Last Updated on April 21, 2024 by Audrey Scott
No place takes the logic out of logistics, from pillar to post, like the former Soviet Union. Inspired by our own experiences, the following entries are in no logical order. Let’s dig in.
Destination: Central Asia
Articles about Central Asia – Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan.
Marshrutka Monologues (or, Why We Travel the Way We Do)
Last Updated on April 26, 2024 by Audrey Scott
I thought Americans liked to travel in comfort. I don’t know why you take a marshrutka.
You should take the marshrutka. There you will meet the real people.
— Two competing local views on whether or not we should subject ourselves to long-distance rides on marshrutka minivans, the dominant form of public transport in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Kyrgyzstan Visas
Last Updated on April 26, 2024 by Audrey Scott
Kyrgyzstan is known as the most visa-friendly country in Central Asia as it offers visa-free travel of up to sixty days to travelers of sixty nationalities. This allows you to focus your planning time on what you want to do inside the country vs. navigating Kyrgyzstan visa bureaucracy. So nice.
Food in Central Asia and the Caucasus: Best Dishes and Markets
Last Updated on February 18, 2018 by Audrey Scott
While most people don’t travel to the Caucasus and Central Asia solely to explore its foods, we did have our share of pleasant to exceptional eating experiences there. These included discovering some new-to-us cuisines and dishes that are unique to this region.
Sex and the Central Asian Visa
Last Updated on June 18, 2026 by Audrey Scott
I just want to go home. I'm tired of all this visa stuff.
— A distressed traveler at the Kazakh embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
So what does sex have to do with Central Asian visas? Simple, really. Thinking about, planning around, and procuring visas for Central Asian countries begins to dominate one’s time and mindspace — almost to the point of obsession. We'll leave it to you to do the rest of the comparison.
Central Asian Food: The Good, the Bad, the Inedible
Last Updated on November 6, 2017 by
Mystery vegetables are better than mystery meat.
– the mantra we adopted after eating Central Asian meals for over three months
Although we would not advise an exclusively culinary expedition to Central Asia, the region does have its appetizing moments. Surrounding those moments, you’ll primarily find a nomadic carnivore’s dream or a vegetarian’s nightmare.
Pamir Mountains Travel: A Beginner’s Guide
Last Updated on January 16, 2021 by Audrey Scott
Our visit to the Pamir Mountains introduced us to some the most spectacular scenery we’ve taken in on our journey thus far. Other mountainous areas, hyped in guidebooks and on travel websites, have only paled in comparison. The Pamir region not only stands out for the severity and beauty of its landscape, but it shines most of all for the colorful, hospitable and fascinating Pamiri people who live there.
The Pamir Highway, roughly speaking begins in Kyrgyzstan and winds its way through Tajikistan, is one of the world's greatest road trips.
How Kazakhstan Nearly Killed Us
Last Updated on April 26, 2024 by Audrey Scott
Barely recovering from self-inflicted death march from Kazakh mountains. Copter airlift looked likely. Rappelling down waterfall = escape.
— Our Twitter update from Almaty, Kazakhstan on 3 September 2007
My, how things can go wrong.
Big Almaty Lake and Kosmostancia: The Hike and The Observatory
Last Updated on April 11, 2018 by Audrey Scott
Sometimes we seek beauty and sometimes we find it. Sometimes we seek a thrill and it finds us, giving us more than we had bargained for. Along our journey into the Tian Shan Mountains in Kazakhstan, we encountered pieces of history, stunning landscape, a draining hike, and the softer side of Almaty. The only thing missing: a map.
Kazakhstan’s Postal Police
Last Updated on April 26, 2024 by Audrey Scott
You know you are in trouble when the only people in the place who smile at you are the missionaries.
A trip to the post office in each country we visit is pretty standard for us. We dread it because of the time it usually eats up, but we always find ourselves making the journey in order to mail backup DVDs of our photos or an occasional postcard. From a cultural anthropological point of view, however, a trip to the post office affords us another slice of real life and provides a window into how a country actually works (or doesn’t).