Category Archives: Around the world

Horse Rectum for Dinner in Kyrgyzstan?

Where is Kyrgyzstan?  I am not going to act like I was able to pick it out on a map with a high degree of certainty before Katy and I decided to go there. It is between Kazakhstan and China; … Continue reading

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You Don’t Need Electricity to Enjoy Lakes and Hot Springs

What did we do after the yak festival? That was my thought when I started writing this portion of the blog. Day of the week, day of the month, and what order we have done things is getting hard to … Continue reading

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Mongolian Yak Polo

We left Karakoram and were suppose to have a short drive to visit a temple and a waterfall. Unlike the previous days, we did not review the plan ahead of time. We arrived at a viewpoint overlooking the Orkhon Valley … Continue reading

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Drinking Fermented Horse Milk Sounds Good in Principle

Kazahk culture and their idea of personal space is definitely a lot different than ours. I don’t think that I could cope with the lack of solitude that they have. They also are very giving and want the best for … Continue reading

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Kazakh Dance Party

Coffee and tea. These seem to be two items that this trip evolve around. Baku keeps a sturdy Stanley thermos filled with hot water so that during our breakfast tea time, lunch tea time, afternoon tea time, dinner tea time, … Continue reading

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I promise we did not go to Russia or China and stayed in Mongolia

We started one of the long drive days of the trip, heading towards Tovan Bogd National Park which is located about 10km from both the Chinese and Russian borders. It was a good six hour drive on roads that google … Continue reading

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Naadam in Ulgii

The reason that we came back to Ulgii was to experience part of the Naadam festival. Naadam is an annual multiple day festival celebrating ”the three manly sports”, which are horse racing, archery, and wrestling. We wanted to experience a … Continue reading

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Tokyo->Beijing->Ulaanbaatar->Ulgii, now no planes for awhile

We had an early morning departure from Japan. By early I mean 9am, but unfortunately the very convenient airport bus that leaves directly from our hotel does not run before 830am. Fortunately we were pros at the specific train line … Continue reading

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Tokyo Objectives: Ramen and Sushi

The last week has been a whirlwind. It is not until now, sitting in business class on ANA flying to Japan that I am finally starting to relax. I have even chosen to read a book instead of watching a … Continue reading

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