Wait, Where is That?

Since a frequent reaction to a description of my summer travel plans is an assertion that those countries are made up, I thought I would provide a map of the trip. As you can see Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are real countries that I intend to travel through.

The next stage of the conversation is usually a blank stare followed by the question 'Why?' In addition to the obvious ('Why Not?'), I provide a list of anticipated highlights below:

- Silk road city of Samarkand
- Lakes and steep peaks in the Fann Mountains
- Flying through the western Pamirs to Khorog
- Ruined forts, buddhist stupas and Zoroastrian fire temples in the Wakhan Valley
- Shepherd camps in the high pastures near Murghab
- The Pamir Highway (the only road) through the Pamirs
- Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan

Future posts will reveal the fate of these well-laid plans in the face of the gritty realities of Central Asia, so stay tuned for more...