“On the road again” -to Bishkek
Friends and readers, I haven’t really had much to post about lately. Over the past 2 years this blog has been mostly about my 2017 trip to Central Asia, what I learned there, and my perspectives on what I learned…
The Rover
The Aral Sea=Dakota Access Pipeline? Big Government vs Environment
What are the long term effects of big government decisions on the environment?
Inspiration
I started following Juvena (AKA The Wandering Wasp) about a year before I took the trip to Mongolia. Life is short and if I remember correctly, it was the death of a friend that helped inspire her to take her…
Debt, Poverty and Micro-finance
Predatory lending as explained in the 1970’s sitcom “Good Times”: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or [insert politically correct term of choice here]. I’m writing this in the days of the Christmas holiday when I and many around me are surrounded…
Reblog: Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek and alamedin gorge — Maggie and Shaun Eurasia travel blog
Kyrgistan is the poorest of the four central Asian republics that we are visiting. It’s on its third regime since independence (see Guardian correspondent, Philip Shishkin’s account in restless valley for a nail buying account). It is now building its…
The Story of Paris, Sichang and “Gym Families”
This is a story of recent events combined with memories from a trip I took some 17 years ago. Last week my dear friend Paris Alexander, of Bay Area boxing fame, was involved in a bicycle accident in San Francisco,…
A story about an aspiring young Pakistani Mixed Martial Artist.
I haven’t posted anything really about my time in Pakistan where I visited after Mongolia. It was a routine but educational experience, characterized by daily trips to the gym and absorbing the local culture of Lahore in Punjab state at…
The Mongolian Deel
What’s the deal with the Mongolian deel? 😀 Joseph’s host on the left is wearing a traditional deel which might be described as a warm heavy duty overcoat. This particular type of deel would fit into the category of “work…
Mongolia- A funny memory
I’m looping back to Mongolia because I had a funny memory while I was binge watching ” Cobra Kai” the Karate Kid saga remake on youtube… This is my (very patient) host Jvvureg. In the picture he’s demonstrating how to…
Mixed Martial Arts in Turkey-“The Last Round” Gym
Although I only visited Istanbul, I have always known the nation of Turkey to produce great athletes in the sports requiring great physical strength, particularly weightlifting and wrestling. Football (or as we call it ‘Soccer’) and Basketball are also extremely…