Uzbekistan is one of my favorite countries in the world, ever, in the history of my travels. Some of the coolest random experiences, most impressive historic cities, and friendliest people I’ve ever come across. I”m aching to get back here, and daydreaming about a return trip for early 2012 if […]
Central Asia
Wedding Dances (R)
At each of the 4 weddings I went to, the dancing was long-lasting and all-encompassing. Even I, usually painfully averse to dancing, was forced to get out and dances with more old Uzbek women than I can now recall. In this video, late into the night after a good portion […]
Days in Bishkek: What to Do, What to Do? (R)
As part of being back in Bishkek I’m making a point to learn as much about town as I can: things to do and places to eat and awesome daytrips to the many mountain valleys just outside of town. In doing so I thought it would be useful to put […]
The Kind People of Khiva (R)
I rolled into Khiva expecting to probably stay two or three nights, and ended up lingering for a week. The Old Town is pretty, but that wasn’t nearly enough of a draw. Instead it was the perfect combination of comfortable/cheap guesthouse, the right mindset, and (most importantly) really friendly people […]
Afghan Anxiety (R)
“Good Luck!” With that as the send-off, we were beyond the Tajik border in no-mans-land on the way to Afghanistan. I honestly don’t think I’d ever felt true anxiety until that moment. So many thoughts, so quickly. Is this a terrible idea? Are we making a mistake? Should I tell […]
Back in Baku (R)
Baku strikes me as the kind of place that Dubai was probably like before they really got going with all the development and superscrapers. Even the lingua franca seemed to be English, despite the former Soviet influence. To be honest I didn’t really like the place, but that might be […]
Hey there! I'm Stephen, this is my travel blog, and that's me in the poofy hat.
I'm a photographer / writer traveling since 2008, and I've been doing my best to visit amazing places.
My current focus is Central Asia, because for a hiking and camping enthusiast it's as good as it gets.