Tag: camels, Central Asia, Turkmenistan, video, youtube
Our First ATC Video is up!
ATC has joined the digital age (well, I guess we were kinda there already but now we’re even more digital) and we’ve loaded our...
Drinking Cultures from Around the Globe
There is something very strange about the way humans approach booze, and how each nation address alcohol both politically and culturally in...
A Reflective Look at ATC’s Past Two Years
Abandon the Cube has been around since 2008. While we’re not into celebrating a massive birthday party for the website or the...
Leaving Central Asia
As we depart Central Asia, we’re hit with a bittersweet feeling partially of relief and partly of sadness. Central Asia is like no...
Site Updates
Since many of our readers view the blog through the RSS feed, we just wanted to write to let everyone know that we’ve made massive...
Darvaza Remix
Owing to a misplaced video of our last trip to the Darvaza crater, as well as an urge to try out new grilling methods and camping...
Sipping Beer on Alexander’s Fortress Walls
Sultan Sanjar, who referred to himself boldly as Alexander the II or ‘Sultan of the World’ died of a broken heart in 1157. The...
The Ashgabat Zoo
In my youth we would visit zoos all over the world. I’ve seen some of the most amazing zoos humanity has to offer, at the top of the...
Sojourn to Nissa
Yesterday we got in the 4×4 and took an off road expeditionary tour of Nissa,which was once a Parthian capital in the 3rd century BC....
Central Asian Money Habits
One of the strangest, and most frustrating things about traveling in Central Asia has been the double standards related to costs. As...
Visiting the Gates of Hell, Darvaza Turkmenistan
Dante readers beware, the “Gates of Hell” are very real. They are located in the middle of a vast, uninhabitable desert (not...
Swimming with Snakes
After the very long drive from Nohur to the Turkmenbasy on the Caspian Sea, and searching for a place to stay, we all ended up at the...
Fighting the Caspian Sea Virus
When we tell people that we live on the road, their eyes light up and they inevitably mutter, glazed-eyed: “man, I wish I could do...
The Push-Push Bazaar
For many Silk Route travelers, the Push-Push bazaar outside Ashgabat is one of the greatest highlights of the road. The bazaar spans...
Nohur to Turkmenbashi on the Ripples Roadway
Last night in Nohur we slept on the floor, atop rugs and a small pad. Throughout the night we slept off and on as dogs fought in the alleys...
Nohur The Last Call to Prayer
The small and relatively untouched village of Nohur rests in an unmarked valley of the Kopet Dag Mountains, which make up the border of...
Dinosaur Eggs on the Journey to the Caspian
We decided to take a weekend trip out to the Caspian Sea from Ashgabat. Leaving mid-afternoon on Friday we planned to stop in the small...
Hajji Mosque in Geokdepe
This afternoon we ventured out of Ashgabat to see the museum to the Turkmen’s last stand against the Russians. 15,000 men, women and...
Cableway to the Iranian Border
From Ashgabat there is a cable car into the mountains that make up the southern border of Turkmenistan with Iran. For 2 Minat (75 cents)...
Changing Money in Central Asia
You can change USD to any currency in Central Asia. The Dollar is still truly king here and surprisingly, Euros have not quite caught on...
Best Foods of the Silk Route
Lamb kebabs – Urumqi, Xinjiang. Urumqi has an amazing night market near the park with beer, kebabs, nan, plov and other Central Asian...
Getting a visa for Kazakhstan from China
We applied for Kazakh transit visas and found the process amazingly easy (perhaps because we are comparing it to the process of getting an...
Getting a Visa for Uzbekistan in Shanghai
This is apparently what a visa to Uzbekistan looks like, but I wouldn’t know. It has officially been 3 weeks since we began our...
Cycling for Adventure Travel
As every good adventurer knows, a good companion makes all the difference. At AbandonTheCube we revere those who have gone before us and...
Top Four Places to Consider Living for the Adventurous Traveler
Top Four Places We May Consider Living As the journey to Ashgabat approaches, careful planning is necessary. We also need to plan for...
