12 October 2022
No Call to Prayer this morning, just my iPhone telling me to get up. My flight boards at 5:30 am. This is pure wonderful. I leave the YOTEL at 5:10. My walk from room to gate is 6 minutes, less than 800 steps.
I begin my day’s long journey home.
(more…)15 September 2022
Last night, we joined ElderTrek. Having previously cancelled this trip twice as per Covid, the third time is the charm and for this trip I invited my adventurous niece along (guess all those cancellations worked in her favor). We met our small group at a welcome dinner and learned more of our future travel through the Stans. It is a group of 7 like-minded Americans and one New Zealander born in Kansas.
(more…)14 September 2022
Almaty – what used to be the capital of Kazakhstan before it picked up its skirts and moved 750 miles north to Nur-Sultan, the second coldest capital city in the world. I walk on the steppes of Central Asia.
I am inexplicably drawn to the 14 old republics of the late U.S.S.R. and other countries of the Balkans and Eastern Europe. In most part, having lived under the boot of Soviets and Communism for decades, these countries, as a result of pride, determination and unity, created the Velvet, Gentle, Orange, and Singing revolutions. They were extraordinarily non-violent but achieved their aim – independence.
(more…)14 September 2022
I have arrived into the ninth largest country in the world. One would think I might know something about its culture and history. I know little. Its geography situates it in a little-known, and even less understood, part of the globe. I’m here to learn more about Kazakhstan and its people.
(more…)11-13 SEPTEMBER 2022
Sometimes it takes a lot of preparation to travel to distant places. And yes, it will take me three days to arrive at my destination of Almaty. In the case of what travelers typically lump together as “The Five Stans,” my first challenge was locating the countries on a map, remembering their five names, and learning how to spell them. Though we tend to lump them together as one destination, each country is unique and deserves more than telling friends I am headed for the 5 Stans of Central Asia.
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