My photographic impressions of Osh city, the largest residential area outside Bishkek (the capital) in Kyrgyzstan. The city is situated in the south of Kyrgyzstan, in the Fergana Valley and close to borders with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. It is home to various different ethnic groups including Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Russians, Turks, Tatars and other nationalities. The…
Summer in Kyrgystan … the land of milk and honey (part 1)
Imagine lush meadows of flowers stretching as far as the eye can see, hues as multiple as the stars in the clear night sky and fat honey bees lazily floating on the warm breezes, producing honey equally as varied in clarity, flavour and colour. Snow topped mountains giving rise to clear streams then wider rivers….
A bit of Tibetan song and dance
Spending time in Kangding, a town on the border of the area that is now the TAR but that used to be within the Kham region of Tibet (more on China and Tibet in a different post), meant visiting the town square in the evening and getting involved in the circle dancing that the local…
Kyrgyzstan – World Nomad Games 2016
I’ve asked a few people here in Kyrgyzstan what they think about the World Nomad Games and the response has been unanimously positive. I have also seen this video playing in the market, on a big screen in Naryn, one of the larger towns outside of Bishkek and Osh. It appears that whilst there is…
Kyrgyzstan – Ordo Sakhna ethno folk theatre
Please don’t send me any spoilers (I will watch GoT – Series 7 as a whole) but I hope you enjoy the sound of the Kyrgyz instruments!! xx
Ship to Shore … I’m back on the bike!
“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” Andre Gide, French Novelist 1869 – 1951 Hello!? If there is anyone still out there still interested in my random movements then ‘thank you’!! I am still out here and am back on the road travelling…
East Kazakhstan: Invisible Cities, Beautiful Bukhtarma and Kazakh hospitality
In the age of Google maps and the life documenting, all pervasive and instant social media it is strange to think that at one time a whole city could be made conceptually invisible but this was previously the case for Ust-Kamenogorst. During the time of the USSR U-K was not to be found on any…
The Chuysky Tract: Siberia’s Silk Road
As recently as January this year I had no thoughts, images or understanding of Siberia (or Russia for that matter) beyond frozen wastes and the vague concept that Siberia was a desolate place to which people with political and intellectual views contrary to the Russian powers of the time, were banished and forced to attempt…
Mongolia
To date, I think I can say with complete authenticity, that Mongolia has been the hardest country I have cycled in! The country broke my camera, broke Tilly and at times came near to breaking me … I lost kit, I lost money and at times I came near to completely losing perspective but as…
Northern China and the Chexit challenge
And so it had finally happened … The time had come and I was free to get back on the bike and leave China. Months of anticipation, looking at maps and discussing routes with fellow cyclists who were passing through were at an end. The final hurdles were the small matters of 1500km to the…
Wide-Eyed Views 