We've been on the road at least 5 weeks now. I am definitely not keeping up with journaling and blogging this whole adventure. So some thoughts to share. Central Asia is full of contrasts. The dessert seems to unit it all - the most common thread. But moods, expressions and level of sustained traditions are different depending on where we've landed. Azerbaycan had its military display of might - modern cities and rich expensive cars in its capital city. Scared me the most - a real hatred for Armenia, a Christian state...we couldn't cross directly into Azebaycan from Armenia but had to go back through Georgia to do so. Where tourism is strongest in Georgia, the people are less happy - I wonder about the pressures of Europeon investment on the traditions of the land, but also on its resources. The best smiles have come from Ubeckistan so far. Not so tainted by the overwhelm of a foreign culture. In the country side of all countries are what one would expect of a rural landscape a hundred years ago, with women and men in more traditional peasant dress... walks in villages have included scrambling around chickens, goats and cows. I got to drink camel milk on invitation of a village family. The baby camel was tide to a stake under a very sparse tree...
People talk of a changing micro climate here. Irrigated lands following more investment around major cities has apparently increased percipitation. We experienced rained where it shouldn't have been driving between cities and across borders. Others claim the impact of a space launch somewhere in the dessert as impacting climate on occasion. I personally am wondering if its more than a micro climate shift... the same story keeps following us.
The highest temperature I've been told we've experienced so far was 43 degrees. We missed 52 in one city by a day apparently. Whatever, its hot, but much more pleasant in the evenings when temperatures can drop by 10 degrees and the winds can sometimes pick up. One night in the dessert with wind created a bit of a dust storm... food was a bit more 'salted' than usual...its nice to have these breaks in hotels between bush camping.
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