Blog articles - Page 2 of 2 - NicoLyn Around the World

Travel tales: Tashkent

Asia Uzbekistan January 4th, 2019January 8th, 2019 by Nicolas

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Capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent is marked by its Soviet history. The style of the subway stations is clearly inspired by the USSR. From down there, you could easily believe being in a city of Russia. In addition, some buildings, such as the Uzbekistan hotel, can not deny their Soviet origins: wide, high, rectangular, small windows and thick concrete. The contrast of wealth with the rest of the country is less noticeable than in Tajikistan, between Dushanbe and the rest of the country. Our arrival from Khiva We arrived at the end of the morning with the night train from Khiva. …

Travel tales: Khiva

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Located in the far west of Uzbekistan, close to the border with Turkmenistan, Khiva stands out for its authenticity. The historic center in the middle of the ramparts of the city seems to be stopped in time, as if the passing centuries had no hold on him. Getting to Khiva We took a night train from Bukhara. This train was leaving at 4am from the station. We had chosen a four-person lockable compartment, although we hoped to be only two in this one. Arriving in our compartiment, two persons were already occupying the two seats at the bottom of our …

Travel tales: Bukhara

Asia Uzbekistan January 4th, 2019January 4th, 2019 by Nicolas

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After Samarkand, we went to Bukhara, one of the most famous cities of Uzbekistan. With a well-preserved historic center, we dig into the history of the city when it occupied an important place on the Silk Road. One wouldn’t be surprised to see a vintage caravan coming out of an alley. The many terraces of Lyab-i Hauz are an invitation to take the time to relax. Our visit of Bukhara We took a fast train from Samarkand (see the explanation on Uzbek trains in the article giving all our tips for traveling to Uzbekistan). It takes only 1h30 by train. …

Travel tales: Samarkand

Asia Uzbekistan January 4th, 2019February 7th, 2019 by Nicolas

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The visit of Samarkand will not leave you indifferent. Its place on the Silk Road allowed this city to build magnificent and gigantic monuments to the glory of Islam or the tombs of the rich rulers of those time. Getting to Samarkand from Dushanbe After our journey in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, we traveled to Uzbekistan. If the first two countries are to visit rather for their nature, Uzbekistan is distinguished by its architecture resulting from the wealth obtained during centuries by its place on the Silk Road. Journey to the Uzbek border In order to get to Samarkand, we first …

Backpacking in Dushanbe, capital and showcase of dictatorial Tajikistan

Asia Tajikistan November 27th, 2018January 4th, 2019 by Nicolas

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Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, is the showcase of the country for the rest of the world and is most likely the main source of investment by the dictatorial government. The contrast with the countryside – at least its eastern part (we can not speak for the western part as we didn’t visit it) – is striking. The earthy and uneven tracks gave way to large paved avenues. The monuments and flags to the glory of the country stand proudly in several squares of the city. We arrived in Dushanbe at the end of our trip on the Pamir Highway. …

Road trip on the Pamir Highway

Asia Tajikistan September 17th, 2018January 4th, 2019 by Nicolas

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1’500 km of rugged and dirty trails with breathtaking scenery – welcome to the Pamir Highway, one of the world’s highest highway! You will cross vast plains at more than 4,000 m high surrounded by higher mountains that look down on you, narrow canyons overhanging with threatening rocks and a river turning into a torrent and forming the border with Afghanistan. Linking Osh (Kyrgyzstan) to Dushanbe (Tajikistan), this road is one of the must-sees of the region. Warning: Pamir Highway is an adventure that will put you out of your comfort zone. When reading the text below, you may feel that …

Kyrgyzstan: Itinerary and Pratical advices

Asia Kyrgyzstan January 3rd, 2019January 4th, 2019 by Nicolas

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How to travel to Kyrgyzstan? What to do in Kyrgyzstan? What to eat in Kyrgyzstan? Here are all the practical tips you need to know for traveling in Kyrgyzstan. Located on the Silk Road, between the West and the East, Kyrgyzstan mixes the different cultures brought by merchants from all corners of the world for centuries as well as during the Mongol occupation. The physique of the inhabitants is thus a mixture of Mongolian, Chinese and Turkish influences with Mongolian predominance, especially in the countryside. Former republic of the USSR, the older generation is fluent in Russian and the Cyrillic …

Horse trek around Son-Kul lake, Kyrgyzstan

Asia Kyrgyzstan September 14th, 2018January 4th, 2019 by Nicolas

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Imagine. Surrounding you, long and arid steppes of Central Asia extend as far as your eye can see. Mountains go to above 4’000m. Your faithful steed gallops at full speed. Okay, galloping was not on the first day, nor for the climb … But you get the scene. The horse is king in the Kyrgyz countryside. Every child rides almost as soon as he knows how to stand up and as soon as he is 8 years old puts you to shame immediately. A horseback ride was a must-do activity in this country – especially as Céline was riding when …

Backpacking in Bishkek

Asia Kyrgyzstan September 7th, 2018January 3rd, 2019 by Nicolas

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To start a journey around the world in the easiest possible way, the best is to choose a country where you understand a bit the language, where people speak English easily, where the alphabet is the same as yours and where the quality of infrastructures is close to the one you are used to. In other words, the logical choice would not necessarily be on a Central Asian country, also often called the ‘Stan. That being said, it is in Kyrgyzstan, more precisely in Bishkek, that our journey began. The choice was motivated by the climate in this part of …

International CrossFit Drop-Ins

Crossfit November 25th, 2018December 7th, 2018 by Nicolas

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Traveling for 10 months and wanting to discover other ways to practice CrossFit internationally, we visit different boxes to do drop-ins when our program allows us. Here are some pictures of boxes visited and WODs made. This article will be updated as we go on with our trip. Drop-in in Kuvvat Crossfit, Doushanbe, Tajikistan First WOD abroad for Céline and me. And what a WOD! Or rather, I should say what WODs! The WOD was rather a succession of WODs. The warm-up had already killed us. Then came some strength with deadlifts and wallballs between the series. Finally, an 18-minute …