Road Trip in Karakalpakstan

By |September 5th, 2014|adventure, Central Asia, Featured, Journeys, Off Road, Outdoor, Uzbekistan|

"Where the f** is Karakalpakstan?" I wonder when I hear about it the first time. It doesn't have anything to do with Pakistan, the country. Wikipedia explains: "Karakalpakstan is an autonomous republic at the northwestern end of Uzbekistan. It has an area of 160,000 square kilometres (62,000 sq mi)  and a population of about 1.7 Million. The [...]

Mehr va Oqibat: Animal Rights in Uzbekistan

By |December 9th, 2013|Central Asia, Features, Journeys, Uzbekistan|

A man is walking on the side of the road. He carries shopping bags in both hands. As soon as he sees a stray dog lying in the shade of a tree, he puts the bags down, picks up a stone and throws it at the animal. The dog is hit; it whines and runs [...]

Road to Bishkek

By |October 20th, 2013|Asia, Journeys, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan|

The driver and I look at each other. "4000 and we leave right now," he says in Russian. I take a deep breath. Now I have to make a decision. Just this morning I crossed the border from Uzbekistan. "Feels good to be back," I thought, when I got the Kyrgyz stamp in the passport. [...]

Tashkent: Sights and Animal Rights

By |October 7th, 2013|Asia, Journeys, Uzbekistan|

"What was your first impression of Uzbekistan? " the students ask. "Many passport controls," I reply. We are at the Amir Timur museum in Tashkent. I'm standing in the middle and the students in a semicircle around me. I start to think, they are not here for the ruler of the 14th Century, but to [...]