Psyched!!!

OK - everyone knows how much I LOVE to travel - even my travel loving husband says he doesn't want to travel as much as I do.  Other than missing my cat Lucy, I would have us be gone pretty much half the time- being elsewhere- discovering new things and exploring our world.  And to that end I have signed up for a new trip this week.

For years (actually since I returned from my first trip to India in 2005) I have wanted to do what travelers refer to as "the five 'stans" (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan) but Phil is completely uninterested.... and my "danger zone" travel buddy for many years has now made traveling to golf courses a higher priority than exotic travel so alas the 'stans were back burner-ed for me for a long time.

The Silk Route has always fascinated me and we spent time in western China just a couple of years ago on the Tea Horse Road which was just a different trade route from the same era as the Silk Route.

Then last week I was checking on the website of a travel company we have used to plan trips for us to the former Soviet Union countries (most recently our trip to Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Transdniestria, and Odessa last fall) and found a trip that was perfect for me! It was about markets and food and culture and architecture. It is being led by the author of the new travel/cook book called Samarkand.  Her name is Caroline Eden.  I bought the book and have been pouring over the photos (many wonderful photos) and the recipes (many wonderful recipes) for the last day and a half....

The trip is a "getting my toes wet" kind of dip into the 'stans because it is only ten days long and only focuses on the "Backstreets and Bazaars" of Uzbekistan. I am already so excited about this one. The one draw back is (as with India) getting there... but just like my first trip to Asia (Thailand in 2000) turned out to be a non-event and my India trips were long and involved but a vague memory once you are there on the ground.... this too will be a very very long day of east-bound travel but then I will be somewhere I have never been before.

I think only my Aunt can really appreciate the emotion behind that sentence I just typed "then I will be somewhere I have never been before" - it is that side of the family that holds the travel gene.

then I will be somewhere I have never been before

It isn't that I want to go everywhere - I don't - but there are many places I do still want to see. And while my sister has already left this planet (and didn't get that gene anyway) I am still here and as long as I am I want to keep exploring.  I spend a lot of time in my life in contemplation and despite what you may have concluded about me given the social life we lead (my husband recharges with human interaction) there are many days I never leave home.  I used to say I was agoraphobic LOL - and people would laugh - but it was true in a weird way, because I would only leave the house to go to O'Hare and leave the country.  Then I met Phil and social activities became a part of my married life.

Still the easiest way for me to get outside of myself is to travel.  So this trip- run by this woman- to this place- spoke to me.

this is her book's dedication:

here is the route map and a few photos from the travel agent's website (we use Joanna Millick at MIRcorp.)

From the MIR travel details-

Join renowned travel writer Caroline Eden as you taste your way through the vibrant heart of the Silk Road, Uzbekistan, on a culinary and cultural caravan held during the height of Navruz. A centuries-old festival, Navruz is a joyous welcoming of the return of spring and the beginning of a new year, when families and local communities celebrate over sumptuous feasts, songs and dance. Beginning in the modern capital of Tashkent, introduce your palate to the exciting tastes of Uzbek cuisine during a meeting with one of the city’s renowned chefs. Explore the ancient architecture of three of the most celebrated Silk Road oases – Bukhara, Khiva and Samarkand – and browse their famed markets and bazaars for the brilliant silks, ceramics and spices that gave the region its exotic flavor. Join with the locals in celebrating Navruz at a special community ceremony, and gather for a festive Navruz dinner. Along the way, participate in hands-on cooking classes and demonstrations, meet with master artisans in their workshops, dine with local families in their private homes and discover the rich history, enduring traditions and abundant hospitality essential to everyday Uzbek culture.

and these are some of the travel/cook book's illustrative photos -

all the book's photographs were done by Laura Edwards and are wonderfully evocative.  As I titled the post- I am SO PSYCHED to be doing this trip next March....

about the picture

You may have noticed I sometimes decide to rotate images as the header photo of the blog- I tend to take them from favorites of travel photos and then try to match a blogger background with the image.  I write this post because I had a huge dilemma today about what background to choose-

I was torn between the one of snow (it is so hot and humid here in the midwest and has been for far too long) or the one of water- also cooling but not quite as emphatic as the snow.  I finally went with water because the photo was taken on the water - when we were in southern Chile visiting the glaciers.  I wish there was sound on this photo because the sound of the glaciers calving is quite impressive.

However the reason I took this photo was the amazing layering of color on the ice floe I still remember it clearly despite the trip having been 13 years ago now...

and here is another of the magnificent views we had on that trip- this one from our hotel room at the Explora Lodge in Torres del Paine...

and, since I have been in email communication with our guide for our upcoming trip to the Baltics and Scandinavia (with St Petersburg) and he is from St. Petersburg I thought I would cull a few Russian favorites as well just because they were there in the same folder...

these next photos are from St Isaac's in Petersburg- stunningly beautiful church...

 
there are people in the lower left - to give you the perspective of how large and dense the white birch are there...

a memorial to those jailed and executed under Stalin

the famous GUM - shopping is Moscow-

this post was just an aside- a Monday morning musing about revisiting old "friends" in my photo archives...

a compliment

It is always nice when someone pays a compliment to your work, or in this case,, my avocation/hobby. I don't really think of it as work because I do it for my own enjoyment.  If you haven't looked lately at my photo website I have done some updating. This comment is copied from my travel photo website and I was happy to read that someone not related to me (LOL- actually my biggest fan - my mom- has been gone more than five years...) finds my photos of value.

here is the compliment/comment - which was on the Cuba 2015 photos

of course Cuba is very hot right now as a travel destination- and I have photos on the website from both December 2015 and April 2012.  I also have photos from many of the nearly 80 countries I have visited.  These photos include some destinations that were not available to tour groups in the days when I took them (Myanmar and Bhutan come to mind) and also those that are off the beaten path for tourists and more frequented by travelers (Lijiang and Zhongdian come to mind there)

The website also includes thing published by the travel industry (city guides for Seattle and Warsaw; AFAR magazine; the Denver Post travel section.) So while I do not make a living from selling my photos I am pleased at the reception they have gotten over the years.

I include a few of my photos here just for the fun of looking at them again - because each time I review them I get to relive the journeys...

Bhutan- 2007 - A temple above Thimphu

Japan - 2004 - The early morning fish market in Tokyo

St Petersburg Russia - 2003 - altar in St Isaac's

Vietnam - 2009 - Cao Dai sect service in their Holy See

Burano, the Venetian Lagoon - 2006 - Hanging the wash to dry

Amalfi Coast - 2007 - Positano Hillside from the harbor below

Paris - not sure which trip - we go there at least every other year sometimes more frequently - a different view of the tower

Cleveland - 2004 - across from the West Side Market

some people say they know my work by its style but I think the photo should be about the subject. Admittedly there are things that really draw me to them for similar reasons of color and form -

here are examples of the kind of photos that some think of as my style- and you will quickly see why- I like shapes repeated or eye catching brilliant colors -

protea from Hawaii (ten trips in 15 years so I can't date this one without data from the meta file)

sake barrel offerings in a temple - Kyoto

snake wine (make you strong) near Cu Chi tunnels outside of Saigon Vietnam

souvenir Matryoshka dolls Russia

produce market in SE Asia

Lanterns for sale in Hoi An Vietnam (2003)

Dalat local market Vietnam (2009)

the night market in Luang Prabang - Laos (2009)

souk goods in Marrakech (2014)

water puppets Hanoi (2003)

Tajines in Tunisia (2012)

Lijiang market stalls (2014)

I am going to stop here because I could spend hours looking back over various trips and thinking about where to go next (actually we are headed back to Russia and the Baltic countries along with a bit of Scandinavia at the beginning and end - and next year we are headed back to south eastern Europe and to revisit  Slovenia and Croatia--- so we do have some plans already...) and as always my blog posts will follow along with the travels - so stay tuned....