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Grant’s GambolingGrant’s Gamboling
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  • TravelerGrant’s Gamboling
    1
    1
    Day 12

    Bukhara to Samarkand

    May 19, 2019 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    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 for Hillary Clinton when she visited some years back.
    After the day sightseeing I went to the hammom (bath house), this is quite a few centuries old and was an interesting experience, at the end I certainly was scrubbed clean.
    Today I spent the morning looking at more Bukhara sights, alas these were mainly Muslim cemeteries which were boring, however the summer palace of the last Emir was quite interesting.
    Then off for the 4 hour drive to Samarkand.    Read more

  • TravelerGrant’s Gamboling
    111
    Day 14

    Sandarkan, Crossroads of the Silk Road

    May 21, 2019 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    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 often by the former Soviet Government.
    Fortunately there were lots of other things to see including the making of ceramics, metal trays, miniatures, carpets, embroidered goods, etc.
    My guide and driver here were great value and were happy to find interesting things to do including taking me to the best somsa making and eating place in town, it was us and the locals only which was great.
    We even went wine tasting to kill some time till my train came this afternoon, the white wine was light and nice and the first couple of reds were ok but from there they got stronger and sweeter, too sweet for me as each tasting was the size of a normal serve of desert wine at home, the last couple were cognacs which were 40plus percent alcohol, I just about staggered out of there after 12 tastings.
    Tonight I arrived back in Tashkent after several hours on the fast train which topped 212kph, not bad I thought.    Read more

  • TravelerGrant’s Gamboling
    11
    Day 18

    Thailand Diving

    May 25, 2019 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    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 short long tail boat ride to the resort.
    Fortunately it was worth it as the water is a beautiful 30 degrees and as clear as crystal.
    The beach here is lovely, I go snorkeling off it and can see quite a few fish and coral, one of the very territorial fish keeps nibbling on my leg which is a little distracting..
    The diving here is spectacular, I wish I had an underwater camera, there is so much to see from turtles to giant moray eels to a huge range of soft and hard corals, not to mention a vast array of tropical fish in all sizes and shapes.    Read more

  • TravelerGrant’s Gamboling
    Day 20

    Best Dive Ever

    May 27, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    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 been wanting to dive with one for years.
    On returning to the dive shop, the manager who has been instructing for years and has over 3,000 dives to his credit was so jealous as he has never seen one in all that time.
    The water around here is crystal clear and around 30 degrees on the surface so it is really pleasant to snorkel in.
    Tomorrow morning I am off to start the journey home, first by long tail boat to the jetty then by speedboat to La-ngu, then mini bus to Hat Yi followed by a flight to Bangkok and finally my flight to Sydney, oh and then the train to Central followed by another train to Berowra then car home - it’s going to be a long trip, but worth it as this place has been incredible    Read more

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