Imagine Gordon Brown renaming Birmingham as Brownsville. Rather self-aggrandising, perhaps? Not for former Turkmen premier, and serial big head, Turkmenbashy the Great, who though that Krasvodosk would be better off as.....Turkmenbashy. Turkmenbashy is on the east coast of the Caspian, and we spent a very pleasant coupld of days exploring the region, which, by all accounts, is pretty back-of-beyond, even by Turkmen standards. The Caspian itself is officially...

Konye Urgench (Old Urgench) has been described as a Klondike for archaeologists, and it lived up to expectations. There can't be many historical sites in the world where visitors can stroll through excavated trenches left open to the elements after the archaologists have had their fun. There are even fewer where those same visitors can pick through the exposed soil finding colourful pottery, coins, and human bones (including skulls and femurs) from the 13-15th ...

A brief note to say that we may be out of internet contact in Turkmenistan until 12th June. We will be back in blighty for just two nights in June and in Oxford all day on 14th June. If you are free, please do come and see us for a BBQ and a catch up! We'll be at Laura's mum's at Bartlemas House. No mobiles but the landline is 01865 250690 and the postcode is OX4 2AJ. The house is up the unmarked lane between the big oak tree where the brick house is and Bartlema...

Nukus Art Museum really lived up to its name. The adjoining ferris wheel was only marginally less exciting.

I can confirm, categorically, that Nukus is the least interesting place we have visited so far. The 'newly renovated' Hotel Nukus leaves so much to be desired that it has set a new benchmark. You might ask why we have come here and we have been asking ourselves the same question. The hugely promising Nukus Art Museum promises to waste literally minutes of our time with its doubtless impressive collection of things we have already seen, poorly displayed and dimly ...