Thai Airways from Sydney

Transit in Bangkok

6 hours in transit at the airport in Bangkok. Paid for access to a good quiet and comfortable lounge with nice champagne and ok food, and killed an hour having a foot, head and shouldersRead more
The Turkish Lounge

The Turkish Lounge at Bangkok airport, a comfortable place to hang out.
Not the style of glass I normally drink champagne out of, but who cares it tastes great 😀
Tashkent public holiday

Guess who arrived in Tashkent on Memorial Day, celebrating those who died in WWII 😣
There are still places open and I went to Independence Square to see some of the celebrations which wasRead more
Theatre night

Believe it or not I went to Uzbekistan’s largest and most ornate theatre (built by the Soviets) and watched Aleko, an opera by Rachmaninov, just before going in I saw a guy who had been killed whenRead more
A day in Khiva

Today I was up early and left the hotel at 6am to catch the 7:30 plane to Urgench then drive 40 minutes to Khiva, one of the stops on the Silk Road.
The old part of the city is still surrounded by aRead more
The trip to Nukus

Up today for a 4 hour drive south to Nukus. Amazing there were a few spits of rain as we left Khiva but it was still a balmy 33degrees.
My driver was a teacher of Russian who also drives for tourists,Read more
Night by the Door of Hell

After a short drive to the border the driver said goodbye and pointed toward the deserted border crossing . When I walked the 100 meters to the gate out of Uzbekistan I found a soldier hiding in hisRead more
A Day in Ashgabat

Last night I walked around the area near the hotel and finally found a restaurant, on the way home I discovered that there are places I’m not allowed to go and key amongst these is anywhere within aRead more
Goodbye Turkmenistan

Well I’m glad I visited as there were some interesting sights but when I reached Bukhara in Uzbekistan I actually felt as though I was back in comfortable territory.
Yesterday I visited the ruins ofRead more
Bukhara to Samarkand

My day sightseeing in Bukhara was quite good, my guide was a retired lady who used to work at the museum there and spoke excellent English, she was proud to tel me that she was one of the guides forRead more
Sandarkan, Crossroads of the Silk Road

Several days in this 2,700 year old city were spent looking at the many mausoleums that celebrate the lives of past nobles, I’m seriously over them, many have been well restored surprisingly oftenRead more
Thailand Diving

It was an incredibly long trip to get here from Tashkent involving two plane flights, a bus ride for several hours, a wait for the ferry, then another hour wait for the speed boat/ferry before a shortRead more
Best Dive Ever

Another wonderful couple of days diving and snorkeling have concluded with today’s dive where I was fortunate enough to have a Whale Shark pass not 2 meters from me, it was incredible as I have beenRead more