Fromoverhere

Dress material shopping in Turkmenistan Part of having fun traveling as a woman, is seeing how women in other cultures dress, beautify themselves, the rituals they follow and what they consider attractive. With that in mind, here are some insights on beauty do’s and don’ts in Central Asia. Don’t think you need to cover up. [...]

One of my favourite modes of transport are marshrutkas and shared taxis – they’re a great opportunity to meet people, zip around and between towns, and you rarely need to bargain because they have fixed prices.  Marshrutkas, which you find everywhere in central Asia – and Africa – under different names, are mini-buses that will [...]

This was somewhat unexpected.  The last thing I expected to do in Central Asia was go to a beach resort and spend lazy days sunbathing and evenings listening to holiday-makers karaoke in Russian to Lady in Red.  However, Issy-Kol lake in Kyrgyzstan has clusters of beaches all around its circumference, together with trekking, horse-riding, yurt-dwelling [...]

Having got our two Kyrgyz visas in record time (two rather frantic hours from start to finish, involving three taxis, four stop-offs around town and a lot of pleading), Chris and I left Almaty to spend the weekend in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan.  The journey involved some spectacular views during a three-hour drive, through the [...]

For Rachel (and those who are interested in whether Twilight-mania translates to cyrillic): For Beth, proof that great bands don’t disappear, they (and their foreheads) just get frozen in Russia: For Michael, my dad, who likes Peace roses – here are two from the garden of the hostel I stayed at in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrkyzstan.