Leaving Central Asia, we knew we were in for a bit of sticker shock. Food and accommodation in China can be quite cheap, but transportation? $40 for twelve hours on a smoke-filled bus. Not ideal. So when Will, our new Chinese backpacker friend, mentioned that he was ...
Uzbekistan, Maybe We Don’t Hate You
So I know you all must have been waiting on tenterhooks to hear if Samarkand redeemed Uzbekistan for us a little bit (of course you were). Actually, it kind of did! The sites in Samarkand are much more spread out, so we saw a few faces that didn't belong to Western tourists. ...
Khorog, We Love You
I think it's time to come clean with you guys. Some of our stories, particularly the dialogue, haven't happened exactly as we've told you. You see, since coming to Central Asia, everything has been in Russian. While Sasha and Danielle have learned quite a bit, most of our ...
Into the Wakhan Valley: An Afternoon in Afghanistan
10 am, in the Wakhan Valley, Ishkashim The border guard adjusted the gun slung across his back and reached out to take our passports. "Do you speak Russian?" he asked. "Yes, a little" "We'll keep your passports with us here, and you can pick them up when you return to ...
Wild, Wild Horses, Couldn’t Drag Us Away
Sasha and I should have known. The signs were all there, even if we didn't want to believe it of Danielle. "When are we going horseback riding?" Danielle had repeatedly asked us. "A horse trek is the only thing I really want to do in Kyrgyzstan." "Do you want to do a two ...