Nine days spent at a guesthouse at the foot of the Tien Shan mountains without WiFi has been fantastic. Some days have involved driving quite long distances with the only excitement being a lost tomato loose on the bus.

Days have been in amazing scenery with me walking miles while the others look at the ground. I have nearly trodden on a pit viper which I only saw when it hissed and lunged at me. The trouble is the b*****s are apparently everywhere and so well camouflaged you can’t see them. We have seen massive open steppes with snowy mountains as a back drop and golden eagles soaring above us as we’ve walked down canyons. We’ve also caught the migration of cranes from India and are passing 3000+ feeding in fields and by lakes.

Lots of non copulating tortoises too and lots of tulips (red and yellow and red & yellow). There have been whoops of joy over one only found in the world by a lake here but as there were thousands of biting midges, I didn’t get out of the mini bus for that rush of adrenaline. What makes me and the translator giggle just a little is the queuing up to take a photo of a plant and then someone steps on it.