Remember how excited I was to find out that Tajikistan was apparently dominated not by Coca-Cola and not by Pepsi, but by Royal Crown Cola? I’m of course a Dr. Pepper guy, but I always appreciate the struggle of the underdog, so I was happy to see that RC is apparently launching a campaign into […]
The Caboose seemed to be in good shape, which meant that no repairs were necessary, which in turn meant that I had the day off. I decided to check out the 8th/9th century Samanid Mausoleum, one of the oldest monuments in Central Asia: It had allegedly survived the Mongol invasion because it had been buried […]
Had a great breakfast this morning: Then I got into a car that was going to take me to the border, to check on the Caboose. We didn’t go to the border right away though, because we first had to pick up some stuff from a garage: When we were done, the car looked like […]
Sometimes it feels as if I’m traveling through all these places just to say good-bye to them. So I bid farewell to Tashkent today: I left it on a train in the evening. It was a good train, one of the new Afrosiob bullet trains that I had first been on several months ago. The […]
I had an interview today with a charming local journalist called Olesya: We met for lunch, so I suggested we go to the place that made the best lagman in town. But of course this happened: It was closed. Of course it was closed. Abandoning the idea of having the best lagman in town, we […]
When I woke up, the train was still rumbling along: The kids had been quiet for most of the night, so that was good. The hostel I usually stayed at in Tashkent didn’t have any rooms, so I did what I had been wanting to do since I came to Tashkent for the first time […]
Had a burger today: A bearded dude in a chic restaurant having a fancy burger. Hipster status achieved? Then I went to the train station: I was going to board the night train to Tashkent (the one that I had taken in the other direction two months earlier), but when I got there, a group […]
I went to a food court today: The above picture looks more fancy than it really is. The food is simple and cheap. This is what I got: Then I did something I had been wanting to do for a long time – I updated the Google Earth file: It’s strange to think that this […]
Walked around town and tried to buy a train ticket to Tashkent today. It took a while until I found the right ticket bureau. I’d tell you which one it was, but I forgot. Ha! Anyway, Almaty was nice in late summer: Once I had my ticket I went to a large shopping mall and […]