Monthly Archives: September 2019

It’s now a little over two weeks till I board the plan to Istanbul as the first stage of my trip to Tajikistan. The usual response when I say that is first “Where?”, closely followed by “Why?” . The first part is easy. Tajikistan shares borders with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and China. It isContinue reading “Tajikistan”

Dust, and the smell of dust, is everywhere. It defines every crease and seam of my riding gear like a monochrome relief map of the mountains we are riding, my boots and gloves are white rimed with it and my face a grimy mask of the stuff.  I am knackered, 9pm bed tired, but firstContinue reading “Dust”

I looked at my book shelves the other day and realised I hadn’t followed the advice in one of them to get rid of books – they’re stuff, and stuff is BAD….but that’s not the point of this piece. What I noticed was that most described other people’s lives. Now, I am alright about that,Continue reading “Other people’s stories”

A visit to a traditional Turkish Bath has been on my bucket list for a long time. I have no idea why. It just looked like a major experience. Which is why I found myself one sunny Saturday at the doorway of Cagaloglu Hamami, a three hundred year old Turkish Bath in Istanbul. I shouldContinue reading “Up close and personal”