Personal travel stories about amazing countries around the globe.
For our most recent – and unknowingly as it turns out – final trip before the Covid-19 global crisis hit, we decided that embarking on a journey across 9,000 km, 22 hours, and one layover wasn’t too far for a good meal. Before departing on our trip to Georgia, the small under-rated country in the … More How Far Would You Travel for a Good Meal?
“Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.”
– Anthony Bourdain
Kimchi. Kimbap. Korean fried chicken.
I’m guessing these aren’t the items you were expecting on a Central Asian restaurant’s menu, right? Yet, in the two months we explored this incredible region of the world, these are the items that kept popping up in traditional bazaars, mall food courts, and downtown restaurants of any large Central Asian city.
Why is there so much Korean food, we started to wonder. And so began our quest to find the answer, leading us into a history lesson of incredible cultural importance. This quest ultimately led us a deeper understanding of Central Asia, a region that is so multi-cultural and complex, it is hard to summarize in a few sentences if someone were to ask “What is Central Asian food?”
When trying to describe and make sense of anywhere in the world, perhaps the best place to start is with food. It’s something we can all understand, something Anthony Bordain advocated which can connect cultures around the world. And through this common ground, perhaps we can start to piece together a sense of understanding of the unknown. … More The Koreo-Sarem: Discovering Korean Food in Central Asia
Check out our recent publication on Cold Tea Collective, and learn 5 things you may not have known about this amazing region of the world. … More Central Asia: Just as Asian as Sushi and Chopsticks
Uzbekistan has never been considered an easy country to travel but it is continuously changing, now more than ever before, as it opens its doors to the world. Even our brand new Central Asia Lonely Planet (despite it’s best intentions) had become outdated in some respects just three months after publication. That’s how fast the country is changing. In some ways, it was easy to travel Uzbekistan – streets were spotless, public washrooms were incredibly clean, people were friendly with local vendors in bazaars offering generous samples while pushing for a sale more in an endearing rather than annoying way. But traveling a country essentially closed off since independence almost 30 years ago, is never without its surprises. And Uzbekistan is no exception. But it’s often these surprises that make the best travel stories when you return home. Here are a few funny things you may encounter on a trip to what is often viewed as the most preserved ancient Silk Road country in the world. … More When in Uzbekistan: 5 Surprising Encounters that Make the Best Travel Stories
Sometimes when we travel, especially to large cities, we get so caught up in visiting all the famous sights we forget to really look around and soak everything in. But when we do that, we end up only seeing the city’s famous architecture and historic monuments. What we miss is everything in between, the pulse of the city, the heart of the people. In between rushing from one monument to the next, we should pause. Take a look around. Only then do we realize the most wonderful travel experiences are those unplanned and random interactions we have with people we meet along the way, and the most memorable part of our trip may just be talking to that person sitting next to us on a train or a friendly local who offers us a steaming hot cup of tea … … More Traveling is More Than Just Museums and Monuments
When you tell people you’re traveling to Kyrgyzstan, that’s already pretty far off the beaten global tourist track. The response you will probably get from most people is a big question mark: “Where’s Kyrgyzstan?” and “what language do they speak there?” will be common questions. In our 2 month journey in Central Asia, the highlights of our adventure always seemed to be in the small places we almost decided to skip, off the tourist radar, and partly because of this, turned out to be incredibly special. Sary-Mogol was no exception. Check out 5 reasons why you should put Sary-Mogol on your must-go list when traveling Kyrgyzstan, the country often termed the “next Nepal” and still an undiscovered gem. … More Off the Tourist Trail in Kyrgyzstan: 5 Reasons to go to Sary-Mogol
“If You Travel Far Enough, You Meet Yourself” … No matter how far we travel in the world, masked under a different language, culture, religion and vastly different life experiences, we all just want the same simple things in life. Family. Safety. Happiness. Reflecting on our two-month journey across Central Asia, three examples to illustrate this really stand out in my mind … … More The Best Part of Traveling is that Moment that Reminds You, In the End, We’re All Kind of the Same
Wandering Maple Clementine 