Bulmanipestan 2026
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
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A Visit to Bulmanipestan
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 details:
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Getting to Sofia
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 the neighborhood in a bit, but I thought I’d share the fun I’ve had over…
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Sofia before the tour
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 I’ll share some here, but if you want to skip the narrative, you can check…
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One day in Sofia with OAT
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 tour in the morning and then had free time before our group welcome dinner. And…
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Rila Monastery
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 brutal. I didn’t pack for really cold weather. I have layers (sweater and sweatshirt), but no…
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Discovering Plovdiv
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. I’m mostly going to let the photos do the talking, but it wouldn’t be me…
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Veliko Tarnovo
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.
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Egmont Pușcașu: A story of the Romanian Revolution
Egmont Pușcașu was fifteen years old in December 1989. Yesterday we met him and he shared his story.
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Romania Part One: Bucharest
It’s two days since we left Bucharest, and I’m finally getting around to writing something about it. Bucharest was rainy.
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Romania, Part Two: Sibiu
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 and overcast, and the forecast for our next destination, Brașov, is rain, rain, and more rain.…
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Romania, Part Three: Sighișoara, Brașov and some castles
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 heading back to Bucharest for a final (very short) night. Here’s a rundown. Since I’ve…
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The trouble with Budapest
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 had conversations and experiences I must share about, but I’ll save that for a later post.…
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What I learned in Budapest
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 some of the things I learned in the last six days. Of course, some of…
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A Day trip to Szentendre
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 it was a beautiful day, so I decided to take a train ride to the…
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Tajikistan 101: Two days in Dushanbe
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 of the city. Perhaps that’s because this city is really just 102 years old. When it…
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Khujand, Tajikistan: Not much to say
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.
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Tashkent: Monuments, Markets, Ballet, and Plov
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.
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My delayed overview of Samarkand
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 longer.
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Bukhara: A gem for tourists that’s a real gem
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 buildings blend perfectly with the historical ones. Bukhara was a major hub on the Silk…
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Khiva: Beautiful Inside and Out
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 dull, monochromatic, adobe-like, and mud-colored. But for me, I’m not sure I didn’t appreciate the cityscape…
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Nukus: Avant-garde Art in the Desert of Uzbekistan
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 Nukus. It’s a very ordinary, borderline-ugly city in the middle of the desert. It took…
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Quick stop in Almaty, and a Happy Reunion
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 little time to explore it.
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Issyk Kul: A chilly welcome to Kyrgyzstan
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 about one mile above sea level, it tends to be chilly here, though the lake…
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Bishkek: A Warm Farewell to Central Asia
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.
