The Rest day
after hectic driving of last four days was a blessing. We decided not to do any
sightseeing and just take rest.
We had full
rest in the morning. We took breakfast and dinner in the hotel. We went to
McDonald’s for lunch. The kids also had gala time in swimming pool in the
morning.
The car
required little repairs which was carried out in Toyota Service Station here.
They also washed the car thoroughly from outside. The Toyota people were kind
enough to give all the services to us for free because we are travelling in
Toyota vehicle from Singapore to London. This generosity from them is very much
appreciated.
Central Asia
stretches from Caspian sea in the West to China in the East and from Afghanistan
in the south to Russia in the North. The region consists of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It is also called “the stans” as the
countries generally considered within the region all have names ending with the
Persian suffix – “-stans” meaning the “land of”. We have visited Kyrgyzstan,
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in this journey.
Central Asia
has historically been closely tied to the nomadic peoples and the Silk Road.
The Silk Road connected Muslim lands with the people of Europe, India, and
China. From mid-19th Century until almost the end of 20th
Century, most of Central Asia was part of the Russian empire and later the
Soviet Union, both Slavic-majority countries and the five former Soviet “-stans”
are still home to about 7million ethnic Russian and 5 lakhs Ukrainians.
Tomorrow is
a long day with about 700 kms. drive with borders crossing. It is very
uncertain about time which could be taken on the borders. So, we plan to start
early tomorrow morning.
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