BIG JOE - Cheap Travels

  The journey to Tashkent, the capital city I set off from the border Kyrgyz city of Osh towards the Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan border. I took the taxi, since the border is close to the city. You have to cross on foot and there are numerous bureaux de change where you can exchange your Kyrgyz money for the Uzbek one. And it’s a good thing I did that because there was nothing across the border. To see my YouTube Channel videos, visit BIG JOE - Cheap Travels : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9WkJuRmvRs&list=PLzm-og_LHnmPxRAFpDMYrnBNquysQjC7f The crossing went smoothly, except for the long queues. I think I was the only foreigner there, since everyone else looked Asian and carried large bags of things, which were cheaper in Kyrgyzstan and could then be sold in Uzbekistan. When I finally crossed the border, there was practically nothing on the other side. No bureaux de change, no huts, no food vendors. Just a road and a car park where I started to look for a ride to the nearest city on...

  Mountains near Issyk-Kul Lake In the village of Bosteri, I saw a few flyers in tourist agencies, though all of them were closed, so I was on my own. I asked at my accommodation if anyone had a car and would be willing to give me a ride to the nearby mountains. Of course, it wasn’t a problem and, soon, an older man came with his car and we agreed on a price. To see how It looked like, check out my YouTube Channel Big Joe - Cheap Travels : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubteuHTKx3k&list=PLzm-og_LHnmN3Jw78Fn6mus2rCzrAvQ2D The Chon-Aksuu Canyon We drove off the main paved road and onto a dirt road that wound its way up to the mountains, and we soon arrived to the narrow Chon-Aksuu Canyon with a fast-flowing, crystal-clear river running along the road and surrounded by a coniferous forest. Various locals were selling natural products, such as honey and mushrooms, by the river. One could also notice the beginnings of Kyrgyz tourism – these are yurts that serve as accommodation, bu...

  The capital city of Bishkek I arrived in the Kyrgyzstan’s capital – Bishkek – in a marshrutka, which is a kind of minibus or a van, and in doing so had to cross the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border. People travelling from most European countries don’t need a visa when entering Kyrgyzstan, so my trip across the border went fairly smoothly, apart from a soldier lingering on my passport for a while at the border. I think it was because he hadn’t seen a Slovenian passport before. The driver dropped us off somewhere in the city, in the middle of nowhere, near a park, and we were on our own. Standing by the road, I extended my arm and waited for a car to stop, so I could settle for a price with the driver. But it turned out people here were much more wary, as no one stopped. I found a taxi that took me to my accommodation, which was located in a remodelled old flat in a panel building that was already kind of deteriorating. To see how it looked like check out my YouTube Channel Big Joe - C...

  Flight to Almaty After careful consideration of how to get to southern Kazakhstan, I decided for a domestic flight with a local airline. It would take me about two days by train, so I gained some time and arrived in Almaty in a mere hour. Check my VLOG on my travels in Kazakhstan on my YouTube Channel Big Joe - Cheap Travels: First, let me tell you that I’m not a person who would be scared of flight; I actually love flying. But luckily, it wasn’t a propeller plane because it had two jet engines, but as soon as they turned on, I heard some weird noise that I hadn’t heard in an airplane or airplane engines before. The plane looked like it could be from the 1970s or 1980s. “Ok,” I said to myself. “If it hasn’t crashed by now, why would it happen today?” But I have to admit, it was one of the worst flights I’ve ever experienced. We flew relatively low, so you could see everything underneath – the steppes, horses grazing there, lakes, cities, villages. We were shaken by turbulence eve...