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Stories from this world, in words and pictures.
Recent Posts:
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An Express Tour in Thin Air: The High Pamirs
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After Khorog, the road climbs steadily. The road surface bears the scars of harsh winters. But I’m still making good progress. Khorog lies at 2,000 metres above sea level, whilst the Pamir Plateau is at just under 4,000 metres. It would be possible to drive the route from Khorog up to the plateau in a…
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Within Earshot of Afghanistan: Along the Panj Valley
For the first few hours after leaving Dushanbe, the journey takes me through dusty, hot lowlands. This also is Tajikistan. The Honda purrs along; I’m glad the air conditioning is working. The forced break in Dushanbe and the abrupt cancellation of our original travel plans did take a toll on me after all. So I’m…
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Hope and Fear in Dushanbe, Part 2
After we got stranded at Iskanderkul, an adventure awaited us that we hadn’t anticipated: hope and fear over our vehicle, an emotional rollercoaster in a city that revealed its beautiful, absurd and warm-hearted sides to us. You can read the first part here. Friday: Plan B We’re sitting in our hotel room, thinking things over.…
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Hope and Fear in Dushanbe, Part 1
After we got stranded at Iskanderkul, an adventure awaited us that we hadn’t anticipated: hope and fear over our vehicle, an emotional rollercoaster in a city that revealed its beautiful, absurd and warm-hearted sides to us. A chronicle of events: Sunday: Arrival in the Capital We cruise towards Dushanbe at a cautious 60 kph. The…
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Stranded at Lake Iskanderkul
A long day behind the wheel, a nasty track, fatigue and a few stupid decisions was all it took. Now we’re standing there, on a mountainside in the middle of nowhere. The Honda is parked with a damaged drivetrain on the least steep part of mountain meadow I could find. Tea water is boiling on…
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Seven Lakes and a Bumpy Track: Finally in Tajikistan
The border crossing into Tajikistan goes smoothly. As is common in Central Asia, the co-pilots have to go through the separate pedestrian lane while I take the car across. After a bit of back and forth between customs, road authority and paying various fees at different payment points, after an hour, we are in the…
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Road Trip Characters: The Serious Overlander
In this series I portray — not to be taken too seriously — various characters that we all come across at some point when travelling, or when we find inspiration on the internet. What exactly is an overlander? Nobody knows for sure. There are various definitions floating around the internet: some mean a traveller who…
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Storing Your Vehicle While Travelling: This Is How It Works
There are many good reasons for interrupting your travels. Our long journey in stages only works because we can keep parking our car abroad until we come back to continue. There are a few things to consider and also a few pitfalls. I’ve been able to gain some experience in vehicle storage and have done…
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Turning onto the Silk Road: Tashkent and Samarqand
To be honest, I always imagined Tashkent to be a hostile concrete hell. After all, according to the weather statistics, it is the hottest place on our entire trip. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. The city is much more pleasant than expected, even at temperatures above 40 degrees. There are many parks with…
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Borderline Crazy: From Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan
When you’re travelling fast like I am on my way to Samqrqand, you spend a lot of time at borders. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Today it will be more. I’m travelling from my overnight camp near Shymkent to the Uzbek border, expecting a easy crossing from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan — two countries that don’t have…