Three Years on the Road; Three Travel Secrets
Filed Under: Travel by Daniel Noll and Audrey ScottThree years. Yes, we are aware that this is an insanely long time to be on the road and living out of backpacks. So before we attempt to enlighten you with our travel secrets, we reflect.
When we hopped on a train from Prague, Czech Republic to Dresden, Germany to begin our round-the-world journey on December 5, 2006, we expected “to see the world” in 12-18 months. But something happened on the way to the finish line: more than 30,000,000 footsteps and a story whose end has not yet been written.
So what are we still doing on the road after all this time? In recursive fashion, thoughtful exploration has taught us that thoughtful exploration takes time.
“And what have you learned?” we are often asked. If forced to sum in one sentence (we often are), it would be this: The world is a conflicted place, one whose beauty can only be outdone by its atrocities — and vice versa.
But you didn’t click on this for philosophy and navel-gazing, did you? So before we get further ahead of ourselves, let’s return to the task at hand.
We should mention that last year we shared our top ten lessons learned on the road to mark the second anniversary of our journey. If you missed those, we recommend you read them now.
This year, as our three-year anniversary approached, we were coincidentally tagged in a meme asking bloggers to share three travel secrets.
So here we go with ours.
Three Travel Secrets
Traveling in the Caucasus and Central Asia is safe.
This first secret is a bonus and it sets the groundwork for the three other “official” secrets. When we mention that we traveled extensively throughout the Caucasus and Central Asia, eyebrows are often raised and the question “But is it safe there?” almost always follows.
Yes.
Perhaps we had a guardian angel unknowingly in tow for the five months we spent in this region. We never had anything stolen and there was never a cloud of security concerns surrounding our plans and movement, as has often been the case in more familiar Latin America.
Tourism is still in its infancy in the Caucasus and Central Asia, particularly compared to well-traveled regions like Europe and Southeast Asia. Perhaps that’s why we were often treated as honored guests by complete strangers there.
Having said that, visas to countries in this region are still a bureaucratic pain in the arse. But never was personal safety a serious concern for us, or for any of the handful of other travelers we happened to meet along our way.
1) Best Undiscovered Cuisine: Georgian
When we find ourselves in regions whose food pyramids seem to consist of bread, fried bread, meat and fried potatoes, we long for the subtle and fascinating combination of ingredients found in Georgian cuisine: a creamy walnut-garlic sauce over grilled eggplant, herbed ground meat dumplings, and sour plum sauce.
The food of the Republic of Georgia remains surprisingly unknown outside of the former Soviet Union, but it’s definitely worth a side trip.
Even better than Georgian cuisine? Georgian people. They and their overwhelming hospitality provide reason enough to visit this oft-conquered little country tucked between the folds of Europe and Asia.
To learn more about Georgian cuisine, read “Georgian Food…such as nice…very tasty”.
2) Best Road Trip: Pamir Highway, Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan
Remote, desolate, dramatic, and thought-provoking, travel through the Pamirs feels like a real adventure. There are few restaurants and even fewer hotels; leave the agenda behind. Thankfully, the hospitality in this region is such that you may not really need any infrastructure aside from transport. Locals will invite you into their homes for tea. They’ll take you in at night for a token amount and give you a tour of their symbolism-rich Pamiri homes.
The setting is otherworldly and if you choose the right time of year (autumn), it can be wildly colorful. Horses graze in the shadow of 22,000 ft (7,000 meter) Peak Lenin, and donkey caravans make their way in the shadow of the Hindu Kush.
Go soon, for if this is any secret, it may not be so for long. Earlier this year, we helped another travel writer plan his trip to the region for a New York Times travel article.
To learn more about travel along the Pamir Highway read Peak Experiences in the Pamir Mountains
Photos from the Pamir Highway
- Peak Experiences: Osh to the Pamirs
- High Desert Desolation: Tajik Border to Murghab
- Skirting Afghanistan in Wakhan Valley
- Last Days in Pamirs: Ishkashim to Khorog
3) Best Camping: Darvaza Gas Crater, Turkmenistan
Set in the middle of the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, the Darvaza gas crater is just cool. Well, hot actually – as hot as Hell you might say.
In 1971, a Soviet engineer decided to set fire to a collapsed natural gas pit aflame in order to exhaust the remaining fumes. Though he only expected it to burn a short while, more than 35 years later Darvaza’s flames still flicker.
As you approach the 60 meter-wide crater at night (usually, in some romantic fashion, like in an old Soviet van), you’ll notice that its active flicker is visible for up to an hour. The closer you get, the more its surreal immensity becomes apparent.
Watching the flames from the cool comfort of the surrounding dunes is beautifully tranquil. The mind-clearing desert solitude is so calming that many visitors stay up all night. It’s that captivating.
The journey to the crater from Ashgabat is an adventure itself. Nomadic desert village stops feature scruffy children, even scruffier camels and aging yurts. The entire scene — including the old metal gas cans, motorcycles and derelict Soviet vehicles — makes for an ideal Turkmen still life.
To learn more about the Darvaza Gas Crater, read Kicking Up 4,000 Years of History in Turkmenistan
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This post is part of the Tripbase Three Travel Secrets meme making its way around the blogosphere. We tag the following five bloggers to continue and share their own three travel secrets: Jodi from Legal Nomads, Nicole from Livingston, I Presume, Bernard and Danielle from Border Jumpers, Lola fromGeotraveler’s Niche, and Leigh from The Future is Red.
Update, December 10: We add the following two blogs to our list: Warren & Betsy of Married with Luggage and Blake & Lindsey of Backpacker Daily.
Questions for us: If you have questions for us – about this journey, what’s in our packs, us, life, whatever – ask away in the comments section here, on Twitter, Facebook, or by sending us an email. We’ll answer them later in a follow-up post in the new year.
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December 9th, 2009 at 10:55 am
My brother would love to read this article. He always looks for remote places to visit.
December 9th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Great Article!
I’m inspired to follow in your footsteps!
AND congratz on entering the top 100,000 web sites according to Alexa!
David
December 9th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
[...] Beth & Kara are professional travel writers and moms who recommend trips, gear and more Uncornered Market: Audrey & Dan wander with great purpose, and are currently reporting from South America The [...]
December 9th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Must…go…..to that gas….crater..soon. It looks surreal. Thanks for the tag, publishing my 3 tips today! Safe travels through Paraguay. If you have not yet read a great book called “At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig” about Paraguay’s tumultuous, fascinating history, try and pick it up – it was great.
-Jodi
December 9th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Wow! Three years is a long time! Congrats to you guys for living in the moment. I was shocked to see that in all of your refelction, Central Asia and Caucasus made such an impression on you! I’m just about to read your other articles. Perhaps I’ll soon find myself in the region…
Lindsey
December 10th, 2009 at 12:25 am
Mmm, itchy feet, this post REALLY gives me itch feet. Thanks very much for sharing, I really enjoyed it! Those dumplings look fantastic…
December 10th, 2009 at 5:29 am
True adventure travel, fabulous secrets, thanks for sharing.
December 10th, 2009 at 9:07 am
You make me want to pull up roots again and head to Georgia and Turkmenistan.
Thanks for tagging us in this post. Now thinking of secrets of my own.
December 10th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Hi!
Every since you went to Georgia and we read your initial articles, Steven has been begging me to visit…if not move. Now seeing that it has made the top three…I don’t know how I can say no. Guess I should start saving for a trip…
-diane
December 10th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Bajillion years ago, when I was in Moscow, our travel group hurled ourselves on the mercy of a cab driver to get something more than that awful gray meat and watery soup we’d been eating. The driver took us to what remains in my mind as one of the best meals I’ve had while traveling — it was a Georgian restaurant. We just let the staff feed us, there was no communicating in anything but the universal sign for “We’re FAMISHED.” And feed us they did.
It probably cost us nothing, too. I don’t remember that part.
December 11th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Wow! You two have had an amazing 3 years and what an inspiration you are! I have got to get to the Darvaza Gas Crater…Well, truthfully, I have got to get everywhere listed above! Congrats and so glad that you are still going so that we can keep reading about your journeys!
December 11th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I knew that you guys cast a long shadow even before you posted the top photo.
December 15th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
I’m new to the blog and just wanted to say congrats on three years abroad and for hitting up so many unique places. It is a great read!
December 16th, 2009 at 1:39 am
hmm i thought u had been going longer than me….isn’t it crazy how long 3 yrs is? I tell people and they think I am lying…
December 16th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Happy 3 years anniversary
December 21st, 2009 at 10:41 am
That was a good read. I like these secrets. It helps to have someones experience to guide you along the way. Thanks for sharing!
Aaron
December 29th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
@David: Thanks. If you would like any advice about the Caucasus and Central Asia beyond what’s on our site, just give us a shout.
@Jodi: Thanks for “…inflatable pig” recommendation. It’s been recommended repeatedly to us, so a must-read it is.
@Lindsey: Perhaps the Caucasus and Central Asia made such an impression because we felt like we traveled it rather deeply (we had quite a few contacts throughout the region) and – relatively speaking – we had the place to ourselves. If you go, let us know.
@Frank: The dumplings – the Georgians call them khinkali – are tasty and surprisingly artistic.
@Diane: Georgia was quite a place. We loved Tbilisi; we even harbored dreams of buying an apartment there. And the people throughout the country just kept surprising us in pleasant ways.
@pam: Yep, that’s Georgian food and Georgian hospitality. It’s just about impossible to come away hungry and very possible to come away drunk.
@Dave and Deb: Thank you!
@Pete: Love your comments. Clever as always.
@Matt: Although the clock started ticking on this non-stop journey in 2006, we were actually just talking about how our travels really began in 1998, after Audrey joined the Peace Corps. And to think, we haven’t lived in the U.S. since 2001. Time flies.
@Agne: Thanks!
December 31st, 2009 at 12:09 am
Great tips! A great read and a momentous anniversary — thanks for sharing you journey.
The Georgian dumplings made our tummies grumble, but the pear drink was a nice memory — we spent half an hour trying to figure out what the tarragon one was without reading the label — I wish these sodas were exported!
January 1st, 2010 at 9:05 am
wow! what an interesting place to go… i’ve been dreaming of doing an overland trip to those landlocked countries… one day, i’ll go there… i hope
happy new year!!!
wishing you more travels to come this 2010!
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:41 am
The Pamirs look like an incredible destination, Himalaya-like. I had no idea they were that spectacular.
January 7th, 2011 at 12:23 am
@Eva and Jeremy: I had occasion to come back to this post and realized that I never responded to your comment. You know, those Georgian dumplings (khinkali) are a dream, particularly when they are made well. My tummy is rumbling as I write this.
@flip: I highly recommend it. The Caucasus and Central Asia get little attention, which makes them all the more fascinating than they already are (which is to say a lot).
@Bill: The Pamirs are said to be just behind the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush, not only in geography, but also in scale.