Central Asia

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Town with limited/bad accommodation

Morning in Khujand. I woke in Khujand around 0530 and lay till 0630 and slowly got ready. I had a heavy but healthy breakfast of banana, oats and kefir washed down with a lightly sweetened cup of black tea. Having explored the Citadel area yesterday, I wanted to explore the bazaar area. It took about […]

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My 101st country/territory

Today I leave Uzbekistan for Tajikistan by crossing the border  –  that’s the plan anyway and information has been a bit scant on the internet and on the ground here.  With uncertainty on how the day might turn out, the huge buffet breakfast provided by the Sakura hostel in the Shirin restaurant downstairs was very […]

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Kumtepa Bazaar

Above: The lady is fumigating for a tip. Breakfast at the Toj Mahal opened a little later than the indicated 0700 start. I chatted with an American Japanese man who was very knowledgeable and well-travelled. He was going to Kumtepa Bazaar after breakfast as well but continuing to Tashkent thereafter, all with a private car […]

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Small move within the Fergana Valley

After breakfast, I relaxed a little before checking out at 0900. The boy who was attending reception gave me indicative rates for the taxi to the station (UZS5000) and the shared taxi to Fergana (UZS15000). I got a taxi outside the hotel promptly but agreed on UZS7000 (it was USD0.26 more than recommended) as I […]

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First lazy day in two weeks

After a decent breakfast, I took it easy before heading out around 0900. It was around 40 minutes walk to the part of town where a collection of sights were. There was a mosque, mausoleum and a madrassah. I got to the mosque and they were laying mats out for Friday prayers. The mausoleum and […]

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From one end to the other

Today I will travel from Khiva to Kokand, in the opposite end of the country.  Not quite the entire length of the country but somewhat. My hotel-arranged vehicle was waiting as I had a light breakfast. There was little traffic between Khiva and Urgench airport and my I arrived in 40 minutes. The airport is […]

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Exploring the walled city

At breakfast I told my host that I wouldn’t need breakfast tomorrow, since I had a flight around 0930. He suggested a small breakfast at 0700 and leaving in his car for USD10. I hesitated at the price and he suggested a small taxi for around USD6. I knew it was still a little pricey […]

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Moving to the walled city

After breakfast, my car arrived to take me to Khiva. Fabrizio arrived as I was loading up. The third passenger may have been the driver’s son but we never found out. We set off on the 6h drive with a couple of short breaks for gas (methane). The scenery along the way was semi-desert with […]

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Trying for an easy day

I had hoped for a more relaxing day today. But as usual I want to check everything out. I wandered to the sights further out of town today, plus had some uncharted ramblings. After a big breakfast where they kept bringing out more and more food, I wandered randomly and found myself at a synagogue […]

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Moving to Bukhara

At my 0800 breakfast, my host said that the Japanese guy was on the same train to Bukhara and we could go to the station together by taxi. That worked well and we got there about an hour before the 0943 departure on the fast train. The journey was only about 1h30 this time and […]

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