The black market is the best place to get the best rate for USD in Uzbekistan.
Wandering the Streets of Samarkand
Samarkand, an ancient city in Uzbekistan has some amazing buildings that date back over 500 years old. Here are some of my favorite images from the city
Private Registan Tour
We learned that if you pay the right guard near the Registan in Samarkand that he would let you climb the Minaret.
Cycle Tourist Central
After cycling 6000 km across China without meeting any other cyclists on the road (except the Koons brothers who were heading home) we were starting to wonder if we were the only ones out there. It turns out that they were all in Central Asia. As mentioned in a previous post we met the Belgian […]
Our Uzbek Family
It was no more than 12 hours into Uzbekistan before we were invited into a strangers home to stay the night. I caught some of this on video.
Glad We Didn’t Ride the Uzbek Desert
If there were any doubts about our choice not to ride from Bukhara, Uzbekistan to Aktau, Kazakhstan they have now been quelled after I just read Leon’s blog. Leon rode with us from Osh, Kyrgyzstan to Bukhara Kazakhstan and decided there to continue through the seering heat. Here is his latest entry which is well […]
A Positive Sign
We passed this on the way into Tbilisi the other day: It’s only a straight line distance, but it means we’re getting there.
A View Through Taka’s Eyes
In todays digital age it has been extremely easy to bring you digital photos from our trip virtually as they happen, but imagine a trip where the memories you bring back are more than files on a small piece of plastic. This is exactly what our friend Taka does. We first met Taka in Bishkek, […]
Our Biggest Pass in Kyrgyzstan
There is nothing like 2 and a half hours of downhill riding to remind you why cycling is so much fun.
Crossing the Border into Kazakhstan
To cross the border from China to Kazakhstan you must take a bus. Tom covered this in his post . Here is what is was like.
Back to Kazakhstan
By now you would have read the post about our adventure from Bukhara back to Aktau, Kazakhstan. This is what the first train was like.
48 hours
It was all well and good deciding to skip the Uzbek and Kazakh deserts and the accompanying 45-degree furnace. We still had the problem of getting three cyclists, bikes and bags all the way from Bukara to the port of Aktau in Kazakhstan. In this part of the world at least, the machinations of getting […]
Last Team Meal in China
On our final day in China we stopped with Jiao for our last meal. This is what we had.
I Ain’t Gettin’ On No Plane, Sucka!
Flying in the post-9/11 era has become a rather stressful experience. Security is so strict these days that it would be easier to get into prison than most airports. Retina scans and biometric passport ID are fast becoming the norm for proving that you are indeed you, and not a pale imitation. Rules are made […]
LIVE From The Aktau Ferry Terminal
Coming to you LIVE from the ferry terminal. An as it happens blog post with bonus video. We are in our 9th hour of waiting for a ferry that apparently arrived today. For a the full story read on… I found out that the ferry had arrived after wandering in to the ticket agents office […]
Getting Close to the Kazakhstan Border
This video was taken just a few days before we left China as we traveled around a beautiful mountain lake.
Information for Aktau, Kazakhstan
This post contains as much information about the visa and the ferry process as possible that I promised cyclists and backpackers who are are heading from East to West along a similar route to us. Anna, Ruben, Leon, Peter and James. I hope your travels are going well and this information makes your stay here […]
Latest Route Information and Changes
A lot has happened since I last wrote a post about our route. Previously we had planned to cycle the majority of Kazakhstan. This idea was put to bed after a long conversation about visas, road conditions and sightseeing with David from Stan Tours. As you know since then we have cycled through Kyrgyzstan and […]
We Made the Korea Times
Thanks to a facebook post by Kath we found out that the Korea Times wrote an article about our trip. A quick mention and thank you to Dairin Frawley who initially contacted them on our behalf. We really appreciate it Dairin. Here is the complete article which can also be found at http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2009/07/139_48844.html Cycling Quartet […]
Bishkek The Visa Vortex
Having spent 4 days here in Bishkek at the Sakura Guesthouse I have fast learned that this seems to be the place where cycle tourists, motorcyclists and backpackers alike come to vanish into the vortex that is the Central Asian Visa process. So far I have met a couple from Spain that have been cycling […]