Adventures in Asia: Khiva, Uzbekistan

I am heading by train to Bukhara late this afternoon, but I was able to spend the morning wandering Khiva some more. 

By late morning/early afternoon it was much too hot to be outside, so I lingered over a two hour lunch!

Adventures in Asia: Khiva, Uzbekistan

Our Aral Sea tour wrapped up in Nukus around 15:00. I said goodbye to Miko, Jana, and Simona, enjoyed a coffee at the hotel, then got into a taxi for 2.5 hours more driving (this time on a good road) to Khiva. I arrived at a perfect time, because the city was cooling down and clearing out, and I was able to enjoy a rooftop dinner as the sun set.

Adventures in Asia: Urga, Uzbekistan

Our final sightseeing stop on our Aral Sea tour was Urga, a village that is now abandoned, on the shores of Sudochye lake. The facade of a fish processing plant and remnants of a few other buildings remain.

Adventures in Asia: Qubla-ustyurt, Uzbekistan

We left the Aral Sea-side yurt camp after breakfast, and our first stop was an old caravansaray. Then, after some driving on the dirt roads of the Ustyurt Plateau at 9:15 we reached the village of Qubla-ustyurt.

Adventures in Asia: Aral Sea, Uzbekistan

Although most of the Aral Sea is gone and has been for decades, there is still a significant lake remaining and after some fairly intense offroad driving, we reached it around 17:00. 

Adventures in Asia: Moynaq, Uzbekistan

After our stop at the Mizdakhan Necropolis and a toilet break at Kungrad, we arrived at Moynaq just before noon. Until the 1960s Moynaq was a fishing town, but as the Aral Sea retreated that industry died and literally left fishing vessels high and dry. Some of these have a second life now as a morbid tourist attraction in the "ships graveyard."

Adventures in Asia: Mizdakhan Necropolis, Uzbekistan

From Nukus this morning I was picked up by a driver, Miko, and we drove to another hotel to pick up to Czech ladies, Simona and Jana, and we headed out on what will be a two day tour to (what is left of) the Aral Sea. I got lucky, because until last week I did not think I would be able to go, since going by myself would have been prohibitively expensive. But, sharing with Simona and Jana worked out nicely and made it much more affordable.

The tour includes numerous stops of interest along the way, and the first was the Mizdakhan Necropolis just outside of Khodjeili.

Adventures in Asia: Nukus, Uzbekistan

From Konye Urgench I crossed the border between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and got a taxi into Nukus. Nukus is home to the well known but still surprising Savitsky art museum.

Adventures in Asia: Konye Urgench, Turkmenistan

My last stop in Turkmenistan is Konye Urgench.

Adventures in Asia: Darwaza, Turkmenistan

On Tuesday night I stayed in a yurt in the Karakum desert.

Adventures in Asia: Erbent, Turkmenistan

After leaving Ashgabat we traveled along the highway until the village of Erbent.

Adventures in Asia: Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

I am in the fascinating city of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. 

Adventures in Europe: Istanbul, Turkiye

I arrived at Istanbul late Saturday, and by the time I checked in at my hotel near Taksim Square it was early Sunday. I slept surprisingly well and was able to enjoy the rest of the morning and afternoon in Istanbul before my evening flight.

Adventures in Europe: London, United Kingdom

I am on my way to Central Asia and, just like last year, this has resulted in being laid over in London and Istanbul. My Heathrow layover was less than five hours, and after getting through passport control easily I second guessed if I should really leave the airport. But, I had not slept a wink on the airplane and I felt I would much rather spend even just an hour walking in London than hang out in Heathrow longer than was necessary, so I spent 10 quid storing my bag and jumped on the Piccadilly line.

I got off at Hyde Park Corner and bought a coffee and a sandwich and then started walking east. Most of the roads I walked along are closed right now and there were thousands of people out walking, jogging, biking, scootering, etc.

I passed the palace . . .

. . . stopped for a few minutes in St. James Park to eat my sandwich . . .

. . . approached Westminster Abbey . . .

. . . and ended up at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. 

And really that was all the time I had, so I jumped on a Jubilee line train at Westminster, transferred back to the Piccadilly line at Green Park and was back off to Heathrow. It was a quick visit to London, but I definitely felt it was worth it.