The Wakhan Cooridor, whichever side of the border you happen to be on, is all sorts of beautiful. It should be no surprise, of course, that there’s also a crazy long history to human habitation in the area. The Yamchun Fortress was built in the early 3rd Century B.C., almost […]
Travel Words
Darvaza Gas Crater: A Quick Trip to Hell
A quick trip to the gate of Hell, anyways. Somewhere out in the deserts of Turkmenistan in 1971, Soviet scientists made a bit of a blunder. In the process of drilling a natural gas well, they tapped into an underground cavern and released an unmanageable amount of the stuff. Attempting […]
Copenhagen Old Town: A Stroll down Strøget
Yes its an Old Town, and yes there are so many like it in Europe. And yet, Copenhagen has a beautiful Old Town that, unlike so many others, put me in a really good mood each time I walked through. The main street, Stroget, is crowded with tourists and international […]
Iskender Kul Tajikistan
Alexander the Great and I? We have pretty similar taste in vacation retreats. Now, I’m not even gonna attempt to take credit. Obviously, through sheer luck of birth, he found Iskander-Kol first. I will say, though, that I think I did it in a little more luxury. Did Mr. The […]
Ratm Fortress in the Tajik Wakhan
Like so many places in the world, much of the joy of the Tajik Wakhan is from the great people I met along the way. At the Ratm Fortress, just beyond the farthest one can go on public transport, I met this awesome family. I think I started interacting with […]
Ruins of Merv: the 12th Century Mother of the World
Ruins of Merv: The 12th Century Mother of the World Ancient beyond ancient, the ancient of Mary was a known settlement as far back as 500 B.C. as part of a Satrapie under the Persian ruler Darius (yes, of 300 fame). Well beyond that, though, the city was also later […]
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.