scrubbedexpat141

Morning All,

Very quiet on here so thought I'd repost in the Summer thread but then realised it'd been heavily subdued with thoughts of human mortality.

UK trip was lovely, weather was insane and the scorched earth is unreal. The whole country looks barren and burnt.
In brighter news I've just spunked some cash and am going to Bali in two weeks. Heard so many mixed reviews about the place but certainly seems somewhere worth exploring. Will explore some of the old threads to see what's what I think.
Binned off the idea of safari and zanzibar, need longer than a week and after the first half of this year and whatnot, a week on a sunbed and doing some relaxed exploring is much more appealing than any great travelling.

What's everyone else got left?

How are people finding work through summer?

Weather here is a bit wank isn't it?

co durham boy

Having we week back to the UK next week before Eid to break the deadlock . Work is dead at the moment and I don't see much change , very little money around for contractors . I quite like Bali on a whole , there's good and bad bits but if you plan it right it's a decent hit to be honest .

Millhouse

I'm back from my week in Kenya, went quite well considering. Certainly an eye opener.

Leaving on Wednesday for 2.5 weeks splitting between UK & Marbella. Looking forward to it - head to nikki beach to seem some love island rejects.

Weather here is terrible, heat and humidity I'm fine with but truly hate the dust.

I've been dead all year and now work has picked up, just as I'm about to go away on holiday. Typical, so will be on the phone the whole bloody time I bet.

Miss Ann Thrope

Kenya with the in-laws? Eyes opened to what exactly?

DXBtoDOH

Weather all of July has been pretty decent in Qatar, I have to admit. Hot, yes, but not cripplingly hot. And almost always dry. Yesterday was a bit humid in the morning but nothing compared to what it can be. You can still go to outdoor bars and spend time outside in the evenings. The sky is even bluish. We've been very fortunate this summer. I've never experienced such a mild Gulf summer.

I go back to UK mid-August, think I've already talked about it. Work is keeping me busy but it's not Qatar work!

Scamp, read through the threads from Mission. She went to Bali and left early.

Bali can be all right if you don't have high expectations. But as long as you know that and just want some sun and cheap booze and a pretty water to look at you'll be fine. There's Starbucks and pretty good grub if you know where to look and you're not roughing it, and that's what most people want at the end of the day.

scrubbedexpat141

It was glorious in the UK, pub gardens, daylight until 10pm, warm evenings, BBQs. It was almost worth considering moving back.

Are you having any carbs before though?
The dust is rancid isn't it, after two weeks of fresh air it's especially miserable.

I'm expecting it to be pretty decent given the price I've paid and room I've booked etc. However, I'm also quite excited about going out and about for cheap boozey afternoons and even some surfing.

hnd

DXBtoDOH

I'm lazy today despite having too much work to do. I think I pulled a muscle and swimming laps this morning left me very sore though I stuck till the finish.

Anyone else feel like doing bugger all?

Anyone been to Uzbekistan?

Millhouse

Only liquid ones.

TheShed

I've been feeling lazy all week - I think its the weather, there's nobody around and the fact that I'm going on holiday in less than two weeks

jam25mack

Where you going / staying in Bali?

Doubt it despite that fact at 6.1 it was a pretty healthy magnitude.

DXBtoDOH

Liquefied donut smoothie from Dunkin Donut?

scrubbedexpat141

Seminyak.

Kind of hoping to not really move too much at all. Want to just occasionally roll over to stop sunbed sores and to scratch my arse or reach for a beer.

Miss Ann Thrope

Yes, definitely worth a visit: Timur, silk road, the whole post-Soviet central Asian weirdness..

Samarkhand, though utterly unmissable, was a bit of a disappointment as the main historical buildings are over-restored in a very Soviet kind of way and it is the home city of the president-for-this-life-and-the-next so it feels massively tarted up. But a lot to see there including the Scythian/Sogdian museum and archaeology, not just the Timurid stuff (which is amazing). Bukhara was the highlight for me: a real atmospheric genuinely exotic place where the historical sites are fully integrated in daily city life, bordering on orientalist fantasy but totally unfake. Khiva is stunning and while it is a bit of a museum park, it is worth the trip out there. And then there is the Khizlkum desert and the amazing enormous Amu Darya (Oxus).

Tashkent is pleasant and chaotic and has a fantastic Soviet subway system (the station with the space stuff is a highlight) though the airport, immigration and customs were a horror show even by regional standards (and speaking as someone who was deported from another stan). I didn't get to the rump Aral sea as it is a long overland trip nor to the Fergana valley which has some travel restrictions I think. One thing I regret not doing is going to the Afghan border at Termez which is apparently quite a dramatic location on the Amu Darya in the mountains. I think it could be squeezed into an extra day on a side-trip from Samarkhand also taking in Shahrisabz (Timur's birthplace which is worth the effort and a very scenic trip).

Food tip: fill up on the delicious salads and mezze type starters as the main course stuff is very heavy going - not as much shashlik as elsewhere, but lots of plov... Impossible to get a decent cup of coffee. More ethnically mixed than the other stans with clear separate communities of Turkic, Persian and East Asiatic origin, physically and linguistically distinct, as well as the Russians of course. Booze shops everywhere and a very Soviet style of Islam (maybe different in Fergana). The country and Uzbek identity is a bit of a 19th century Tsarist fabrication anyway so it is much more of a melting pot than the other stans. It doesn't have the dramatic mountain scapes of Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan or the steppes of Kazakhstan but it's still my second favourite central Asian destination (after the utterly extraordinary Turkmenistan).

jam25mack

Seminyak is a upgrade on Kuta you'll be pleased to know. Some nice evening sundowners type bars.

Hit up Uluwatu for surfing although look for a beach rather than a reef break if just trying it out.