Last week, Yugyeong and I visited two polarising cities at each end of the Kazakh steppe. This week, we enter our second ‘Stan’, and begin the journey South towards the highest, and toughest, part of the expedition: crossing the Pamir Mountains.
Last week, Toby, Yugyeong and I were thoroughly probed, prodded and scrutinised at two national borders, before entering our first ‘Stan’. This week, we savour our time in a dynamic, urban metropolis, before driving the height of Kazakhstan, towards our next probing.
Last week, Yugyeong and I left Ulaanbaator, and struggled to make progress along the dirt tracks of the Mongolian steppe. This week, we cross two national borders, and begin the next chapter of our journey: crossing the ‘Stans’.
Last week, Yugyeong and I arrived at the deepest lake in the world before crossing our first land border, into Mongolia. This week, we gather our supplies in the capital before heading off into the wild expanse of the Mongolian steppe, hoping to make it out the other side with Toby in one piece…
Last week, Yugyeong and I arrived on the shores of Russia ready to begin our mammoth road trip. Seven days later and the monotony of the forests of Eastern Siberia have started to take their toll. This week, we leave the damp, dark forests far behind as we reach the Russian steppe on route to the deepest lake in the world, before heading South towards our second nation.
Welcome to the writings of a compulsive road-trip enthusiast, from my second expedition in as many years. The first was a jaunt across the North American continent, through forty-eight U.S states and four Canadian provinces. It was an unforgettable 105-day voyage that inspired my girlfriend and I to attempt not to strangle each other once more on an even more ambitious trip.
Canada. The second largest country on earth, with geography so immensely diverse and extreme, it may be my favourite country in the world to explore. From surfing in the wilderness on Vancouver Island, to polar bear spotting in Churchill, to going back in time in Québec City's Old Town, the phrase 'something for everyone' could never be more apt than when describing this incredible country.
From a very early age, most of our youthful creativity and imagination - our inner child - is trained and taught out of us until we become slaves to grades and test scores. We desperately try to get into a good university so we can get a decent job, climb the career ladder, buy a nice house and car, and start a family. This is the vision of normality, perpetually driven into us by society.
If you were to come up to me in a ramshackle bar and ask me, "Jack, what was your favourite experience from your time in South Korea?" Without a doubt, I would tell you to bugger off and leave me alone. However, if you were to ask me when I was not busy in the business of savouring stouts, I would tell you that, indisputably, it was staying with Buddhist monks in temples perched high in the Korean hills.
This is a continuation of my jaunt to Beijing for Chinese New Year, which I left you last at the exit of the fabled Forbidden City. Yugyeong and I were in search of sustenance, and it didn't take us long to unearth the local grub, quite literally. As we entered a traditional market in the centre of the capital, our senses were assaulted by all manner of unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells.
