Our flight with Air Uzbekistan was quite pleasant – we even got red wine! We arrived in Istanbul airport mid- afternoon and caught the airport bus from the lower ground floor of the airport building. Here buses depart to all locations in the city. I also bought us Istanbul kartes (like Oyster cards) which in Read more

The train journey from Samarkand to Bukhara is very short – less than two hours. Although Samarkand was hot Bukhara felt hotter. The area of Uzbekistan from Bukhara until the border is pretty much desert. We were missing out the oasis city of Khiva and the ancient ruins that are found around it. I would Read more

We arrived on the station at Samarkand to the accompaniment of a brass band. They were welcoming a victorious sports team to the city. We hopped in a Yandex taxi and headed for the old city. There were speed cameras on the main road, so the traffic was a little calmer than it had been Read more

In Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, the atmosphere was more frenetic and the people were less friendly than they had been in Andijon. The city has possibly the worst drivers we have experienced on our whole trip. The taxi ride to our hotel was terrifying. The roads are also hazardous for pedestrians. Even at official Read more

I was slightly nervous about the border crossing from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan. I had read various articles about strict luggage checks and phones being examined. In fact, the whole process was straightforward. We easily located the correct mashtruka (minibus) – number 777 – at the bus station. There were a few young French travellers on Read more

To travel from the north of Kyrgyzstan to the south is tricky. It is possible to get a series of buses, but the journey is lengthy and exhausting. Many areas are mountainous and there are also areas of steppe. In an ideal world, with unlimited money and time we would have found another couple of Read more

We spent our last day in Almaty travelling by metro to an area of the city we hadn’t yet explored. It was built between 1988 and 2011, so is quite modern and has beautiful murals decorating some of the stations. We took a cable car up a hill overlooking the city. The views made the Read more

Kazaksthan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are renowned for their mountains and lakes. It is challenging to travel in the mountain regions without your own transport. It is possible to rent a car, but you would have to be a confident driver and know your way around the mechanics of your vehicle. I recently saw a post Read more

After our trip to Nubra we had a couple of days lazing around in Leh. We ate pizza again at the lovely cafe where everyone takes their shoes off and sits in carpets around low tables…a decision that would have consequences for Tim at a later date…. We visited the small museum in the centre Read more

In order to visit the Nubra region of Ladakh a special permit has to be obtained for foreigners as it is in a sensitive area bordering on China and Pakistan. Travel agents in Leh can organise this for a moderate payment. When we arrived at our agent’s office in plenty of time for our trip Read more