While I’ve been stuck in Tehran (Iran) over the last couple of weeks I’ve had the chance to reminisce about previous sections of the journey. Leg 2 from Turkmenistan to Kyrgyzstan was a fast paced, exciting race against the clock though some of the most beautiful and scenic countries along the Silk Road. At the time I thought this was the toughest part of the journey but on reflection it was one of the easiest sections and...

It seemed like an age since I got off the ferry in Turkmenbashi and started Leg 2 of the expedition. 45 days had flown by and ‘The Stans’ hadn’t disappointed. The friendliness of the people stands out as the highlight, followed closely but the wonderful scenery and impressive historical sites of the Silk Road. For me it’s always about the people. Everywhere I met the people, they were warm and friendly....

Waking up in Turkmenistan it felt like I’d gone back in time. The massive hotel was new but felt old. Down in the dining room at breakfast I got the chance to enjoy some cigarette smoke with my coffee, from the table next door. And it was the start of the new cash only world. A cash world that had two currencies. New Manats and Old Manats. They hadn’t bothered to phase out the old currency. However the US dollar was king. If I...

I woke the day after we left Baku to a beautiful sunny day on the Caspian Sea. The cool sea air was refreshing. Optimistically I hoped that we would dock today, one day ahead of schedule. The first sign that things were going to be different was my mobile phone had lost any network connection. Contacting my guide onshore was going to be tricky. Everybody was slow to rise due to the night before’s vodka based celebrations. The boat...

I arrived at the Azerbaijan border and passed through the Georgian side in 5 minutes. Then began the queuing for Azerbaijan. It wasn’t moving fast so I settled in for a wait. A friendly local chap introduced himself and we passed the time with him teach me introductory Azerbaijani lingo. Overall it took about 2.5hrs to get through the border controls. I had to pay $65 for insurance and $40 for road tax. They had a look through the...