If you ever hear me going on and on about some city in Uzbekistan that I love beyond reason, Bukhara is the one. I would go around shouting it from the rooftops if they weren’t so crumbly and I thought they would bear my weight. Make all the Borat/catapault jokes […]
Recent Posts
Ala Archa National Park in Kyrgyzstan
A walk along the Ala Archa Valley Trail.
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 […]
Rumeli Fortress in Istanbul
Istanbul’s Rumeli Hisari Fortress Pop quiz: A) This took four months to complete and spelled the demise of Byzantine rule in Constantinople? Q) What is Rumeli Hisari? Sitting on one of the thinnest points of the Bosphorus, the Rumeli Fortress was built by Mehmet II in 1452. By 1453, the […]
Visiting the Librarian of Congress
I’m still, at heart, kind of a nerd. As exciting as hiking through Tajik mountains or road-tripping through the deserts of Mongolia can be, I also cherish the chance to sit and read in quiet beautiful places. All of which I tell you just to justify having gone out of […]
Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul
Dolmabahce Palace After the overpriced and under-delivered experience of Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace, I remembered that I don’t necessarily HAVE to visit all the special historical tourist sites in any given city. This came up again, immediately, at the Dolmabahce Palace. To be fair to the Turkish board of Tourism, I’m […]
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.