Last week in Pamukkale, Turkey, we met up with a Melbourne family driving around the world in the opposite direction to us.

Danny, Sandy and their kids Maddy and Raffy [see www.drivearoundtheworld.wordpress.com] have been through parts of south-east Asia, North America, the UK, Europe and then through Albania to Turkey. They have been on the road since April 2008.

We met up for a few days, lots of travel talk, nostalgia about home and comparing the rigours of border crossings in whacky places. A visit to the ancient site of Aphrodisias was a terrific way to see the kids nagging their parents about more old rocks. We gave them Vegemite, they gave Jack 800 new songs for his ipod [but he still plays the same stufff anyway]. The barter economy.

Just off the ferry between Igoumenitsis in Greece and Ancona, Italy. It seems we have forgotten to write for a little while. Ooops, sorry.

We have been in Turkey, Greece and now Italy. Greece was really just three days whipping through the north to get the ferry. It was amazing to be there just as Athens was in turmoil. We knew nothing of it. Trouble has followed us- from democracy protests in Bangkok, to the clashes between Cambodia and Thailand on their border, terrorism in western China and now riots in Greece!!!

Turkey is terrific, full of history [Troy, ancient ruins at Aphrodisias amongst others were highlights] and of course the pilgrimage to Gallipoli Peninsula. We were joined by two ABC mates from Melbourne, Serpil and James. They are taking a year out of the ratrace and living with Serpils parents in Bodrum. Wonderful family hospitality and then good company all the way to Eceabat, the town nearest ANZAC Cove. James has been reading Les Carlyons ‘Gallipoli’and was able to give us detailed explanations of the various sites. It is emotionally overwhelming, and to have the Turkish side explained by Serpils translations as well as the ANZAC history made it even more emotional. In the space of a bowling green, 6200 men died in three days at Lone Pine. At the Nek, three hundred died in a few hours fighting over a distance separated now by the wiidth of the tar on the road. The terrain is so harsh, the mistakes made now so clear. And the generosity and care taken by the Turks now all the more moving. It is all a national memorial park and the Turkish war graves and memorials impressively done.

We  are nearly finished. A few  days and we will be in France. I can not quite believe it. I regularly pinch myself. Our huge bull-barred car looks so odd amongst the little Euro hatchbacks. On the ferry several people  gasped as they saw our numberplates. I gasped when I saw the exchange rate and the price of diesel. We paid as much for one litre in Turkey as we paid for 165 litres in Iran. but Iranian fuel prices were never going to last…..

i didn’t like Bukhara or Samarkand. I found the recreations of the ancient cities like someone who has had plastic surgery. The blemishes that are so important to character had been shone, polished and fixed to an uncomfortable and false perfection. That aside, the Uzbek people were the friendliest we’ve met this side of Sumatra.

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[Bukhara]

So I should start with Turkmenistan

Continued …

I love walking down the ancient cobbled streets of the old city in these two towns, towering 15th centruy city walls to the side and 12th century soaring minarets in the background. Weather beaten intricately carved double doors keep secret the courtyards within, as i wonder who else has wandered along these stones? What scenes have these streets witnessed, what ordinary and extraordinary things have been happening here for literally thousands of years now.

Uzbekistan is as culturally rich and friendly a spot to visit as you can find. Once the infuriating visa system is negotiated [ only Turkmenistan is worse.... but i will spare you all the details]  the rewards are there. We are in Bukhara / Bokhora for a few days while visas are sorted before we can drive to Iran via Turkmenistan. Some interesting political insights, but we will wait until we are in Europe before writing more on that.

Many of the historic sights in both these Silk Road cities have been restored to something approaching their former glory. The effect on visitors is to transport you back to whichever period in the last two thousand years you choose.  Mosaic cladding on soaring minarets, carpet traders in every niche of an ancient meddrasah, torture chambers and steep city walls re all topped off by kebabs at every turn, steaming plov meals, the crispest naan bread and aromatic tea with every meal. Sum-sa potato filled pastry [forgive me if I have mashed the spelling] and Guma - parcels, still warm from the clay oven, filled with a mix of chillie and barley make a great snack while wandering.

But most of all the Uzbeks are very very friendly. We can barely walk ten steps without being asked where we are from, and having the sort of superficial conversation that limited common language restricts you to. And not always in the name of commerce, although that rich tradition is well excercised too. Fake antiques and “hand made by my grandmother” embroidery abounds, as well as exquisite calligraphy and gilt-adorned Koran pages ready for framing.

Turkmenistan may be an internet free zone, and different reports leave me unsure about access to the ‘net in Iran, but we will try to update again soon. And photos may have to wait until we get a speedier connection.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan: China seems years ago. We have been through the modern Chinese city of Urumqi, overnight to Turpan - a welcoming leafy oasis in theTalimankan Desert - and on to Kashgar. The fabled Sunday market was a highlight, amplifying the two Chinas we have seen; the ancient and the ultramodern. Electric scooters zoom past scenes that have not changed in hundreds - thousands? - of years.

Over the spectacular Torugart Pass and into Kyrgyzstan, which greeted us with a snowstorm. A puncture in heavy snow in No-Mans Land made for the quickest tyre change in history. Not sure if it was the minus 8 or the Kalashnikovs that made it so fast, but the removed wheel nuts stuck to the ice even in the eleven minutes it took to get the jack from under all our luggage and get the rear wheel into the air.  Continued …