Travelogue

Travel Off Road in Uzbekistan – Asraf Village, Aral Sea & Ancient Khiva

Travel Off Road in Uzbekistan – Asraf Village, Aral Sea & Ancient Khiva

Here are our suggestions on travelling off the beaten road in Uzbekistan if you have the time to spare! Includes the beautiful Asraf village in between Samarkand and Tashkent, the fast disappearing Aral Sea and ancient Khiva!

1. Asraf Village

It’s better to visit this charming village during the summer where it’s lush green everywhere. We went during winter and sadly the trees were bare and grey 🙁 This stopover at Asraf village is worth it if you have the time to spare when travelling from Tashkent to Samarkand or vice versa. We did a homestay at Yashigul Guesthouse and it was a very warm and welcoming experience for us. Their family was so kind, when we left, they even gave us some food to take with us for the journey back to Tashkent. You can also learn to cook traditional Uzbekistan dishes from the talented mother and go for hiking trips at the Nurata mountain with the experienced guide, Raxmat. Check out our full post on travelling to Asraf Village in Nurata!

03 Yahshigul's GH, guests on tapshan

Photo credits: Raxmat

2. Fast Disappearing Aral Sea

Save the Aral Sea! See it now while you still can. The Aral Sea was once the 4th largest sea in the world and today, it has been reduced to a pathetic 10% of its original size. We had a great excursion to the Aral Sea where we got to visit the Ghost Shipyard where only the rusty ancient fishing boats were left. It was a scenic drive to the Aral Sea and along the way we passed by sublime picturesque canyon ridges. Also, we actually got to touch the remaining water of the Aral sea! Click here for our full post on our experience to the fast disappearing Aral Sea!

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3. Ancient Khiva (Elliq Qala)

Don’t get this mixed up with Khiva City, although they’re nearby. We hired a taxi from the main bazaar at Urgench for a full day tour to visit several ancient castle ruins and fortresses. Quite worth it if you’re into such ancient fortresses. The Aya Qala was the most impressive and biggest of them all.

Cost of hiring the taxi: 210,000som (around US$60)

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The adjacent fortress on the left of Aya Qala was stunning!

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Aya Qala – most grand and impressive of them all

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Torpak Qala

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Kyzyl Qala – Small compared to Aya Qala, but its exterior walls were well maintained and it looked like a giant square fort.

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Chilpyk – the fort nearest to Nukus, looked like a giant chocolate cake from afar. Nothing much inside

Have you travelled off the road in Uzbekistan before? Which place was your favourite? Share with us in the comments below! Do also check out our experience in Samarkand-The Heart of the Great Silk Road, Khiva-the Slave City and Bukhara-the holiest city in Uzbekistan.

Khiva – The Slave City of Central Asia

Khiva – The Slave City of Central Asia

Khiva (pronounced as “Hiva”), a city well known for its brutal history of being one of the most important slave trading markets of Central Asia, definitely took our breath away as we traipsed through its dark alleys and labyrinths of narrow streets. But fast forward to today, it is one of the world’s most beautiful ancient cities and it’s hard to imagine its daunting past.

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Photo taken from the top of the 57m minaret of Islom-Hoja Medressa

Due to its close proximity to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, this city was often used as a trading market for slaves captured by the Turkmen tribesmen or Kazakh tribes from the steppes. This long passageway is at the East Gate of the Ichon-Qala where the slave market was held. See those niches in the walls, that was where the slaves used to be displayed for sale.

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But behind its dark past, this city is also well renowned for its stunning architecture within the old walled city, Ichon-Qala, and some people would describe it as an “open-air museum”. As we walked through the streets of Ichon-Qala, it really did feel like we were starring in the famous story Aladdin or One Thousand and One Night. 

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This place was quite commercialised though, with the numerous peddlers lined up along the narrow alleys, excitedly greeting us with “Ni hao!” (means how are you in Chinese) and at the same time trying to sell us some overpriced key chain, fridge magnet, lacquer ware or any other souvenirs.

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They even have several of such set ups (as shown in the photo below) where tourists can have their photos taken together with cute props against the photogenic buildings in the background. Some set ups were really ridiculous with a huge fake tiger as part of the set and props that included a large furry teddy bear with scary eyes. Not sure how these props complement the beautiful ancient city backdrop.

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The absolutely stunning architecture of Juma Mosque took our breath away. Those intricately and beautifully carved pillars, 218 of them in total, actually support the roof of this mosque.

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Another one of the interesting sights of this picturesque city is its Minarets, Kalta Minor Minaret and the Islom-Hoja Medressa’s Minaret. The stumpy minaret on the left was constructed halfway when Mohammed Amin Khan, who apparently wanted to build a tower so high that it could overlook Bukhara, suddenly passed away. So it was just left there behind, half constructed.

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Tip: For the best view of Ichon-Qala, climb up to the top of the minaret of 57m height in Islom-Hoja Medressa. There’s a small fee of 4,000som (US$1.50) per person, 3,000som if you’re a student (they don’t check anyway). This view is better than from the top of the Kuhna Ark we feel.

Any Mathematics fanatic out there? Here’s a statue of Al’Khwarizmi, the founder of Algorithms and Algebra. We should all be grateful to this guy here, so many inventions in the world today rely on both Algorithms and Algebra! Think about Facebook, without Algorithms, Facebook wouldn’t be what it is today!

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Al’Khwarizmi imparting some of his knowledge to Gina

Some sources claim that the best view of Khiva city is from the top of the Kuhna Ark. It’s subjective though, for us we preferred the view from the top of the 57m minaret where you get a bird eye’s view of the entire city. This fortress was built back in the 17th century for the Khans to live in. The main highlight of the ark would be its watch tower in our opinion.

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View from the top of the Kuhna Ark

We were exploring the inner walled city serendipitously when we chanced upon these 2 ladies who were making bread in the open! It was very interesting for us to witness the entire process as we’ve never seen how bread is being made in Central Asia before. The bread in Central Asia is really special, it’s usually huge (bigger than our faces), flat and round and also considered as holy and should be treated with utmost respect. It’s almost equivalent to the staple for the locals and they eat it for almost every meal! A local once told me, “no bread, no meal”. If you’ve been offered bread, you should always at least break off a small piece of it to eat even if you’re full. The bread should also always be placed on the table with the patterned side facing upwards and unfinished bread should never be thrown away in the street.

So basically, they will knead the dough and roll it into a nice large round shape and then proceed to slap it onto the inner side of the earth oven.

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It only took around 5 minutes for the bread to be fully baked! And tadah! Here’s the end result, also she was very kind to give this bread to us for free! It was so satisfying eating the piping hot fresh bread baked right out of the oven! Best bread that we’ve ever tasted in Central Asia 🙂

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Another interesting encounter when roaming about the streets in Ichon-Qala was getting to witness the fanfare of the bride and groom parading down the streets together with their friends and relatives. We first heard some loud celebratory music playing from afar and quickly walked towards it to find out what the commotion was about. Somehow, the expression on the newly wed’s faces was bewildering, shouldn’t this affair be a joyous occasion? Why are they looking so dejected and grumpy? Maybe they had a very long day and were exhausted from all the attention. This was just one of the many couples that we spotted in Ichon-Qala (apparently it was very popular for wedding couples to celebrate here) and somehow, all of them were looking so depressed, just like the couple in the photo below.

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On the contrary, their friends and relatives seemed to be having the best time of their lives. They were dancing in such glee that they almost looked intoxicated in broad daylight! Maybe it was an attempt to cheer up the sad looking bride and groom.

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Having said all that, we definitely enjoyed our time here in beautiful ancient Khiva. Rich in history, photogenic old walled city and interesting people. We would recommend this place to anyone travelling to Uzbekistan!

Essential Information

Where we stayed
Meros B&B
cost: USD35 for a double room with breakfast, free wifi available too
Their breakfast was one of the best that we’ve ever been served in Central Asia! We really enjoyed it! Also while you’re staying there, do take some time to appreciate the beautiful ceiling that has been restored by the owner. Very good location too, located round the corner near the Khuna Ark. Highly recommended!

How much
Entrance fee to Ichon-Qala – 28,500som (USD$8)
One ticket grants you entry to almost all the sights in Ichon-Qala. Do note that you have to pay additional if you wish to go up the watch tower.

Where we ate
Outside of the Ichon-Qala
If you’re looking for affordable food, forget about any restaurant inside Ichon-Qala or directly outside it. Instead, take a walk out to the streets further away from Ichon-Qala and you’ll find that the prices drop by at least half! One plate of Laghman cost us only about 6,000som (US$1.50).

How we got here
You can take the trolley bus (green coloured bus with wires at the top of the bus) from the bazaar in Urgench.
Cost: 600som (USD0.10) 

Have you been to Khiva before? What was your experience like? Share it with us in the comments below! Also, check out our experience in Samarkand-The Heart of the Great Silk Road and Bukhara-the holiest city in Uzbekistan.

Our First & Best Experience of Couch surfing in Iran

Our First & Best Experience of Couch surfing in Iran

This was our first experience couch surfing in Iran and it was one of the best that we’ve ever had! There has been so much rave about Iranians’ genuine hospitality and the family that we couch surfed with affirmed that saying. Mosslem really went out of his way to make us feel extremely welcomed in his home and even took time off his busy work schedule to show us around his beautiful city!

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Privileged to have a delicious traditional Iranian lunch with Mosslem and his family

We stayed with Mosslem and his beautiful family in Kerman and they were extremely warm, hospitable and helpful. Mosslem has 4 beautiful and cute children, Leila (14 yrs old), Kosan (9yrs old), Sakhra (7 yrs old) and the cutest Mohamed (1 yr old). We felt quite bad actually because they only had 2 rooms in their apartment and they gave 1 room to us! We said that we could sleep in the living room but they insisted that we sleep in the room. So touched!

We originally planned to only stay for 2 days 1 night in Kerman. But after meeting Mosslem, we ended up spending 5 days 4 nights in Kerman! That’s one problem that most travellers will face in Iran, over staying and end up having to extend your visa. For us, the second half of our journey in Iran ended up rather rushed due to us happily spending too much time at the beginning.

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Mosslem showing us his old photos

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Showing them photos of Singapore and our local dishes

Mosslem was very kind to use his free time to bring us around his beautiful city the next day. We visited the bazaar, trekked up to the top of the Jungle Ghaam together with Mohammad, the Gonbad-e-Jabaliye (stone museum), Shah Nematollah and Garden of Shahzade.

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Our 1 year old driver driving us around the city in Kerman! (kidding..)

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At the top of Jungle Ghaam, tired after climbing the countless steps!

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Another highlight of our stay in Kerman was getting to visit the Kaluts (natural huge sand castles formation) and camping at the Shad desert with Mosslem. It was so fun walking across the desert barefooted, feeling the cooling soft sand rubbing against our feet. The desert was so peaceful and devoid of tourists when we were there (probably because it was winter). Not forgetting the delectable chicken kebab that Mosslem cooked for us over charcoal fire.

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Humongous natural sand formation in Kerman desert

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Chit chatting under the stars by the campfire in the Shahad Desert

To show our appreciation towards Mosslem and his hospitable family, we decided to cook dinner for the entire family on our last night in his house. Guess what we cooked, our speciality of course – Gina & Daniel’s Special Singapore Fried Rice. Hopefully they enjoyed it!

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Proudly presenting to you – Gina & Daniel’s Special Singapore Fried Rice!

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Very beautiful and loving family 🙂 We will miss you!

Thank you Mosslem and family for making our stay in Kerman so enjoyable and memorable! We hope to visit you one day again! Or maybe we might meet each other in Singapore! 🙂

Have you couched surfed in Iran before? Share with us your experience in the comments below!

Darvasa Gas Crater – The Gates of Hell in Turkmenistan

Darvasa Gas Crater – The Gates of Hell in Turkmenistan

The ‘gates of hell” was certainly the highlight of our Turkmenistan travel and also the main reason why travellers come to Turkmenistan. Definitely a must see! From our chaikhanas (tea house), we could see a huge orange glow from afar when it was dark and it felt so surreal. Almost felt like it was a portal to another world.

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View of the gas crater’s orange glow from our chaikhanas

We got up at 4am and set off on our own to walk towards the orange glow. It took us about 1.5 hours (around 7km) to reach the gas crater. The walk was quite manageable as from the main road, you just have to head west towards the crater and you could use the huge burning crater as a reference. We went during winter and the terrain was mainly frozen sand dunes, rocky patches and desert bush spotting the entire place. We can imagine that it’ll be so much more challenging during summer when the sand dunes aren’t frozen, trekking on sand dunes is one of the hardest thing ever! Only thing was that it was so cold while trekking to the crater!

Tip: A headlight is essential if you’re walking to the gas crater as it was pitch dark. It was also cloudy and we couldn’t depend on the moonlight.

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As we got nearer to the crater, we could literally smell the fumes and feel the heat. The experience was definitely mind blowing, as we stood right at the edge of the burning crater, it really did look like the gates of hell. No other better analogy to describe this huge burning hole! Apparently during summer, you could camp overnight in a tent near the crater, which we think would be quite an interesting experience! Unfortunately we went during winter and it was too cold to camp in the open.

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Getting closer to the burning gas crater

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Can you spot us?

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Jumping in? Nah….

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It wasn’t difficult to find our way back to the chaihanas, we saved the GPS location in our phone and simply followed it. If you prefer not to walk, you could also hire a jeep which will cost around 50USD or more.

Tip: Save the GPS location of your chaikhanas in your phone first. You will need it when finding your way back from the gas crater. Also it was almost breaking dawn as we walked back and soon it got bright enough to carry on without our head light.

Essential Information

Where to stay
Chaikhanas along the main road of Davarza. Do note that they don’t have proper bedding in the chaikhanas and they only provide a thin layer of mattress, no blanket too. It was very cold for us when we slept there for the night. The electricity got cut off in the middle of the night which also meant that we had no heater (as it was an electric heater) to keep us warm! :S

How to get here
We took a taxi from the border after crossing over to Turkmenistan from Uzbekistan. Just tell your driver that you want to go to Darvaza and to stop you at a chaikhanas. There were quite a few chaikhanas along the main road and they should be more or less the same.

Cost
Taxi from border to Darvaza (with stops in Kony Urgench) – US$50
Chaikhanas – US$10

What do you think? Does this place really look like the “Gates of Hell” to you? Share with us your thoughts by commenting below! 🙂 Check out our post on other things to do in Turkmenistan!

The Captivating Bazaars of Iran [Photos]

The Captivating Bazaars of Iran [Photos]

The bazaars of Iran have always been mesmerising to travellers, with its endless heaps of colourful fragrant spices, shimmering silver pots and pans of all sizes, skillfully woven carpets with extremely intricate details, neatly stacked fruits of all sorts and not forgetting, the amazingly detailed ceilings that will take your breath away!

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Splendid architecture of the bazaar in Kashan

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Typical spice store

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Copper ware store

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Bags bags bags and more bags

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Colourful toys and other interesting items!

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Local fish market

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Nuts about nuts!

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Metal tins and pots of all sizes

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Shiny glassware and mirrors

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Carpet made bags and pouches are very popular in Iran

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Carpet store

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Heaps of colourful spices

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Vibrant colours of different fabrics and materials

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Neon prayer mats

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Beautiful paintings

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Impressive blue porcelain jars, pots and what nots

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And a whole lot more copper pots and trays! Plus check out the spontaneous store owner

Hope you enjoyed our visual tour of the different bazaars in Iran! Have you been to any of these bazaars before? Share with us your experience by commenting below!

Exploring Georgia Part 1

Exploring Georgia Part 1

After crossing the border into Georgia, we were immediately greeted with clear blue skies, plenty of lovely sunshine, rolling green hills and the friendly smile of our guide who was there to pick us up. We knew that this would be a country that we would easily fall in love with. Everything felt so colourful, cheerful and lively! So, here are our recommendation on things to do in Georgia!

Explore beautiful Tbilisi, capital of Georgia

Set aside at least 1-2 days to explore the labyrinth of narrow streets and alleys in this charming city. Climb up to the top of the Narikala fortress for an awesome bird eye view of the entire city, reward your body with a relaxing traditional hamam and massage, chill at a bar by the river and watch the world go by. Colourful houses perched on a hill, uneven cobbled passages, a fusion between the ancient and contemporary, a wide array of delicious Georgian cuisine, what’s there not to love about Georgia?

Can you spot the blue ‘Bridge of Peace” right in the middle of the photo below?

Just for fun: This famous Peace Bridge has also been labeled by the locals as the “Sanitary Napkin” bridge as it apparently looks like it according to them. What do you think?

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The infamous “Bridge of Peace”

Tsminda Sameba Cathedral

Tsminda Sameba Cathedral, the main Holy Trinity Cathedral of Georgia, is also the largest church in Georgia and the third tallest orthodox cathedral in the world with its incredible height of 13m!

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The magnificent gold roofed Tsminda Sameba Cathedral nestled right in the middle of Tbilisi.

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Can you spot the Tsminda Sameba Cathedral? Look how huge it is!

Please your tastebuds with the delicious “must-try” Acharuli Khachapuri

A unique boat shaped Georgian bread filled with cheese in the centre and a runny egg on the top of it.

How to eat it? Simply tear off a piece of warm, crispy portion of the bread and then drench it with the runny yolk and cheese and enjoy as the flavours burst in your mouth! This cost us around 8GEL ($3.70) and the portion was huge! Enough for 2 persons to share.

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Savour your dinner while enjoying a performance of the famous traditional Georgian folk dance

This was also another main highlight of our trip to Georgia! The performances were highly entertaining and the dancers were so skilled and there was this male dancer who was en pointe almost throughout the entire dance! Ouch!

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The food here was also worth mentioning, it was delicious! Unfortunately we can’t recall the name of the restaurant 🙁 But there are many of such restaurants that offer good food and Georgian dance performances too! Shouldn’t be too difficult to find one.

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Tip: Do remember to call in advance to make a booking as apparently such restaurants are very popular even among the locals!

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It was full house that night we went!

Be awed by the remarkable David Gareja cave monastery

This amazing 6th century David Gareja Monastery was definitely one of our highlights of Georgia. The monastery itself was very beautiful, but the hike up to top of the hill behind the monastery was even more fascinating! Most online sources did not mention about this trek, we only found out after we got here.

Tip: Be prepared to spend at least 2 hours if you’re planning to do the hike like us. And the hike was definitely worth it, if you have the time, do it! 🙂

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See those caves? Those caves were where the monks used to live back in the 6th century when the monastery was built.

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Inside the main church, bright vibrant coloured paintings of the Gospel

At the top of the hill after 1 hour of trek, you will see a series of caves varying in sizes along the trail. There were so many spectacular frescoes on the inside the cave walls but unfortunately, there has been a lot of vandalism on them.

Tip: From the back of the monastery, there’s a relatively clear path that will lead you to a railway track. From there, just follow the track and it will bring right up to the top where there’s a small church. From there, choose the path from the right to bring you back down to the monastery.

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Beautifully painted frescos found inside the caves

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On the other side of the hill lies beautiful Azerbaijan! The view was incredible!

Visit the picturesque Signagi and the Bodbe Monastery

This incredibly photogenic 18th century city, Signagi, was very famous for their grapes and wine. This place is almost like a semi-desert and it was one of the hottest places in Georgia.

Just for fun: Signagi was also affectionally known as the “City of Love” by the locals. The legend behind this was that there used to be a couple who fell in love but their parents forbade their relationship. This couple escaped to Signagi which means ‘refuge” where they could hide behind the walls of the city.

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Breathtaking view of the photogenic Signagi village against the stunning mountainous backdrop

The Bodbe Monastery

This monastery now functions as a nunnery and also a famous pilgrimage site where devotees pay their respects to St. Nino whose tomb was buried right here inside of the monastery. St. Nino was said to be the person who preached Christianity in Georgia.

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Inside the main church of the Bodbe Monastery

Marvel at the majestic Cross Church

The church where the first cross was placed in Georgia back in the 4th century, hence its name. Look at the line up of cars in front of the church! It was very packed on the day that we went as it was a Sunday and the weekly service was on going. Our guide shared with us that the service usually last from morning to afternoon!

Tip: Avoid visiting churches on Sunday if you do not wish to interrupt the service or if you’re driving there on your own, parking’s going to be a huge problem. But otherwise, it was also quite interesting to witness an actual service.

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The majestic Cross Church of Georgia

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral of the 12 Apostles

This cathedral is the second largest in Georgia and also the place where the Christ’s mantle was buried.

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The frescos inside of the church were gorgeous! There was a weekly service going on when we were there.

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The interior of the main church where there was a weekly church service happening.

Ananuri Castle and Fortress

Another must-see of Georgia, the sublime castle complex surrounded by a 16th century fortress with 2 churches inside. As you can see from the photo below, the fortress has been very well preserved with its walls and watchtower intact.

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The magnificent castle surrounded by its fortress walls

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View from the watch tower

We also did head up north to Kazbegi but unfortunately the weather wasn’t on our side. It was snowy and extremely foggy when we were driving towards Kazbegi. Hence we didn’t manage to trek up to the main highlight of Kazbegi – Tsminda Sameba monastery. 

Essential Information

We visited most of the places above together with Exotour, a reputable tour agency in Georgia. Our guide, Vakho, was incredible and shared with us lots of interesting stories and information about Georgia. Overall, we had a fabulous time and we would recommend Exotour to any traveller who’s looking for a trustworthy tour agency in Georgia. Do note that public transport to most of the attractions listed above is very limited and it’s really a lot more convenient and fuss free to join a tour instead.

Hope you enjoyed our post about our suggestions on things to do in Georgia!

Our Favourite Authentic Homestay Experience in Central Asia

Our Favourite Authentic Homestay Experience in Central Asia

This was the first time that we got invited into a local family’s home where we stayed for a night and had our meals together with them. We labeled this as our favourite experience as it was a truly authentic experience where the invitation was out of pure kindness and not for money. We got to spend a lot of time with the family and even visited their extended family. We will never forget this act of kindness which made our experience in Central Asia such a memorable and enjoyable one.

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Photo taken in the train together with the friendly locals

We were on a train from Tashkent to Urgench when we bumped into kind strangers, Kudrat and his wife. Kudrat stopped by our beds after refilling his pot of tea and invited us over to his bunk bed for breakfast. We went over and was warmly welcomed by them and the ladies promptly shifted to make space for the both of us. Then the endless questions began, with the limited English skills of the locals, we carried on the conversation with animated hand gestures often filled with interminable bursts of laugher. They started to look through my photos and stopped at this photo of the cow’s trotter taken at the bazaar in Tashkent and laughed! They showed the photo to the other locals and they all started laughing hysterically like it was the most hilarious thing ever.

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The photo in Gina’s phone that cracked the locals up

They were so curious about us, our country, people and culture. They asked questions like what’s the capital of Singapore, what’s our local cuisine like, are we mostly Muslims or Buddhists, where exactly is Singapore located, is Singapore part of Malaysia, what’s our first language and even personal questions like how much we earn, are we married, do we have any children and so on and so forth. Thankfully Gina had a ready set of photos of Singapore’s landscape and local food in her phone to distract them from the incessant questions. The locals were so fascinated with the photos especially with the “ship on the top of building” (MBS). Apparently MBS has been featured quite a lot on TV in Central Asia and most of them recognise this unique building of Singapore! Also when they saw a photo of our Hokkien Mee, they responded excitedly by saying “Laghman”, which is actually a popular noodle dish of Uzbekistan.

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Showing the curious locals photos of Singapore via Gina’s phone

Hokkien Mee (top) versus Laghman (bottom), same same but different

After about 2 hours of chit-chatting with them, Kudrat and his wife invited us to his home before alighting at their station, Hazarasp, which was about an hour drive away from Urgench (where we were heading). We gave him our number and he said that he will call us today or tomorrow to arrange for us to go over to his place. We weren’t sure what to expect and gave him our number without much thought to it. What surprised us was that after we’ve alighted at our station, we received a call from Kudrat who told us that he’s on his way to pick us up to bring us over to his place! What touched us was that he and his wife actually took a taxi just to pick us up from where we were and it took about an hour to get here!

Finally after a sleepy hour drive, we reached his house where the rest of his family members were waiting by the door, expecting our arrival. We felt really welcomed as they ushered us into a cozy heated room where a long table was set up with a wide assortment of dried fruits, candies, chocolates, biscuits and tea. We were stuffed with so much food! They gave us a bowl of shorpa (soup with meat and potato) each for lunch. We actually had lunch already while waiting for Kudrat to pick us up at the train station. We showed them photos of Singapore using Gina’s phone and they were so mesmerised by Singapore!

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The grandma’s in the middle, she’s the sweetest ever!

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Shorpa, traditional Uzbek dish

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Together with Kudrat and his family, look at the crazy amount of food prepared just for us!

Kudrat’s wife started her preparation for dinner where she will be cooking one of my favourite Uzbek dishes, Plov. Apparently this dish needs a long preparation time and it’s often cooked for guests. Gina tried learning to cook and was rather shocked to see so much oil being used in this dish! The rice was soaked and literally cooked in oil! No wonder plov is always so tasty and delicious! Thankfully dinner wasn’t going to be served so soon and Kudrat decided to invite us over to his aunt’s and uncle’s house to introduce his newly found guests to them. We were again warmly welcomed by his aunt and cousin and they provided with lots of food to eat again! haha…no escaping from the true hospitality of Uzbeks.

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Pointing to where Singapore is, a tiny red dot on this huge world map

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At Kudrat’s aunt house, look at the amount of food!

The next morning, we were treated to another popular traditional local breakfast, Tuhum Barak. Similar to our dumplings in Singapore, but they stuffed egg inside instead of meat. Also, they dipped it in yoghurt before serving it. It was okay, but our taste buds aren’t very used to the yoghurt and preferred it plain. A lot of effort was needed in preparing this dish though! Kudrat wife had to knead the dough for a long time, hard work!

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Kudrat’s wife kneading the dough and his 5 year old daughter attempting to help but ended up more of a distraction

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The end product, Tuhum Barak, a very popular local breakfast dish in Uzbekistan

To wrap things up, Kudrat together with his uncle personally drove us all the way to Khiva and we managed to snap this shot of us before we bid farewell to them.  Not sure if he will ever read this, but thank you Kudrat and family, for making us feel so welcomed in your amazing country! 🙂

Ps. We tried to give Kudrat some money and explained that it was for the food and petrol, but they insistently refused to accept our money and claimed that they just wanted to help us. We’re really so blessed to have met such kind souls! 🙂

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Photo taken together with Kudrat, his 5 yr old daughter and his uncle at the beautiful ancient Khiva city

Have you ever been invited to a local family’s home before? Share with us your experience by commenting below! 🙂

Check out our next post on exploring beautiful Khiva – the Slave City of Central Asia.

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Travelling North Armenia and Crossing Overland to Georgia

Travelling North Armenia and Crossing Overland to Georgia

If you can afford the time or if you’re heading to Georgia overland like us, don’t miss out on the wonderful sights in North Armenia! We know that perhaps by now you might be saturated with churches, but the churches in North Armenia are quite unique and different from the others. Here’s how we spent our time in North Armenia before heading to the Sadakhlo border.

First up, we visited the old Dilijan which gave us a glimpse of how Dilijan was like back in the 19th century. The cobbled floors, stoned walls and tiled roofs gave this place a very charismatic and charming atmosphere, albeit a little commercialised. We heard that in summer, this place would be flocked with tourists!

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Watching the talented craftsman in action! Wood carving is very popular in Armenia

After a delightful stroll at the old Dilijan, we proceed to our next destination which was Haghartsin Monastery. During the construction of this beautiful building, an eagle was soaring over the main dome which attributed to its name, “Haghartsin”, which translates as “Dance of the Eagles”.

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We proceeded to visit the Goshavank Monastery next but unfortunately, it was under construction and we could not capture a nice shot of it. Otherwise, here’s how it would have looked like!

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Photo credits: Travis Witt

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Inside the gavit of Goshavank Church

Next up is one of our favourites so far, the Odzun Church. This church was different because of its pink felsite stoned walls! Most of the other churches that we’ve seen were grey, so this was indeed quite refreshing for us! Especially with its picturesque setting of the magnificent ridge as the backdrop, this church quickly became one of our favourites.

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We were captivated by the beautiful arches of the Odzun church

From Dilijan, we headed towards Alaverdi and this was one of the most scenic drive that we had in Armenia. The Debed Canyon was definitely a sight to behold, we had to stop the car to capture a picture of this breathtaking view! It was incredible!

Where we stayed in Alaverdi: We stayed 1 night at Iris B&B in Alaverdi and we highly recommend her place to any travellers who are planning an overnight stay in Alaverdi. We love that her house was very cozy, with its wooden walls and flooring. Also, the beds were very comfortable and the hot shower was great! Breakfast was good too! We paid 15,000drum (US$31) for a room with double beds. Oh and from the balcony on the second floor, you could also enjoy a nice view of the majestic Debed Canyon!

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One of the most impressive canyons that we’ve ever seen, the Debed Canyon

The next morning feeling rejuvenated after a great night sleep, we headed to the first attraction of the day – Sanahin Monastery. We were very impressed by this monastery’s remarkable archways within the complex itself. Some people advised to skip either Sanahin or Haghpat Monastery as both buildings were built by the same people during the same era and were very aesthetically similar. But somehow we found it quite different, scroll down further to see our photos of Haghpat Monastery. Our advice would be to visit both if you have the time to!

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The beautiful archways of the Sanahin Monastery

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Somehow the baren trees add to the atmosphere of this Sanahin Monastery

And here it is, Haghpat Monastery. There are of course some similarities between Sanahin and Haghpat since they were built by the same architect. But don’t you think that both places give you a very different impression?

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Love the green fields here at the Haghpat Monastery! Been awhile since we last saw green as we were travelling mostly during winter!

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These holes were apparently used for storages in the past, somewhat acting like a fridge.

On our way to our last monastery for the day, we stopped by this special monument for a short while. This was the famous and powerful MiG fighter who was named after its inventor, Mikoyan (the statue on the left of the photo).

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And here’s our last monastery, Akhtala, in North Armenia before we head to the Sadakhlo border to Georgia. The monastery was part of a well preserved fortress which played a vital role in protecting North Armenia. The duo rings in the middle was added later on when this site became a very popular place for newly weds to have their photos taken at.

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One of the most interesting thing about this church was the frescoes inside of the church building. Almost the entire interior of this building has been covered with colourful illustrations of the gospel. Also, all these were painted using natural ingredients!

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And we’re done for the day! We headed straight for the Sadakhlo border where we had our lunch there as well. Sadakhlo was very near Akhtala and it only took around 15 minutes drive to get there. Unfortunately we did not take any photos at the border but we can safely say that it was very easy and fuss free crossing the border from Armenia to Georgia. Took us less than 15 minutes? There wasn’t any bag checks too. Georgian border was amazingly developed, with its high tech gantries and signs.

Essential Information

All of the above were part of our 2 days 1 night tour with Ararat Tour. If you wish to know more about how we spent the rest of our time in Armenia, do check out our post on things to do in Armenia. Or if you’ll only be travelling to Yerevan, you may check out our post on exploring the beautiful “pink city” Yerevan in Armenia 🙂

For more information on the tour, please email info@araratour.com or visit their official website.

Hope our post was useful to you! Do drop us a comment if we’ve left out any ‘must see” in North Armenia!

Things to do in Turkmenistan with a 5 days transit visa

Things to do in Turkmenistan with a 5 days transit visa

Our suggested Things to do in Turkmenistan without a tour guide for 5 days, includes highlights such as the “gates of hell”, underground lake, ancient ruins and more!

Day 1: Konye Urgench – Darvaza Gas Crater

If you’re crossing the border from Hojeli border in Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan, you can consider stopping by Konye-Urgench to check out some of the ancient ruins which include the Gutlug Timur Minaret, Konye-Urgench Museum and some Mausoleums. For us we took a taxi from the border to Darvaza and told the driver to stop by Konye Urgench on the way.

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Not very worth going if it’s not on the way though. As compared to the sights in Uzbekistan, these monuments in Konye Urgench pale in comparison. They are a lot smaller and nothing much of it is left. The monuments are also very spaced out and it’s quite a distance to cover by foot.

Entrance fees: 11.40M, camera 5.70M (One ticket covers all the sights)

After we were done with Konye Urgench, our driver continued to Darvaza where the gas crater was. We asked to stop at a chaikhanas (tea house) where we could have our dinner and rest for the night.

Cost of driver (Hojeli border to Darvaza): 50USD or 160M

Tip: Very important to negotiate for a good price at the start and to confirm the price firmly before entering the taxi. Best if you can show him the actual money first and get him to agree with you. We initially asked for 100M and our driver quickly agreed and kept hurrying us to enter his taxi. We confirmed multiple times and pointed to the calculator and said “Manat” and he nodded his head and said “da da da” (means, yes yes yes). But lo and behold, when it was time to pay, he suddenly asked for 50USD or 160M instead of the 100M that we agreed on. He kicked up a fuss and even complained to the owner of the chaikhanas when we refused to pay him that amount. We had no choice but to relent and pass him the 160M.

Cost of staying at the chaikhanas: 10USD (dinner/breakfast available at an additional 7M)

Day 2: Darvaza Gas Crater – Ashgabat

The gas crater was certainly the highlight of our Turkmenistan travel and also the main reason why travellers come to Turkmenistan. Definitely a must see! Read about our detailed experience of witnessing the Gates of Hell in Turkmenistan.

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The experience was mind blowing. As we stood in front of the burning crater, it really did feel like it was the gate to hell. No other better analogy to describe this massive burning hole!

Cost: Free (if you’re walking to the crater on your own)

Getting to Ashgabat was quite tricky. There was supposed to be a bus to Ashgabat at 11am (according to the owner of the chaikhanas) but apparently another of the chaikhanas staff claimed that the bus was only coming at 4pm. We didn’t want to wait as we had limited time in Turkmenistan and ended up hitchhiking our way to Ashagabat. But it was a long and arduous journey and we were bedraggled and exhausted by the time we arrived at our hotel in Ashgabat.

Where we stayed in Ashgabat
Hotel Syyahat US$30/person
Free simple breakfast, no wifi
Location not that good, no cheap restaurants nearby also.

Day 3: Kow Ata Underground Lake

From its name, we were expecting the “lake” to be much bigger. But to our chagrin, it was more like a small pool. Its location was quite cool though, we had to enter this enormous cave in the mountain and walk down a series of steps before reaching the lake at the bottom. There was also a changing room available if you need to change into your swimwear. The water in this lake was naturally heated to about 35 degrees and it was very relaxing to soak in this tepid pool during winter. The water smelt stale as it was probably left stagnant.

Tip: If you’re heading here during winter, beware of the treacherous slippery grounds and steps! Daniel sprained his ankle here after slipping on the frozen ground.

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How to get here

You can take a bus to Turkmenbashi or Balkanabat from the main bus terminal (new) and alight midway at the main road and walk for about 90 minutes before reaching Kow Ata. You can try your luck at hitchhiking too, we only walked for about 10 minutes before a car came by and we managed to get a lift to Kow Ata for free! It was quite crowded when we were there and it was easy to get a lift back to Ashgabat from here.

 Cost: 40M

Not very worth it in our opinion as it was quite hard to get here and the lake wasn’t that impressive. But if you have enough time and nothing else to do, you can consider this option.

Day 4-5: Explore Ashgabat or Visit Merv

Because of Daniel’s sprained ankle, we decided to stay in Ashgabat instead and to explore the rest of the city instead of heading to Merv (so unfortunately, no photos of Merv). We were quite surprised to see how futuristic this city was. It was almost similar to Astana in Kazakhstan! The government buildings in Ashgabat were grandiose and magnificent. The golden domes of the Palace of Knowledge were stunning! Unfortunately, we were not allowed to snap any photos of the government buildings and the level of security was very high. There were guards at almost everywhere who will warn you to refrain from taking any photos. Well, we still managed to snap a few shots surreptitiously. According to Lonely Planet, there was also an Earthquake museum here in Ashgabat but we were unable to locate it despite asking around. Our last day in Turkmenistan was spent travelling to our next destination, Iran.

Cost: Free (unless you’re planning on visiting the museum which we didn’t as it was too expensive)

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Have you been to Turkmenistan before? Did we miss out any highlights that should be included? Share with us your thoughts by commenting below! If you’re heading next to Uzbekistan, do check out our post on things to do in Uzbekistsan.

Sunrise Odyssey’s Guide to Travelling Central Asia

Sunrise Odyssey’s Guide to Travelling Central Asia

The grand question of it all when it comes to Central Asia, where in the world is it? The next grand question of all is, is there even anything to do there? Well, we were asking ourselves the same question, because honestly before we embarked on this trip, we have also never heard of these countries before. The most popular question will be, are you sure it’s safe to travel there?? Well, read on our guide to travelling Central Asia and you decide for yourself…

Introducing the Five ‘Stans’

Situated in the middle of more ‘popular’ countries like China, India, Afghanistan, Russia and Iran, is where Central Asia sits solemnly. Central Asia consists of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

KAZAKHSTAN

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The futuristic metropolis city of Kazakhstan – Astana!

Kazakhstan, the biggest Stan of all the Stans, also one of the wealthiest with a huge resource of oil in its vast lands. Kazaks were once people that tended the steppes, and some still do until now. Almost the entire northern part of Kazakhstan speaks Russian and being the closest to Russia, they’re also the most influenced by the Russians. The futuristic metropolis capital of Astana is worth visiting for an out of the world architectural experience!

KYRGYZSTAN

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Early morning walk at Arslanbob village in Kyrgyzstan

Mountainous Kyrgyzstan has loads to offer if you are into adventure travel. Hiking at Ala-Archa, sea activities at Lake Issyk-Kol, skiing at Karakol, horse trekking and snowboarding at Arslanbob, climbing up to 7,000m and above to Lenin’s Peak or staying in a yurt at Lake Song-Kol. The Community Based Tourism (CBT) network in Kyrgyzstan is really strong and extensive, making it very easy to get useful information and to travel around.

Being the only visa free country as well as the cheapest among the Stans, it is an ideal place to rest while you wait for the successful application of your visas for the rest of Central Asia.

TAJIKISTAN

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Cruising along the picturesque Pamir Highway in Tajikistan

The main highlight of Tajikistan for us was mostly the breathtaking views along the Pamir Highway and Wakhan Valley where you will also get to pass by the border of Afghanistan which offers you a glimpse of Afghan life! The multicolored Fan and Zerafshan Mountains also offer a wide range of mountain activities from hiking to heli ski.

Another of our significant memories of Tajikistan was getting stopped almost too frequently by the police at the roadside, apparently asking for bribes according to our driver. But they didn’t give us any trouble though.

UZBEKISTAN

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At the Registant of Samarkand, the heart of the Great Silk Road

Uzbekistan is one of the most common reasons why people visit Central Asia. With its distinctively beautiful Central Asian turquoise mosques and rich history, Uzbekistan more or less defines Central Asia when one talks about the region. The transportation network in Uzbekistan is also relatively fast and efficient, with a train system that runs to all the great historical destinations. Authorities are friendly and you get into less trouble with the police as compared to the other Stans.

To be honest, one of the things that we’ll remember most about Uzbekistan was having to carry around the exceptionally thick stack of notes (the highest note value is only worth $2.50)! Sometimes people even carry around money in plastic bags. Having said that, the security is pretty tight and the crime rate is low, making it very safe to travel in Uzbekistan.

Attractions are generally very ‘Universal Studios’ theme park like (think the  “Mummy” section), but still we were very impressed by their stunning intricate architecture. It’s a must to visit Bukhara – the holiest city of Central Asia, Samarkand – the heart of the Great Silk Road and Ancient Khiva – the city of slaves! Or if you prefer to travel off road in Uzbekistan where we stopped by Asraf village, visited the fast disappearing Aral sea and admired the ruins of ancient Khiva.

Update: From 10th February 2018, Uzbekistan introduced visa free travel for the citizens of 7 countries and eased visa applications for 39 countries (lifted LOI requirement). The citizens of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea, Japan and Israel can enter the country without visa for the period of 30 days.

TURKMENISTAN

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At the “Gates of Hell” in Turkmenistan

The ‘North Korea’ of Central Asia, shrouded in mystery even before we enter. In our guide book, Turkmenistan has the least information as compared to the rest of the Stans. The visa application was also freight with complexity and time. The most available visa in Turkmenistan is the transit visa, which in itself is already expensive. To get a tourist visa, you would need a guide to follow you throughout your journey in Turkmenistan and you have to pay for his meals and accommodation on top of his fees of at least more than US$100 per day. But this also means that Turkmenistan receives lesser foreign visitors to their country as compared to the rest of the Stans and the locals will be really curious about you.

One main highlight of Turkmenistan is its “Gates of Hell”, a humongous burning crater that has been burning for the past 40 years. The capital, Ashgabat, is truly a sight to behold, with its magnificent exotic architecture, police at almost every corner of public buildings, rows and rows of similar looking hotels and modern transportation system. Also, one thing that really caught our eyes was how every building and structure consist of at least one portion painted in “Turkmen Green”, which is the color of their flag.

Activities

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Skiing at Karakol in Kyrgyzstan!

Central Asia provides a whole range of activities from skiing to mountain hiking, horse riding, camel riding, yurt stays, rafting and cycling. Too bad we were there during winter and we were limited to a only small selection of what Central Asia has to offer.

But still, we had a great time horse trekking & snowboarding at Arslanbob, skiing and snowboarding at the beautiful Karakol ski resort, trekking to see the frozen waterfall of Ala-Archa, driving along the amazing Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, visiting the fast disappearing Aral Sea, exploring the ancient mosques and mausoleums of Bukhara, the holiest city of Central Asia and many more!

Accommodation

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Homestay at Niginia Homestay in Tajikistan

Accommodation really ranges from the very authentic and unique home stays in Tajikistan to typical hostels which were filled with locals (because of the cheaper rent). In Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan it is possible to stay in yurts, given the right season that is.

Most of the accommodation that we stayed in were reasonably priced around $10-$15 per person and majority even provided free breakfast. The breakfast was a simple affair which usually consisted of tea, bread and eggs. The most expensive hotel that we stayed at would be in Turkmenistan which cost us $60 for a very simple room and that was already the cheapest hotel that we could find.

Authorities

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Authorities can get a little annoying in some countries. In Kyrgyzstan, we got stopped by the police who demanded our passport and claimed that we need a registration form. They took us to this small police booth where they tried to communicate with us for 30mins but failed due to the language barrier. We obviously knew that they were trying to fish out a bribe from us, but throughout the entire process, we just stood there playing dumb tourists. We got released after 30mins as they couldn’t find any reason to fault us.

In Tajikistan, the police we encountered were mostly on the roads. Most drivers hated them, as according to our driver, every time he gets stopped by the police, it’s always about money.

In Uzbekistan however, it’s a different story. The police there were really friendly and helpful. We’ve heard from some sources that it used to be a problem until the government wanted to boost the tourism industry and warned the police from giving tourists any problem. So now when tourists are being spotted by the police, the police will avoid them instead of targeting them like what the police in other Stans will do.

In Turkmenistan, the police were pretty friendly apart from warning you not to take photos of public buildings. They would in turn end the conversation asking you if you love their country. Well, we haven’t tried saying no, but please tell us if you decide to try 🙂

Border Crossing

Crossing the border from Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan via Bordobo was no doubt the easiest! All you have to do is to sit in the car while your driver takes your passport, exits the car to go to the office and gets your passport stamped.

For the rest of the borders that we crossed, namely from China to Kazakhstan (Khorgos), Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan (Korday), Tajikistan to Uzbekistan (Oybek) and from Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan (Hojell), the borders were relatively similar. Bag checks weren’t too thorough, process wasn’t too slow either.

In Kyrgyzstan it was essential to get your registration slip from the custom and make sure that they stamp twice on the slip. The borders of Uzbekistan was probably one of the strictest in our opinion. It could be due to the fact that we chose the more isolated and less used borders, thus the guards were freer and at the same time curious about us. But the borders of Uzbekistan’s (in or out) definitely required an extremely thorough bag check and thorough meaning, being questioned about every single thing in your bag. Post coming up soon on the border crossing in Central Asia.

Electricity

Electricity is dangerously unstable in Tajikistan, even in the capital of Dushanbe. There was once where we literally jumped for joy when the lights came back on at our hostel. Otherwise, we mostly depended on candle lights when we were in the villages along the Pamir and Wakhan.

For the rest of Central Asia that we visited, electricity is not much of a real problem. One thing that we learnt from from the owner of a hotel at Uzbekistan was that since his hotel was nearer to a popular tourist destination which was lit up at night, the electricity in his hotel was more or less consistent as the government prioritised electricity to areas situated around tourist destinations.

Food

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One of our favourites – Lagman!

We love the food in Central Asian! There is rice, noodles (tasty lagman) and plenty of bread. Bread is the staple for them and they eat it with every meal. It is usually bread with soup, bread with salad or bread with rice. Tea is also being drunk most of the time, more often than water! Kurutob which we could only find in Dushanbe was one of Daniel’s all time favourite. It consist of bread with yogurt-based sauce mixed into a vegetarian delight! Another local’s speciality was Shashlik (meat kebab roasted over charcoal fire) which is a must try also!

Internet Access

Internet access goes with electricity. Needless to say, electricity comes first before internet access is even possible. For our journey across Central Asia, wifi access was not much of a problem, except for its atrocious speed at some areas. You are lucky enough if you get to load your emails.

The fastest wifi connection that we experienced was in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. At the time of writing, internet connection was still pretty new in Central Asia and its monthly subscription fee was rather expensive for the vendors. So far the majority of the places that didn’t have wifi were in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Languages

Central Asia boasts a plethora of languages. From each Stan having its own language to the different dialects in the villages. However, the ex-soviet countries still actively speak Russian which is either their first language like in Kazakhstan or second language like most of the other Stans. Hence, it’s extremely useful to at least know the basics of Russian when travelling Central Asia!

Money

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We’re millionaires baby!

US Dollars and sometimes Euros in cash are the best option in Central Asia, especially so in Uzbekistan where the black market plays a vital role in exchanging money. Exchanging money via the black market in Uzbekistan can sometimes get you more than 30% of what you are suppose to get if you get it through the banks and ATMs.

Drawing money (local currency, Euros or USD) from ATMs in countries like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is not complicated. In Uzbekistan however, drawing money could be a whole day affair where the ATMs in Tashkent (capital of Uzbekistan) are often either not working or do not have enough cash inside them. In Turkmenistan, it was even more rare to find a working ATM. The only way out would be to bring sufficient Dollars or Euros in various denominations to places like Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, especially so if you are planning to follow our route down to Iran.

Mobile Phone

Getting a mobile number is definitely recommended not only in Central Asia, but for travelling anywhere else in general if it’s for perhaps 2 weeks or longer. The ease of being able to call your hostel in advance to enquire about reservations or to call for a taxi if you’re stranded in a secluded location really make the sim card so valuable. Shared buses or taxis might also need to call you when they are ready to leave (since they only leave when the bus is full).

The sim cards are relatively cheap and some even come with a data bundle. Mobile providers such as Beeline, Ucell, O!, Altel have all been tried and tested by us. They provide a wide range of coverage and works brilliantly even in hard to reach places. Topping up your sim card is very convenient in Central Asia as top up booths can be found almost anywhere in supermarkets, shopping malls, bus stops or even along the streets.

People & Culture

In the past, the 5 Stans were just one big country, Turkestan, which was filled with people of various ethnic groups identifying themselves in their own territory. Ever since the USSR sliced up Turkestan into the 5 Stans, the different ethnic groups have been trying to adapt to their new identity. This involuntarily resulted in ethnic clashes around Central Asia, most recently 2010 in Kyrgyzstan which led to thousands of innocent deaths. It is not surprising to find people of Uzbek ethnicity in Kyrgyzstan or Tajik people in Uzbekistan.

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Our favourite authentic homestay experience with Kudrat and his beautiful family 🙂

The people are extremely friendly. They shook hands and greeted everyone that they met, almost as though they were like collecting handshakes. Random people walked up to us and gave us sweets and one man even gave us a handful of walnuts while we were just standing on the street.

An 8 year old boy gave us bread on the bus, and when we alighted, he dashed to the nearby shop and bought us another hot steaming bread. It was very heartwarming. Many of the locals also asked us to take a photo of them and then thanked us after that. One of most memorable experiences was getting invited to a local family’s home in Uzbekistan where we had the best authentic homestay experience in Central Asia.

Safety

We have to say that travelling in Central Asia is really safe. Apart from the occasional pesters from the authorities as we have mentioned earlier, we haven’t encountered any instance of danger, or near misses.The drivers were rather, how should we put it, adventurous. But our trip was overall pretty safe. At best, just keep your eyes away from the road and concentrate on your book or something that will distract you from the crazy driver.

The bazaars are usually the most dangerous when it comes to pickpockets. So as a general rule of thumb for every country that you travel in, always keep your valuables away from those pockets that are very accessible. The North Face pants that we’re wearing has a hidden zipped pocket within a pocket which is very useful when it comes to hiding our valuables.

Transportation

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Shared taxis made up the most of our transportation experience in Central Asia. Public buses or Marshrutka in cities are often packed until there is no space for even air. Squeezing out of the bus is really an experience itself. People in places like Tajikistan also buy their own mini vans, put up homemade number signs and tadah, they are in the public bus business.

Taxis are ubiquitous, almost any car can be a taxi, just always remember to fix the price before you take the taxi. Actually, to be absolutely sure, always double and triple check the price before getting into the car.

In places like Turkmenistan where the value of Turkmenistan Manets are very close to Dollars, confusion can occur. $100 for a long distance taxi ride is very different from 100 Manet. There was once when we agreed on 100 Manets but after reaching our destination, the driver insisted that we meant US$100.

Hitchhiking can also be somewhat of a problem in Central Asia given that anyone is a ‘taxi’. There were several occasions when we attempted to ‘hitchhike’ only to be asked for money after reaching our destination. Maybe it was also because we did not specify “no money or free” before getting into the vehicle.

Visas

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Visas can be quite a headache in Central Asia. The only country that does not require a visa is Kyrgyzstan. For Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, you will need to get a costly LOI before applying for the visa. Oh and one more thing to note, Turkmenistan’s visa application is the only one which does not require you to leave your passport there for days before you get your visa. Check out our guide on visa in Central Asia!

Update: From 10th February 2018, Uzbekistan introduced visa free travel for the citizens of 7 countries and eased visa applications for 39 countries (lifted LOI requirement). The citizens of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea, Japan and Israel can enter the country without visa for the period of 30 days.

Bonus: Travelling Central Asia during winter

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Super rare Marco Polo sheep spotted along the Wakhan Valley in Tajikistan!

Central Asia during winter is amazingly void of tourist and it made us feel like we were the only travellers wandering around the entire country. During our 4 months in Central Asia, the only time that we met people from outside of Central Asia was in more touristy places like Bukhara and Samarkand in Uzbekistan.

The hotels were usually almost always empty, which could be a pro or a con. Pro being that we had no problem booking accommodation at the very last minute. Also, sometimes you even get to receive special treatment from the owner! There was once when we were one of the only few guests in a hotel and the owner actually moved the wifi router closer to our room just so that we could access the wifi directly from our room! Con is when some of the hotels were not operating at all during winter.

Another bonus of travelling during winter is that there’s a high chance that you might get to spot rare animals such as the Marco Polo sheep which only comes down from the high altitudes during winter to drink water from the river! Check out our post on travelling along the Pamir Highway where we also experienced the coldest temperatures (-38°C) and explored ancient petroglyphs.

Hope our guide to travelling Central Asia is useful to you! If there are any updates or changes to the above post, please leave us a comment below and we’ll update our post accordingly! Thank you!