkand to Bukhara by Train From Samarkand, we trundled two hours west by train to the second most visited place on the Uzbek tourist circuit…Bukhara. And in case you skimmed over that little detail…YES, we said TRAIN, which is undoubtedly one of the things that makes travel in this country both uncomplicated and pleasant, unlike some slower, more tedious…
Getting to Samarkand & Our Accommodation From the Tajik border town of Panjakent, it was time to wander into the next Stan, for our final 29 days in Central Asia. This would also be our most challenging border crossing of the region, so we were pleased to have had the overnight in Panjakent and not tried to do it all in…
Despite having the same last four letters, which actually just means “LAND,” Tajikistan felt radically different than the first two 'Stans of our journey. It felt much more off-the-beaten-path, the people are radically different in their Persian-feeling look and hospitality, and it allowed us to experience one of the most epic road trips of our lives on the Pamir Highway….…
Life in Panjakent After our days of rest in Dushanbe, it was time to resume our travels by heading into the last of the Stans, at least for this trip. But first, we chose to spent a night in the Tajik border town of Panjakent (population 50k), which comes from Persian meaning “five towns,” likely referring to a cluster of ancient…
People in Kyrgyzstan have been nomadic for at least 3000-4000 years, so it’s only natural two nomads like us have felt inclined to experience their customs since we first learned about it years ago. All four countries we experienced in Central Asia to delivered in every way, but none packed a punch more than Kyrgyzstan with its stellar natural allure,…
Exploring Osh From Bishkek, alongside Jonathan, we made our way to the southern city of Osh via the unknown TezJet Airlines to save ourselves a 9-hour ride sardined into a marshrutka. Once in Osh, we were reunited with good friends, Annabelle & Yi, from Quebec, who we originally befriended at a Sri Lanka guesthouse in 2019. Osh is undeniably not…
Exploring Bishkek From Son-Kul, we journeyed 4 hours back to Kyrgyzstan’s capital in a marshrutka ($7/total) for two additional nights. Bishkek, which has a population of 1 million and is rapidly growing, has some architectural and pleasant leafy green similarities to Almaty, though overall not quite as desirable, in our opinion. One popular explanation for the name “Bishkek” refers to…
