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Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
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  • Dan Squire
  • Chelsea Haith

Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025

Moving from Sydney to the UK in the slowest way possible. Read more
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    3 days ago
    Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    "Your English is very good, for an African."
    New haircut?10/10, wood recommend.1The only local who lives in the old cityRooftop views at sunsetUzbekistan has tap beer—we're back, baby!Get reward for being a good studentAladdin extrasSunrise at the minaretChess is really growing on us.

    Khiva

    Oct 12–15 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We arrived in Khiva in a white Chevrolet, notable only because there is no other vehicle type in Uzbekistan. Literally no other brands or colours are available here. You can buy a white Chevy hatchback or sedan, and that is considered a good range of options.

    Dan was still recovering from the end of his illness when we arrived, but Khiva turned out to be maybe the ideal place to recoup: it's tiny, and the main activity is just wandering around the 1km square area of the ancient city. It is possible to stay inside the city walls and some locals do live here, but mostly the buildings are given over to small museums, artisan workshops, and cafés. The streets are lined with stalls selling traditional goods, mostly gorgeous textiles. The turquoise-tiled domes and minarets rise over the flat roof mud buildings and no structures inside or outside the ancient city are permitted to exceed four floors—the minaret’s majesty is respected and preserved in what is sometimes called a 'living museum '.

    What does a ‘living museum’ entail? Khiva’s ancient city has been preserved to such a degree that it is both beautiful and sterile. There is no spark to the city, it is a film set—literally. On our last day, Chelsea accidentally wandered from the bazaar straight onto the set of ‘Aladdin’, and made pals with some soldiers, locals from Khiva making cash as extras. Captain Farhar, the Uzbek policeman who jumped in as photographer, was deeply amused that she shares a name with a football club. On learning that she is South African, he also commented generously, ‘Your English is very good.’

    While Dan was still bedbound, Chelsea walked down every street and alleyway of the ancient town. Much time was spent admiring the 20m thick walls and thrilling that people were actually entombed inside it, the cemeteries functioning as additional ballast. Dan is also patiently teaching Chelsea the principles of chess, which is very popular in Uzbekistan. Her woeful performance provided entertainment for passing tour groups outside our favourite café. We say ‘favourite’, but this was just the least grim in a very poor field... food options remain severely limited, and service is sullen at best. We eat a lot of tepid soup and dry bread, but have nevertheless both succumbed to bouts of ‘traveller’s diarrhoea’.

    If you have to be ill in Central Asia, we highly recommend Uzbekistan for it 👍    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Night train to Nukus
    Chelsea happily surprised by the KandinskysLoved this - 'Migration' by Ilya MazelNukus train station still looks exactly like thisCold, ill, tired, and compelled to consider Savitsky's treatment of the dreamy Uzbek lightShah-I-Zinda mausoleum in SamarkandPerusing the nation's richesKarakalpakstan regional jewellery'Bukhara. Indoor bazaar' by Victor Ufimsev, 1924'Woman. Bukhara' by Victor Ufimsev, 1957Karakalpak women wear the larger pieces below their abdomen, and keep prayers for fertility withinAnother kind of woman, painting of another artist in the avant-gardeNot looking his healthiest 🤒2'On a visit' by Mixail Kurzin, 1932 (these are women in the cart btw)Soviet preoccupations in 'Chemical Plant' by Alexsey MorgunovSavistsky collected a lot of Karakalpak craftsmanship tooAt (bemused) attentionSoviet-era mosaics of NukusNothing to see here in this lush garden in the middle of the desert

    Nukus

    Oct 11–12 in Uzbekistan ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Due to an odd timetabling quirk of the Uzbek train network, it was easier for us to catch a night train from Samarkand all the way across the country than to go to a neighbouring city. So after an uncomfortable 12hr ride (during which the man sharing our cabin said "why are you going to Nukus, there's nothing in Nukus"), we arrived in Nukus.

    There are two reasons to come here—and the first is not even in Nukus. You can catch a 3.5hr bus north to a graveyard of rusted, abandoned ships in the middle of the desert. This is the dusty remains of the Aral Sea, formerly the world's third largest lake, which was dried up in the Soviet era when the rivers that fed it were diverted to irrigate enormous cotton plantations. Now it is the world's newest desert. It's maybe the worst man-made environmental disaster in history. But since we were only spending one night in Nukus, and had barely slept on the train up, we didn't fancy a 7hr round trip and decided to skip this detour.

    What we *did* make time for was the Savitsky Art Museum. During the Soviet era (again), an artist/archaeologist called Igor Savitsky made it his life's mission to collect all the avant-garde art that was produced in the USSR, before it could be destroyed or suppressed by the authorities as 'degenerate'. Tucked away in a small, desert town on the edge of the Soviet Union, he built a collection of over 82,000 works which eventually came to be known as the 'Louvre of Uzbekistan' or the ‘Louvre in the desert’. We spent a couple of hours marveling at some of these strange and forgotten works, joined (inexplicably) by quite a large regiment of the Uzbek army.

    Dan is still suffering with food poisoning from a dodgy shwarma in Samarkand, so laid low in the afternoon reading and watching YouTube. Unironically, it was The English Patient and clips from Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Chelsea enjoyed a long walk around Nukus, surprised by how quiet it was on a Saturday afternoon - until she found the extremely bustling locals-only bazaar. She was also chased out of a garden that she’d made no especial effort to get into, a guard shouting ‘no photos’ as she beat a confused retreat. Nothing suspicious about the massive white palace in the garden that doesn’t appear on Google Maps, then, eh?

    The fencing they should have put round the secret palace has instead been deployed around two things: defunct labs for chemical weapons testing, and medical facilities treating basically the entire population. This region has extremely high rates of cancer, disability, and infant mortality because the Soviets weren’t hot on health and safety measures. The Russians built the fantastic train network across Uzbekistan (they even do high speed rail!), but they used it to transport and dump toxic chemicals all over the shop, just to see what would happen. Nothing good, obviously.

    Spurred on by the weak global economy, we decided to depress ourselves further by spending the evening updating our CVs and getting the ball rolling on our job hunt for January 🥲 If anyone would like to save us the hassle…    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    1We got one nice-ish photo at the beginning of the wine tasting, and that was it.Uzbekistan is pomegranate mad. You can't move for them.Siab BazaarAmir Timur statueBefore......and after restoration!Popular spot for ridiculously extravagant photoshoots.Less glam behind the scenes 😅 this lady gets a told off by the photographer for waddling wrongAccidentally got the self-timer wrong and ended up with a fashion pose.2

    Samarkand

    Oct 6–10 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Uzbekistan is one of only two 'double landlocked' countries in the world—it only borders other landlocked countries. Points for whoever names the other in the comments.

    It is the land of sand, the crossroads at which trading caravans paused on this particular Silk Road, trading war-horses east or silks and ceramics west. Today, people pour into the self-styled ‘cultural capital of the Islamic World’, Samarkand, seeking the awe inspired by 15th century mosques and madrasahs.

    Amir Timur (aka Tamerlane), was a ruthless strategist, who commanded the fourth largest empire in history, from modern-day Turkey to parts of China. Samarkand was the capital city he built. He loved chess (Dan bought a magnetic chess board in his honour), and was buried with his spiritual teacher in Gur-e-Amir, the ‘tomb of the emir’. This mausoleum is said to have inspired the Taj Mahal. The city was built up a couple of generations later (by philosopher king Ulugbek) as a centre for culture and learning, and his madrasa survives in the Registan, Samarkand's iconic blue square.

    In fact much of what draws people to Samarkand has been restored in the last century. The Soviets began the restoration of the crumbling mosques and the first post-independence president, Islom Karimov, poured in more money until his death in 2016. The name Samarkand means 'land of rich businessmen', and it is well on its way to returning to that status.

    Almost every woman in the city wears a long patterned robe, bought in the Siab Bazaar, decorated with geometric patterns, or pomegranates. Siab bazaar vendors hawk spices, nuts, halwa, and dried fruits, alongside ceramics, cashmere and silk scarves. And at regular intervals, there’ll be a man squeezing fresh pomegranate juice.

    This has been one of our bucket list locations for the year, so we were very excited to finally arrive. Dan celebrated immediately by eating bad street food within a few hours of checking in, and remaining bedbound with shivers and stomach cramps for the worst part of two days 🥲 Meanwhile, Chelsea spent most of the week drifting through the madrasahs and bazaars alone.

    On Dan’s recovery we partook of many samsas (Uzbek samosas), and enjoyed a wine-tasting. We're just about back in wine country, baby! It's been a long break since our last glass in Australia in January, and boy are we jumping back in headfirst. The tasting also included local ‘chacha’, a type of Georgian grappa at 60% ABV, and the pours were generous. Maybe too generous for Chelsea: Dan managed to get up to visit the Registan at 8am, while Chelsea needed a slightly longer beauty sleep. Role reversal!

    Next stop, an overnight train across the length of Uzbekistan. We haven't caught a train since Taiwan... Choo Choo! 🚂🚂🚂    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Central Dushanbe
    Nurel Reservoir viewpointHis job is to make pomegranate juice, and he's absolutely crushing it.One of the bandits trying to get their hands on our juice.Dushanbe is a bigger city, with ✨restaurants✨. We gorged on Middle Eastern food and felt no regrets.Statue of RudakiDid he pull off the pose correctly?Outside the Tajik national library, which Chelsea was mortified she couldn't get into.1Quick stop at an Irish pub.This is Dan's best "French philosopher pose". Chelsea says it looks like asking to return bad food.The terrifying Anzob tunnel en route to Uzbekistan. 5km of smoggy, poorly lit horror.Tajik mountains en route to the borderUzbekistan here we come!

    Dushanbe

    October 4 in Tajikistan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Just before arriving in Dushanbe, we stopped at a mountain pass market to get fresh pomegranate juice and sodas. We were mobbed by a small gang of hijabi girls who plucked at our sleeves and Chelsea’s hair—surprising as we have not encountered begging for months. Chelsea handed off her soda to one of the many urchins, and Dan was immediately hassled to be equally generous with his. Oops.

    Dushanbe itself was basically just a rest stop for us. We stayed two nights in a private room (pure luxury), and caught up on admin. On day two, we stretched our legs by wandering around the city centre, where all the national monuments are, including the Dushanbe Flagpole, which at 165m was the tallest flagpole in the world from 2011-14. The Tajik flag is the first of any country we've visited this year that has green in it, which seems like a good omen? The flagpole has since been overtaken in stature, but it's still the tallest in Central Asia, despite Tajikistan being the poorest of its neighbours. Eat shit Uzbekistan.

    Tajikistan has felt like the third chapter of a 6-week roadtrip, along with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, all of which we've toured in intense 4x4 vehicles since the start of September. The countries each have their own quirks and landscapes, but they also share a lot in common. The words for 'hello' and 'thank you' are the same across the region, despite different languages, they all have a strong disrespect for vegetables, and they are all full of unbelievably friendly and hospitable people.

    We'll do a longer review when we reach Turkey, so we can include the Caucasus countries in our comparison. But for now, we've just finished the slightly terrifying drive across the border into the last 'Stan in our trip, the slightly more developed Uzbekistan! More to follow...    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Afghanistan border sign
    Thriving in KhorogOn our way to Jizev village, where no cars can go"Get a move on."Where the waters won't mix1When you ask him to do a normal walk for the video1He will not be stoppedLakeside reading and writing sessionVillage kitchenDormsPerfect clear night7am return trekIt's inevitable2Khalaikhum locals, Miriam and AbduKhalaikhum's only landmark2Post-hike, well-earned beersTunnel closed. Had to go the long way around.Hulbek Palace, 11th century (recently restored, apparently with Chinese tourists in mind)Saying goodbye to driver Salih and our tour-mates Marco & Dyma

    Pamir Highway (3)

    Oct 2–4 in Tajikistan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    The third and final leg of our Pamir experience took us downhill to the more breathable altitude of Khorugh (2,200m, so still not exactly sea level). After the dusty tumbleweed towns of the high mountain passes, Khorugh (population 30k) feels like Paris. A little souvenir shop! A couple of statues! People wearing Adidas! Phone signal strong enough to buffer a modest JPEG!

    Back in Langar we met a young translator who claimed to be the son of the Chief of the Secret Service, and an international footballer, and that he had 15 girlfriends. Talking to him was like playing two truths and a lie. This bullshit artist insisted we stay with his family once we arrived in Khorugh, saying his father would be too busy to notice (pulling out dissidents’ fingernails no doubt). We casually failed to get his number, and stayed above an Indian restaurant instead.

    This was extremely exciting because, as any vegetarians will know, an Indian restaurant is one of the safest havens for meat-free menu options. Even their basic, underspiced dal came as a huge relief, although they did also offer us 'salty yoghurt lassi', which feels like a local hybrid only Central Asians could dream up.

    There's a reason Central Asian cuisine hasn't caught on as a global culinary sensation. Most dishes consist of tough, unidentified meat chunks in water, and dry, week-old bread. Sometimes the chef finds a single carrot and shares it between all the guests over a whole week. There is also lots of jam, inexplicably, even with the meat. So we've had to compromise our dietary morals a fair bit, and are looking forward to more variety in weeks to come.

    After Khorugh we trekked into the Bartang Valley, to spend a night in Jizev village, a remote mountain community only accessible on foot. Here we had a blissful, relaxing day by the river, reading and skimming stones, before a surprisingly delicious dinner of pilaf rice (called 'plov' in this region) with a fresh tomato salsa. They apologised for the lack of meat, although we were obviously delighted.

    We're now on our way down to the capital, Dushanbe, the terminus of our Pamir tour. The roads on this final stretch are well tarmacked, so we got to see how fast driver Salih can go when he's unleashed. Turns out, pretty fast, and he's very happy to take the racing line across either side of the road around blind corners 🥲 We've both seen him take surreptitious gulps of something from a small, unlabeled plastic bottle while he's driving—we've decided not to ask any questions.

    The last day of the Pamirs was also our last day on the Afghan border. For six days we’ve been able to look across the Panj river at small holdings, hovels and hamlets on the riverbanks in Afghanistan. Heading for the border crossing at the bazaar town of Ishkeshim, we spied across the river a motorbiker with a woman in full burkha riding pillion, and a cage of chickens on the back. Chickens ain’t going to sell themselves.

    We are shattered after over 1,700km through the Pamir mountains, Wakhan Corridor, along the Afghan border, three high altitude hikes, and many nights of shared dorms and snoring roommates. Time for a little R&R.    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Ready to start an outdoor apparel brand
    2This is how people get the news - from a loud hailer attached to the municipalitySasiqkul lakeOn our way to the Afghan borderAfghanistan in the foreground, Pakistan in the backgroundChukurkul lakePanorama Ridge hike to 4800mThree countries, one viewContender for the Understatement World CupChelsea, Dan, AfghanistanPeak Engels 20km hikeWe've accidentally colour coded ourselvesEngels Peak hikePeak Engels stone skippingTrying to effect a slow pan camera shot by walkingAutumn shades 🍂Sharalay Hot Spring in Langar, post-hike reliefSheep herding at day's end in LangarBeE-eAaa-Uu-TiiF-ulLll!!!Yamchun FortressYamchun FortressBibi Fatima hot springsWomen's hot springPanj River, the physical borderBig stretchKhakha Fortress, 2nd century CEAllahu akbarThere are a few Tajik soldiers stationed in every village

    Pamir Highway (2)

    Sep 29–Oct 2 in Tajikistan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    If the first part of our Pamir Highway tour was about high altitude passes, the theme of the second section has been: 🇦🇫⛰️🏰

    🇦🇫: We've been driving along the Wakhan Corridor, Tajikistan's long southern border with Afghanistan. This was a thin strip of land ceded to the Emir of Afghanistan in the 1890s, to act as a buffer just a few kilometres wide between the Russian Empire (now Tajikistan) and the British Raj (now Pakistan). The border follows the Panj river valley, and the road on the Tajik side is a complete death trap. We are very grateful for driver Salih's experienced hand, even if he does sometimes send WhatsApp messages while navigating tight corners at the top of cliffs. It is also, however, the most stunning road we've ever driven. The austerity of the high mountain passes has given way to a much more vibrant river valley, and we're here just in time to see all the trees changing to beautiful autumn colours. The rocks that have been carved over centuries by the river Panj are striated like marble, and the gorge itself is vast and uncompromisingly jagged. Hard to capture in photos, but we've done our best!

    ⛰️: Along this route we've been on a couple of hikes, with the big one taking us to the viewpoint at the base of Mount Engels. Keen-eyed readers may notice a pattern in mountain names, as we previously went to Mount Lenin. There is also Peak Karl Marx nearby. Before Tajikistan's independence, the Pamir range included all the tallest peaks in the Soviet Union. The tallest (now known as Ismoil Somoni Peak) was previously called Communism Peak, and before that Stalin Peak 😳 the mountains also produce natural hot springs, two of which we've been able to visit in the last couple of days (#blessed). Extremely welcome after long hikes and limited showers.

    🏰: The Wakhan Corridor is dotted with military structures, ranging from ancient stone castles to crumbling Soviet outposts to modern checkpoints. We've visited a couple of of crumbling 2nd century forts overlooking the valley, had our visas checked by a bunch of soldiers, and seen countless stone bunkers for the modern Tajik military. This has always been an important geopolitical valley, and continues to be strategically important with Taliban-controlled Afghanistan right across the river for hundreds of kilometres. That said, at one of the castles a local man draped Dan in some traditional Afghan clothing for a photoshoot and kept saying 'Taliban, Taliban', as well as offering him a plastic Kalashnikov as a photo prop... so at least they have a sense of humour about it 🤷‍♂️    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Each sheep is worth up to US$300, so these flocks are more valuable than our combined net worth 😅Mount Lenin viewpoint hikeBlazing a trailDan goes up the steep bit alone...for good reasonToasty inside... until the fire goes out at 3amOur yurt camp in the morning lightStill in Kyrgyzstan—that mountain range marks the Tajik borderKyzylart Pass🤘😈🤘Felt cute, might return to Karakul high altitude lake laterCleaning up the flat stones off the lake shore, as per usualNo ATMs here—we took out cash in advance. It's not that much, but they only gave us small notes 🙃1Our surrogate driver Risvai, and his tall hat (a kalpak)Cairn contribution at the Ak-Baital PassNo altitude sickness hereVibing on sunshine1New album coming this SpringMade friends on the way backGlacier-fed lake on the plateau- a sacred place for the locals.The old and the new in AlichurChelsea, Dan and Risvai tuck in at Salih's son's circumcision partyOur celebration lunch spread, complete with huge hunk of takeaway lamb.

    Pamir Highway (1)

    Sep 26–29 in Tajikistan ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    Riding a yak is much slower going than riding a horse, and much harder to arrange, but it's undeniably more dramatic.

    It's day three of our adventure along the world's second-highest road, the Pamir Highway, which stretches through the mountain state of Tajikistan. This area is known as the 'roof of the world', with altitudes ranging between 3,000-4,500m, and mountain peaks reaching as high as 7,650m. The Pamirs are the third-highest mountain range in the world, after the Himalayas and nearby Karakoram ranges. Needless to say, it's very cold up here and very different to the bustling Asian megacities that have dominated our year so far.

    We're in a rare bubble of internet coverage this evening (which might also be the last one for a week), so here's an update on what we've been doing so far.

    Day 1: We left Osh along with our driver Salih and two fellow tour-mates, Dima from Ukraine and Marco from Italy. Driving south, we stayed the first night at the base camp of Mount Lenin—the second tallest mountain in both Kyrgyzstan AND Tajikistan (7,134m). We hiked to a viewpoint in the valley and back, before settling in our yurt for a bitterly cold night.

    Day 2: In the morning we drove to the Kyzylart Pass to cross into Tajikistan. Cigarettes and dollars exchanged hands and we didn’t even have to get out of the car. We’ve passed a few pitiable souls hitchhiking in brutal conditions— but the 4x4 is rammed, with each of us taking turns in the cramped middle seat and the coveted front. We spent the afternoon at Qarokul lake, at which point our driver Salih told us he would be going ahead to the next village since they were having a celebration for his son. Another driver would bring us to catch him up the next morning. This person also turned out to be the proprietor of not one but two inns, and local business man, Risvai. A man of many hats (or rather, one very tall hat, see photo). In any case, Risvai’s establishments are actual buildings with flush toilets and he even puts on hot water and electricity (though only between 7-9pm). Pure luxury. Chelsea has accrued favour with by curing his ‘gripe’ with LemSip, and we scored a space heater in return.

    Day 3: Risvai took us over the Ak-Baital Pass, the highest point of the entire Pamir Highway at 4,655m. This was truly alien territory. No trees grow here, only a scattered kindling of dry grasses, stubbornly scraping out a survival between bitter frosts and droughts. There is no green, only rust and ochre, huge scooped-out glacial valleys and dusty stone towers. It's a beautiful, barren scrapyard at the roof of the world.

    Descending the pass, we stopped in the small town of Murghab for supplies. It's hard to imagine how and why people have towns up here—when Chelsea asked Risvai what the people do for work, he said they work in the hospital or the school. We suspect more of them are in the agricultural sector than he let on. After Murghab, we continued to a yak enclosure, where we took our chance for a very sedate, 5-minute plod on yakback. This was a slightly unexciting novelty, but the pictures, backdrop and exclusivity more than make up for it.

    Lastly, we arrived in Alichur, the village where our original driver Salih lives. Here we were invited to join his family celebrations, with a huge spread set out on the floor. Per Central Asian tradition, he gifted each of us with a huge chunk of roughly-chopped lamb meat to take away in a plastic bag. We smiled and accepted... we now have to find a way to dispose of the meat discretely, despite our benefactor also spending every day with us for the next week.

    Hopefully we'll have another update in 3-4 days, if we can find signal or WiFi (unlikely on both counts). If not, expect a bumper update when we reach the Tajik capital on Saturday.    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Maksim face
    The offender1Good bread, at leastGorge-ous views (when we weren't being jostled to the edge of madness in the taxi)1Scenes of Osh2How long do we think he would survive in the army? Answers in the comments.

    Osh

    Sep 24–26 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    [Accidentally left this one in drafts instead of publishing the other week! Here it is, a little late]

    Quick stop in the unremarkable town of Osh. This is our departure point for a much more exciting adventure for the next 9 days... 🤫

    We got here in a 12hr shared taxi from Bishkek, which is just as hectic as you might imagine. In Osh, we tried the traditional Kyrgyz drink 'Maksim', which was... awful.

    At the Kelechek Bazaar, we picked up some extra warm clothes, and were very tempted by all the military gear available. Somehow we managed to restrain ourselves from buying balaclavas, gas masks and knife belts.

    That's all for now. We may have limited signal until early October, so if you don't hear from us for a bit, assume we're having fun!    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Absolute filth
    Seven Bulls viewpoint at Jeti-Ogüz, one of our stops en route to Song KulJust blending inJeti-VOGUE-uz, am I right?Pink sand beach at lake Issyk-KulReading on the beach, post swimWe were not 100% convinced that this was the main road that the map said it was...Don't tell ChyngyzThe Tank, triumphantChelsea reuniting with the car crew at the top of the passKyzart passYurt campYurt lifeBig dipper spotted over the campCommemorative plaque of overnight iceBeach cleanup operationDrying her hair after a Song Kul dipChelsea, Dan, Laura & NikHorse timeGot into a canter, but still not a horse girlAla Kul gangA very cold boiWhat could go wrong?Snow manDon't tell ChyngyzNot the colour we were expecting at the self-serve car wash

    Song Kul

    Sep 21–23 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ❄️ 7 °C

    ‘Don’t tell Chyngyz,’ we said to each other every half hour or so on this side quest. To get to the alpine lake of Song Kul, we took The Tank to places that Chyngyz—the car hire guy—probably would not approve. Song Kul lake delivered on all counts, but it was not without incident.

    After our big Aka-Kul hike, we spent a rest day in Jeti-Ogüz, where we tried to visit a sanatorium for a radon bath (apparently radioactivity is good for inflammation 🙃) but it was closed (wonder why?). Instead, Chelsea took an unplanned dip trying to cross a river, adding to her leg injuries from Japan. We gave it up as a bad job and decided to head back towards Bishkek. On our way we stopped and spent an afternoon reading on the beach at the famous Issyk-Kul, a huge geothermally-heated lake visible from space. The next morning we began our campaign on Song Kul, driving through old Soviet outposts still decorated with symbols of rockets, tanks and pictures of infrastructure (though without rockets or much actual infrastructure. They do still have tanks though).

    The thing about this region is that Google Maps isn’t very accurate. So we rely on Maps.me, which is supposed to draw on better data. It’s pretty good for hiking trails. What it’s not good for is distinguishing between ‘road’ and ‘dirt that someone once rode a horse across’. In consequence we blithely followed an increasingly vanishing path into the mountains and over a 3,400m pass. Dan took over the more technical driving in the mountains after Chelsea skidded the Tank out on one of the dirt tracks (and we had only paid for one driver, don’t tell Chyngyz). When it got even steeper and scarier, Chelsea bravely walked behind while Dan piloted, in case the car literally fell off the mountain. Don’t tell Chyngyz.

    On arrival in the camp on our first day, already gasping from panic and low oxygen, Dan informed Chelsea that in addition to the perilous paths we’d just traversed, we were also very low on petrol. We decided to ignore it and went for a swim (as usual, without telling Chyngyz). The lake was surrounded by smooth, flat pebbles, so Dan—like any responsible, self-respecting male—helped clear up the debris by throwing as many of them into the lake as possible.

    Our yurt camp was a rest stop for the popular horse treks, though we only rode for a morning, preferring The Tank’s horsepower to cover significant distances. We had dinner, played cards with friends from Ala-Kul, and star gazed, before returning to our toasty yurt. We were very smug with this situation when we woke up to snow and were the only people in camp not required to get on a horse. We did have to drive the Tank back to civilisation through the snow though. Don’t tell Chyngyz.

    We were also faced once more with the problem of getting off a mountain without much petrol. We grumbled through the icy pass on as little gas as possible, then rolled downhill from town to town trying not to touch the accelerator or brake pedals. Chelsea ran into every magazin asking ‘Spasiba, benzin?’ without any joy, so that eventually we covered about 70km with the Empty light on. Don’t tell Chyngyz.

    Later, to give Dan a break, Chelsea drove the highway and through Bishkek, which is largely roadworks and chaos. This gave her an opportunity to put her Joburg-taught defensive driving to the test, dodging sheep, horses, and nearly running down not one but two police officers in the rush hour traffic. Don’t tell Chyngyz.

    We were relieved to get the Tank back in one piece, and celebrated by painting her pink. Chyngyz bid us a fond farewell with exhortations to have fish and chips in his honour and much hand shaking (impressed by our unscathed return?). Stay tuned for more high altitude adventures and remember: whatever happens, don’t tell Chyngyz.    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Peak performance
    Forest rangerBeware: 30-50 feral hogsFirst-person gaming POV1A rare flat section... it wasn't all this straightforward!Throwing some hornsAs you can see from the tracks, some people shortcut this hike on extreme 4x4 taxisCrystal clear mountain waterAutumn colours starting to come inYurts in the sunshineSame yurts in the morning1What a spot for a campRapid ascentSnow on Ala-KulThe instigatorsRIP swimtrunks, you served Dan well since he bought you in Thailand in March.6°C water, according to the Canadians, who we have no reason to disbelieve.Heading to the passMade it.Ala-Kul Pass panoramaNo photos from the steep descent, we were too busy screaming.Chelsea said Dan's hair looks like Hozier, to which he replied: "Take me to yurts"This was marked as an official bridge on the trail map.Well-earned brews at Camp 2Tasteful hot spring shot.

    Ala-Kul

    Sep 15–18 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ❄️ 10 °C

    This post is mostly a chance to show off some incredible photos and videos from our most recent stop, so apologies in advance for the FOMO you're about to experience (if you like hiking—if not, enjoy the schadenfreude).

    We've spent the last three days on a 45km trek through two national parks to the high altitude Ala-Kul lake, staying two nights in mountain yurts en route. It hasn't been entirely comfortable, but it has been exceptionally beautiful. And the challenge has made it even sweeter.

    On day one, we hiked around 13km and ascended 800m in bright sunshine to the first camp. As the evening closed in, it started raining, then marble-sized hailstones pelted down as it turned dark. Luckily we'd already reached the safety of the camp, but other hikers weren't so fortunate.

    We knew day 2 was the hardest hike, so we intended to get up early and steal a march. The alarm rang at 6am and it began hailing at 6.15. Opening the yurt, the ground was covered in ice, thick mist was blotting out even the nearby slopes, and it was bitterly cold. We held off for a bit, ate breakfast and left at 8am instead with most of the other campers, reaching the highlight—Ala-Kul lake—by mid-morning. It immediately began snowing, in between patches of warm sunlight, meaning we truly had every single weather type within 12 hours.

    Two American men ahead of us stripped off for a quick dip in the icy lake. Dan didn't like to be outdone by wimpy Yanks, so decided to jump in as well. Only afterward did we find out that they were in fact CANADIANS! If he'd known this, Dan might not have been so brave.

    [Side note: we tied the wet swimtrunks on the back of Chelsea's bag to dry, but they had disappeared by the evening—lost somewhere on the trail. A shame, but a heroic swansong for the trunks in any case.]

    Next, we climbed up a gravelly slope to the Ala-Kul Pass at ~3900m altitude, before a terrifying 45min descent down a steep scree slope on the other side. Chelsea is not too proud to admit that she descended on her hands and bum for a lot of the way down, like a terrified and very lost crab.

    Eventually, after 19km, having climbed 1,000m up and 1,400m down, we reached the 'hot springs' village of Altyn-Arashan where our second yurt camp was located. This hot spring was quite different to the Japanese onsen experience: more like a tin shed in a freezing field, which you can only enter for a half-hour slot. But it was actually very good considering it only cost us £4. A hot (sulphurous) bath after 8.5hrs of hiking is not to be sniffed at (not least because it’s quite eggy).

    Day 3 was just a 12km steady decline back towards town—basically a stroll in the park after the rigours of the day before. We're now back in Karakol, nursing aching limbs, and planning our adventures for the second half of our Kyrgyz roadtrip.    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Burana TowerNarrow stairway up the minaretMade itStill going hard on town signsChelsea standing on top of one of the heads, for scale.1Just in case you didn't know where you areBeautiful cemeteries and mausoleums dotted all around Central AsiaTank top in the top Tank1Glimpses of majestic skylines. Kyrgyzstan is over 90% mountains.Sirgak, age 18Tamerlane and SirgakNot a horse girlMaster huntressAttempting the bullseyeDan only just beating Chelsea's score in round 1Dog hunting demonstrationHeavy bird"I must go to search for my father"Traffic jam in Barskoon valleySnow melt river1Deploying the new hike chic outfit from Bishkek1Chelsea considers spaceMountains and lake

    Bokonbayevo

    Sep 14–15 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We're on the road again! We hired a new car in Bishkek, which is somehow even bigger and more powerful than the last 4x4. We are calling it the The Tank. Driving in Kyrgyzstan is fairly death-defying, so it's good to have something big enough that we can bully other drivers off the road when necessary. The road around Issyk-Kul was patchy at best seven years ago–now it’s being repaired, but that means driving through roadworks. We are grateful for The Tank all the time.

    Our road trip will take us all the way east to the hiking hotspot of Karakol, but on the way we have plenty of scenic stops, including an overnight in Bokonbayevo. This is a small town, most famous for traditional eagle hunting. We turned up at the meeting point coordinates, only to find that it was the house of a middle-aged woman, who just hopped into The Tank to direct us to the eagle location. She kept referring to Joanna Lumley as ‘Joanna’, having apparently become besties off the back of ‘Joanna’s’ Silk Roads series. Casual name dropping.

    The eagle hunter was a 19-year-old called Tamerlane (like the king), who showed us how Kyrgyz warriors traditionally trained and hunted with golden eagles and hunting dogs, as well as horseback archery. At one point he said enigmatically: "I must search for my father," before galloping his horse to the top of a nearby hill... it was very badass behaviour.

    Other highlights so far included a visit to the Burana Tower—an 1,100yo minaret in the middle of the steppe, which is the oldest in Central Asia—and a lunch stop in Barskoon valley, next to a giant carving of Yuri Gagarin's head (the first person to go to space).

    On our drive to Karakol, we passed a couple of European hitchhikers but couldn’t stop, and then felt bad about it. So to assuage our guilt, we decided to pick up the next hitchhikers that didn't look too insalubrious. The first was a local woman and her baby, which was absolutely fine. Emboldened, we then stopped for a middle-aged woman who turned out to be quite the passenger. She was desperate to communicate with us but had no English, so just shouted at us in fast-paced Russian for ten minutes without seeming to need much response. Dan pieced together that she was an Uzbek doctor (her miming skills leave much to be desired). When we paused in a traffic jam because some trees were being felled at the roadside, she frantically tapped our shoulders to encourage us to just drive AROUND the queue along the dirt. When we eventually stopped in Karakol to drop her off, she decided now was the time to launch another long diatribe instead of getting out of the car, when we were obviously blocking the entire road.

    10/10 hitchhiker experience, we look forward to more.    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    At the State History Museum
    Sound on 🔊Dan at the Kazakh-Kyrgyz borderBishkek public artOsh Bazaar'No no no no no!'Dan as LeninYour friendly local redsWe were going to take this before Chelsea chinned her beerDan sipping vodka, making pastaHostel poolOn our way out of Bishkek

    Bishkek

    Sep 11–14 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After a long drive to drop Nash Mash back in Almaty, we were rewarded with a horrible 5hr coach journey with no air con, broken seats, and too little legroom. But despite the discomfort, we made it across the border into Kyrgyzstan! 🇰🇬 This is the only democracy in the region, and they take it very seriously here, which means more religious freedom and laidback police. Nice 👍🏼

    This has been a fairly uneventful stop, where we've had time to restock on supplies, buy some warmer clothes for autumn at higher altitudes, and stretch our muscles ahead of another big road trip. We went to Osh Bazaar to get more dried fruit and bags of pistachios, cashews, and almonds.

    We spent one day wandering around the city centre, and one day basking by the swimming pool at the hostel. This is the first swimming pool at a hostel we've seen since Southeast Asia—what a treat! It was a delight to spend a day by the pool and prepare our own meals. We haven’t cooked for ourselves in months, which feels deeply strange given that in our ‘normal’ lives one of us cooks every single day. Dan whipped up a pasta, the envy of the kitchen.

    Chelsea has visited Bishkek before, for a friend’s wedding back in 2018, and things have certainly improved since then. The roads are still terrifying and potholed, but more of them have tarmac, and it feels like a city on the up, with more cafes and development in evidence. The local Uber, called Yandex, works in English now (it didn’t 7 years ago), and there are more recognisable brands in pharmacies and stores. The theory is that the war in Ukraine is taking all of Russia’s attention so Central Asian states have more latitude to build relationships further abroad, most notably with China and Turkey. Bishkek feels like a slightly more Muslim, slightly less vibey version of Almaty, quickly approaching cosmopolitanism, though with worse roads and drivers (somehow) 😅 There’s much more of that to come though, as we’ve picked up a new 4x4 and headed out into the wilderness...    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Kolsai Lake
    Meet and greet with the guesthouse animalsAqtus, the excellent but flea-ridden dog that slobbered all over Dan's feetRockabilly goatAll the seasons in one driveBlack Gorge viewpointRoot finderSpruced upKolsai 2 (they don't have the most imaginative lake names)Glacial lake. This photo makes it seem like we spent a lot more time in it than reality 😅🥶Bit chilly, don't zoom in.2Hero of the hour, despite having our internal organs rearranged by the roadRiver bossPicnic pond1The dead forest of Kaindy LakeIn KaindylandMountain streamNo car to ford this bit, had to go barefoot. Feet were numb within two steps of entering the water.Actually not bad chocolateAutumn incomingOur rival marshrutka. We got them in the end though!Need to bulk our winter wardrobes quickly... Dan is wearing all his layers here and still cold.Taking out the trashBreakfast with our wonderful host family

    Kolsai Lakes

    Sep 7–11 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    From Charyn Canyon, we drove another 300km to the Kolsai Lakes National Park, the road mostly holding up. This was good luck, as Nash Mash had a dodgy front tyre by this point. We arrived mid-afternoon, and were met by a very industrious 13-year-old named Kausar, who welcomed us to the eponymous Kausar Guesthouse—she’s the only family member who speaks (some) English. We stayed with the family for four nights, hiking during the day and delighting the guesthouse children with our Uno prowess in the evening.

    The lakes in this region were formed during the 1911 earthquake that shook everything as far as Almaty and beyond, and caused rock slides that dammed up several valleys. Since then, the snow melt from the Tien Shan mountains’ has created new glacial lakes, which are gorgeously blue but impossibly cold. We discovered this after a sweaty 3hr hike to reach Kolsai II, where neither of us could manage more than two minutes in the water.

    Another highlight was driving up to Kaindy Lake, along the second worst road either of us have ever seen (Namibia still holds the No.1 spot). It’s so bad that many 4x4s without high enough clearance aren't up to the task—tourists have to rely on a fleet of ancient marshrutkas (grey Soviet mini-buses), which shudder their way up the ravine at vomit-inducing speeds. But we believed in Nash Mash, and we had paid for bulletproof car insurance, so we decided to brave it ourselves. And boy was it an adventure! This wasn't just a bumpy road: it was a world-class collection of rocks, occasionally visited by hallucinations of roadhood. It was like driving over a cheese grater. We brought a 6L bottle of drinking water with us; by the time we arrived, it had carbonated itself. And that doesn't even take into account the two ford crossings...

    The drive was worth it though, both for the adrenaline rush of driving through two rivers, and for the lake itself. The electric blue waters are punctuated by a skeleton army of dead spruce trees, which were drowned when the valley flooded in 1911.

    On our way back, one of the marshrutkas broke down, having flooded its engine with water in one of the crossings. Dan and a strapping Russian pushed it out of the way and we continued on, only for it to come barrelling past, apparently revived, before breaking down before the next river, blocking the road again. We waited and cheered when it coughed back to life, zooming away ahead of us. However, the third time it broke down we were not so patient, and it was a sweet sweet victory to sail past on the uphill and beat it back to the main road. We have truly embraced the Kazakh people's competitive, 'zero sum' approach to driving.

    This was a restful stop after a few long driving days, with landscapes more like Canada or Scotland than the desolate Steppes we drove across last week. Tolsya, the matriarch of the guesthouse, pressed some raspberry jam on us as we left, we suspect as thanks for keeping her youngest, Nurai, entertained—or rather, inverted (see photos for more).

    We’re now on a sweltering bus, with thankfully opaque windows, braving the Kazakh driving to the border. This wraps up our two-week Kazakh adventure... the next dispatch will come Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Evening stroll at the top of the canyon
    Surprise!Heeere's Danny!Paradise within... just no bathroom!Fulfilling his childhood LotR fantasies. Left and right handed, very impressiveActually not bad. Hit the target 9/10 times, although no bullseyeIce cold vodShe's ready to tell your fortuneWhat a view to wake up toRise and shineThe best light for photos!Sogdian AshBy the mighty river Charyn, which carved the whole canyon1Dan is sitting on that central rock, for scaleThe view down from the same rockWe found a window, Dan insisted on posingReverse viewLot of these guys around!

    Charyn Canyon

    Sep 6–7 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Another one-night stop, this time at Kazakhstan's answer to the Grand Canyon, Charyn Canyon. This is the second stop on Kazakhstan’s ‘Golden Triangle’ of sights, including Altyn-Emel (previous stop), and Kolsai Lakes (next stop). Dan navigated some dreadful roads to get us to the canyon, and an even worse parking lot on arrival.

    Charyn is a massive geological feature in the middle of nowhere, with no towns nearby, meaning accommodation is very limited. We also know that it gets very busy during the daytime, especially on weekends, because it's doable in a long daytrip from Almaty. So we bit the bullet and paid for a glamping yurt right on the edge of the gorge, way over our usual daily budget, so that we could hike into the canyon early in the morning before the tourist buses arrived.

    We went for a sunset stroll at the top of the gorge, Dan practiced archery (and hit the target!), wrapped up with a brilliant evening in the yurt, listening to oud music, playing cards and making decent head way on a bottle of vodka that a nice man in Zharkent insisted we buy. In retrospect, a rogue call to sink half a bottle of vodka before a 5.30am wake up for a hike, but wake we did.

    The good news: the canyon is stunning. It's called the 'valley of castles' for a reason, with soaring towers and minarets of red, white and black rock, layered like cake and especially vivid in low light. So much so, it's a popular spot for wedding photoshoots and even music videos—we spotted one particularly intense clifftop dance routine (see video, which we may have ruined with our giggling). Luckily, the canyon is empty in the evening and early morning, meaning we could walk around at sunrise almost alone—it would never be possible in China! Plus, the inside of our yurt was cosy and had an incredible view across the canyon to enjoy in the evening.

    The bad news: they hadn't told us in the booking listing that the toilet and shower block didn’t actually exist yet. So we had to use bathrooms in the visitor centre, which were 200m away, locked up overnight, and rammed with tourists during the daytime. There was only one staff shower, shared between at least 20 guests, and with no lock on the door 🙃 Not ideal, especially for the price tag! Dan is currently making a fuss with the manager to try to wrangle a partial refund.

    All in all though, despite the bathroom debacle, a beautiful stopover. Now onto somewhere less expensive, but no less insane...    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    The 'minaret'
    Mosque interior, wood, no nailsIs it a temple or a mosque?In the naveKazakh Fashion circa 18--Inexplicable bird costumeCars that remember glastnostSoviet bus stops are a whole thingThey go hard on town signsHorses on the highwayEagle statues aboundHalf naked men directing roadworks2

    Zharkent

    Sep 5–6 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We divided a long drive with a single night stop at the town of Zharkent, the last town before Kazakhstan's eastern border with China. Zharkent only has 40k residents, but it has a supermarket, many gas stations, more than one hotel, and at least one cafe with one English-speaking server. Which makes it a megalopolis compared to our previous stop, which was just three tumbleweeds in a trenchcoat masquerading as a village.

    Zharkent's main (only) attraction is the wooden mosque, which was built entirely without nails in the 1880s, and is a mix of Islamic and Chinese architecture. It’s a Chinese Buddhist temple masquerading as a mosque, and also a mosque masquerading as a Chinese Buddhist temple— genius work on the part of the designers.

    Honestly though, we don't have much to say here, so we'll mostly just use this post to share pictures of the weird and wonderful we've seen on the roads of Kazakhstan so far. Enjoy!    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Rainbow stripes in the red dirt
    Steppe horsesYurt in progressQuick lunch break at some ancient Genghis Khan stonesSand blastedMuad'dib1Big dune... Chelsea for scale2The grin doesn't betray just how bumpy these unsealed roads are at 60km/h1Our guy with the abacusKhleb i syr, breakfast lunch and dinner700yo willow tree3If anyone knows what this means, please enlighten usGood thing she grew up driving dirt roadsStart of the Aktau hikeHonestly some of the most incredible, alien landscapes we've ever encounteredThis guy just ran up to Dan to chill out in his shadow for a bitAktau valleysRaw quartz lying all over the ground1Katutau mountainsWide angle for context1Our hostess, Mama, and Nash Mash in the background

    Altyn-Emel National Park

    Sep 2–5 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    A golden eagle rose over the dusty plains as we rattled our way towards the Aktau mountains, following Genghis Khan’s path to that most sacred of locations: a decent lunch spot. He was on his way to invade China, and we are merely plundering the tiny ‘magazins’ of every one-horse town in southwest Kazakhstan for something, anything, to eat.

    Fortunately the locals make a round flatbread (khleb), a hard cheese (syr), and they love pickles. We ate a breakfast of gherkins, flatbread and cheese in the shade of a 700-year-old willow tree mangled by radiation poisoning. Felt pretty Soviet.

    On arrival in Basshi (or Kalinino as the Soviets renamed it), we were met by... no-one. This is a town of 1,000 souls, on the edge of the Altyn-Emel National Park, only 120kms from the border with China. After waiting an hour outside what we hoped was our homestay, a gnarled elderly lady appeared and began a three-day campaign of shouting cheerfully at us in a mix of Kazakh and Russian. ‘Mama’ as this esteemed personage insisted we call her, gave us apricot jam, fed us bread, and berated us to eat it by saying "NYAM NYAM"—we will love her forever.

    We have a rental 4x4, named ‘Nash Mash’—short for ‘nasha mashina’, meaning ‘our car’ in Russian. Somewhat worryingly, Nash Mash doesn’t always start on the first try, but we persevere. We put her through her paces driving out to the Singing Dunes, 5,000-year-old sand hills which emit a sonic boom when the sand shifts. Dan hiked to the peak and ran back down, while Chelsea investigated the local wildlife.

    There were a handful of other tourists here, but mostly our only friends were just lizards, hares, beetles, birds, domestic cows and donkeys, occasional gazelle in the distance, and (rogue) loads of huge eagles. They're everywhere, just sitting blithely at the side of the road.

    Nash Mash was further punished on the second day as we drove on thoroughly rutted dirt roads to the rainbow mountains of Aktau and the volcanic sea floor rock formations of Katutau. Because of our Chinese visa shenanigans we never managed to get to the rainbow mountains in Zhangye, China. But these are striped mountains very much in the manner of rainbows, and unlike China, we had them all to ourselves. So we feel like this was a big win.

    Back in Basshi, we went past the only marked shop on the map, and discovered the owner is a man who probably remembers the Romanovs, only sells alcohol, and calculated the bill using an abacus. Time travel is real!

    We are so excited to be in such isolated landscapes, often the only people for kilometres. Now and then you might see a man on a horse shepherding cows, or a man on a cow shepherding horses, or a cow on a horse shepherding men, but that's Kazakhstan. Just the way we like it.    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    It's nice!
    My wahf1A rare indulgence in good quality brunch, latkes are 'draniki' herePosing at the Green Bazaar with a bag full of local horse-milk cheeseHORSE.HORSE LEFTOVERS.European-style cafe cultureIn which Chelsea accidentally chops a flying pigeon with her fingers (at the Ascension cathedral)1Ascension cathedral. Note: we haven't been in a Christian country since we left Australia.3Copying Soviet statue poses. Who pulled it off best? Answers in the comments.Space heritageChelsea outside the rather large Central State Museum of HistoryLots of vegetables! It won't last 🥲On Kok Tobe Mt, sitting with an inexplicable statue of... The Beatles?Fortuitous timing... we spotted the moon rising over the mountains.Sunset from Koktobe hillTrying to pose without including too much carpark

    Almaty

    Aug 29–Sep 2 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We're in Kazakhstan! Most of our travels so far have been *relatively* easy, but we're about to turn it up a notch. We’ve done some reading, but we don't really know much about Kazakhstan beyond what Dan learned from the cultural touchstone Borat, so it's exciting to smash those preconceptions. And the good news is: Kazakhstan it's nice, I like.

    Almaty is, apparently, the most European-style city in all of central Asia, so it means we are starting in the shallow end. Almaty DOES feel like a European city, although maybe that says more about how long we've been out of Europe than it does about Almaty. It has wide tree-lined avenues, large parks, statues, historic building façades, and shopping malls full of western brands. There is a good range of international food, and we were impressed by how many hospo staff speak decent English. They have quite a lot of British, Irish and Scottish themed pubs, for some reason. Chelsea was in rapture when we found a local chain of brunch restaurants serving halloumi, croissants, shakshuka, and eggs benedict. We know this absolutely won't last once we leave the city, so are making the most of it while we can (we already had a foreshadowing of what's to come at the Green Bazaar, where horse and goat meat predominates, and they keep unwanted horse ribs in old shopping trolleys when they run out of storage 😳). Despite such vibey establishments, there still aren't many people around, though perhaps we’ve become inured to the crowds of East Asia. Dan described it as 'wide, empty Prague', which feels apt.

    Another way in which Almaty diverges from its European front is the scale of ethnic diversity. It was an ancient Silk Road city, acting as a melting pot between East and West since the Mongol Empire (Dan is reading the travels of Marco Polo for background research). There are white Russians and eastern Europeans, central Asians, South Asian Muslims and Sikhs, Poles, Volga Germans, Uyghurs, and a surprisingly large contingent of Koreans. Some of these populations have been here for hundreds of years through regular migration, and some were forcibly transported to Kazakhstan during the Soviet era. You wouldn't know this from the Central State Museum, of course, which suggests that Kazakhstan went from a glorious period as world-conquering warriors of the Mongol golden horde, straight to a multi-ethnic paradise and space race leader, with nothing in between. They also record slightly different dates for the two World Wars. Hmmm.

    A side note on the weather: at this time of year, southern Kazakhstan has great weather (hot and dry during the day, cool at night). We are SO relieved. After months of sweating and avoiding the sunlight, we have finally turned the corner and left the humidity of the Pacific summer behind. Dan bought a jumper and we both picked up new trousers in Almaty in case we get cold in the evening: unthinkable between January and August! The sunscreen stays on all day! We can wear layers again! It goes to show how far our frame of reference has shifted this year, that we're now talking about Almaty in Kazakhstan as an oasis of relaxation and comfort.

    Never fear though: the comfort is short-lived. The most obvious way Almaty reminds you that you're still in a crazy country is the driving. After a hiatus in East Asia where the driving was generally tolerable, we're back in Mad Max territory. Taxis with cracked windscreens and no seat belts, clapped-out Soviet-era jalopies, vans with a 10% suspension lean, cars with huge metal poles strapped to the roof taking corners like it’s the Indy 500. At least in Southeast Asia, the roads were bad quality and crowded, so the scary driving happened at low speed. Here, as Chelsea commented, the road quality is quite good, so they just drive straight at each other at 100km/h. This was all typified by our Yandex taxi driver, who blithely swerved her busted green Toyota Yaris across three lanes of traffic while singing along to 'Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word' (the Blue cover version). A very apt song for an unapologetic nation.

    We're now leaving Almaty and heading into the backwoods for a 9-day roadtrip. Wish us luck!    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    ...for more reasons than we can count.
    ...also South Korea has the best flag....although China & South Korea were very close....and most expensive too. Not good holiday value....and special shout-out to Chongqing cyberpunk future city, our fave spot....also Best Art Galleries....plus hikes in Busan, Sacheon, Jeju & Seoul. You're never more than 30 mins from a mountain in SK....especially outside of Taipei....Chongqing noodles, Mapo Tofu and Sichuan Hotpot will burn forever in our hearts (and stomachs).

    East Asia in review

    August 29 in China ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Closing out another chapter of the year, East Asia has delivered some surprise big wins over the last three months, most notably in China and in our budget spreadsheet. There were some losses too: we had to cancel the second half of our plans in China, Dan’s waistline continues to recede, and we never want to visit Hong Kong again. When we wrapped up Southeast Asia at the end of our Vietnam visit, it was much easier to say different strengths and weaknesses of each of the eight countries we explored. This time, looking back at the five countries we've toured in East Asia, it's much more difficult. That's because (spoiler alert), Japan is outrageously fantastic by almost every measure. But we'll give it a fair go anyway!

    Favourite country: Japan 🇯🇵
    Although it's not the cheapest country we've visited this year, you absolutely get what you pay for. We could have spent the whole year travelling up and down the country without getting bored. Japan has the most varied cuisine, the best seafood, the best beer, the best public transport, the best hot springs, the best art galleries, the best service availability, the most chatty English-speaking locals. It's the easiest to navigate, the most reliable, it's safe and fun and colourful at every turn... it just never misses.

    Best city: Seoul 🇰🇷
    This is one area where Korea has the edge on Japan. We had a mixed experience in Korea overall, but Seoul is incredible. The variety of experiences, the natural beauty, the cultural richness, the affordable public transport. We also loved Osaka, Tainan (Taiwan) and Chongqing (China), but Seoul was the best all-rounder.

    Best value: Taiwan 🇹🇼
    China was also cheap, and (against popular wisdom) South Korea too, but Taiwan was even cheaper—and much more fun! We loved this island and think it probably packs the best 'bang for your buck' in the region. The culture is quiet and respectful, and it still hasn't been discovered by too many tourists like other parts of Asia. It has efficient, modern cities, sprinkled with beautiful temples and historic colonial buildings, as well as being covered in mountainous national parks. A hidden gem, that only cost us around £110/day for two people.

    Biggest disappointment: Hong Kong 🇭🇰
    The badge of dishonour goes to HK, which was the least interesting place we visited in East Asia. Maybe you need a local friend to show you the secret side of the city, but we found very little that we enjoyed here unfortunately. The food was worse than mainland China, there was much less to do, the streets were less vibrant, and the CCP's tightening grip was noticeable. A shame! But we won't be coming back when there are so many better options.

    Surprise hit: China 🇨🇳
    We expected China to be one of the most difficult and uncomfortable countries we visited this year, and had a lot of preconceptions about it before arriving. In reality, China vastly exceeded our expectations: vegetarian food was delicious and readily available, payment systems were efficient, transport was slick, hotels were cheap and comfortable, and people were nowhere near as rude as we'd been warned about. It was beautifully weird in places, with strange architecture, intense surveillance, hilariously bad translations, inexplicable products and bizarre clothing choices (Beijing Bikini!), but that was part of what made it so fun. There were downsides, especially the overcrowding at major attractions, but we would absolutely visit again to explore further!

    A few other notes...
    • Best landmark: Itsukushima Shrine, Japan 🇯🇵
    • Best hiking: Seoraksan, South Korea 🇰🇷
    • Least crowded: Taiwan 🇹🇼
    • Most expensive: Hong Kong 🇭🇰
    • Spiciest food: Sichuan, China 🇨🇳

    For now, we're off to the third and final chapter of our Asian experience: the Silk Road. Expect another big review post at the end of November 🌏    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Tamsui streets, bubble tea to hand
    1Elephant Mountain sunset, Taipei 101 in all its gloryTaipei 101 dominatesWith our Polish friends we met in South Korea (and draft Taiwan Beer, finally!)1Tea eggs for breakfast—a Taiwanese innovation Chelsea highly approves ofSunsets in Taipei hit different1Taipei Fine Arts MuseumDan with an audiobook on, spotted interacting with the art228 Memorial Park - the rushing water is a lovely featureCatching our last cable car... maybe for the rest of the year?2Dinner in the tea fields hillsZhinan Temple in the foreground, Taipei 101 in the middle, Yangmingshan in the backXimen cocktails at Geography Bar - we both chose south east Taiwan fruits 🤷🏻‍♀️Tamsui water frontSpanish colonial fortFort San Domingo, former British consulate (and Chinese pirate base 🤩)Tamsui fort serving the goodsChelsea very pleased to be in possession of a whole bag of cakeTamsui poseur, waiting for happy hour

    Taipei (again)

    Aug 25–29 in Taiwan ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Our last four days in Taipei were spent chasing final experiences of our favourite and most habitual things from East Asia (see the next post for the full wrap-up). Good food, bubble tea, excessively hot hiking, spitting, convenience stores, excellent seafood, and mixed bag public transport.

    We hiked up Elephant Mountain in obscene heat to see Taipei 101 at sunset, along with hundreds of others. A couple of Polish friends we met in Korea joined us for dinner, and we finally had Taiwan Beer on tap, which was excellent. We did however struggle to get home as the Taipei buses have taken a leaf out of the British playbook, and sometimes just don’t arrive. Chelsea managed to squeeze in a swim, surrounded by screaming children and old men performing glacial breaststroke. After 30 mins she quickly got out when an elderly gent decided to hawk and spit a yellow globule directly in the pool. We will not miss this habit.

    Taipei is full of vibey areas and interesting museums. This time we were here during the week, so we enjoyed drifting through neighbourhoods in the evenings when the heat dissipated somewhat, but did find them to be surprisingly quiet. We also caught the cable car to the tea plantations and had a sunset dinner of 'tea fried rice', again with very few people around. We finished our Taiwanese adventure with a visit to an old colonial fort and Japanese dinner in Tamsui port, after walking around for a while trying to find a restaurant open on a Thursday night. This relaxed pace was a welcome break from the hectic overstimulation of mainland China, but maybe we've become more accustomed to crowds than we realised over the last eight months. We'll have a rude awakening in our next few locations on the barren steppe!

    Taipei is great, and there's definitely more we could do here if we ever came back (especially at a cooler time of year). Tainan was our favourite city on the island, but we feel like we mostly 'completed' it there. The culture here is wonderful, the city streets are green, the mountains and national parks are enticing, the costs are low, and the people are friendly. It's been a fitting end to our tour of this part of the world. But now, to the airport for the next chapter...    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Cocktails and Taiwanese whisky on the very cool 'Snail Alley'
    1Dan ordered the medicine-themed tray of shots at the 'Chinese pharmacy' speakeasy barOn top of Hayashi Department StorePlotting his future careerWeird and creepy exhibit in the Art MuseumTemple furnace burning symbolic paper money for Ghost Month. These are everywhere!Rolling aroundAnping colonial districtAnping Treehouse is pretty good for photo spotsAnping Fort—so good you could visit twice without realisingPeanut noodles in the Anping backstreetsOld Street delightsLanterns out on Shennong StBeer tasting in prison. The glass pane in the back is actually a door... the whole wall rotates.Chimei Museum approachEASTER EGG. He's been visited by Taiwanese spirits.

    Tainan

    Aug 22–25 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Ash and paper fragments swirled across the road, catching in our clothes and hair, a heat haze rising as we cycled past roadside shrines, their fires ablaze. Its 'Ghost Month' in Taiwan, and Taoist temples across the southern city of Tainan are stocked with symbolic paper money to feed the furnaces, appeasing the dead and obscuring the paths between worlds. So to celebrate Ghost Month in our own way, we did what any responsible tourists would do on our first night, and went out to discover some Taiwanese spirits in the city's cocktail bars! 🥴

    Tainan was the first place where Chinese and later European settlers landed on Taiwan. In fact, the term ‘Taiouan’ came to represent the entire island, and cities are designated by their compass location; Taipei is north, Tainan is south, Taitung is east, etc. Hence place names sound very similar! As the oldest ‘settled’ city Tainan was the capital for around 260 years, a key trading port for the Dutch, British, and later the Japanese, and is still considered the cultural and culinary heart of the country.

    Day two, having banished the ghosts of drinks past, we zipped around the city centre on YouBikes. Cycling showed off Tainan's Japanese colonial past and the ancient markets. We also went to see the Shinto shrine on the roof of the art deco Hayashi Department Store, and the Tainan Art Museum, designed by the same architect.

    Tainan doesn't have too many high rises, with most buildings no higher than ~6 storeys, covered galleries along the pavements, and plenty of open green areas, which we really love. The Art Museum had a triennial exhibition on architecture and urban design, and so we have both naturally been googling how long it takes to retrain as urban planners when we get back to the UK.

    Day three, we had a more relaxed day in the Anping neighborhood, where the original Dutch fort and colony were established. One of the main landmarks here is an old colonial shipping warehouse which has become overgrown with strangler fig trees since it was abandoned 100 years ago. We also explored the Anping Fort, before walking in a circle around the backstreets. Chelsea remarked on a beautiful old colonial building... only for Dan to point out that it was the fort that we had visited 90 minutes earlier 🥲 In the evening we visited Shennong St for some vintage shopping, and found a craft beer pub in a bare concrete room, which you could only enter by swinging open an entire wall of the building 😮 We also had dinner at a self-proclaimed 'Authentic Japanese restaurant', where a man from Hong Kong (who didn't speak any Japanese) served us the only properly spicy Taiwanese food we’ve had here 🤡. Only very old people speak Japanese in Taiwan nowadays so Dan has been causing offence when checking if Japanese is welcome, assuming people are either: geriatrics, or colonists.

    On our last morning before catching the high-speed train back to Taipei, we visited the Chimei Museum. This is an enormous building inspired by renaissance palaces, which looks like the White House and is home to an astonishing collection of European art and antiques. It has a natural history wing with taxidermied elephants and giraffes, Greek marble statues in the grounds, a hall of medieval weaponry from around the world, one of the world's best collections of antique violins, and artworks by Picasso, Dali, Chagall, Rodin, etc. It's like someone shaved off a chunk of the British Museum and plonked it half an hour outside the city centre in rural Taiwan. Completely bizarre.

    In conclusion, we had an amazing time in Tainan. We love the atmosphere, the environment, and the culture and silliness of it. (In the spirit of silliness, swipe to the last pic for an Easter egg...)    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    See our Koh Yao Noi post for the original
    Dan will skip anything (even roof tiles from the typhoon), in any waterBeach bar catTaiwan beer working its way up the beer ranking, though we've yet to have it on tap, the true testWhen your legs are too long for scooter 😂1Trees growing through ancient coral reefs in Kenting National Park 🤯Narrow gorge hiking'Wind-shaped tree'More gorge(ous) hikingCoral reef cliffsBeatles glasses and Gollum-like rock crawling... true British behaviour.GroovySweeping downhill in the sunViewpoint near the lighthouseMany stepsLighthouse installed because the Japanese kept getting shipwrecked and locals kept beheading them 😳Ice tea and book after we'd been hustled off the loungersMacca and Gollum both looove fish and chipsKenting Night Market1Dan tries a pineapple style in our boudoirFormost on Formosa'Land on me, when you're not strong' - Dan serenading this beetle

    Kenting

    Aug 20–22 in Taiwan ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Signage at the southernmost point of Taiwan announces it is ‘The Heart of Asia’, a dubious claim given its location and history. However, scratch at the surface and you find Japanese influence, Korean bathrooms, Buddhist sculpture, and South East Asian night markets. Alright, Tourism Taiwan, let ‘em cook.

    We rented a scooter to hike in the Kenting National Park, trek round Eluanbi lighthouse. This gave us a chance to recreate a pic from our very first scooter of the year, on the Thai island of Koh Yao Noi (go back to mid-March to see the original). Dan's scooter handling has improved so much since then that he now gets road rage at slow drivers in front, like a true Asian expert (although, very Britishly, we never exceeded 50km/h). On the hike we were beset by very excitable lizards wearing jazzy green waistcoats who sprinted under our feet like they had a deathwish. The butterfly game has been exceptional, both in size and variety 🦋 Dan also serenaded a beetle friend who was very keen on his salty skin 🫠

    After hiking, we took a dip at the Bar Beach. We were admonished for sitting on the ‘hotel only’ loungers, despite the fact that they’d just sold us drinks 🤡 Back in town after yet another sweaty day in the hills and on the sand, we enjoyed the Kenting night market, where dozens of stalls pop up every evening selling local delicacies: BBQ oysters, scallion pancakes, and stinky tofu. The latter smells like Birmingham when the bin men strike. Absolutely rancid. We had drinks at a bizarrely out-of-place ‘cantina’, across from the ‘Formost Hotel’ (genius name) and were intrigued to discover a Fish & Chips stall that advertised its British credentials with pictures of Paul McCartney and… Gollum?

    Chelsea had hoped we’d left windowless hotels behind in SEA, but alas no, and our accommodation felt like the interior of a 70s boudoir, satin bedspread, cigarette smoke-infused walls and all. Dan managed to scrape his back kneeling in the shower because nothing is built for his height, and the heat and sun continue their assault on his delicate British skin, rendering him itchy and sore each evening. Chelsea’s South African childhood has insured that her skin suffers nothing more uncomfortable than a sandal tan. Dan’s only got to last a week more, and then we’ll be on to cooler climes for the rest of the year 🙏    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Doraemon, and Chelsea in matching coat
    DIY Taiwanese hotpotHot pants?1Views across the valleyReminders of Taiwan's past as a Japanese colonyTyphoon damageJackfruit, the hostel catLoaded up for the next step. See Dan's new backpack on full display

    Luye

    Aug 18–20 in Taiwan ⋅ 🌩️ 28 °C

    In a small rural village on Taiwan’s East Coast, an enormous inflatable shoe hovers over the lush green tea plantations. Luye’s annual hot air balloon festival appears to be the only thing drawing tourists to this remote part of the island. Taitung is the nearest major city, but we jumped off the train a stop early and spent two days cycling around the tea plantations and marvelling at the balloons.

    Chelsea caught the sunrise balloon flights, seated on a hill above the flight field at Luye Highlands. The blue animated cat Doraemon is a major draw and extremely popular in Taiwan, drawing many oohs and aahs from the crowd as he expanded into the sky. Other popular balloons included a small Shiba Inu, and a pair of giant green inflatable pants, advertising an online betting platform (though gambling is illegal in Taiwan…).

    We stayed at the only guest house in town, about 30mins walk from anywhere. On our walks and cycles we saw much of the damage from the recent typhoon, and the power was out for most of second day to enable repairs, reinforcing our appreciation for aircon. We sweated and waited. Dan went cycling round the tea plantation in the midday heat (Chelsea had her fill in the early morning) and spent an afternoon in the only tea shop open, book in hand. To cool off in the evening, we visited a hot springs hotel (they always have a cold pool), but having travelled through Japan, it does not even merit comparison.

    It’s lovely to be out in green spaces, surrounded by mountains and close to the sea after a few very urban weeks. Chelsea is reading the harrowing novel ‘Green Island’ about Taiwan’s history. It is fascinating to reflect on the changes democracy has wrought here in the last ~30 years, and the tension that underlies a nation unrecognised by most governments.

    We’re looking forward to just under a week more along the coast, traveling by train (magnificent!) and bus (not quite so magnificent) to the southern tip of the island.    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Chiang Kai Shek Memorial hall
    We have no idea what any of it says, but we looked at it like we understood for a whileJust casually spinning bayonets around at 2,000km/h.Bonsai admirerTemple parade at the night marketFood tour crew"give me more of that one"Oyster omelette. Would you take a chance?The Museum collection was all nabbed from Beijing by the retreating KMT army in the 1940sSo now they have all the best Chinese artefacts in the world 😅Sunset outside the National Palace MuseumEverywhere high rise apartment blocks loom over historical architectureEvening light2Intricate finials (a new word we just learned) on the Dalongdong Bao'an TempleA quiet temple, for once!Dan debates the next best Go move with the other gnomesSwishDalongdong Bao'anChelsea loves lamplight, like a mothTuna, egg and mashed potato sandwich from Taiwanese 7-Eleven. Total game changer.Just a man casually walking his pig.3Dan having his arse punished by the train station slide

    Taipei

    Aug 15–18 in Taiwan ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Throughout Japan and South Korea (and on social media) there is an enormous advertising campaign to promote Taiwan as a holiday destination—the Taiwanese government are keen to make as many international friends as possible, in case of a threatened Chinese invasion. It's not as famous for tourism as many of its regional neighbours, but many people we've met this year have raved about it, so we were excited to finally see the island for ourselves.

    We knew it was going to be a hit immediately, when there was a big slide right outside the train station exit 🤡

    Since Hong Kong was a bit of a disappointment, we were keen to get moving quickly and make the most of our trip here. It's still extremely hot and humid (all the travel blogs say to avoid coming in August!), but we compiled a long list of Taipei attractions and got moving immediately. These included:
    • Da'an Forest Park
    • Shida student neighborhood
    • Nanmen indoor market
    • Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall
    • Jianguo flower and jade markets
    • 1914 Huashan Culture Park
    • food tour at Monga Night Market
    • National Palace Museum
    • Dalongdong Bao'an Temple
    • Taipei Confucius Temple
    • Ningxia Night Market

    😳 A lot crammed into 2 full days!

    Some first impressions of the city: it's clean and efficient, with great public transport and signage, and an excellent network of dedicated bike lanes. Chelsea is extremely impressed with how much greenery there is on the streets, which helps to cool down the temperature and is also just aesthetically pleasing. The food is more oily and less spicy than other places in Asia, but the variety of street food is great and there are night markets everywhere.

    We've been really impressed with the temples here, and the historic art and sculpture we saw at the Palace Museum was perhaps the most incredible we've seen anywhere in Asia (which is a very high bar).

    Our hotel, despite being vehement about their non-smoking policy, smells very strongly of old cigarettes 😅 but it's a small price to pay for great location and cheap laundry.

    We're now off on a whistlestop tour around the island for a week, and then will be back in Taipei later. We'll give our final report on the city and the country then!    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Up on the Peak
    Dropped into an amateur footie matchCat St/Upper Lascar for antiques snoopingNot particularly busy at the marketView from the poolAngel Hui's work in the art museum amusedRest day, with tea and digestivesYe Olde Anti-immigration1Walked around the Peak to get away from the crowdsChelsea is always getting dragged into doing photoshoots for strangersCharmed by the trams!Interesting architecture in HK at leastUbiquitous red taxis on Bank StGave in to some Sydney nostalgia 😭

    Hong Kong

    Aug 11–15 in Hong Kong ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Soooo... Hong Kong. We had been looking forward to this stop for a while, as what would hopefully be a small oasis of sanity in between the craziness of mainland China (much like Singapore was during our southeast Asian adventures). We’ve both visited Hong Kong very briefly before on long layovers, but had never had more than a few hours to explore. So pulling into our hostel at nearly 11pm, we had high expectations. Things weren't exactly as we had hoped though!

    On the plus side, Hong Kong is full of home comforts. Everywhere accepts contactless card payment. People stand to the side politely on escalators. English language is widespread, and the people we encountered were friendly and helpful. The visa office was on 'Gloucester Road'. Chelsea had a good swimming session at Tai Wan Shan pool. There was a Messina ice cream shop on the Peak. We even found some dark chocolate McVities digestive biscuits (Chelsea nearly cried with relief).

    Unfortunately, there are some elements of home which we didn't like as much! It was rainy. We found the food to be bland and uninspiring, like bad Chinese takeaway in Britain rather than the rich and exciting dishes we ate on the mainland. And most of all, Hong Kong is extremely expensive. To go from £12 a night in a private room with en-suite on the mainland, to £50 a night for uncomfortable bunks in a shared room opposite sweaty teenagers was a big dropoff in travel value. We also considered doing a half-day trip to Macau while we were here, only to find out that Macau is somehow even more extortionate—no thanks!

    Unfortunately, most of the activities we tried in Hong Kong were also a bit disappointing. It was surprisingly hard to find things to do, despite being such a famous city. The National Museum of Art was a big building without much in it. The National Museum of History had seen the recent, heavy hand of the CCP, with the main exhibition being on “National security” following the recent protests. We learned all about how the “Hong Kong Independence Movement” threatens the “stability of families and the economy”, and "Hong Kong's journey to true democracy". Do they know that quotation marks imply irony?

    We also went for a rubbish Indian dinner (Hong Kong's answer to Singapore's little India is pitiful), and Temple Street Night Market, which felt like a ghost town. Meanwhile, trying to get up to Victoria Peak on the tourist tram was a nightmare of overcrowding, with an hour-long wait to get both up and down along with ten thousand other tourists, just for an awful shopping mall on the summit, and a delay that nearly made us miss our flight.

    Overall, the city feels defeated. The markets are almost empty, many shops are shuttered. For geopolitical and financial reasons, it feels like the glory days are over, with investment shifting to Singapore, culture and tourism going to Japan and Taiwan, and Chinese shoppers staying on the mainland. We wondered if we were missing something, but it seems like a lot of commentators online are coming to similar conclusions. A big shame, but we can safely say that after four days, we never need to visit again.

    One last note: we went to the Chinese visa office, hoping to expedite our application process for the second half of our trip to China. To our dismay, we found out the process would take nearly 10 days, even paying for express service, and cost five times as much as we paid in Seoul: £250 for two visas! And we'd need to rearrange our entire trip to accommodate the wait, staying in an expensive but rubbish hotel in Hong Kong in the meantime. This led to a rapid recalculation, and a big change in plan for the next few weeks. Since we've already spent two weeks in China, we've made an executive decision to skip the visa headache of going back, and will redistribute the time to other countries that will give us more time to enjoy Central Asia instead.

    Hong Kong has been a disappointment. Especially considering how much we enjoyed mainland China by contrast. But it can't all be five-star experiences, and we're excited to move onto our next country... Taiwan!    Read more

  • Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Good luck prayer ribbons on top of the No.1 Bridge Under Heaven
    2Karst mountains topped by snack infrastructureCable car viewThe Avatar mountains1.5hrs up these (and many more) stepsViews across the mountainsCarol's son serving our drinks: he's learning the hospo trade earlyDan's modeling continues to be in high demandChelsea is forced to pose aloneThe 'mini-train' we refused to takeView from the mountain elevator 😮Crowds on the mountain topVR to see the mountains... that the VR room is on top ofMid-way up Tianmen Mt7am arrival at the base of the 999 steps to the Gate of HeavenGreat chance to look at fog on the ski lift, glass walkway, cliff path, suspension bridge...There is nothing for about 1000m to Chelsea's right, just imagine it2Cable car descent

    Zhangjiajie

    Aug 8–11 in China ⋅ 🌫 32 °C

    Zhangjiajie (we're still not 100% on the pronunciation) is most famous for its mountainous national parks. After a lot of time in Chinese cities, this was our chance to see some of the country's natural beauty... in theory. It has been a mixed bag!

    There is one budget hikers’ inn in Zhangjiajie, fortunately run by the only English-speaking person in a 200km radius. It meant we were staying with more white tourists in Zhangjiajie than anywhere else in China so far (bizarrely, mostly Italians). Host Carol gave us excellent advice for how to get the best out of the park while avoiding the worst of the crowds. We woke up early all three mornings to steal a march, and took a series of buses, cable cars, and steep stairs to explore the Wulingyuan area. The park features the towering sandstone stacks that are most famous as the backdrop for the Avatar film. The stacks are extraordinary, with some precariously balanced like Jenga towers, and others smoothly striated like the shaved sides of a döner kebab spit. Some of them echo when you shout across the valley, which was justification for domestic visitors to indulge in bellowing and screaming into the void at top volume. Curiously, they kept screaming everywhere else in the park too—perhaps hoping for more echo opportunities?

    There are hundreds of viewpoints along the walkways, all of which follow the Chinese hyperbolic naming tradition. '#1 Heavenly Jade Cloud Bridge of General Zhang Inspecting his Magnificent Turtles' or 'Fascinating Golden Platform where Imperial Dragon Reaches Towards the Gods', etc. Dan was absolutely furious because all the maps in the park change orientation at each new location and are consistently mislabelled. Plus, the 'You are here' marker is always rubbed off because so many people have touched it, making it almost impossible to work out where you are. "I may be a Humanities student, but even I know it's cartographically unjustifiable," he raged. This led us, at one point, to take a "shortcut" which actually involved climbing up 1.5 hours of unbroken steps... a sweaty endeavour.

    Our last day, we woke at 5am to catch the world's longest cable car (7km!) up Tianmen Mountain, the most popular spot in Zhangjiajie. The clouds gave us an incredible swirling view on the way up, although it was unfortunately too foggy to see anything more than 20m away once we were on the plateau. A nightmare for domestic tourists... what are they meant to photograph? We saw a lot of forlorn Chinese taking pics of pure blank fog, and wondered what they were hoping for. Tianmen is also home to the 999-step staircase to the Gate of Heaven, which we bravely completed. 999 steps sounds like a lot, and after a 5am alarm, it bloody felt like it too. And we couldn't even see the ‘gate’ at the top. Bit of a bummer, but assuaged by our smugness for completing it.

    Some reflections on Chinese domestic tourism so far. Chinese cities are exciting: big crowds, loud noise, structured activities, focus on convenience and minimal effort... these things make the cities vibrant, intense, efficient and full of life. But the same things become disadvantages when you visit somewhere that ought to be serene and natural. Zhangjiajie is very busy, with food and souvenir stalls everywhere, heavily curated walkways, lots of cable cars and escalators, and blatant disregard for animal welfare: signs telling people not to feed the monkeys or pick up baby turtles are universally ignored. You can hire a drone and VR headset, or ride a simulator, to imagine what it must be like to be right there at the mountains (despite being right there at the mountains). There are a lot of bins and litter pickers around, but still plenty of trash near the pathways. Tour guides with loudspeakers screech at their groups, who block the paths and force you to push past unless you want to walk at negative km/h. If you are unlucky enough to be going in the same direction as them at the same time, you can end up queuing for hours just to ride a 2-minute elevator. We are abandoning British manners out of necessity, pushing past slow walkers and shoulder checking kids who try to cut into queues ahead of us. No one appears to mind getting shoved. Live by the sword, etc.

    This is all the inevitable consequence of having an easily-accessible, world-class landmark in a country of 1.4 billion people. It really is incredibly beautiful! And when you get a moment away from the phones, flags and crowds, you can appreciate just how monolithic the sights are. We can see why everyone wants to come, and why the government has spent so much time and money on the infrastructure to allow thousands of people to visit every day: the demand is high, and the scenery justifies it. We're glad we came, crowds notwithstanding—visiting overcrowded, consumerised landmarks is part of the Chinese experience anyway. Besides, if these same mountains were in Europe or the US, they'd be just as popular and overcrowded with Instagram tourists, so it's not an exclusively Chinese problem.

    The question is, does having all this tightly-controlled infrastructure help to protect the park by keeping tourists contained, or turn it into a Disneyland and bastardise the natural beauty? Debate in the comments 😅 in the meantime, we're on our way to Hong Kong for an overdue anniversary meal!    Read more

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