The facts about Georgia (Written by Doug Parks)

1.  If you are looking for a wonderful small country to visit with spectacular natural beauty, friendly people and terrific food, fine wines and a rousing nightlife, then Georgia is for you.

2.  With a population of 3,750,000 including 1.25 million in the charming capital Tbilisi, Georgia is in the very mountainous Caucasus region of Eurasia.  It is bordered on the West by The Black Sea, where the country has a number of resorts.  Turkey and Armenia lie to the South, and Azerbaijan to the East.  Russia hovers on the Northern border and has played a major role in Georgia’s recent history.

3.  The population of Georgia is 84% Georgian, 7% Azeri, 6% Armenian and 1.5% Russian.

4.  Depending on which historian you read, Georgia was either the second or third country in the world to establish Christianity as the state religion in 327 A.D.  As you might expect, there are many beautiful Christian churches throughout the nation.

5.  The dramatic mountain ranges of Georgia are excellent for mountaineering and hiking. Cliff dwelling Pagans lived for thousands of years in the caves of the high cliffs before they were driven out by the Christians. Significant rivers race through steep gorges enticing photographers to get out their cameras.

6.  Georgians are super friendly and have the reputation of celebrating life with gusto.  That gusto includes making and drinking large quantities of fine red wines especially from their spectacular Saperavi red grapes.

7.  Tbilisi is known for its fine restaurants and cafes featuring delicious meats and stews.  Don’t miss the khachapuri, a cheese pie that looks somewhat like a pizza. It is a national institution.  Khachapuri is available to eat nightly or daily (and some do)!  Go into most restaurants and you will see long tables with friends singing, eating, drinking and making continuous toasts to life, love and friendships.  An extremely colorful city, the capital also has a number of markets, mansions and galleries in the Old Town and considerable nightlife is available to tourists and locals alike.

8.  After independence in December 1991, Georgia suffered an economic crisis and civil unrest until The Rose Revolution in 2003 when the Government introduced Democratic and economic reforms.  In 2008, Russia invaded and there was a one week Russo-Georgian War.  Russia gained very few friends from this event.

9.  A couple hours Northwest of Tbilisi is the birthplace of Joseph Stalin (1889-1953). You can visit the house where Stalin was born spent his first four years.  Here also you can find the Stalin Museum providing a thorough look at his life, especially the early years when he went to seminary for four years. (He was kicked out for preaching Marxism.)  Also on the grounds is the railroad car Stalin used to travel throughout Russia and down to Yalta to meet with Churchill and Eisenhower.

The facts about Azerbaijan (written by Doug Parks)*

1.  Some say that historically, Azerbaijan was the setting for the Garden of Eden.  But sure doesn’t look like any Garden of Eden now!  Rarely visited Azerbaijan offers the gritty reality of Caspian seashore oil rigs, unpleasant odors, and a callous disregard for the environment.

2. Located at the Southern end of the Caucasus Mountains with its Eastern shores facing the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan marks the transition from Central Asia towards Europe.  It feels considerably more European than “the Stans,” in Central Asia.

3. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence in 1918 and became the first Muslim-majority democratic and secular republic. It was also the first Muslim-majority country to have operas, theaters and modern universities. The country was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920 as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991, before the official dissolution of the USSR.

4.  This Eur-Asian country has a population of 9.6 million Azeris with four million living in its stately capital Baku.

5.  With the Caspian Sea to the East, its other borders are Iran to the South, Turkey and Armenia to the West, Georgia to the Northwest and Russia on the Northern border.  The fabric of the country is an incongruous mixture of Russian, Persian and Turkic influences.

6.  The Capital, Baku, is a fascinating city with oil baron mansions on its seaside, both Stalinist and neoclassical Russian buildings, Islamic architecture, a huge city square with modern restaurants and night life and a medieval walled portion of the city.

7.  The contemporary Azeris are a hospitable and passionate group who are well versed in Persian poetry and Turkic legends.   Religiously, most of the locals are Muslim of the Shiite branch of Islam.  Backgammon is a major game played outside the cafes while sipping on a glass of cay (tea).

8.  The economy of Azerbaijan is largely based on their rich supply of oil and gas. It is considered one of the most important spots in the world for oil exploration and development. If you drive by the downtown center of Baku, you will pass many Gucci type shops.  This city feels more like Europe then central Asia.

9.  Baku is home to the world’s largest carpet museum, which is located on the shores of the Caspian Sea.  It is believed that the Azeri and the Persians make the best carpets in the world!  This museum was recognized by UNESCO in 2012.

10.  Baku is quite a hilly town.  On the top of the city, there is a mass memorial to Azeris who were killed by the Russians in 1990 before the USSR collapsed.

11.  Thirty miles outside Baku to the southwest lies the city of Oobustan where there are ancient Bronze-Age petroglyphs and an impressive museum.

12.  You can also visit a Zoroastrian Center established in 1000 B.C. and that remained a religious center involving Hindus and Zoroastrians right up until the Russians arrived in the 1880’s.

13.  Azerbaijan has no relations with Armenia.  So if you want to head up through the Caucasus, you must fly to Tbilisi, in the Republic of Georgia.  The Azeris have a fine brand new airport and planes that can get you there in just one hour.

* Doug Parks is a serious traveler, teacher and adventurer who has journeyed to 170 countries over the course of his life to this point, including trips to Europe, South America and Middle Asia with Pablo.

The facts about Turkmenistan (written by Doug Parks)*

1.  If you are looking for a totally different experience as a traveler, strange and bizarre Turkmenistan is the place for you.  This country has been the crossroads of civilization for centuries. Located in West-Central Asia, East of the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan was once a part of the great Persian empire along with Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. The region was ruled by Arabs in the 8th century, Turks in the 11th, Mongols in the 13th and 14th, and Uzbeks in the late 15th. The Russians moved in to dominate the geographic area known as Turkmenistan in the late nineteenth century and in 1925 it was made part of the USSR. In 1991 the Turkmen declared independence from the Soviet Union.

2.  This is the ultimate land of the political personality cult. In 1991, the first President Saparmurat Niyazov, declared himself “President for Life”.  His principle ruling agenda involved erecting giant statues of himself, often covered in gold. When his Russian wife fled with his children back to Russia shortly after independence, he continued to recreate himself throughout the country until he became severely mentally unstable and died in 2006.

The current president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, (a doctor), won the election in 2007 and was re-elected in 2012 with 97% of the vote. (Wink, wink.)

3. According to Human Rights Watch, “Turkmenistan remains one of the world’s most repressive countries. The country is virtually closed to independent scrutiny and media, and religious freedoms are subject to draconian restrictions, and human rights defenders and other activists face the constant threat of government reprisal.”

Much like Niyazov before him, President Berdymukhamedow promotes a personality cult in which he, his relatives, and associates enjoy unlimited power and total control over all aspects of public life. There are now lots of large pictures of him around the capital, but statue making has pretty much come to a halt.

4.  Turkmenistan is slightly larger than California and slightly smaller than Spain.  There are six million people in this unusual country with one million in the capital, Ashgabat, which is only 12 miles from the Iranian border.

5.  Among the population, the dominant religion is Muslim (93%), almost all of them identifying as “Sunni” Muslim. Many, if not most, consider themselves “secular” Muslims for whom the consumption of pork, beer, vodka, and especially their own home-brewed cognac is not an issue. Approximately 6% of the population belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Ethnically, the population is 85% Turkmen, 5% Uzbek and 4% Russian with a smattering of Turks and Iranians.

6.  Unlike their American (slacker) counterparts, students go to school six days a week here.  High school boys wear a white shirt, trousers and a tie.  High school girls wear lovely embroidered long red dresses.  If they are single they wear their long braids in the front.  When married, they move the braids to the back.

7.  Deserts, including the Kara Kum (The Black Sand Desert), cover most of the country.  Only 5% of the land is usable for agriculture around their oases. Remarkably, they are able to produce some of the world’s finest Egyptian cotton.   But what makes this country really function economically are oil and vast amounts of natural gas.  Next to the USA, Canada, and Russia, Turkmenistan has the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world!  As a result, gas and water cost the citizens nothing.  Education is free.  Housing is incredibly cheap, and medical care costs very little.

8.  It is in Ashgabat, the capital, where the country’s wealth plays out on a grand scale. Because of the natural gas money that enriches the government’s coffers, architects from all over the world were invited to submit drawings for their city skyscrapers.  The results are beautiful and the city is in the “Guinness Book of World Records” as having the most white marble of any city in the world.  The cost of the marble for just a single building approaches ten million dollars. The marble was purchased from Italy, Spain, France, Vietnam, Turkey and Afghanistan.  Turkmenistan bought so much marble that there was a world shortage and the price of marble rose significantly.

9.  Turkmenistan holds other world records as well: the most fountains in its capital, the largest rug in the world, the largest mosque (seats 20,000 people for prayers), and the largest fully covered Ferris wheel in the world.

10.  Just this past week the Turkmen set another Guinness Book of World Records for having 4,500 people singing in a round formation inside a giant yurt. (Not likely that this one will be broken any time soon!)

11.  The country is home to the world famous Akhal-Teke horse breed.  Bred for more than 3,000 years, these horses excel in speed and endurance.  It is the national emblem, even found on their hard to get visas.  There are about 3,500 in the world, mostly in Turkmenistan and Russia but also some scattered around Europe, Australia and North America (mostly in Texas).  The horse is characterized as having a small head, narrow chest, long thin legs and a long back with a lovely gait. This remarkable breed is said to bond with only one person. When the Soviets ruled, they saw no use for the horse and ordered it to be destroyed by the locals.  In protest, some Turkmen rode 84 hours straight to Moscow to protest their demise.  Stalin was impressed and rescinded the orders.

12.  No trip to this strange isolated country would be complete without a visit to the Tolkuchka Russian Bazaar, Central Asia’s greatest bazaar where you can purchase anything from very decorative jewelry for your feet to pet camels.

* Doug Parks is a serious traveler, teacher and adventurer who has journeyed to 170 countries over the course of his life to this point, including trips to Europe, South America and Middle Asia with Pablo.

The facts about Uzbekistan (written by Douglas Parks)*

1.  Without question, Uzbekistan is the heart and soul of the Silk Road in Central Asia both historically and culturally.  With its ancient towns of Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva, one is exposed to classic Islamic architecture of turquoise domed mosques, towering minarets and wonderful bazaars.

2.  With 31.5 million people, the country (the size of California) is presented as a presidential republic that is officially democratic, secular and constitutional.   The reality is that it is a stable yet very repressive dictatorship with a strong police and military presence (65,000 in the army), but it is quite safe to travel within its borders at present.

3.  Tashkent, the capitol with three million inhabitants, lies only 30 miles from the Russian border.  It was destroyed in 1966 by a massive earthquake but is now mostly rebuilt.  It was the 4th largest city in the former USSR after Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev, about the size of Chicago.  The city is still very Russian looking with wide boulevards, Russian apartments, Russian trolleys and a beautiful subway.  Mosques and madrasses are no longer banned.

4.  The Grand Mufti lives in Tashkent. Every week he writes the sermon that is read in mosques throughout Uzbekistan.  This is one way the country cuts down on Islamic radicalism.  One of the three oldest Korans in existence within the entire world (645 A.D.) is housed in the home of the Grand Mufti.  The other two are in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia.

5. Population here:  81% Uzbek, 6% Russian, 4% Tajik, 3% Kazak, all others 6%.

6. Uzbekistan is known for its beautiful Egyptian type cotton.  It is also the world’s 4th largest producer of gold, 10th in copper, 11th in  natural gas and 12th in uranium!

7.  The lone president of Uzbekistan since the collapse of the USSR is Islam Karimov.  He has the largest military in all the stans, and security is very tight.  Border guards are always checking for drugs coming in from Afghanistan and the Uzbekistan border guards even confiscate sleeping pills. They are also on the lookout for Uzbeks that have joined ISIS abroad.  This is a very isolationist country without any close friends in the stans.  China appears to be their closest partner now.

8.  Foods:  Flat bread and noodles are very important.  Mutton is the most popular meat. Kebabs are the most popular preparation.  The signature dish of Uzbekistan is Plov, which is rice, meat, grated carrots and onions.  Green tea (kok choy) is the national hot beverage.  Decent beer and Vodka are plentiful. Muslims in Uzbekistan will tell you that they are a “different kind of Muslim” calling themselves the  “pork eating, vodka drinking kind”.

9.  The number one sport is soccer, followed by tennis and chess.  Baseball and basketball are starting to become more popular.

10.  Uzbekistan boasts some of the Islamic world’s greatest architecture.  Samarkand, Bukara and Khiva are the unmistakable standouts with epic buildings.  Great, but extremely cruel warrior Tamberlane, who proclaimed himself “The only King on Earth,” has his mausoleum in Samarkand.  This area is the center of the silk Road.  Here are the footprints of Alexander the Great and Genghas Khan.  The city is an incredible 2,750 years old – one of the oldest in the world.  Samarkand is a city of great contrasts:  a modern city with Russian buildings and universities and many cars balanced against some of the most famous ancient monuments in the world like the 17th century Registran.  This huge town square is where festivities and executions happened. There are three great madrasses and mosques here built between the 15th and 17th century by artisans from many countries.

11.  Bukhara is the second major city on the Silk Road.   It is 2,500 years old and was founded by the Chinese. Established as an oasis city along the Silk Route, Bukhara has a current population of 250,000 people. The Jewish population of Bukhara in the 1930s numbered over 200,000 and Jews have lived on the Road for 2,000 years but today only 50 Jewish families remain. A brief history of Bukhara: In 709, Bukhara was conquered by the Arabs. It was subsequently conquered successively by Genghis Khan and then around 1220 by Tamerlane. In 1920, the Russians bombed Bukhara with much damage and captured the city. Under Soviet rule religion was banned but prior to Russian occupation and rule over 290 mosques operated within the city.

12.  It is a 10 hour drive from Bukhara through the Red Sand Desert to reach the third major Silk Road oasis city of Khiva, with its population of 40,000.  It is a beautiful city surrounded by an ancient wall that many enemies tried to overtake.  Inside are mosques, schools, museums and wonderful bazaars where you can buy silk scarves or expensive hand woven rugs.  There are also several palaces and the main one where the reigning king kept up to four wives and 40 concubines (16-19 years old).  Typically the wives came from important families.  Some of the concubines came as gifts, some of their own free will seeking the comfort of the king’s wealth. It was rumored that some of the kings kept kidnapped girls.  Poisoning was a very common occurrence among the wives and concubines. Stories abound that the wives often poisoned the wife who was favored by the king, and that more than once they actually killed the king.

* Doug Parks is a serious traveler, teacher and adventurer who has journeyed to 170 countries over the course of his life to this point, including trips to Europe, South America and Middle Asia with Pablo.

The Facts About Tajikistan (written by Douglas Parks*)

1.  Tajikistan is the poorest and most isolated of the countries in Central Asia, surrounded by Afghanistan and Pakistan in the South, China in the East, Uzbekistan in the West and Kyrgyzstan in the North.  Few Americans ever find their way here.

2.  There are 7.5 million people in the country.  One million live in Dushanbe, the Capitol, and Khujand is the second city.

3.  If your favorite countries on this earth include top of the world places like Nepal, Tibet, Bolivia and Northern Pakistan, you’ll be blown away by this country’s high Pamir mountains at around 21,000 feet.  The high altitude plateau of intensely blue lakes and Kyrgyz yurts certainly impressed Marco Polo in his day.

4.  Here, like Kyrgyzstan, the national sport is horse football using a calf or goat that you try to deposit into an oil drum at the opposition’s goal line.  Great fun to watch.

5.  This is one of the poorest countries in the world but may be on the verge of finding some oil.

6.  50% of Tajikistan is above 10,000 feet with very porous borders with Afghanistan.  This has led to much drug trafficking in heroin.

7.  Unemployment is 40-50% which is why so many of the young males end up working in Russia.  Some of their men have also gone to Syria to fight for ISIS.

8.  Tajikistan is the only one of the former Soviet republics to suffer a Civil War from May, 1992 to June, 1997.  55,000 were killed and 1.2 million displaced.  Ethnic issues between the Uzbeks and the Tajiks set off the war.

9.  The many food markets in Khujand are very colorful and wonderful to walk through.  Locals will want to take your picture.  The fruits and nuts are especially plentiful.

10.  Unlike in many other Central Asian countries where young people marry for love, here most marriages are arranged by the parents and women are heavily controlled by fathers, brothers and husbands as to what they are allowed to do with their lives.

* Doug Parks is a serious traveler, teacher and adventurer who has journeyed to 170 countries over the course of his life to this point, including trips to Europe, South America and Middle Asia with Pablo.

Modern Almaty

The Facts about Kazakhstan (written by Douglas Parks)*

1.   People will be surprised at just how large a country Kazakhstan is.  It is the 9th largest in the world, as large as all of Western Europe, five times the size of France and four times the size of Texas. Another way to look at it is that it is 2 1/2 times as large as the rest of Central Asia combined. Their boarder with Russia alone is about 2,000 miles long!

2.  Like the rest of the “Stans” it became an independent country in 1991 after the Soviet Union collapsed.  Astana is the futuristic new capital.  Almaty, which used to be the capital in Soviet times, is now the economic capital.

3.  The country has 131 ethnicities.  It is 63% Kazakh, 23% Russian, plus Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Turkmen.  Freedom of religion is the law.  It is 70% Islam (Sunni) and 26% Russian Orthodox Christianity.

4.  It is by far the wealthiest country in Central Asia.  It has huge oil and gas reserves.  How big you ask?  It is estimated that they have 100 billion barrels of oil under the Caspian Coast to the West.  They also have gold, silver, zinc and are the largest uranium producer in the world.

5.  Almaty, the economic hub, is a very cosmopolitan place with Russian Orthodox Cathedrals like the magnificent Zenkov Cathedral and some fine museums.  This is the city where oil deals are made so it is the wealthiest city in the stans as well as the most hedonistic with its clubs and cafes.

6.  The horse plays an important part in Kazakh nomadic culture throughout the centuries dating back 5,000 years and on the Steppes, a visitor is expected to inquire about the health of one’s livestock before inquiring about the family!  This is the only country in Central Asia that serves horse on their menus and it is delicious.  Lean and tender.  Outstanding with some Republic of Georgian Saperavi, a fine dry red wine.  You can also get Qazy there, which is smoked horse meat sausage which can be washed down with Shubat (fermented camel milk) or Kumys (Fermented mare’s milk).  Of course there is good Tian Shansky beer or Vodka too in great supply!

7.  Falcon and eagle hunting are still practiced and are a thrilling sight to watch in action.

8.  History. Almaty was sacked by Ghengas Khan in 1211 as he began his conquests out of Mongolia and nearby China that lasted to 1225.  The next most significant historical period was 1801 when the Russians invaded the country.  After Stalin took power, there were many purges and Kazakhstan became a dumping ground.  One in four Kazakhs starved to death during that period.  In Seney, almost 500 underground nuclear tests took place here.   Kazakhstan was also the home to the Russian Space Program.  Since 1955, over 1700 satellites were launched from here.

9.  After the collapse of the USSR, all the stans became desperate with the loss of jobs, health and education which was no longer free.  It took these countries 10 years to recover.

10.  Now Kazakhstan has the largest GDP in Central Asia.  It has grown 30 times since independence in 1991.  With all that oil and 20% of the world’s uranium as well as being he world’s 6th largest producer of wheat, the country has a bright future.  They even have ski slopes and ice rinks in the mountains outside Almaty where many people escape during the summer heat to their alpine dachas.  This region is one of the last undiscovered frontiers of travel.

• Doug Parks is a serious traveler, teacher and adventurer who has journeyed to 170 countries over the course of his life to this point, including trips to Europe, South America and Middle Asia with Pablo.

The Facts about Kyrgyzstan  (written by Douglas Parks)

1.  If you are an outdoorsman or woman with a love of mountains and lakes, felt yurts and amazing horse games, this small country, about the size of South Dakota, is for you.

2.  The country has a population of five million, 1.25 million of whom live in the capitol Bishkek and 400,000 more in second city Osh.

3.  There is relative freedom of religion here: 75% Muslim (Sunnis), 20% Russian Orthodox.  There are some Kazakhs and Uzbeks here but Kyrgyzs  make up 65% of the population and Russians the remaining 15%.

4.  Unlike the rest of the “Stans” which have dictators for presidents, Kyrgyzstan practices a limited form of Democracy and since the fall of the USSR, a number of presidents have been elected.

5.  Bishkek is a young capital , but what it lacks in historical sites, it makes up for in fine parks, museums and monuments.  It is a walkable city with lovely tree lined boulevards and marble faced buildings.

6.  Second city Osh, by contrast is a 2,000 year old Silk Road Bazaar town on the edge of the Fergana Valley.  It has the reputation of being a smuggler’s town where large amounts of heroin come up from Afghanistan on its way to Russia.

7.  Historically, both Ghengis Khan and Tamberlane ruled here.

8.  Kyrgyzstan has a major lake named Issyk Kol.  It is the second largest Alpine lake in the world after Lake Titicaca in Peru.

9.  Water is a major commodity of personal and political importance in Central Asia.  Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan both have it in abundance.  Uzbekistan doesn’t.    So it is traded to the Uzbeks for oil and gas in the Winter.

10.  By Lake Issyk Kkol there are many ancient rock paintings dating back in one area from the 8th to the 5th century B.C. and in a second area by the old Silk Road Burana Tower, were carved stones of vanquished warriors from the 6th to 11th centuries A.D.

11.  The Kyrgyz oral epic, Manas, is the longest poem in the world, 20 times longer than the Odyssey.  It is about keeping the Chinese out of their country.  It has 500,000 verses and to be sung or read takes three days!

12.   The Kyrgyzs are great horse people and horse games are their national sport.  Whether it be horse racing, horse football using a dead goat as the football, horse wrestling one-on -one, they are gifted riders.  They also practice their historic custom of bride kidnapping on horseback, a custom still prevalent, though outlawed,  in much of Central Asia.