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World Trip
  • Cassandra Rippon
  • Michael Rippon
  • Cassandra Rippon
  • Michael Rippon

World Trip

Cass and Mike's Year Long Adventure Read more
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  • World Trip

    Bishkek

    August 15, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After 20 hours of travel, we've made it to Bishkek - our first destination in Central Asia! We flew from Budapest to Turkey, had a 6 hour layover, and then a 4.5hr flight to Bishkek, arriving here at 7.30am. We took our very first marshrutka from the airport to our hostel (the first of many over the next 2 months). We didn't sleep much on the plane so our first day here has been spent sleeping and making some final tweaks to our Central Asia itinerary. We were meant to come here back in 2020 (but then covid happened) and are so excited that we've finally made it!

    We spent our first full day in Kyrgyzstan hiking in Ala Archa National Park - a 16ha alpine national park in the Tian Shan mountains, only 35km south of Bishkek. We joined up with three guys from our hostel - an American, Egyptian and Colombian - and hiked the 8km return trip to Ak Say waterfall. Even though it was warm in Bishkek (around 20°C), the national park was freezing at 5°C or less because of the high altitude. This was our first hike at altitude in over 2 months and was a good warm up for the 3 day Ala Kul trek we are doing soon. After our hike, we went for a traditional Kyrgz dinner with the Colombian we hiked with and swapped stories over dumplings and tea.

    We spent our 2nd full day in Bishkek exploring the city, starting with Osh Bazaar which is known for selling spices but also sells clothes, shoes, kitchenware and almost anything else you could need. We then walked to Panfilv Park and Ala Tu Square, admiring the massive and brutal soviet architecture of the city.

    Tomorrow, we plan to catch a marshrutka to Cholpon Ata, where we will stay a few nights to watch the Kok Boru World Cup.    Read more

  • World Trip

    Cholpon Ata*

    August 16, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Today, we left Bishkek for our 2 week trip around Issy-Kul Lake. As we were checking out of our hostel, we met a friendly Aussie (Dav) who had no plans and decided to tag along with us to Cholpon Ata. After waiting 45min for the marshrutka to leave (they only depart when full), moving seats twice for old Kyrgz ladies and 4.5hrs of driving, we made it to Cholpon Ata.Read more

  • World Trip

    Cholpon Ata and Kok-Boru World Cup

    August 17, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Today, we left Bishkek for our 2 week trip around Issy-Kul Lake. As we were checking out of our hostel, we met a friendly Aussie (Dav) who had no plans and decided to tag along with us to Cholpon Ata. After waiting 45min for the marshrutka to leave (they only depart when full), moving seats twice for old Kyrgz ladies and 4.5hrs of driving, we made it to Cholpon Ata.

    The next day, we woke up early to go watch the Kok-Boru World Cup at the Hippodrome. We arrived at 8am (the start time listed on the ticket), only to find the Hippodrome almost empty with the first game starting at 10am. As we didn't want to pay for another taxi back into town (a hefty NZ$5), we wandered around the Hippodrome while it was empty and waited for the first game to start. We watched three games, with the strategy and rules of the game becoming clearer with each match (get the goat carcass in your well, pick it up fast and manouevre around the opponent). Despite our hiccup this morning, we had an enjoyable day watching the traditional Central Asian sport.    Read more

  • World Trip

    Karakol*

    August 18, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    On Friday, we took a marshrutka from Cholpon-Ata to Karakol, where we would start our 3 day Ala-Kul Trek. We were both feeling a bit under the weather, which, combined with the worst marshrutka ride we've taken so far (hot and crowded, multiple crying babies and basically no sealed road between Cholpon-Ata and Karakol), did not make for a good start to Karakol. Once we arrived in Karakol, we checked into our hostel (much nicer than expected), ran around town picking up supplies for our hike and met up with Dav for dinner.Read more

  • World Trip

    Ala-Kul Trek - Day 1

    August 19, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We woke up bright and early on Saturday to get a head start on our hike (14km today). We decided to take a taxi instead of a marshrutka to the national park because this would save us about 7km of walking on a boring dirt road. We were supposed to share this taxi with a French couple we met at our hostel, but they were so unorganized and late for the taxi that we just left without them. In hindsight, we are glad we took the taxi anyway because we needed to save as much energy as we could for day 2 of the hike. After a very bumpy 40min drive, we arrived at the start of the trek in a beautiful valley. We walked in the valley for about 3 hours, before crossing a river and climbing up a steep hill and rock scrambling to get to our yurt camp for the night. We were both feeling quite sick, and were thankfully able to get a mini yurt to ourselves, instead of sharing the larger yurt with 7 other people. The lovely boys running the yurt camp served us tea, plov for dinner and started a campfire for us. There was no running water, the toilet was literally a hole in the ground (with a pop up tent over it) and we slept on thin mattresses on the ground in our yurt, but we were happy to have somewhere warm and private to sleep.Read more

  • World Trip

    Ala-Kul Trek - Day 2

    August 20, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We'd heard that day 2 of the Ala-Kul Trek was by far the hardest (19km distance, 1km elevation gain over 5km and 10hrs or more in duration), so we set off straight after breakfast to make sure we made it during daylight. From the yurt camp, it was a long, tough 2.5hr climb (almost vertical in some locations) to Ala-Kul Lake, where we were rewarded with views of the turquoise waters. We had only a quick break there as we knew we had another tough climb up to Ala-Kul Pass, which was made tougher by having already climbed for 2.5hrs, and feeling worse today from our colds. We eventually made it to the pass, with Mike coming back to carry my bag for me for the last hundred meters. We timed it well, with the rain that hit us during the climb passing by the time we reached the top of the pass. With the hardest part of the trek behind us, we descended down some scary scree slopes and valleys to Altyn-Arashan village, where we would stay for the night.Read more

  • World Trip

    Ala-Kul Trek - Day 3

    August 20, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We woke up on day 3 feeling very sore from yesterday's trek, and more sick (peak cold). We again set off straight after breakfast knowing that we wouldn't be walking very fast with both of us feeling under the weather, some large blisters forming and that we still had 14-15km ahead of us. Day 3 was a relatively boring, but easy, walk along a dirt road from Altyn-Arashan to Ak-Suu, with the only challenges being sore muscles from the past two days of hiking and sections of very bumpy 4x4 road conditions. We were joined for a large part of the walk by a stray dog, who we watched roll around in a goat carcass, then rip a leg off the carcass which it carried with it for a few kilometers. After another encounter with some friendly goats, we eventually made it to Ak-Suu where we would catch our marshrutka back to Karakol. We were feeling particularly unwell on day 3, and it was a very nice feeling to check back into our hostel knowing we wouldn't need to walk very far for the next few days. We had some very busy days planned for our 3 weeks in Kyrgyzstan. However, with being sick and tired from the hike, and our hostel in Karakol being one of the nicest and home-liest places we've stayed on this trip so far, we've decided to change our plans and extend our stay in Karakol to rest (and hopefully fully recover from our colds). We've already ticked off a lot of bucket list items for Kyrgyzstan in just one week (kok-boru, Ala-Kul Trek, sleep in a yurt), and hopefully resting will mean we're healthy enough to tick off the last few.Read more

  • World Trip

    Karakol

    August 25, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    A few days visiting cafes, resting and wandering around Karakol while we recovered from the hike and our colds. We are finally starting to feel well enough to continue travelling around Kyrgyzstan.

  • World Trip

    Yurt Camp Sonun

    August 27, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We finally left Karakol and took a marshrutka to our Yurt Camp for the night, located on the southern side of Issy-Kul Lake. The information we'd been given about the marshrutka timetable was out of date, and we made it onto a marshrutka just as it was leaving Karakol. The road along the south of Issy-Kul was in much worse condition than the north, which made for a very bumpy and uncomfortable ride. This is, luckily, one of our last marshrutka rides for a while! We arrived and checked into our yurt, which had proper beds and a nice sitting area on the floor. We spent the afternoon at the nearby beach and reading in our yurt. We feel like we can now properly tick off sleeping in a yurt from our bucketlist (the mini yurt on the Ala-Kul trek didn't feel like it lived up to our expectations). The next morning, we had an eagle hunting demonstration booked. It was very cool to hold and see the golden eagles up close, and watch them as they hunt.Read more

  • World Trip

    Bokonbayevo*

    August 28, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Travelled from our yurt camp to the nearby town of Bokonbayevo where we would stay for a couple of nights. We had originally planned to come here to do an eagle hunting demonstration, but as we had already done one offered by our yurt camp, we just explored the village. Cass woke up feeling very unwell and weak so we spent the day in bed at our accom.Read more

  • World Trip

    Bokonbayevo to Bishkek

    August 29, 2023 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Travelled from our yurt camp to the nearby town of Bokonbayevo where we would stay for a couple of nights. We had originally planned to come here to do an eagle hunting demonstration and hiking, but as we had already done one offered by our yurt camp, we just explored the village. Cass woke up feeling very unwell and weak so we spent the day in bed at our guesthouse.

    The next day was another long, painful travel day from Bokonbayevo back to Bishkek. We opted to take a shared taxi (shared 8 person car) instead of a marshrutka so we could complete the 6 hour journey with some comfort and hopefully a shorter time. The ride did not end up being any shorter (due to the car breaking down), nor was it any more comfortable because of the very high maintenance elderly Kyrgz lady sitting next to Mike. We eventually made it to the edge of Bishkek, where our driver asked us to take a taxi or bus the rest of the way because his car couldn't make it. We were hassled by a taxi driver who initially offered us 500som for the short journey to our hostel, and then settled on 300som. He then proceeded to FaceTime his friends while driving, showing his friends the 'Americans' he had in his car. We normally wouldn't have minded, but after spending the whole day in the car with the demanding elderly Krygz lady, we were worn out and just ready to get to our hostel.    Read more

  • World Trip

    Almaty

    September 1, 2023 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Took a bus from Bishkek to Almaty, with a stop to cross the border by foot. The border crossing was very efficient and one of the more pleasant crossings we have done! Spent the first couple of days in Kazahkstan exploring Almaty, including the State Art Museum and botanic gardens and enjoying the wider variety of food on offer here (steak and burgers!) before we pick up our rental car for our mini road trip.Read more

  • World Trip

    Lake Kaindy

    September 3, 2023 in Kazakhstan ⋅ 🌩️ 22 °C

    We picked up our rental car this morning and set off on our mini road trip. It took about 5 hours of driving (including some stops along the way for the Black Canyon and stray cattle on the road) to get to the village of Saty, where we would be staying for a few nights. We checked into our guesthouse, and then jumped in a 4x4 taxi (an old soviet van) for the bumpy 30 minute drive to Lake Kaindy. We had to walk uphill for 30 minutes from the car park to reach Lake Kaindy, which was well worth the hike to see the strange sight of the sunken forest.Read more

  • World Trip

    Kolsai Lakes

    September 4, 2023 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    On the second day of our mini roadie, we drove to Kolsai Lakes, approximately 20min from Saty. Kolsai Lakes are three lakes (upper, middle and lower), and we drove to the lower lake and hiked 16km (return) to the middle lake.Read more

  • World Trip

    Charyn Canyon

    September 5, 2023 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Charyn Canyon was the last stop on our mini roadtrip through Southern Kazakhstan and was well worth the stop. We haven't been to the Grand Canyon, but Charyn Canyon is known as the "mini Grand Canyon".Read more

  • World Trip

    Almaty

    September 6, 2023 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    We did more sightseeing around Almaty on our last day here while we waited for our night train from Almaty to Tashkent (16 hours). We paid for a first class cabin, which meant we had a whole cabin to ourselves. We were able to watch movies and have a good sleep before arriving in Tashkent.Read more

  • World Trip

    Tashkent

    September 7, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Arrived in Tashkent this morning from Almaty (via an overnight train). Tashkent is the largest city in Central Asia, which is very apparent as you enter the city. We checked into our very budget hostel near the train for just one night as we head to Bukhara tomorrow. Explored some of Tashkent today, including Hotel Uzbekistan, Amir Temur Square and the State History Museum of Uzbekistan.Read more

  • World Trip

    Bukhara*

    September 8, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Took another high speed train from Tashkent to Bukhara - one of Uzbekistan's ancient cities and famous stops on the Silk Road. After checking into our guest house, we went for a late lunch (plov and Uzbek salad), a quick wander through the old town, followed by a stop at Silk Road Tea House for tea and sweets to escape from the heat. We caught up with Dav (Aussie we met in Kyrgyzstan) to watch the minaret light up and for dinner.Read more

  • World Trip

    Bukhara

    September 9, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Took another high speed train from Tashkent to Bukhara - one of Uzbekistan's ancient cities and famous stops on the Silk Road. After checking into our guest house, we went for a late lunch (plov and Uzbek salad), a quick wander through the old town, followed by a stop at Silk Road Tea House for tea and sweets to escape from the heat. We caught up with Dav (Aussie we met in Kyrgyzstan) to watch the minaret light up and for dinner.

    We spent the next few days in Bukhara wandering the old town, visiting mosques, madrassahs (Muslim schools turned souvenir and craft stores) and markets, and eating shashlik and plov on a daily basis. We enjoyed walking through the old town, which made you feel like you were walking back in time through a beautiful ancient city. We stopped into the central market where we were overwhelmed with kindness from local vendors selling spices, tea and dried fruits. We also got up early to visit the Sunday animal market and Old Bazaar, where we were the only foreigners and received many funny looks. We loved our time in Bukhara!    Read more

  • World Trip

    Samarkand*

    September 13, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Made it to Samarkand - another ancient city on the Silk Road and one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia. As we got off the train, it became apparent that Samarkand was a lot bigger than Bukhara, and that the ancient monuments had been mixed in with new roads and buildings. We spent our first day here visiting Siyob Bazaar, Hazrat Khizr Mosque and Shah-i-Zinda complex.Read more

  • World Trip

    Samarkand

    September 14, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Made it to Samarkand - another ancient city on the Silk Road and one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia. As we got off the train, it became apparent that Samarkand was a lot bigger than Bukhara, and that the ancient monuments had been mixed in with new roads and buildings. We spent our first day here visiting Siyob Bazaar, Hazrat Khizr Mosque and Shah-i-Zinda complex.

    The next few days were busy! We woke up bright and early to go for a wander around the nearby monuments and parks before they filled up with tourists. After breakfast back at our guesthouse, we visited a couple of bakeries to see how famous Samarkand bread is made. You can get this bread throughout Uzbekistan, as well as in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, but Samarkand bread is meant to be the best. A good loaf of Samarkand bread is dense, with a golden crust and can last 10 days without going off. The bakery we visited operates 24/7, with staff working continuously on 8-hour shifts. Some of the bakers were young boys (kneading the dough) and others were 30 years old with 7 kids! We watched as they prepped dough into wheels, stuck them into the tandoor oven and retrieved them when they were ready. They were incredibly fast and efficient, even though it looked like really hard work. We enjoyed watching the bakers stick the bread to the walls of the tandoor oven, as they had almost half their bodies in the oven (and feet in the air) as they reached for the lowest walls of the oven. It looked like a full body workout! After watching the bread baking and trying some freshly baked bread, we headed back to our accom.

    In the evening, we visited the Registan, which is the heart of ancient Samarkand and is a famous public square enclosed by three madrassahs. We went around 4pm, which was perfect timing to visit the madrassahs and watch as the buildings glowed during golden hour. We paid to watch a folk music show - but as usual, there wasn't a lot of information as to what it actually was and it was all in Uzbek. It ended up being a 45min show/musical about (we think) life in a traditional Uzbek village. There was a scene about marriage, a baby, some dancing and then an old man. At the end of the show, Cass was dragged up on stage with other audience members to dance. After the show, we went back to the square to see the Registan lit up which was magical to see.    Read more

  • World Trip

    Tashkent*

    September 16, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Spent the morning visiting a tourist village showcasing a papermill and eating Samarkand Plov for the last time before we hopped on a fast train back to Tashkent. We checked into our hotel and went across the road to a tiny pizza parlour for dinner which had the best pizza we'd had since leaving NZ. We had a good chat with the owner, who then asked Mike to film a video so he could post on his Instagram page. Mike's going to be famous in Tashkent!Read more

  • World Trip

    Tashkent

    September 17, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We had a slow day today exploring some more of Tashkent. We took a 20min Yandex (the Russian version of Uber) which cost us only 15,000som or NZ$2.09 to Chorsu Bazaar. We wandered around the market for a few hours picking up a few snacks and our daily plov for lunch. We'd heard that the metro stations in Tashkent were really pretty (and it's the number one thing to do in Tashkent on Trip Advisor), so we rode the metro for a few stops. We got off at Kosmonavtlar station, which is space themed and meant to be the most impressive. It was a very beautiful station with paintings of astronauts and space, glass ceilings and textured glass columns. It was a very random but fun thing to do in Tashkent.Read more

  • World Trip

    Abu Dhabi

    September 19, 2023 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☁️ 35 °C

    We had one last day in Tashkent before our flight out to Abu Dhabi - we decided to do something fun and we went to Tashkent Zoo and the Central Asian Plov Centre for lunch. Our flight to Abu Dhabi was meant to depart at 9pm, but was delayed three times (to midnight, 1am and then 2am), which meant we spent plenty of time at the airport. When we finally arrived in Abu Dhabi, we were very happy to check into the Premier Inn (located right next to the airport) and sleep in a comfy bed. We spent our 24 hours in Abu Dhabi going to the gym, using the rooftop pool to cool down from the +40°C heat and visiting the Sheik Zayed Mosque. The heat here is insane - definitely the hottest we've ever been - and we barely survived the 1 hour evening trip to the mosque.Read more

  • World Trip

    Kutaisi*

    September 20, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ 🌬 23 °C

    After a 2am wake up and very early flight, we made it to our first stop in Georgia - Kutaisi! Despite being very sleep deprived, we managed to successfully hail down a marshrutka to take us from the airport to the city (much cheaper than a taxi). During our 30min ride to the city, we had not one, but two cattle crossings! After we checked into our guesthouse, we went to Fleur Cafe for brunch, where we had our first taste of Georgian cuisine - we each ordered a khachapuri (filled bread). When our food arrived, we learnt (and need to remember) that Georgian portions are MASSIVE. We had to take our leftovers home and we now have breakfast for the next two days sorted. We then wandered out for some sightseeing, visiting parks, fountains, and street art, as well as the Green Market. While we were out, we bumped into Dav (again!) - we had no idea he was still in Georgia and thought he'd already moved onto his next country. We had a good little catch up on the sidewalk before parting ways (again). We ended our day with an early dinner at Palaty, where we had our first taste of delicious Georgian red wine.Read more

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