Reflections And Your Questions

It’s a new year, and as much as we look forward to what the next year will bring, we also sit and reflect on the year that has been, and for the sake of this blog post, the last few months of 2018 as well. In all honesty, it doesn’t feel at all that long ago when we boarded a flight bound for Chongqing, China, a city that 10 minutes before booking the flight we hadn’t actually heard of. Over the next 15 or so months our journey would take us from the base of Mt Everest to the beaches on the coast of Africa, from being trapped by snow in a Swiss mountain village to the stifling heat of Iran. We loved…..almost every moment, but it wasn’t without its trials. While on the road, and since we’ve been back, we’ve had a similar raft of questions, so for our last blog we thought it would be fitting to answer a few, so here goes.

The Silk Road and Pamir Highway

Fann Mountains

The silk road conjures images in the mind of exotic faraway lands, eschewed by the crowds, with a blend of Asian and European cultures combining under the backdrop of bustling bazaars, spice markets and beautifully tiled mosques, well, it’s kind of like that. In truth, in Uzbekistan at least, there are crowds, hordes of older bus tours roll around these plains, and bazaars that may have once traded in exotic goods now sell post cards and cheaply made souvenirs, the spice markets still exists, although it’s unclear exactly where the spices end up, because it certainly isn’t in the local food. As we moved through from Uzbekistan to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, the crowds dissipated, the true wonders of this part of the world revealed themselves; friendly locals, dramatic and diverse landscapes, and a place untouched by mass tourism. While modernity has long since touched down in Central Asia, local culture and customs still endure, there is still plenty to discover.