We learned a trick to passing the border with minimal hassle. During a usual border process the passengers go through the immigration and then wait in a separate area while the customs officials inspect the car. This is what we do now, Hyein just follows me back to the car and sticks around. The officers […]
Kazakhstan – Astana, Unexpected Gem of the Steppe
The last post felt like a final point, it even included a summary for Kyrgyzstan. Chronologically speaking, we still had to get from Pamir back to Osh, then Bishkek and then onto Kazakhstan. Although there are not a lot of new pretty pictures for you guys, we did have a little adventure. The trip to […]
Kyrgyzstan – Pamir, the Roof of the World
Landcruiser mended up to the standards of Central Asia, we set off towards the town of Osh. Knowing that we wouldn’t make it there in one day, we took our sweet time getting ready in the morning…checking wifi, drinking coffee, blogging and being lazy around the hostel. The warm August air of Bishkek puts you […]
Kyrgyzstan – Issykul Lake
You find yourself here again…and reading about Kyrgyzstan. A few things are running through your mind: is Ivan running out of material to talk about? And is there nothing better to read on the internet? I’ll answer both of those questions: no…i’m not running out of material, to my and probably your surprise there is […]
Kyrgyzstan – Altyn Arashan
Even if you have been following the Rio Olympic games like a hawk, then you still wouldn’t have had a chance to spot this flag. As the post name suggests, we are in Kyrgyzstan. A few things you might want to instantly figure out, like where in the world is this place and how do […]
Kazakhstan – Window to the Galaxy
Could it be that we felt Almaty was so cozy because of our host? We stayed at a Korean guesthouse, where the owner resembled your grandfather? Maybe… He was very kind to us and somehow through the Korean grapevine has heard about us since we left Korea…and knew that one day we will show up […]
Kazakhstan – Welcome to Borat Country
Lets get this out of the way, yes we are going to the “Borat” country. Sadly, but that is how most Westerners perceive Kazakhstan. Even before visiting the country, i’ve always consider the movie more of a parody than an actual documentary. I personally believe it poked just as much fun, if not more, at […]
Russia – Back to the Motherland
And boom just like that we are back in the Motherland although the landscape hasn’t changed much from Mongolia, the towns already look a little bit more organized and well supplied. After finding a place to park our Hodori for the night, we rushed to the store to get some fresh veggies. At the border […]
Mongolia – Never Bores You
The route that we are following is called the “Southern Route”. I’ve heard all kinds of stories about it, from boring with a good road to dusty, truck infested hellhole. After our Gobi to Bayankhongor trailblazing, i thought to myself: “finally, some nice pavement, a good audiobook and coffee sipping time while driving”. Nope, nope […]
Mongolia – Bayankhongor – Real Mongolia Experience
The excitement of asphalt didn’t last too long. Soon on a dry, smooth and, most importantly, quite pavement we discovered that our front suspension is making an awful amount of noise. When you are offroading everything in the car is rattling, shifting and showing its general disapproval of the bumpy ride. Now add to that […]