#1 Shipping containers are recycled in all manner of new uses (see my separate blog post!)
#2 There is a plethora of VW cars – Golf Mark 2, Passat, Jetta and lots of Audis from the same era too
#3 Morrison shopping bags seem to be cropping up in quite a few of the smaller supermarkets
#4 Yet more apples and huge mounds of the biggest butternut squashes I have ever seen
#5 All the taxis are Mercedes vans
#6 Many of the towns and villages have tree lined roads of huge Poplar trees – they are so beautiful
#7 As in the rest of Central Asia, honey abounds
#8 Men usually wear clothes of rather drab colours while the women are often sporting pinks, purples and reds
#9 There are car washing facilities everywhere – all manned by young men and cost about £1.50 for a wash
#10 There are lots of rose bushes – though I haven’t yet come across one that smells divine
#11 On many of the houses, and particularly fences, there are long diamond motifs
#12 Porridge and rice pudding are popular breakfast dishes
#13 The landscape is simply stunning – the snow capped mountains are quite frankly the bee’s knees!
#14 Lots and lots and lots of Vodka
#15 As with the rest of Central Asia the people are very friendly and hospitable