Crossing the border by train from Tashkent to Shymkent was much easier than I’d expected! Besides being asked about 15 times to show my passport from the very entrance of the train station to the actual Uzbek-Kazakh border, everything went smoothly.
Tag: Asia
Horse Trek to Song Kol Lake in Kyrgyzstan
Our chai master near Song Kol lake wore traditional Kyrgyz clothes of bright kök (blue) and kara (black), worked the fresh sheep fleece with her bare hands to make saddle cushions and sewed pillows and tapestry in her free time. She welcomed us in her yurt to learn and live with the Kyrgyz shepherds in the wild plains of central Kyrgyzstan. Rahmat chai master!
Kyrgyzstan and the World Nomad Games 2018
Kyrgyzstan is that little country landlocked between Russia, China and its other Central Asian sisters had for a while now caught my attention with its mysterious culture, a mixed heritage of the old Soviet Union, Asia and the Middle East, that I wanted to discover.
Huai Kon (Nan) border crossing from Thailand to Laos
I’ve just crossed from Thailand into Laos at the Huai Kon border crossing near Nan. It was the easiest thing in the world and it’s not touristy at all over here. So if you’re interested in a bit of an adventure in rural Thailand and Laos, read on!
A couple of days in Hiroshima
Hiroshima is also a modern, elegant and chill city with its eerie Peace Memorial Park and its castle, the famous Hiroshima okonomiyaki and the many streetcars crisscrossing around the city.
1-day trip from Hiroshima: Miyajima Island and Itsukushima Shrine
Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima island is only one of the most photographed landmarks in the whole of Japan. If you’ve never seen the iconic orange-ish torii seemingly floating on the ocean, you should travel more.
Mekong Delta DIY versus Organized tours
A weekend trip to the Mekong Delta from HCMC – is it better to go on an organized tour or by myself? I did both. Here’s how I experienced the Merkong on a tour and solo.
10 Tips for visiting Ha Giang
Often called the last frontier of Vietnam, Hà Giang borders China and offers some of the most spectacular landscapes I have seen in over a year of traveling around Vietnam. It offers misty, green and brown hills in the background, and dusty, bumpy roads weaving through the country side from lower valleys to high mountain passes and the paddies! So many green, lush paddies everywhere! The air is saturated with the scent of the leaves and wood burning on the mountain slopes, and it’s fresh! Coming from the traffic and pollution of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Hà Giang is like a breath of fresh, cold air.
Living in Vietnam
Vietnam is a fascinating country to live in. It’s warm, laid-back, beautiful but it can also be frustrating and overwhelming. It takes patience, strength and resourcefulness to figure out how to interact with the locals and how to fit in the dense Saigonese jungle.
Spring in Vietnam
March 21st. Do you know what that represents in Vietnam? Nothing.
When in Guangzhou …
Well, guess what? Cantonese fried rice is not all they eat in Guangzhou, ha ! My trip to the third biggest city in China was savory, inspiring, stimulating and much too short. Guangzhou, or Canton, struck me as an intense painting of grey skyscrapers, flashy neon signs and colorful blurs everywhere, from the boats on the Pearl River to the Canton Tower overlooking the city, undisturbed.
Horseback riding through Central Mongolia
Mongolia is like a place out of time. Time is definitely not of the essence around here. Only the elements dictate everyone’s rhythm, everything revolves around the next heavy rain or the next below zero temperatures.
Stop. Look. Go. 