The impetus to change our itinerary occurred while we were in Central Asia. Several seasoned travelers and experts, having just come from China, convinced us to seize the moment and visit before the Olympics. We’re glad we did.

To anyone possessing even a remote interest in seeing traditional China, we offer similar advice: go soon before it disappears under the wrecking ball.

To conclude our reflections: a slideshow of the Best Of China’s Landscapes and Cityscapes, our Top 10 Authentic China Experiences and a Google MyMap indicating our paths across China.

If you’d like more details on any of these photos, go to the Best of China – Landscapes and Cityscapes photo set and check out the description under each photo. If landscapes don’t do it for you, but people do, check out The Many Faces of China.

Where and how did we collect these impressions?

Our use of the word authentic in the title is deliberate. China’s tourism development officials seem to revel in contriving experiences for visitors, resulting in large tchotchke-filled concrete-poured pavilions called “Tourist Leisure Centers” and newly built or heavily renovated “ancient” temple complexes and old towns.

The antithesis of authenticity perhaps?

For us, the most engaging and touching moments are those that showcase the real lives of people carving their way through daily life. And call us nostalgic, but moments that genuinely speak to bygone eras are satisfying, too.

1. Searching for Audrey’s grandfather’s house in Qingdao, being questioned by the police (authentic, but not fun) and recovering by eating “Pork with Douche” dumplings.
2. Getting lost amidst testicle stands and duck vendors at the sprawling ethnic markets of Gedong and Chong’An in Guizhou Province.
3. Hiking the Hani terraced rice fields of Yuanyang (Yunnan Province), watching Dan get his chest hair pulled by another man and absorbing the colorful weekly ethnic market in Niujiazhai.
4. Goofing around with kids at a streetside market outside of Jinghong in Xishuangbanna (Yunnan Province)…much relief after a two-day bus trip with the Chinese Olympic Spitting Team.
5. Stumbling upon a Tibetan Opera and a crowd of Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims at Labrang Monestary in Xiahe (Gansu Province).
6. Taking in the animal parade (camels included) at the early-morning opening of the Kashgar Sunday Animal Market (Xinjiang Province) and ending the day with pulled noodles at the night market.
7. Discovering a pocket of freedom of expression at Factory 798 in Beijing.
8. Avoiding the ear cleaner, surviving Sichuan hot pot and finding the pandas amongst the 10 million people of greater Chengdu.
9. Having the Great Wall to ourselves at Jinshanling and hiking 12 km atop the wall to Simatai on a clear and brisk December day.
10. Eating…everywhere!

The blue line indicates our path in November/December 2007; the red line shows our path in June 2008. Click on a pin for transport details and links to articles from that location.

Possibly Related Articles:

• Top 5 Experiences in 2007
• Panorama Friday: Market Day and Banana Peels in Yunnan, China
• Top 8 in 2008
• Slideshow: The Many Faces of China
• Panorama of the Week: Wenshu Temple Tea Garden – Chengdu China

Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 7 comments

Why so much bouncing around?

We tend to write a few pieces about a location as we travel through, only to write a bunch more upon reflection. We’ve been writing a lot about Central Asia recently, not only because we feel that it’s a region worth sharing, but also because writing about our experiences and what we’ve learned from them is our way to process it all.

Because we conclude our written and photographic tour of Central Asia with this post, we thought it would be useful to display an interactive Google Map marked with each stop of our journey through this little known region. We floated into Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan on July 21, 2007 and crossed into China from Kyrgyzstan over the Torugart Pass on October 25, 2007, giving us just over three months to gather our impressions. Even with this relatively significant amount of time, a long list of places we’d like to visit “next time” remains.

If you are interested in reading more about any of these countries, click on one of the links below and it will take you to a page with articles and links to photo galleries from that country.

• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Tajikistan

If you would like to cut to the chase, check out our Golden Camel Awards series to find out the best and worst of Central Asian food and markets, logistics and sights and scenery.

If this region doesn’t interest you in the least, read about one of the other regions we’ve traveled through (e.g., the Caucasus or Southeast Asia) or browse our photo gallery.

We are eager to share some of our recent experiences in Myanmar, but much of our focus will be on China, including more articles and photos from the western frontier of Kashgar to the booming Olympic-frenzied capital of Beijing. Qingdao and Shanghai rounded out our first visit to China in 2007; our thoughts on China, Part I will conclude there. If we can convince the Chinese authorities to grant us another visa, we will visit the southern provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan this spring to gather impressions for Part 2 of our China series.

Central Asia, we say goodbye for now.

Possibly Related Articles:

• The Best of Central Asia in Photos
• Tajikistan: Images from the Roof of the World
• Sex and the Central Asian Visa
• Video of the Central Asian Market Scene
• Kicking Up 4000 Years of History in Turkmenistan

Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | No comment

This scavenger hunt is intended to help you get under the surface of Uzbekistan’s polished Silk Road tourist veneer which you’ll find in Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand. We’ve also thrown in Nukus and Tashkent as a bonus. The list below includes some serious suggestions, as well as a few head-scratchers.

1. Nukus: The large Russian woman at the bar of the Hotel Nukus who protects female tourists from the unwanted kisses of drunken Uzbek senators.
Of course, watch out first for the (supposed) Uzbek senator who flashes his ID card and gives his room number to and makes passes at female tourists. Our Russian protectress had to virtually beat this guy away with a broom.

2. Nukus: Bathroom reading.
Take note that rooms at the Hotel Nukus come outfitted with toilet paper whose texture and finish matches that of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Mildly elastic and crimped like crepe paper, this dual-purpose recycled toilet paper allows you to catch up on yesterday’s news while in the loo. If you are a bathroom reader, this stuff is for you.

3. Nukus: The Savitsky Museum, where early 20th century Soviet Avant-Garde art meets Uzbek and Karakalpak ethnography.
Donations and care have turned this place into a remarkable – and because of its somewhat remote location, under-appreciated – museum. Although names like Etcheistov, Lyssenko, Oufimtsev, Volkov, and Mazel may not jump off the page, their “Lost Period” Soviet art is worthy of consideration and makes this museum a worthwhile visit. As a bonus, the museum’s ethnography section offers a useful visual primer into Karakalpakstan and life on the Silk Road.

4. Mizdakhan: A necropolis megalopolis

This mesmerizing, sprawling cemetery appears out of the middle of nowhere just after the Turkmen-Uzbek border about 15 km away from Nukus. Although it looks like a city, no one lives here. Catch the cemetery in the late afternoon sun. Be sure to hail the taxi driver who is able to read his Koran while driving at full speed.

5. Khiva: A bank with money. Unfortunately, Uzbekistan persistently sits on the cutting edge of financial innovation by way of its vast network of banks that feature absolutely no money. Maybe you are asking yourself, “where can I find one of these fine institutions?” The answer: just about everywhere, particularly outside of Tashkent. You’ll know you are in one of them if you look around and notice that all the lights are out and a dozen or more underemployed people skulk around bleakly under an invisible blanket of control.

6. Khiva: Authenticity.
Release yourself from the confines of Khiva’s old city walls and venture outside for a refreshing moment. We did in search of a bank (see #5) and found a hope-affirming experience instead. In a grand “random act of kindness” moment, a sweet 8-months pregnant Uzbek woman running an ice cream stand and her lunch partner abandoned their table and insisted that we and our friend Dave take their place and finish their plov. They even sought out some salad and bread to round out our meal. Then, they insisted that we not pay for any of it, explaining that we were their guests.

7. Bukhara: A train ticket that looks like a paper doll cut-out.
The cashier literally cuts around the numbers in order to create the receipt, which in our case amounted to 6950 som ($5.50).

In bouts of creativity, ticket officials throw in additional “insurance fees” and other random fees ensuring that no two people will pay the same price for the exact same ticket. From our informal survey, Germans paid the least, Russians paid the most and the Americans were somewhere in the middle. Try forming your international relations dissertation around this one.

To be fair, Uzbek trains are pleasant (at least the express ones are) and represent good value for the money. As a bonus, on-board video screen entertainment includes Bollywood films, Russian pop tune videos and – bizarrely – 12-year old Russian-Uzbek belly dancers.

8. Samarkand: Mongol Rally drivers.

Sometimes it’s not about the place, but instead about the people you meet when you are there. If you find yourself in Samarkand in the heat of August, take a look for cars lined up for the Mongol Rally (hint: they will be near Bahodir’s B&B). Enjoy their stories of border crossings, police stops, bribe techniques and how to weld a car back together in the middle of the desert. Good company.

9. Shakhrisabz: A wedding.

Based on our experience and the stories of others, Shakhrisabz seems to be the place to go to catch an Uzbek wedding. You might find yourself in the midst of the wedding party, having your photo taken with the bride and groom.

Though the sites in Shakhrisabz are not breathtaking by any means, if you have an extra day, the trip from Samarkand to Shakhrisabz offers some fine mountain scenery (distinctly different than hard pan desert).

10. Tashkent: Russian-speaking Koreans.
We were surprised to hear ethnic Koreans speaking Russian to one another. Thanks to Tashkent’s local Korean population, markets have at least one aisle devoted to pickled vegetables and salads. But the real joys are the reasonably-priced Korean restaurants, where you can down bibimbap to your heart’s delight.

The Korean back-story: Stalin deported approximately 200,000 Koreans from the Russian Far East to Central Asia in 1937 on the grounds that they might be spies or traitors. There are an estimated 450,000 Koreans throughout Central Asia today.

11. Tashkent: A woman whose mini-skirt is longer than her high heels.
From a male perspective, Tashkent is surprisingly and refreshingly “cosmopolitan.” If you visit in the summertime, note that its female Russian population dresses on the scanty side.

12. Tashkent: A tourist who is sick and therefore consulting the Bristol Stool Scale.
For some reason, it seemed that absolutely everyone we’d met on the tourist trail in Tashkent had come down with some sort of stomach ailment.

For the uninitiated, the Bristol scale can be politely described as a formal feces classification tool. One group of guys running the Mongol Rally could be overheard performing squat analyses like, “Yeah, yesterday I was a six, maybe seven. Today, I think I’m hovering around four.”

13. Tashkent: The taxi driver who watches music videos of obscure 1970s American hard rock bands on a VCD screen clipped to the passenger’s side sun visor. Beware, if he senses even a modicum of interest in American rock, he will talk your ear off and keep popping in more VCDs; you’ll never reach your destination.

Though you’d probably never do this at home (if you live somewhere in the western world), if you take advantage of Tashkent’s system of informal taxis, you’ll witness a fascinating and frugal feature of its transportation landscape. Just put your arm out, wait for a car to stop, negotiate a price and hop in. Prices vary based on your nationality, your ability to speak Russian, and your gender. In our experience, starting prices for Audrey (alone) were 50% of those for Dan.

14. Tashkent: A place where you can get a decent bowl of borscht (cabbage and beet soup) and take in some Russian pole dancing. Believe it or not, there’s a restaurant for those interested. After enjoying her borscht, Audrey dragged Dan out before the show began – to save on the additional “service fees,” of course. You’ll find it a few doors away from the Korean restaurant on Glinka Street.

15. Tashkent: Exceptional Soviet architecture.

We’re not joking. Because Tashkent was virtually razed to the ground during a 1966 earthquake, it was almost entirely rebuilt in the Soviet aesthetic. Although this eventually becomes tough on the eyes, look up, down and around for Soviet style government buildings, apartments, monuments, parks, and traffic dividers. The highlight: Tashkent’s subway stations. They are beautiful and feature designs ranging from Soviet Realist mosaic to Islamic tile. Don’t miss the famed Cosmonaut station.

More photos – Silk Road, Tashkent, and Mizdakhan

Practical Details

Where to stay:
Nukus: There are only two real options in town. Hotel Nukus is the better alternative. $10/person. Just watch out for drunk “senators” hanging outside in the evening.

Bukhara: Malikjon B&B, Sarafon Street #9. Tel: (998365)2245050 – Very close to Labi Havuz (main square). $10/person for a simple, but clean room with en suite bathroom.

Samarkand: Bahodir’s B&B, Mulokandov 132. Super-friendly hosts, good traveler environment. If you can, splurge for a room with a private bathroom ($16-$18 for a double). The shared squat toilet, besides being subject to hits and misses, turns into a sauna because of its proximity to the water heater.

Tashkent: Hotel Orzu, Ivleva Street #14 – Tel: 120 80 77/120 88 22. Friendly front desk, good breakfast, comfortable rooms and good location. $33/double (August 2007). Update, September 2008: the website says $60/double. That’s a considerable jump in price.

Where to eat:
Bukhara: Even if you’re not staying at Malikjon B&B, it’s worth a visit for dinner one evening as the hostess assembles impressive spreads. The first dinner we ate there was our best in Uzbekistan. Vegetarian options are available (ask for the eggplant salad). 5,000 som ($4) per person.

Tashkent: Across the street from Hotel Orzu, try Flamingo in a simple, pleasant outdoor garden setting. They make their “wedding” plov fresh every day. Probably the best plov we’d had and very cheap (around 1000-1500 som, depending on the size of the plate).

Tashkent has a surprisingly good network of wifi cafes. Our favorite place was Cafe Bourgeois on Shota Rustaveli Street. Not only can you get a real latte (a nice break from Nescafe) and a chicken burger here, but you’ll probably get smiles from the friendly wait-staff, too.

The best Italian food in Tashkent can be found at Bistro (Movarounnakhr 33). Grilled vegetables from a wood-fired oven offer a nice change of pace from the typical Uzbek fare and pizzas are done well. The wine isn’t bad either. The staff claim it’s Uzbek, but with a name like Classico, we’re thinking some odd Uzbek government regulation is at play. The stuff tastes rather Italian.

Good Korean food (wifi access, too) at Cocos, the Korean cafe at 13 Glinka Street (near the corner of Shota Rustaveli) and within walking distance from Hotel Orzu. Try the bibimbap, tasty and substantial enough to feed two people.

Our route through Uzbekistan can be found on the Google MyMaps below.

Possibly Related Articles:

• Images from Uzbekistan
• Uzbekistan? Overchargistan!
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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | One comment

If a baby died, its bones would be kept in a ceramic jar in the house.

– Our guide Oleg providing another fascinating background tidbit on the ruins at Gonur Depe, Turkmenistan.

Fifteen minutes later, one of us literally kicked up the fragmented top of an ancient ceramic urn encrusted with earth and filled with small bones. The bit about the bones may sound morbid, but when you realize that what you just overturned with your hiking boots probably dates back 1000s of years, it becomes a really cool find.

If you hit the whole of the Silk Road (through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and China), you’ll find yourself continually surrounded by physically impressive sites, including mosques, medressas (Islamic schools), tombs, walls, fortifications, and tile-adorned minarets. After some time, you’ll realize that many of these sites are sanitized and beautifully restored often to the point of over-restoration. There are other sites, however, which harken back to a period long before the Silk Road existed and are in the early stages of their discovery and classification. You’ll find them in Turkmenistan.

Would-Be Archaeologists
Although Gonur Depe doesn’t look like much from afar – just a series of mud walls two feet off the ground – its archaeological implications are significant. Bones, ceramics and the remains of ancient kilns are scattered everywhere as archaeologists race against the advancing desert and the threat of winds and rain that might wash away another layer of history. During our visit, we felt like amateur archaeologists with the possibility of kicking up the Turkmen version of Tutenkamen’s tomb. With each step, we scanned the ground for what might be the next significant find.

The site is still being excavated, so you can see what the professional archaeologists have literally just dug up. The area is an archaeological mélange of Sufi, shamanistic, Zoroastrian, and animistic influences; much remains to be sorted out. Oleg, our guide, shared competing theories from archaeologists regarding what a specific ditch, oven, or bowl might have been used for thousands of years ago. A prominent theory is that Zoroastrianism got its start at Gonur Depe. No one knows for sure, but the remains do seem to offer some convincing proof.

When we were there, we were treated to a peek at the latest discovery, a wealthy man’s grave and his horse’s skeleton, looking as though it had just curled up for a nap.

While Merv and Konye-Urgench serve as Turkmenistan’s main historical attractions and offer more typically iconic Silk Road architecture, we particularly enjoyed Gonur Depe because it made us feel like explorers.

We visited several other sites with pre-and post-Mongol ceramics scattered on the ground. In the middle of the desert, Zengi Baba mausoleum featured ancient petrified seashells fossilized in the form of small cannonballs. Our minds twisted around the concept that today’s desolate desert was once a vibrant part of the eastern reaches of the Caspian Sea.

Photo Essay – Turkmenistan’s Ancient and Silk Road Sites

Living Sites
While we appreciated Turkmenistan’s long history and enjoyed its archaeological sites, some of our favorite moments are attached to Turkmenistan’s living sites.

Take Paraw Bibi, en route from Turkmenbashi to Ashgabat, a pilgrimage site that has played host to devotees for centuries. The story of Paraw Bibi (meaning grandmother of Parthians) is one of a strong-minded woman who kept her honor and fought invaders from a mountain cave. Today, the cave and the surrounding area are considered holy, particularly for women who visit it for the supposed fecundity that it confers.

Upon our arrival at the site, we were engulfed by friendly and outgoing women, many of whom literally took Audrey by the arm and helped to lead her up the hill to the site’s apex. Most women wore typically long, colorful Turkmen dresses outfitted with intricate embroidery. Even up the steep hill, they seemed to float with impressive posture.

After visiting the cave and witnessing the performance of religious rites, we walked outside where some girls were playing games of “sin detection,” whereby a stone is balanced on the thumbs of two participants in hopes that the stone rotates, indicating that no sin has been committed.

From there, we descended into the outdoor living and eating quarters. We were told that pilgrims believe that if they eat and sleep near the holy site, the benefits of their pilgrimage will be multiplied. Some women gave us a large platter of plov (a dish composed of rice, carrots and meat) and “head and legs” meat stew. We ate heartily and had to turn down further offers. We were overwhelmed by the genuine hospitality and the feeling of inclusiveness.

Photo Essay – Turkmenbashi to Ashgabat

Natural and Not-so-Natural History
Perhaps no visit to Turkmenistan would be complete without a visit to the Darvaza gas crater. Our approach to the crater was dramatic enough. Lonely, soft sand dunes played host to beautiful sunsets and “nomadic” desert villages filled with scruffy camels and aging yurts (nomadic homes). Old motorcycles and Soviet vehicles dotted the horizon and as darkness descended, they formed silhouettes in the full moonlight.

The Darvaza gas crater can be seen for miles on an approach through Turkmenistan’s Karakum desert. Like Hell on Earth, its flames rose up from its gut and licked every possible surface with impunity. We walked to the edge to peer in, shielding ourselves from the intense heat and later climbed to a nearby hill for some relief. From there, we sat staring at the gaping, fiery crater for half the night, mesmerized by its flames and its odd beauty.

The Darvaza gas crater appears a natural phenomenon, but owes its origins to human intervention. When the Soviets were exploring the Karakum Desert for gas in the late 1950s, the ground collapsed in several areas and formed several large craters. 30 years later, some genius thought it would be good to burn off the remaining natural gas and lit one of the craters on fire. Today the crater still burns, drawing fuel from the remaining natural gas.

Although arguably unnatural, it’s still pretty cool.

It couldn’t have been a more fitting end to our visit to this relatively unknown, remarkably friendly and truly fascinating country known as Turkmenistan.

Photo Essay – The Darvaza Gas Crater and Karakum Desert

Practical Details – Tourist Sights of Turkmenistan

Our visit to Turkmenistan required a tour. We took in a vast number of planned and unplanned sites including Turkmenbashi (Krasnovodsk), Avaza Beach, Murche, Zengi Baba mausoleum, Balkanabat, Paraw Bibi, Geok Depe (Geok Tepe) and Saparamat Haji Mosque, Kip Chak Mosque and Turkmenbashi’s Mausoleum and the Mil Ruhi Medjidi (Mosque of Turkmenbashi’s Soul) near Ashgabat, Annau Mosque, Seid Gemel ad Din, Abiverd, Howuz Han, the Kazakh and Turkmen cemetery at Sehitli Sem, Mary, Merv, Darvaza, Jerbent, and Konye-Urgench. We used Stantours and can highly recommend them for the quality of their guides. They are also accustomed to accommodating independent travelers and their approach to guiding allows for flexibility and wandering.

Possibly Related Articles:

• From One ‘Stan to the Next
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• Reflections: Expectations and Delivery in Turkmenistan
• Journey from Turkmenistan to Tajikistan

Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | One comment

Your trip across the Caspian may provide some of the scariest and most fulfilling moments of your entire journey.

– A veteran journalist we met in Tbilisi, Georgia who had seen it all in the former Soviet Union.

Although we are posting this from Pingyao, China, we dial back a few clicks to the beginning of our journey in Central Asia in an attempt to adequately address the images in our mind and the notes in our journals.

Oddly shaped like a damaged index finger or a distressed plume of smoke, the Caspian Sea pumps out oil and caviar in the midst of the surrounding desert and extreme landscape. For most of us, its name conjures images of a faraway, mysterious or mythical land. Our encounter with it was rather practical, however. In order to get from Baku, Azerbaijan to Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan, we needed to cross it.

Since there were no schedules, only the Caspian ferry gods knew when and if it might run. Due to a long run of rough weather that had recently plagued the region, the ferry hadn’t left for several days. Although these delays seemed to place our departure date in jeopardy, our frustration was offset by relief to hear that some semblance of safety standards were at work.

A Cast of Characters
The ticket woman holding court at the port didn’t know when or what time the boat would leave, but she sold us a ticket anyway and told us to return the next morning.

When we returned, we spent several hours watching train cars loaded with goods roll into the ferry’s cargo belly. After taking a lesson from the Azerbaijani border guard on Azerbaijani- Armenian relations, we walked the rickety metal gangplank and were securely inside.

We were met at the entrance to the ferry by a woman we came to call “comandante.” To imagine what she looked like, consider a genetic mash-up of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow and Michelin men. Add a wicked skin-piercing Russian accent and a dose of lingering Soviet sadness and you’d have the picture we were too afraid to take.

She quickly seized our passports and showed us to our cabin. In a predictably sad move to earn some extra money, she tried talking us into upgrading our cabin for a few extra dollars, repeating “Room number eight bad. Very bad.” over and over again. We feigned happiness with the windowless, stale inner cabin we had been assigned and declined her offer.

The Evening Show
As the sun began to descend, the sky slowly transformed into a color gradient, featuring rich shades of red, orange and violet. Our craft moved almost imperceptibly to us, leaving only the subtlest ripples in its wake as evidence. The waters of the Caspian were so placid, it was almost frightening. We were surrounded by the kind of silence that provides space – a thought space – into which it’s possible to unnecessarily insert images of sinking ships.

Silhouettes of oil rigs punctuated the horizon which formed our circular visual boundary. Although oil rigs don’t epitomize fantasy, just about anything takes on a chimerical appearance in this spectacular light. Dwarfed by nature, we continued scanning, rotating our view so as not to miss a single moment. A 360 degree turn rendered the sensation that we were floating on the surface of a giant water glass. These are the moments for which peripheral vision was made.

This was Mother Nature’s show. All we could do was watch in awe. Each time we thought the sunset was at its climax, she would outdo herself once again with darker shades on the horizon and more brilliant iridescence on the water’s surface, thereby treating us to possibly the longest sunset we had ever witnessed.

When the sky was finally filled with darkness, we descended, chilled by the evening air and amazed by what we had just witnessed.

Final thoughts
If you can handle the uncertainty of ferry travel and have some time flexibility, we highly recommend taking the slow boat across the Caspian (to Turkmenistan as we did, or to Aktau, Kazakhstan). The sunset alone is worth the trip and offers a dazzling display that you are unlikely to encounter anywhere else. Moreover, the ferry offers an ideal slow-paced transition into unusual Turkmenistan.

Photo Essay – From Turkmenbashi to Ashgabat

Practical Details – Boat from Baku to Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan Visa

Getting into Turkmenistan, the boat: To get to the Baku ferry building, ask for Parom, the Russian word for ferry. The overnight ferry leaves Baku on most days (i.e., there is no schedule) in the early afternoon. On the day of your desired departure, arrive around 8:30-9:00 AM to purchase a seat ticket for an arbitrary amount of money between $45-$60. Once you are on board, you can negotiate a cabin (preferably with a window) for another $5-$10. If there is no boat that day, keep trying until a boat eventually leaves. It’s best to bring some food with you on board since you never know if the “chef” will have extra food for passengers. Arrival in Turkmenbashi should be around 9 AM the next day. We’ve met people who were docked outside of Turkmenbashi for an additional 12-24 hours, however. So, you just never know.

Getting into Turkmenistan, the bureaucracy: Turkmenistan is one of the most difficult countries in the world for which to get a visa. The process is long and convoluted. If you want to stay in the country for more than five days (which is the typical maximum for a transit visa), then you’ll need to book an authorized tour. Your guide is technically supposed to be with you at all times, except in Ashgabat.

We used and can recommend Stantours for our visa support (Letter of Invitation – LOI) and tour. The LOI took about three weeks while the actual visa only took a few days to issue from the Turkmen Embassy. Once we had possession of the LOI, we applied for our Turkmen visa at the Turkmen Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia. We highly recommend this location. The process was painless and delivery quick.

In order to control the cost of your tour, let your tour operator know that you are interested in joining an existing tour or adding travelers to your group. This not only helps financially, but you will likely meet some interesting people.

Turkmenistan-interested travelers can be an interesting breed. The characters in our tour group definitely added a positive and humorous dimension to our Turkmen experience. We also gained some new friends.

Possibly Related Articles:

• Reflections: Expectations and Delivery in Turkmenistan
• Turkmen Photos Up
• Turkmenistan Visas and Letters of Invitation (LOI)
• Turkmen Radio Silence
• No Beards, No Spandex: Rules to Live By?

Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 10 comments

Our approach to dining out places emphasis on good food served in relaxed, informal environments for reasonable amounts of money. Below is a Google MyMap of our favorite ethnic (and a few continental) restaurants in Prague.

This list will eventually become outdated (if it hasn’t already), as restaurants seem to open and close by the day. Please comment and we’ll try to keep the list and map current.

If you are looking for hotel and accommodation information in Prague, check out this site.

Update, August 27, 2008: To make it easier to find the places we’ve marked in the Google MyMap below we’ve included the details in a chart, including a few new additions. Enjoy!

The following is a Google MyMap. At first, you will see a link. In a few seconds, the link will be replaced by the map. If the loading process tests your patience, you can click on the link to open the map in a new window.

Prague Ethnic Restaurant Map

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 2 comments

In the last five years, however, the landscape for finding fruits, non-root vegetables, spices, herbs and imported goods in Prague has evolved rapidly. Prague still doesn’t have a good central food market or a “fresh market” culture like Vienna or Munich, but the Vietnamese community has managed to fill some of the void by opening endless fruit and vegetable shops. Although it’s still difficult to assemble a sophisticated, full-course meal with one stop, if you know where to look you can find almost anything you need.

During our five years in Prague, we used our searches for ingredients – from Thai basil to brown sugar to pav bhaji spice – as a mechanism to discover the city. To our friends, we became a resource on where to find specific ingredients. Additionally, each time we encountered newcomers to Prague, we found ourselves buttonholed, answering questions on where to find fresh cilantro or Thai curry pastes.

Our original intent was to publish these stores (and restaurants, too) on a hand drawn map. However, planning our trip around the world took priority and we’ve resorted to using Google MyMaps instead. We hope this map helps our friends (newcomers and long-time residents both) find the ingredients they need to create masterpieces in the kitchen.

This list is not extensive and is Prague 2 focused, as we used to live and work nearby, but it enabled us to keep our kitchen well stocked. It will likely become outdated soon as more specialty food shops open to fill the demands of Prague’s changing palate. Please comment and we’ll try to keep the list and map current.

Update, August 25, 2008: To make it easier to find the places we’ve marked in the Google MyMap below we’ve included the details in a chart, including a few new additions. Enjoy!

The following is a Google MyMap. At first, you will see a link. In a few seconds, the link will be replaced by the map. If the loading process tests your patience, you can click on the link to open the map in a new window.

Prague Food Sourcing Map

Possibly Related Articles:

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 9 comments

Where did you get those bags of frozen tiger shrimp? Where do you get your fresh Thai basil and long beans? Where did you get all those fresh herbs for your Vietnamese summer rolls?

If we had a nickel (a Czech koruna, perhaps?) for every time we’d been asked these questions, we’d have enough money to buy a vote in the Czech parliament.

We covet the secret no longer. Here’s the scoop…

We’ve been to two Vietnamese market mazes in Prague. One called “Sapa” (named after the hill tribe town in northern Vietnam) in Prague 4, and another unnamed network of Vietnamese shops in the Malesice district in Prague 10. Although the pho and produce are decent in Sapa, we’ve become more familiar with the Malesice outpost.

How to get there:
By car: Take Vinohradska away from the center of town past Strasnice (Vinohradska becomes Cernokostelecka). When you reach Depo Hostivar metro station (where the Esso gas station is), take a left on Sazecska. Head about 600 meters, past the printing press and take a right onto Tiskarska. The turn in for the market is another 500 meters or so. Enjoy navigating the tight parking areas within the market maze.

By public transport: From Zelivskeho or Depo Hostivar, take the 208 bus away from the city in the direction of Dolni Pocernice to stop Tiskarska. From Tiskarska stop, walk up the road about 50 meters to the driveway entrance (marked “Velkoobchod”, or something similar). To return to town, cross over the grassy divider to the street going the opposite direction and pick up the bus.

Getting in: On our first visit with a Thai friend, we were told that access was granted to “Asians, those with dark skin, or zivnostensky list holders for retail businesses.” We’ve walked and driven in dozens of times in the last 2-3 years without a problem, having only to present a zivnostensky list once. Just smile at the guards and walk/drive past.

Once you get in: On the main entrance road are two shops on the left that sell various Asian goods and tea sets; one has a shellfish freezer with shrimp, mollusks, etc.

On the corner where the entrance road turns right are two food shops full of herbs and other Asian foods. We had become regulars for fresh herbs and tiger prawns at the shop on the corner closest to the turn (across from the building pictured with flags). If you show curiosity, you will be rewarded with advice on how to cook Vietnamese food and use the products properly.

After the entrance road turns right, you’ll notice a small parking lot. That parking lot traverses a series of alleys marked A, B, C, D, etc. Walk up alley “A” for arguably the best pho in Prague. Half way up alley A on the left-hand side is a scruffy little soup bar whose windows are lined with fresh greens. Try this one, or continue further up alley A to the end on the left. Caddy corner to the public toilets is the other choice pho kitchen.

Yes, we know, there aren’t many competitors serving pho in Prague. Having been to northern Vietnam, we can vouch that the two places we mention here serve the real deal, boiled from beef bones in giant metal cauldrons. There are other places (in the center of Prague and also out at Malesice) that serve faux pho made from pho bouillon cubes.

The following is a Google MyMap. At first, you will see a link. In a few seconds, the link will be replaced by the map. If the loading process tests your patience, you can click on the link to open the map in a new window.

Possibly Related Articles:

• Cooking Well in Prague
• Eating Ethnic in Prague
• Insider’s Prague: Tourist Traps to Avoid, What to Do, Where to Eat
• Twitter-Length Answers to Prague’s Top 10 Questions
• A Taste of Hanoi

Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 6 comments