I’m usually lucky, even in the most seemingly impossible and hopeless situations. I’m not bragging—one can’t brag about luck, health, or money—I’m simply stating the fact. However, I can’t figure out what to think about how I got from Bulgaria to Togo. Was it a warning not to push my luck? Here is what happened.
Bulgaria – Istanbul – Addis Ababa – Lome, Togo, Jan 2026 Read More »
The New Year dinner was at the Back to the USSR restaurant. When we came in, the tables were laden with entree dishes – pancakes with red caviar, cold meat cuts, fresh salads, stewed vegetables, and a lot more, every was looked and tasted delicious. The drinks were champagne, Moldavian wine and cognacs. Besides ours,
31 Dec 2025 – 1 Jan 2026, Transnistria Read More »
Moldova – Transnistria The border with the unrecognized country of Transnistria looked real – the boom gate, armed security, and passport control. In Transnistria, they do not stamp passports. Instead, they issue a paper slip with passport and entry details. After crossing the border, we stopped at the shopping mall to exchange money. Transnistria has
Tiraspol, Transnistria, 31 Dec 2025 Read More »
Romania-Moldova I had time to explore Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, on my own before the group tour began. In the Military History museum, I learned that the tiny Moldova actively participated in the Soviet-Afghan war and that hundreds of its citizens got killed there. A separate exhibit in the museum is dedicated to another
Moldova – Transnistria, Dec 2025 Read More »
“Travel, which is nearly always seen as an attempt to escape from the ego, is in my opinion the opposite. Nothing induces concentration or inspires memory like an alien landscape of a foreign culture. It is simply not possible (as romantics think) to lose yourself in an exotic place. Much more likely is an experience
Romania-Moldova, Dec 2025 Read More »
The road ran along the border with Afghanistan and we kept watching what was happening on the other side. We saw fields with cattle and few people. Sometimes, we saw vehicles – regular cars, trucks with cargo or the armed Taliban. In other wors, life went on as usual. On Tajik side, it was military
Khorog- Kalaikhumb, Tajikistan, Sep 2025 Read More »
The Pamir Hwy, Kyrgyzstan We left the Pamir Highway, turned sharply south, and entered the Wakhan Corridor. This is the border area between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Visiting it requires a special permit from the authorities that all of us obtained before entering Tajikistan. The Wakhan Valley, or Wakhan corridor, is a narrow strip of land
The Wakhan Corridor, Tajikistan, Sep 2025 Read More »
The Pamir Hwy, Kyrgyzstan There was not much food at breakfast in our Murghab hotel. We ate what we got and moved on. The road that day was the bumpiest and the longest. By evening, we also realized that it was the dustiest part. The mountain air here is extremely dry, precipitations are very rare.
The Pamir Hwy, Tajikistan, Sep 2025 Read More »
Bulgaria to Türkiye, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan Osh was the meeting point for the Young Pioneer Tours group Pamir Highway trip that started next day. The group consisted of 10 people: 4 women and 6 men from different countries. Our drivers picked us up from our hotels. We quickly exchanged introductions in the car and were
The Pamir Hwy, Kyrgyzstan, Sep 2025 Read More »
Three months of my relatively stationary life in Bulgaria came to an end. My 90 visa-free days in the EU were almost over. The long road back home to Colorado was going be east via Asia and not west. Before I start any trip, I am always in the state of something close to a
Bulgaria – Türkiye – Uzbekistan – Kyrgyzstan, Sep 2025 Read More »
