Dear Reader (2023-04-02),An element of this grand adventure that I have not mentioned yet is border crossings. They range from non-trivial to Byzantine. The latter is very much the case for the crossing from Uzbekistan into Turkmenistan. The following is not fiction. These are the … Continue readingFive Stans 26 – A Crossing
Dear Reader (2024-03-30),Originally, I thought there was only going to be four posts in this current sequence of Uzbekistan posts. I was wrong. “Five Stans 24 – Bukhara” captures the first part of our visit to Bukhara. Here is part two of that visit. This … Continue readingFive Stans 25 – More Bukhara
Dear Reader (2024-03-26),It was a long day and drive to Bukhara from Samarkand. There were places to stop along the way, including a visit to Ak Saroy Palace (Five Stans 21). If The Registan (Samarkand) is Disney World, then Bukhara is Venice. I have not … Continue readingFive Stans 24 – Bukhara
Dear Reader (2024-03-25),Today you and I continue exploring Uzbekistan, primarily around Samarkand, with a little bit of many things. This collection is in preparation for a visit to Bukhara. Up to now I have been confident of labelling photos with their correct places. Today though, … Continue readingFive Stans 23 – A Sampling
Dear Reader (2024-03-20)Today is the second day of spring here in Calgary, Alberta. It is also the second of 4 (I think) Uzbekistan posts. The sun is just managing to glow through the overhanging bright grey blanket sky. We are a third of the way … Continue readingFive Stans 22 – Let’s Get Sparkly
Dear Reader (2024-03-18)Welcome to Uzbekistan for the second time. Of the Five Stans, Uzbekistan has the most well established tourism industry. The cities of Samarkand and Bukhara are easily accessible from Tashkent. There are direct flight to Samarkand from Istanbul, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Russian and … Continue readingFive Stans 21- Uzbekistan Again
Dear Reader (2024-03-13)Today’s post is the last of seven Tajikistan posts within the Five Stans series (all available on this website). The Tajikistan posts are:~ Five Stans 14 – Seven Lakes Region~ Five Stans 15 – Introductory Written Ramble~ Five Stans 16 – On The … Continue readingFive Stans 20 – Livin
Dear Reader (2024-03-12)Here is the penultimate collection of photographs from Tajikistan (September 2023), Marvels. More specifically, these are historical marvels that go back up to 3000 ago. With varying degrees of sensitivity these sites have been repaired or rebuilt. The most culturally insensitive rebuild award … Continue readingFive Stans 19 – Marvels
Dear Reader (2024-03-09)I was lured to the mountains for 3 days of skiing at Lake Louise and Sunshine. On the doors of the Chateau Lake Louise, where we did not stay, there are signs that say registered guests only. Surely, they don’t mean me (in … Continue readingFive Stans 18 – Monumentalism
(At least for now) Cheers, Sean
Dear Reader (2024-03-04),As per Five Stans 15 (2024-03-01), here is the next collection of images from Tajikistan (September 2023), Out and About. Notes on Photos~ 01 – A museum attendant strikes a pose for me.~ 02 – We have lunch in a private home where … Continue readingFive Stans 17 – Out and About
Dear Reader (2024-03-01),As per my previous post from earlier today (Five Stans 15), here is the On The Road collection of images from Tajikistan. As I think I have already mentioned we spent a lot of time on the road during our visit to the … Continue readingFive Stans 16
Dear Reader (2024-03-01),You may want to either grab a beverage of your choice or skip this post entirely as the there are a lot of words and the images for this post are for illustration purposes – they don’t stand alone as images outside of … Continue readingFive Stans 15
Dear Reader (2024-02-26),In today’s post we begin exploring Tajikistan. My written thoughts on this country are still a bit of a jumble. So while I go through de-jumbling iterations, I have started editing the photos for this country. All of today’s images are from a … Continue readingFive Stans 14
Dear Reader (2024-02-19),My last post (Five Stans 12) said we would now be bound for Tajikistan. That is true, but the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan was closed in September of 2023 as the two countries were fighting over water and land. At this point … Continue readingFive Stans 13