World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas
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Monday 22 May 2023
Highlights: Welcoming new tour members, exploring Tashkent
Today was effectively a rest day as we lost seven tour members in Alicia, Andy, Adam, Anne, Sue, Carmel, John who finished their tour and we waited for new tour members to join us.
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Sunday 21 May 2023
Highlights: Panjshanbe Bazaar, Tajikistan to Uzbekistan Border Crossing, Exploring Tashkent.
Today was my last morning in Tajikistan and the start of exploring the fourth Stan, Uzbekistan, of my Five Stan tour.
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Saturday 20 May 2023
Highlights: Exploring Istaravshan, Hazrati-Shoh Mosque, Mug Teppe, Museum of Sughd
Today we left the remote Gazza Village as we travelled back into more populated areas. This started with a visit to the Hazrati-Shoh Mosque which is located in historic town of Istaravshan. here we learned about the Five Pillars are the core beliefs and practices of Islam:
Friday 19 May 2023
Highlights: Hiking Voru River, Visiting the remote Voru Village
Today I woke up in this remote area to birds tapping at the window and the sun rising across the mountain range. Today was to have one included hike and one optional hike.
The morning hike was along the Voru River up to an even more remote village in this area whose history goes back many hundreds of years, the Voru Village. We left our village around 8.30 am for a nice hour plus hike.
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Thursday 18 May 2023
Highlights: National Museum of Antiquities, Rudaki Park, Iskander Darya waterfall, Gazza Village area
Wednesday 17 May 2023
Highlights: The Green Bazaar (Almaty), Flight diversion
Today I say goodbye to Kazakhstan but first I still had a morning in Almaty. The day started with the most comprehensive breakfast buffet so far. After breakfast Anne, Birgitta and myself headed out to find the Green Bazaar.
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Somon Air
Date 17 May 2023
Gate: 4
Seat: 20D (Economy Class Seat)
Plane: Boeing 737-800
Boarded: 15:22
Pushback: 16:10 (Scheduled 16:00)
Arrived: 19:05 (3 hours 5 minutes late)
Duration: 3 hour 35 minutes
Distance: 874 kms
This flight was from Almaty International Airport (code ALA) to Dushanbe International Airport (code DYU).
Note: This flight was part of the G Adventures Five Stans Tour and was booked by tour company.
Additional note: This plane was diverted to Khŭjand Airport due to bad weather in Dushanbe. Diversion was announced 1 hour 20 minutes into flight. We stayed on the ground in Khŭjand for just over 1 hour.
Tuesday 16 May 2023
Highlights: Hiking Charyn Canyon, Zenkov Cathedra, Panfilov’s Park, Independence Square
An early start to the day with breakfast at 6.30 am. This was to allow us to explore one of the major highlights of Kazakhstan in Charyn Canyon and get to Almaty for a city tour.
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Monday 15 May 2023
Highlights: Border crossing, Exploring Kolsay Lakes National Park
Today we left Kyrgyzstan for the next stop in the tour, a short visit to Kazakhstan. From Karakol it took us a few hours to reach the border with a several stops in between. Border control was very strict, I had my passport checked for powder and with a literal microscope.
While I eventually got though one of our drivers was held up for almost an hour but eventually we got into Kazakhstan.
Sunday 14 May 2023
Highlights: Hiking Jeti-Oguz Gorge, Hiking Karakol National Park
Today we set off to hike Jeti-Oguz Gorge which was about 30 minute drive on semi-rough and bumpy road. We started with a stop at Heartbreak Ridge, the natural landscape of Kyrgyzstan is a treasure of the world.
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