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…
Day One: Song Kul Lake Walk & Yurt Camp From Kochkor, we planned our independent-ish journey to Song Kul, a 29-kilometer long, freshwater lake ringed by nothing but rolling mountains and surrounded by miles and miles of high, open pastureland…grazing nirvana for the many cows and horses we would meet along the way. Fortunately, the livestock, like the nomadic people, live…
From Karakol to Kochkor From Karakol, we journeyed five hours back west to the town of Kochkor, where we would stay for two nights before beginning our journey to Song Kul. To get there, we passed through some stunning terrain, parts of it reminiscent of the American Southwest, while other bits were indistinguishable to any beautiful place we’ve been before.…
Day 1: Karakol to Bulak Say Yurt Camp 15.6 kilometers, 6 hours, Elevation Gain: 970 meters, or 3,182 feet. It has been more than two years since we’ve done our last overnight trek in Ecuador, and after concluding one of the most epic and rewarding hikes yet in the Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan, we keep asking ourselves why are…
