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Wandering around Shillong

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.  […]

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Arriving in the North-East

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 […]

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Leaving Central Asia but going to the largest “stan” of all

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 […]

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Last day in Central Asia

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 […]

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Easy journey made difficult

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 […]

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Meeting my fellow countrymen

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 […]

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Back to Bishkek

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 […]

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Horse riding

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 […]

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Animal bazaar

Breakfast started at 0800. It wasn’t an issue as it doesn’t get light that early here. Soon after my omelette and a huge tomato salad, I took a mashrutka to the once-a-week Mal Bazaar where animals were traded. I got there around 0930 amidst a great deal of activity there. There were lots of cars […]

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Moving to Karakol

Breakfast was served in the restaurant adjoining the Apple hostel and the Western Bus Station starting from 0700. I went down soon after it opened and once done, went to the station to find transport to Karakol. The guidebook said it was a confusing place with some duplication of areas for different routes. I didn’t […]

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