Wine tasting in Samarkand? You didn’t know that Uzbekistan had wine? Neither did I! So our gracious friend and guide Yuliya suggested that we try some Uzbek wine, you could imagine the face I made and the thoughts which ran amok in my brain. Yuliya’s suggestion wasn’t really about the wine but her story that the woman who runs the …
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Dealing with my food preferences on the road
When you’re on the road, chasing epic food adventures is part and parcel of your journey. This being said, with all my years of travel experience and exposure, I am a very finicky eater. For too many reasons, I have the following aversions I don’t eat Lamb/Mutton or Goat Meat … I’ll eat them once in a while, but only …
Read More »That’s a lot of porridge …
I’m not a fan of anything with dairy, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw this huge vat of Uzbekistan Porridge or Shirgrechka being made. I don’t know what the cost of labor is in Uzbekistan, but I’m pretty sure when you hire 5 women to stir one gigantic pot of porridge or whatever the hell it is …
Read More »Wednesday Photo Nights #14 : The walled city of Khiva
Walking through Khiva feels a bit contrived and artificial. The place looks like they lifted it from a movie set – it’s UNESCO money done right. The city looks fantastic, and when you compare it to the squalor that surrounds the town – it makes the comparison even starker. When you get in at night and I do recommend that …
Read More »Roaming Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent …
Getting into Uzbekistan generally means that you have to spend some time in Tashkent. While the Silk Road beckons, I would actually spend more time in Tashkent … not only is it a big city, but it is a super historical one as well. Aside from the large roads, beautiful subway stations that you cannot legally take pictures of, and …
Read More »Travel PSA : My 90th country is going to be the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”
“I’m going to be the first Trinidadian to visit “Garbage Patch” … Travel is all cool and stuff, but sometimes one’s travel will take them to places that never once existed. Magical lands of fairies, superheroes and diapers. In my first public service announcement, I’d like to announce that I’m going to be the first Trinidadian to visit “Garbage Patch” …
Read More »How to enter Uzbekistan as a Trini or Canadian (Step by Step Uzbek LOI/VISA Process)
From the last couple posts, the most asked question I’ve gotten so far, was “How to get an Uzbekistan visa” or “How to do I get a visa to Uzbekistan as a Trini or Canadian?”. Here is my comprehensive primer on how to get your visa as a Canadian or Trinidadian. Budget enough USD for your trip. Here is a …
Read More »71 interesting anecdotes a Trini needs to know in Uzbekistan
For the last couple days travelling through Uzbekistan, I was shocked at how much culture shock even an experienced world traveller like myself experienced. For the first time, acting like a professional travel blogger, I had a notepad. Here are some of the notes I took while roaming Uzbekistan. Many people were happy to offer “interesting” facts to me … …
Read More »Open letter to Howard Hillman : Hillman Wonders
Hello everyone, This is an open letter to Howard Hillman from Hillman Wonders. How are you doing? I’ve been a great fan your website for the last 10 years, in fact I’ve used your Hillman Top 100 as my defacto bucket list. It’s a great bucket list and although I might not have agreed with everything in your top 100, …
Read More »Forget your wallet, bring a backpack when carrying Uzbekistan money …
In Uzbekistan, using money is actually a full contact sport and something of a ritual here as the largest note is 1000 Sum and is equal to around $0.37 USD. So you inevitably end up feeling extremely rich with wads of cash stashed in your bag. Due to a number of economic and political factors (which I won’t go into), …
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