The more of the world I’ve seen, the less is left that I still want to see. But this trip got me to seven countries I was eager to see: three former Communist dictatorships in Europe and four former Soviet republics in Central Asia. I’d actually been to Hungary before, but it was such a quick trip to Budapest for a choir tour (on my very first trip to Europe in 1989) that I saw little and remember even less.
I started this trip with OAT’s Eastern Balkan Experience tour. I flew to Sofia, Bulgaria. After a few days there, we went north to Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo, and then entered Romania, where we stayed in Bucharest, Sibiu, and Brașov. Then I flew to Budapest for six nights on my own.
Next was another OAT tour: The Silk Road. I flew to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for the pre-trip. From there we went to Khujand. The main trip was in Uzbekistan: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, and Nukus. Then for the post-trip we flew to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and then ended in Kyrgyzstan, with stops on the shore of Issyk Kul Lake and finally Bishkek.
I was gone for just about two months. Like any trip of this length, there were highs and lows. The highs were spectacular, and the lows were mostly just not as high as the highs.
Photos and Videos
Art Museums
Sofia art museums (79 items)
Romanian art museums (133 items)
Hungarian National Gallery (99 items)
Szentendre art museums (68 items)
Nukus Museum of Art (173 items)
Bulgaria
Sofia (87items)
Rila Monastery (36 items)
Plovdiv (86 items)
Staro Zhelezare (47 items)
Arbanasi (16 items)
Veliko Tarnovo (64 items)
Ruse (17 items)
Romania
Bucharest (99 items)
Sibiu (131 items)
Sighișoara (40 items)
Brașov (89 items)
Sinaia and Peleș Castle (60 items)
Hungary
Budapest (243 items)
Szentendre (31 items)
Tajikistan
Dushanbe (142 items)
Fann Mountains (53 items)
Khujand (52 items)
Uzbekistan
Tashkent (160 items)
Samarkand (99 items)
Bukhara (90 items)
Khiva (163 items)
Nukus (14 items)
Kazakhstan
Almaty (75 items)
Kyrgyzstan
Issyk Kul (54 items)
Bishkek (101 items)
Highlights
Best of Bulgaria (35 items)
Best of Romania (50 items)
Best of Budapest (35 items)
Best of Tajikistan (35 items)
Best of Uzbekistan (55 items)
Best of Kazakhstan (15 items)
Best of Kyrgyzstan (25 items)
Blog Posts
A Visit to Bulmanipestan (3/14/2026) - BULgaria + roMANIa + budaPESt + four sTANs = Bulmanipestan, my first big adventure of 2026. And I am leaving in just four days! I’m ready to get moving again after almost three months at home. Here are all the… more…
Getting to Sofia (3/20/2026) - I’ve arrived in Sofia. Right now I’m hanging out in the lobby of what seems to be a lovely hotel. It’s too early to get into my room, so I’m chilling and charging my phone. I’ll head out to explore… more…
Sofia before the tour (3/21/2026) - I’ve been in Sofia for two days now, and the tour starts tomorrow. So I’ve had time to do some things here in Sofia before the tour, and now here’s a quick rundown. I’ve already taken plenty of photos, and… more…
One day in Sofia with OAT (3/22/2026) - In my previous post I wrote about the two days I had in Sofia prior to the start of my OAT tour. I wasn’t really thinking, though, because the tour only had one day in Sofia. We did a walking… more…
Rila Monastery (3/24/2026) - Yesterday we drove from Sofia to Rila Monastery, about two hours’ drive south of Sofia. I think I have neglected to mention that it has been very cold. Walking around Sofia was brutal. And walking around the monastery was also… more…
Discovering Plovdiv (3/24/2026) - Before this trip I’d heard a lot about Plovdiv when I read about places to visit in Bulgaria. But I had no idea what I would discover here. It turns out that everything I did discover was a delightful surprise.… more…
Veliko Tarnovo (3/26/2026) - We had just one full day in Veliko Tarnovo, and just like Sofia and Plovdiv, it felt like one day too few. Here’s a quick rundown. But first, of course, some history. History of Veliko Tarnovo The earliest evidence of… more…
Egmont Pușcașu: A story of the Romanian Revolution (3/28/2026) - Egmont Pușcașu was fifteen years old in December 1989. Yesterday we met him and he shared his story. Background On December 16, an uprising in Timișoara, a city in western Romania, broke out. It started as a protest against the… more…
Romania Part One: Bucharest (3/31/2026) - It’s two days since we left Bucharest, and I’m finally getting around to writing something about it. Bucharest was rainy. Of course, there’s more to say, but the rain had a dampening effect (pun intended) on activities, mood, and photographs.… more…
Romania, Part Two: Sibiu (4/1/2026) - We finally got a bit of a break from the rain! In fact we even got some sunshine yesterday afternoon. Sibiu definitely looked better under clear skies. But this morning, as we get ready to leave, the sky is grey… more…
Romania, Part Three: Sighișoara, Brașov and some castles (4/6/2026) - My visit to Romania is about over. I’m writing this in the airport in Bucharest, waiting for my flight to Budapest. (It’s 5:30 am now, and my flight departs at 7:40.) Our group stayed the three nights in Brașov before… more…
The trouble with Budapest (4/7/2026) - The trouble with Budapest is it’s too beautiful. Wherever I go, I see a building that dares me to pass it by without taking a photo. I’ve been here two days and already taken far too many photos. I’ve also… more…
What I learned in Budapest (4/12/2026) - Normally I write about what I’m doing in each place I visit, preferably while I’m doing it. But for a change, I’m going to skip over a daily rundown of my activities in Budapest, and instead I’m going to share… more…
A Day trip to Szentendre (4/12/2026) - I had six days in Budapest, and I filled the first five with tours and musical events and museum visits. I purposely left the sixth day open, and I still had some things I hadn’t yet done in Budapest. But… more…
Tajikistan 101: Two days in Dushanbe (4/14/2026) - Sometimes it’s easy to select a representative photo of the place I’m visiting to put at the top of my blog posts. This time, not so much. Dushanbe has many fascinating things, but no one of them captures the feel… more…
Khujand, Tajikistan: Not much to say (4/17/2026) - I don’t have much to say about Khujand. The best part of visiting this uninteresting city was the scenic drive from Dushanbe on the M34 highway. With stops along the way, it was a long drive, nearly ten hours, though… more…
Tashkent: Monuments, Markets, Ballet, and Plov (4/20/2026) - As usual, I’m too busy doing stuff to write a lot about what I’m doing, but here’s a rundown of two days in Tashkent, the first stop in my tour of Uzbekistan. Old and new Compared to the cities I… more…
My delayed overview of Samarkand (4/23/2026) - We left Samarkand yesterday (now I’m in Bukhara). I started to think about writing this post two nights ago, but I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to say about Samarkand. I’m still not sure, but I can delay no… more…
Bukhara: A gem for tourists that’s a real gem (4/25/2026) - Even though Bukhara is filled with tourists and the things tourists love, it also ticks all the boxes for me as a lover of travel. It’s a delight to wander around here. The old town is beautiful, and its newest… more…
Khiva: Beautiful Inside and Out (4/27/2026) - My OAT trip leader said that the real beauty of Khiva can be found inside the buildings. But I can’t agree. It’s true that entering many of the monuments reveals glorious, colorful tile work. And most of the exteriors are… more…
Nukus: Avant-garde Art in the Desert of Uzbekistan (4/30/2026) - Visiting the State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan named after I.V. Savitsky (aka the Nukus Museum of Art) was a highlight of my time in Uzbekistan. To my thinking, there’s really no other reason to go to… more…
Quick stop in Almaty, and a Happy Reunion (5/3/2026) - I’m now in a place with very slow wifi, so I will not say much about the day and a half I spent in Almaty. Which is okay, since there’s not much to say about a place when there’s so… more…
Issyk Kul: A chilly welcome to Kyrgyzstan (5/4/2026) - Issyk Kul is the second largest high-altitude lake in the world (after Lake Titicaca). It is also the eighth-deepest lake in the world, the eleventh-largest lake by volume, and the second-largest saline lake. Since it’s at an altitude of just… more…
Bishkek: A Warm Farewell to Central Asia (5/8/2026) - The final stop on my tour of Central Asia was Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. And after the chilly days in Issyk Kul, it was pleasant and warm for our last days before heading home. Where am I now? But… more…