Tuesday 19 November 2019 Having arrived late yesterday from Singapore and caught up with Matt, from Australia, in the bar briefly we had had an early night. Sylvia and her Asia Pacific Leadership team were all here for a meeting. Sylvia and the team headed into their meeting this morning while I did a few […]
Saturday 19 October 2019: Sylvia I was sad this morning to leave Kazakhstan and the stunning Ritz Carlton hotel. I feel there is so much more to explore in this vast land with its steppes, mountains and friendly people. We enjoyed one last delicious breakfast, savouring the food, the views and the impeccable service, before […]
Tuesday 15 October 2019: Sylvia We had a very leisurely start this morning. There is not that much to see in Tashkent after the wonders of the older cities we have been to in recent days but it has provided a good opportunity to rest before we head off to Kazakhstan and beyond. Our first […]
We would like to dedicate this section of the blog to those that live and have lived by the Ode below. thank you for your service to our country. The Golden Road to Samarkand [1913]) “The Master of the Caravan said: But who are ye in rags and rotten shoes, You – dirty bearded, blocking […]
Wednesday 9 October 2019: Sylvia We left Khiva at 9am this morning to drive the ~480kms to Bukhara. The first part of the trip was quite interesting, driving through the city of Urgench and passing areas of intensive agriculture with rice paddies and fields of corn, carrots and cotton. There is an incredible irrigation system […]
Monday 7 October 2019: Sylvia Slavl picked us up from the hotel about 8am this morning for the short drive to the airport. I had hoped to get a glimpse of rush hour in this near-deserted town but it was a holiday so potentially even less traffic around than we had seen during the weekend. […]
Saturday 5 October – Sylvia We landed in Ashgabat at about 2am in the morning after transiting through Istanbul. I had read horror stories about long waits at the visa queue but for us it was a remarkably painless process. We handed over our passports and letter of invitation, the passports were stamped and we […]
Tuesday 1 October 2019 We dropped into Marseille around midday Sunday having flown from Singapore via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, who have the best food in the sky. And I really mean dropped in – I think the pilot of the Airbus 321-200 came in a little fast and missed the normal touch down spot. I […]
Our good mate, Mitch, very kindly gave us a couple of tickets to the race. The first were walk about tickets which allowed us to walk the track edge in the green area. Arriving at the Marina Square Shopping centre we followed rather a lot of signs through the shopping centre, up escalators and over […]
Friday 2 August 2019 After Sylvia finished her busy day we strolled to the local metro station at Takanawadai and caught the metro to Asakusa station. There we mounted the Limited Express and in a couple of hours we dismounted at Shimoimaichi station where we caught a taxi for the last 35kms to our ryokan, […]