Karakol Village in Kyrgyzstan —— Getting to Karakol from Bishkek is pretty straightforward, with share taxis and minbusses leaving from all the bus stations in Bishkek for Karakol (and other points on Issyk Kul en route). Fares in a minibus start from 300 Som, or in a share […]
Tag: Central Asia
Wakhan Yamchun Fortress: A Silk Road Legacy
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 […]
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 […]
Bishkek Bazaars: Market Madness Sales
Bishkek Markets
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 […]
Beauty of Bukhara
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 […]
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.