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Mary, Turkmenistan August 6, 2019 Wandering out to get some dinner before boarding the train, I saw streams of women dressed more elaborately than usual, heading somewhere. Following them, I found the large plaza at the corner of the street transformed. Carpets had been laid out covering the plaza dotted with yurts dressed in colorful … More A Festival in the Making
Merv, Turkmenistan August 6, 2019 The Greeks called it Margiana. Some called it Margush. Located squarely on the trade route between Asia and Europe, at the western terminus of Transoxiana, it was once called Marv-i-Shah-Jahan, or Merv, Queen of the World. The changing course of Amu Darya had over the centuries, caused settlements to shift … More Fabled Margiana
Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan August 5, 2019 I needed manats, and knowing to steer clear of the banks, headed straight to the bazar. Thanks to the huge discrepancy between official and unofficial rates, Turkmenistan like Uzbekistan before, has a thriving black market. But word is, undercover police are plentiful and discovering the result of breaking laws in … More This is Your Lunch
Farap, Turkmenistan August 5, 2019 Arriving at Alat, the last town on the Uzbek side, by happy coincidence I met a couple from Turkmenistan. They travel across the border on a routine basis to buy alcohol and cigarettes, items that are much cheaper here. Perfect, I thought. I could exchange a few dollars for Turkmen … More Anticlimactic Border Crossing
Bukhara, Uzbekistan August 5, 2019 The five day marathon begins today and I am off to Turkmenistan. This is a country with precious little information available. What there is comes from online forums and travellers met on the road. Word is, Internet and WiFi are not quite there yet. I guess I will just have … More To Turkmenistan
Bukhara, Uzbekistan Aug 3, 2019 The trading domes in the old town dating back to the Silk Road days, still have shops. But these now sell handcrafts, most very beautifully made. Suzanis and carpets, embroidered table-cloths and cushion covers, jackets and dresses, hand-painted miniatures vie with handmade knives and swords made by master craftsmen. What … More A Shopaholic’s Delight
Bukhara, Uzbekistan Aug 1, 2019 The oases of Samarkhand and Bukhara have always been major stops along the Silk Road and are no less so these days on the tourist trail. Justifiably famous for its well-preserved medieval monuments, Bukhara is a delight. I happily did my tourist duty and wandered around the old town re-visiting … More An Oasis of Medieval Grandeur
Surkhondarya, Uzbekistan July 29, 2019 My questions about sites I wanted to see around Termez, met with bafflement immediately followed by a string of excuses. Either unknown or too far or not accessible or not permitted. I could only go to the ones firmly on the tourist radar. Given time, I suppose I could have … More When Bactria was Buddhist
Termez, Uzbekistan July 28, 2019 My wanderings in Balkh and Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan were intriguing because of the wealth of history this part of the world is steeped in. And frustrating because I could not travel easily or see the many sites that I wanted to. But Bactria of old had boundaries that stretched beyond Amu … More In Bactria Again
Termez, Uzbekistan July 27, 2019 Imagine it is 1st millennium BCE and you come across a small settlement on the right bank of a meandering river. The kingdom is Balkh or Bactria and the river is Amu Darya. The settlement is called Taro Maetha in Bactrian, meaning “settlement across the river”. Fast forward to 1st … More City Across the River
ITCHY FEET TRAVELS 