4Stans2026

Day 1

New York, USA to Istanbul, Turkiye to Almaty, Kazakhstan

Qara Jorga sets the scene for a society rediscovering itself 35 years after the collapse of the USSR.

Lagman

While this may look like a sea monster, it is in fact a yummy cold cucumber salad

At our welcome dinner I ate the lagman. The chef at the table pointed out (all) our food could benefit from adding a bit of salt.

Moving forward in time zone by 10 hours meant getting there took 3 calendar days of travel – something like a 2 hour domestic flight, 10 hour flight across the Atlantic, then 5 hour flight from Asia Minor to Central Asia. I left lots of time between flights in case of delays (which there were), and wore a face mask so I wouldn’t start my trip with an illness. I also did not go with my usual airline because the only options took me through the Persian Gulf at a politically uncertain time.