Author archive
1 November 2017
The sun rises around 0530 here so I woke early. I had breakfast at 0730 and had organised a packed lunch. Having not heard from the girls last night I had resigned myself to getting my own taxi at INR800 roundtrip to Tyrna, the starting point for the hike for the living root bridges. But […]
31 October 2017
There was a bit more light this morning when I woke compared to yesterday. But it was only 0530 when I checked my clock. That’s because the weather wasn’t gloomy like yesterday. With a 0745 report for my tour, I talked my way into having tea at 0720 in the restaurant, 10 minutes before it officially […]
30 October 2017
My hotel room included breakfast starting at 0730. I had semolina, potato curry, hard-boiled eggs and puri. That all went very well mixed together even though I don’t think it was meant to be. A banana made the breakfast complete. I explored the area around Lake Ward which was the centre of the colonial town. […]
29 October 2017
Above: View on the flight from Delhi to Guwahati. Having retired early last night, I was up before my alarm and left the hotel at 0615. Delhi before dawn is a different world with people sleeping on the streets, stray dogs sleeping on the streets and hawkers starting to fire up their tea stalls. Quite […]
28 October 2017
Today I leave Central Asia but I’m headed to the biggest “stan” of all … Hindustan. Also known as India or Bharat. As usual for me, when there is an early flight to catch, I didn’t sleep well. Alarm was set for 0430 with a 0500 taxi. At the airport, I got my boarding pass […]
27 October 2017
Breakfast at the hotel’s buffet was pretty good but not as good as the Kazzhol. There were many Indian guests. I needed to convert my remaining Kyrgyz som into Kazakh tenge as a priority so I could work out the money situation before flying out tomorrow. I found a money changer nearby whose rate wasn’t […]
26 October 2017
Today I make my journey from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan back to Almaty, Kazakhstan. The guide suggests it is a 4h journey but it turned out to be a little hellish. With the late sunrise, I woke at 0700 and had breakfast around 0800 before heading to the station at 0900. With a short stop to check […]
25 October 2017
I had the day free in Bishkek to explore the city that doesn’t have much to offer touristically. I like days like these; I need them once in a while to do review photos, chill and do admin for things back home. After breakfast in the adjoining cafeteria I walked to the bus station to […]
24 October 2017
After breakfast, I said goodbye to my host(ess) at the Park Hotel and took a mashrutka to Karakol’s bus station. One taxi drivers wanted KGS700 while another KGS600. I stood my ground with KGS500 and eventually one agreed. Unfortunately it was an hour’s wait before we departed, with one empty seat left for an adhoc […]
23 October 2017
I woke early and there was enough time before my 0800 breakfast to commit to my travel plans for June 2018 by making those bookings. It would be Tehran – Istanbul transfer – Bucharest, then land travel down to Istanbul, and then Istanbul – Madrid in order for us to fly to Quito and Galapagos […]