Photos

: Hiding from the snow

: Waking up to an icy car

: Packed housing Istanbul

: You can’t beat a good touristy boat trip! Ortaköy Camii, Istanbul

: These chaps were out doing their homework – find English speakers and ask them about their experiences in Turkey. Very nice guys! Istanbul

: Basilica Cistern – built by the Romans to store 80000 cubic metres of water Istanbul

: Inside Hagia Sofia Museum Istanbul

: Clare loved these old wooden buildings. Mostly they were in a bad state, like this one Istanbul

: Istanbul

: Looking out across the Black Sea the morning after a massive storm.

: The rain stopped for a few hours and we finally got to see the coastline – just lovely!

: Boats mill around in the bay formed by the peninsular of Sinop

: Clare pretending to be excited!

: Batumi

: Men fishing, Batumi

: Batumi streets

: Batumi skyline

: Batumi port

: Our first sighting of both the Black Sea and Batumi. After months and months of land-locked living it felt good to see the sea!

: Photoshoot for this year’s ‘Kays’ catalogue

: An early morning visitor whilst camping

: Tbilisi skyline

: Tbilisi old town

: We stopped off at a roadside monument where the snow was quite deep. Clare was annoyed we didn’t bring our snowboards!

: About half a kilometer after crossing the border this was the view – we like!

: A tight squeeze on the exit. He took forever, which I thought he was doing to wind me up!

: View from Okatse Canyon towards the mountains

: There was quite a large cracking sound at this point in the crossing

: Carrying out a risk assessment

: We nearly took this chap with us!

: First visitors of the day

: Waking up to a frosty morning

: Another building that has seen better days

: Another doorway that opens onto the cobbled streets

: Faded grandeur

: A row of houses on the brink of slipping down the street

: Crumbling doorway

: View from our guesthouse of ramshackle balconies

: Red cashmere scarf paired with gingham jim-jams. Note how the scarf picks out the red accent in the socks.

: On-trend lime green Burton snowboard jacket over a Dickies boiler suit. Two brands to look out for.

: A striped puffa jacket partnered with some thermal leggings. This works despite the clash of patterns – though it has to be said not everyone could pull this look of.

: Fun driving conditions

: Camped 100m from the Russian border. It was unbelievably cold!

: The photo that started all the fun

: Around £75 – this time in 1000 som notes

: Khiva

: Khiva

: Khiva

: Khiva

: About a hundred quids-worth of the highest denomination notes in Uzbekistan

: Nadir Divan Begi Khanaka Bhukara

: Kalon Minaret Bhukara

: Roof detail, Gaukushan Medressa Bhukara

: Kalon Mosque Bhukara

: Once again, not sure of the name…. Bhukara

: The Ark Bhukara

: Kalon Mosque Bhukara

: Kalon Mosque and Minaret Bhukara

: Roof detail, Mir-i-Arab Medressa Bhukara

: Not sure what this place was called! Bhukara

: Nadir Divan Begi Khanaka Bhukara

: Nadir Divan Begi Khanaka Bhukara

: The less touristy side of Samarkant. The sky filled with dust as the afternoon wore on and the light became quite strange. Samarkand

: The bazaar Samarkand

: Tilla-Kari Medressa Samarkand

: A family playing dress-up, Sher Dor Medressa Samarkand

: Inside Sher Dor Medressa Samarkand

: Roof detail, Ulugbek Medressa Samarkand

: Sher Dor Medressa Samarkand

: Tilla-Kari Medressa Samarkand

: 4 old ladies hanging out Samarkand

: Sher Dor Medressa Samarkand

: Sher Dor Medressa Samarkand

: The market, Istaravshan, Tajikstan

: The butcher, Istaravshan, Tajikstan

: After driving on the main road for a few hours we chose a random turn off to follow and find somewhere for lunch. Unbeknownst to us, the turn-off we chose would lead to a picture perfect valley.

: Cheeky children

: Saritag River, Tajikistan

: Iskanderkul, Tajikistan

: Two squares Iskanderkul, Tajikistan

: Cooking up some Scotch Pancakes for breakfast!!

: After a week spent in Dushanbe we set off north towards the second city, Khujand. Whilst online accounts suggest this route is fraught with danger (unfinished tunnels, high altitude roadworks) it seems the government has made good on the route and battled the odds to create a very nice road

: Across the river, we could see Afghan houses built from mud. Hay is piled on top of the flat-roofed house forming a pyramid

: At the point the Pamir and Wakan rivers meet the wind picked up, as did the dust.

: The road clings to the mountainside

: Our first glimpse of Afghanistan. I’m not sure why we found the idea of being able to see Afghanistan so exhilarating, but it was

: The Pamir River

: Sunset on the Pamir plateau

: Astronaut Simmons explores the alien landscape

: Hiding from the wind

: Spot the Tot!

: For the first few petrol purchases in Tajikistan things weren’t as simple as rolling up to the petrol station and filling up. Instead we negotiated the quality of the petrol, the cost and the amount of fuel the car needed using the dust in the windows as our worksheet

: A derelict petrol station Murghab, Tajikistan

: After 200km of nothing, the first town one reaches on the M41 is Murghab. That this town can even exist is amazing as it’s a very long way away from anywhere. Winter temperatures can dip to -40ºC.

: A twist of modern politics – the road on the right is the one we will follow for the next 1800km, but running in parallel for the next 300km is a service road built alongside a fence that forms part of a border agreement between Tajikistan and China. Apparently Tajikistan seceded 1000’s of km2 to China….

: Sunrise (ish) Karakul, Tajikistan

: I don’t know why, but this just makes me think of 1970’s mountaineers Karakul, Tajikistan

: Contravening almost every good practice of drone flying in one wedding

: Villages on the Afghanistan side cling to the steep mountain sides

: Ploughed fields

: The incredible autumn colours of the trees

: Every bit of available land is farmed

: At times the river widens and mellows

: The Hindu Kush loom ahead

: This mountain range represents the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. We camped overnight in the foothills then made our way over a pass the next day into Tajikistan. The Tajik border is at 4200m!

: More farming activity

: A family taking a rest from the hard work

: Another shot from Kazarman. The Chinese are building a super luxurious new road, presumably to link China and the town.

: The view descending down into the town of Kazarman. This a wealthy gold mining town; in the photo you can just about make out a mine on the right hand side

: The road ahead

: Horses running through the dust. There wasn’t a human driving them so I think they were just running for kicks.

: Another mountain.

: The winding road back down to the valley floor

: It’s a cliche to say the photo doesn’t do it justice but for this view it was true. We both agreed it was one of most amazing views we’d seen.

: Sunset at Song Kol. It was bloody cold that night.

: We see lots and lots of these chaps. Shepards are constanly moving their flocks here and there, quite often on the main roads.

: We’ve passed many, many graveyards like this through Central Asia. As we’ve travelled further and further south they’ve become more and more rudimentary.

: The last light as the sun disappears behind a mountain. From here it gets cold!

: A herdsman on horseback. It should be noted that Clare took this!

: Mountains, mountains, mountains. If you like mountains, then come to Kyrgyzstan!

: The Symphony Hall (I think!) at Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek

: Ominous mountains lurk in the mist

: Huddled ’round the fire to keep warm

: The bazaar at Karakol where you can buy everything you might ever want. Apart from the thing we needed.

: View from the top

: The twisting road downwards

: Snow and mud

: Looking back on the way up

: Crudely carved road

: Friendly truck driver

: The road ahead (look carefully!)

: An action shot in Kyrgyzstan

: The snow encroaches

: The back road to Kochkor

: Families hard at work harvesting potatoes

: Keeping warm by the fire

: First snow!

: Landslide at 3500m prevents further progress

: Following gurgling rivers

: Another mountainous view from another camp spot

: Log bridge crossing

: View from our bed

: Posing under the stars in the middle of nowhere

: Cliffs at Altyn-Emel NP

: The dream team

: The view from our final campsite in Kazakhstan – Goodbye!

: A quick photo before all hell broke loose

: Our first proper sighting of the Kyrgyzstan mountains. Very exciting.

: Scenery ahead of some rain

: Kazakh housing

: Altyn-Emel national park

: Altyn-Emel national park

: Nice looking cliffs at Altyn-Emel national park

: Our camp spot at Altyn-Emel national park

: Locals chilling out by the bread shop Almaty

: Road side pandemonium at the fruit sellers

: Clare made friends with a nice lady selling fruit and took this excellent photo

: These guys were hanging at Lake Kaindy touting horse rides – Clare was highly enoumoured of them

: Lake Kaindy – formed as a result of a landslide in 1911

: Someone told Clare there was a Pirates of the Caribean party at our hiking destination

: After 2 months sat on our arses in the car, we did a big hike from Lake Kolsai up to Lake Kolsai No. 2. We were both knackered.

: Lake Kolsai by moonlight

: Lake Kolsai – this was the view from the back of our car

: Throughout our journey through Kazakhstan farmers were working overtime to harvest their hay.

: Threading the Tots through the eye of the needle. Charyn Canyon

: Charyn Canyon by night

: Lorry stopped for fuel.

: Daily maintenance. Here I am checking the air filter in my pyjamas

: A strange-looking statue we came across

: Overlooking ‘Big Almaty’ lake.

: Various observatories to the south of Almaty.

: ‘Big Almaty’ lake.

: Beware the crows.

: Typical road-side scene. At every village there’re always old ladies selling fruit by the side of the road. Always looks good, but you can’t buy any quantity less than a bucket.

: Mosque under construction/renovation.

: Cool looking building in the middle of Kazakhstan. No idea what it’s purpose is.

: Another welcoming shop facade. This place is called ‘Askhana’

: Driving through road works – the Chinese are currently building lots of roads through Kazakhstan to enable easy access by road to Europe.

: View of Lake Kolsay from our bed!

: Delicious bisbarmek!

: The metropolis of Almaty

: The leafy streets of Almaty

: Cows on the road

: Amazing-looking vegetables for sale

: The submerged at Kaindy Lake

: Having some ‘quiet time’ at the Kolsay ‘2’ Lake

: Charyn Canyon

: Camping amongst the squirrels

: ‘Big Almaty’ Lake

: Almaty’s spotless underground system

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