Author archive
27 July 2024
Nasty surprise With such luxurious ensuite, of course, I slept through the night without needing it. [Edit: in later parts of the trip, I go multiple through the nights when it is an outhouse!] We had been given a leisurely departure of 0900 today. Upon settling the bill, the Germans were presented with a nasty […]
26 July 2024
Roadworks and landslide We had been given a choice of starting at 0400 today or 0700. The earlier time was to avoid road works and Altynbek, the driver, didn’t seem to offer an in-between option. So, we chose the later departure, as 0400 is obscene! With delays settling up the bill at the homestay, we […]
25 July 2024
Yesterday Dushanbe isn’t exactly loaded with sights apart from museums. In this heat, I didn’t feel like wandering around repeating exterior visits to various governmental buildings or white elephants. I did walk around the Rudaki Ave area and beyond, quite early around 0800 to explore and try get rid of about USD5 of UZS. If […]
23 July 2024
Above: You could say these four men are having a good time in bed. Samarkand to border Today, I start my 2400 km overland adventure from Samarkand in Uzbekistan to Hotan in Xinjiang, China. Today’s portion is a relatively solo border crossing from Samarkand to Dushanbe, Tajikistan. After a good breakfast at 0900, I took […]
22 July 2024
Bibi Khanym The Jahongir put on an amazing breakfast this morning of hot items, lots of fruit and cakes/sweets. I don’t understand how the fruit here tastes so good compared to New Zealand. The nectarines and cantaloupe were dripping and super sweet. I walked to the Bibi Khanym mosque taking shade whenever it was […]
21 July 2024
Flying to Samarkand I was seated immediately after the exit rows on the A321 (version with only two window exits and two doors per side, no extra doors). I had received an email notifying that my original assigned seat was no longer available due to operational reasons (perhaps an aircraft configuration change). It turned […]
20 July 2024
Despite the 1h time difference from Paris, I woke up earlyish around 0730 but lay in bed for an extra hour. Today is a big online catch-up day after about a week of not turning my laptop on. I caught up on lots of tasks online and paid for a hotel breakfast at reception only […]
19 July 2024
Train to Paris Today, it’s a long day travelling from Cherbourg to Istanbul. It started with an alarm at 0450 for the 0549 train from Cherbourg station which got me to Paris St Lazare around 0900. I thought the best way to Charles de Gaulle airport would be on the Roissybus and E had concurred, […]
18 July 2024
Above: A pretty spot in the residential area of Valognes. As sightseeing in the region had been gotten out of the way, yesterday was spent mostly on DIY at Valognes apart from a fancy lunch at Brasserie Marcel along the way, including foie gras including foie gras served in three ways: The first was perhaps […]
16 July 2024
Above: Eight missile hatches on each side visible. Chores and DIY It was a morning of chores, starting with the laundry before calling into a great hardware superstore called Leroy Merlin on the way to Valognes for more DIY. Today I started masking the attic windows for painting. It was all good until I realised […]