Far From Home podcast

On the recommendation of @DasPretzels, I downloaded Season One and listened to the whole thing during my three-day Lost Coast road trip. It's about an ex-NPR reporter and his photographer brother driving from London to Ulan Ude in a red (and very unreliable) Nissan Micra for the Mongol Rally.

Before I listened to it, I kind of turned my nose up at the rally because I assumed it was a Jackass-type race with little regard for the safety of and respect for the local population. I was wrong. 

This podcast is perfect for long drives. Enjoy!

Mongol Rally 2016 highlights from scottgurian on Vimeo.

July 15 blog

At this point, I would rather live in Turkmenistan than America.

Turkmenistan's president goes fishing, with mask (because of "dust," not coronavirus), catches many fish, gives fish to orphans, who look at fish, then clap, then eat fish, then clap again pic.twitter.com/pNsfdzjK85

— Eurasianet (@EurasiaNet) July 15, 2020

How about an Aston Rapide shooting brake?

And it's for sale!

This song was on the 90s XM station in the minivan tonight. I have not heard this song in a quarter century.

Turkmenistan president very much alive

He had been missing for a month and rumors swirled. So the government released this video to show that he is well.

Turkmenistan's president is the manliest

Driving a BYD from Shanghai to Rotterdam

This series is both educational and fun. Two Dutchmen working in Shanghai (one in marketing, one in urban planning) quit their jobs and got BYD and other Chinese companies to sponsor their road trip home. Everything they used on the trip-- cameras, sunglasses, tents, clothing-- were Chinese-made. They obviously couldn't speak ill of Chinese products, but the products spoke for themselves. Watch the entire series here. My favorite episodes are as follows:

Introduction:

Xinjiang to Kazakhstan:

Kazakhstan:

Uzbekistan:

Turkmenistan:

Iran:

More Iran:

President of Turkmenistan shoots like Arnold Schwarzenegger

H/t Tarlan.

Eating the Globe: Going to New York or cooking at home

I'm running out of local restaurants. One solution, though impractical, is to go to New York City for two weeks and eat there. I can pretty much check off Eastern Europe, ex-Soviet republics, West Africa, and the Caribbean in New York. I bet I can even find Surinamese cuisine there. I mean, look, there's a friggin' Moldovan restaurant in Brooklyn.

But realistically, cooking at home is the solution. There are all sorts of DIY videos available.

A tomato and egg breakfast dish from Azerbaijan looks simple.

And Kazakh TV has a cooking show about a Turkmen dish.

And a Kazakh dish.

And finally, this is incredible. Some guy is cooking a dish from every country in the world, in alphabetical order.

Turkmenistan bans cigarettes

This is so awesome. Check out this BBC news video. It not only shows citizens burning cigarettes en masse, but it shows the Dear Leader hooning a BMW and riding a green bicycle while wearing a green parka. And his generals take notes just like the North Koreans!

H/t Ramon.

Shinzo Abe visits the -Stans

Japan's leader just went on my dream vacation. 

This article talks about Japan ignoring human rights (and doling out money) in the hopes of garnering support for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Oct. 22-24, Turkmenistan: Will help build gas processing plants. 

Oct. 24, Tajikistan: Grants for agriculture and infrastructure.

Oct. 24-26, Uzbekistan: Loans and grants for upgrade of power facilities.

Oct. 26, Kyrgyzstan: Will repair major road and equip airport.

Oct. 26-28, Kazakhstan: Will support building nuclear plants.

Amazing Turkmenistan tourist photos

I take pride that this blog captures that huge swath of world citizens (23) who appreciates a vacation in Turkmenistan and the technical eccentricities of a Citroen SM.

Here are some incredible pictures from Reddit. Detailed captions are here.

Turkmenistan Airlines.

Air conditioned bus stops. Except the air conditioning doesn't work. So greenhouse bus stops.

All those buildings lining the main street are made of Italian marble.

Largest enclosed ferris wheel in the world. WTF.

Democracy scores for former Communist countries

Via Freedom House. 1 is best, 7 is worst.

1.93 Slovenia
1.96 Estonia
2.07 Latvia
2.21 Czech
2.21 Poland
2.36 Lithuania
2.64 Slovakia

3.18 Hungary
3.29 Bulgaria
3.46 Romania
3.68 Croatia / Serbia
3.89 Montenegro

4.07 Macedonia
4.14 Albania
4.46 Bosnia
4.64 Georgia
4.75 Ukraine
4.86 Moldova

5.14 Kosovo
5.36 Armenia
5.93 Kyrgyzstan

6.39 Tajikistan
6.46 Russia
6.61 Kazakhstan
6.71 Belarus
6.75 Azerbaijan
6.93 Turkmenistan / Uzbekistan

Turkmenistan bumper car

More incredible photos here.

Turkmenistan president falls off a horse!

This is about as the-emperor-has-no-clothes as it gets.

Apparently, it was Horse Day in Turkmenistan so its great leader decided to participate in a horse race with an $11m purse. He won, of course, because he is awesome. Moments after crossing the finish line, this happened.

He was knocked out momentarily. Everyone was told to delete their videos of the mishap.

And this looks like an official state-sanctioned piece on Horse Day.

Turkmenistan president keepin' it real

I'm plotting a dream trip to Turkmenistan and found this.

Turkmenistan's presidential ride

On Saturday, Turkmenistan's president-for-life drove to the country's first car race in his Veyron.  He wanted to wish the racers good luck.  But then, the crowd convinced the Dear Leader to enter the contest.  And guess what?  He won!

Mongol Rally 2012

Who's doing this?

Press freedom rankings 2010

Of note:
1. (Tied) Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
17. Germany
18. Australia
20. U.S.A.
23. (Tied) Hungary, Czech Republic
48. Taiwan
58. Brazil
99. U.S.A. (extra-territorial)
115. Tajikistan
130. Iraq
140. Russia
147. Afghanistan
159. Kyrgyzstan
162. Kazakhstan
163. Uzbekistan
171. China
175. Turkmenistan
178. (Last) Eritrea

Full list here.

Darvaza flaming crater in Turkmenistan

In 1971, Soviet geologists found an underground cavern with natural gas.  To avoid a poisonous gas discharge, the crew decided to burn the gas.  It has not stopped burning since.

The nuclear option: The Soviet way to stop natural gas gushers

In 1972, the Soviets used a 15 kiloton nuclear device to stop an out of control natural gas gusher.  It was successful.  Similar detonations had also been used in Uzbekistan and Ukraine (5 total).  Wow, and I thought nuclear powered lighthouses were ingenious.

Turkmenistan Flu Prevention PSAs

The videos speak for themselves.