Nathan's Insights

World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas


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  • World Trip 2023: Day 14 – Song Kul to Tamga, Kyrgyzstan

    World Trip 2023: Day 14 – Song Kul to Tamga, Kyrgyzstan

    Song Kul, Kyrgyzstan – Todays hiking group enjoying a rest

    Friday 12 May 2023
    Highlights: Holding an Eagle, Hiking in Song Kul, Exploring Fairy Tale Valley

    After a nice and comfortable sleep in a Yurt it was time to start with a nice breakfast in the main Yurt, sitting was again on the floor which is a good way to test your legs. No showers before our exploring today.

    A local guide joined us to lead us on another mountain hike this time to get panoramic views of the massive Issyk-Kul Lake. After a 40 minute ride on rough roads we arrived at our starting point and were met by locals training eagles for hunting.

    Song Kul, Kyrgyzstan – Before the hike
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  • World Trip 2023: Day 13 – Chong-Kemin to Song Kul, Kyrgyzstan

    Chong-Kemin, Kyrgyzstan – Mountain Hike

    Thursday 11 May 2023.
    Highlights: Mountain hiking in Chong-Kemin, Learning about Felt making, exploring Yurt camp, visiting Issyk-Kul Lake.

    Today we started with a 2 hour 20 minute hike in the mountains surrounding our accommodation. The local dog shepherded us for the entire time and got some cattle off our hiking trail.

    The views were stunning and breathtaking.

    Chong-Kemin, Kyrgyzstan – Mountain Hike
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  • World Trip 2023: Day 12 – Bishkek to Chong-Kemin, Kyrgyzstan

    Chong-Kemin, Kyrgyzstan – Sun as it sets at our accommodation

    Wednesday 10 May 2023
    Highlights: Bishkek Bazaar, Victory Square, Changing of the Guard, Imam Sarahsi Bishkek Central Mosque, Dungan homemade lunch, Burana Tower, the Beautiful Mountain Ranges.

    The first full day of this new tour and our CEO IIyas Zamanov had us leaving at 8 am to allow us time to visit the Bishkek Bazaar before exploring the city further. The Bazaar sells almost everything you can imagine that a local can make (i.e. not many imports) this includes horse meat, various breads, cheeses, and tobacco based products. An interesting place that I imagine gets busy during the day.

    Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan – The Bazaar
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  • World Trip 2023: Day 11 – Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

    Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan – A very different country and region is ahead

    Tuesday 09 May 2023
    Highlights: Arriving safely in Kyrgyzstan, Victory Day celebrations in Ala-Too Square, Exploring Bishkek

    My flight (review here) from Istanbul safely arrived 5.23 am and after a lengthy Border Control delay I was reunited with my bag, the happiness on seeing your bag in a foreign country is very pure 🙂 The booked transport was interesting as the drive dropped me off half way to the hotel and put me in another car, my booked transfers never go simple.

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  • Flight Review – TK348 Istanbul to Bishkek

    Turkish Airlines
    Date: Monday 08 May 2023
    Gate: F8A
    Seat: 14A (Exit Row Window Economy Class Seat)
    Plane: Airbus A321neo
    Boarded: 20:52
    Pushback: 21:16 (Scheduled 20:40)
    Arrived: 05:23 (Scheduled 04:45)
    Duration: 5 hour 7 minutes
    Distance: 3,736 kms

    This flight was from Istanbul Airport to Manas International Airport (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan)

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  • World Trip 2023: Day 10 – Istanbul to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

    Istanbul, Türkiye – The New Mosque

    Monday 08 May 2023
    Highlights: Egyptian Spice Bazaar, The New Mosque (1665)

    Tonight I had a plane to catch to get to Kyrgyzstan and begin my Five Stans of the Silk Road tour but that still left a little time for more exploring of Istanbul.

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  • World Trip 2023: Best of Turkey Tour Review

    Istanbul, Türkiye

    Tour Title: Best of Turkey
    Tour Company: G Adventures
    Tour Leader: Isik
    Cities Visited: Istanbul, Gallipoli, Çanakkale, Ayvalık, Selçuk, Pamukkale
    Countries Visited: Türkiye
    Dates: 30 April 2023 to 07 May 2023 (Duration 8 days)
    Tour Type: Classic – Tour Itinerary (PDF)
    Journal Entries

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  • World Trip 2023: Day 9 – Istanbul, Türkiye

    Istanbul, Türkiye – The sun sets on today and this tour

    Sunday 07 May 2023
    Highlights: Exploring less visited areas of Istanbul, visiting Tekfur Palace, Cruising the Bosphorus Strait

    Today was the final official day of the G Adventures ‘Best of Turkey’ tour, which really is normally just an included breakfast but today I had booked an extra option the Alternative Istanbul Walking Tour and Bosphorus Cruise which goes for about 8 hours. I had hoped to do this option before the main tour but my flights got pushed back and didn’t have the time so insteaded scheduled for today.

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  • World Trip 2023: Day 8 – Pamukkale to Istanbul, Türkiye

    Istanbul, Türkiye – Basilica Cistern

    Saturday 06 May 2023
    Highlights: Exploring the Basilica Cistern, Visiting the Grand Bazaar

    A 5 am wake up call plus the local call to prayers had everyone ready for today’s early morning start. Leaving after breakfast at 6.15 am we were on the road for a 50-60 minute drive to nearby Denizli Çardak Airport. What we didn’t know is that our 8.20 am flight (see review here) wouldn’t leave until 10.30 am meaning extra sleep in time was missed.

    The worst thing about the Istanbul Airport is it is about an hour out from the city, especially the old district that we are staying in. As a result despite landing at 11.39 am it took us almost to 1.30 pm to get to our hotel. We had an included 3 hour orientation walk of the historic district but everyone decided against it in order to do activities that had planned for the afternoon before we lost so much time. We so many people leaving tomorrow this was their last chance to visit particular places.

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  • Flight Review – TK2577 Denizli to Istanbul

    Turkish Airlines
    Date: Saturday 06 May 2023
    Gate: 2
    Seat: 25A (Economy Class Seat)
    Plane: Boeing 737-800
    Scheduled: 08:20
    Boarded: 10:12
    Pushback: 10:33
    Arrived: 11:39 (Scheduled 09:35)
    Duration: 1 hour 6 minutes
    Distance: 396 kms

    This flight was from Denizli Çardak Airport to Istanbul Airport.

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