The videos document my pilgrimage from Indonesia to the African continent by land (no airplane!). The route: 1.) Indonesia: Traveling through Sumatran Mountains and Prehistoric Sites 2.) Malaysia: Meeting with the Aborigines of the Malay Peninsula 3.) Thailand: Tracing the Southeast Asian Ancient Empires 4.) Laos: Experiencing the Lao-China Railway 5.) China: Backpacking the Tibetan Plateau to the Edge of the Silk Road 6.) Kazakhstan: First Contact with the Central Asians 7.) Uzbekistan: Pilgrimage in the Land of the Timurids 8.) Tajikistan: Lost in the Fenn Mountains 9.) Afghanistan: Visiting Afghanistan after the Taliban Takeover 10.) Iran: Surrounded by the Ancient Civilization of Persia 11.) UAE: Short Transit in Futuristic Cities 12.) Saudi Arabia: Pilgrimage in the Holy Land of the Muslims 13.) Jordan: Catching a Glimpse of Jerusalem 14.) Egypt: Ending in the Land of Pharaohs
Curated by: Bang Jago (174 videos)
On the 111th day I explored the Kyzylkum Desert to visit the ancient castles dotted around Ellik Kala (Fifty Castles), about 75 kilometers to the northeast of Khiva. The first fortress I visited was Toprak Kala, which is just on the southern edge of Kyzylkum. This fortress was built in the 1st century AD and was the center of the ancient Khwarezmian kingdom until it was abandoned in the 4th century when the flow of the Amu Darya shifted south. To reach this fort economically, you can take a bus to Buston and continue with a shared taxi which will stop right in front of Topraq Kala. On top of the fort we can see the remains of the area where the king lived. In this area, paintings, statues of gods and even ancient manuscripts written in Khwarezmian language were found. I continued walking 2.5 kilometers under the hot sun to reach Kyzyl Kala, another fort located in Ellik Kala. I climbed the stairs to reach the fortress. Up close, I could see that part of the fort's walls has been renovated which help visitors to better imagine the appearance of the fort in the past. Meanwhile, the inside of the fort looks flat with several chambers underneath the sand, most of which were buried due to sand brought by the wind for more than 1000 years. The Karakalpakstan area is not as famous as Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva, but in fact the historical sites in this place are relatively more authentic than those in the three old cities which have been renovated many times. Returning from exploring, I was served tukhum barak, a traditional Khwarezmian food made from flour and eggs and covered in fermented milk. Tomorrow I plan to continue my travel to Bukhara. ___ Sumatra Stage 1 Route (DONE!): Jakarta - Bandar Lampung - Baturaja - Lahat - Pagar Alam - Bengkulu - Lebong Tandai - Kerinci - Jambi - Kuala Tungkal - Batam - Johor Bahru ASEAN Mainland Stage 2 Route (DONE!): Johor Bahru - Kuala Tahan - Kota Bharu - Su-Ngai Kolok - Nakhon Si Thammarat - Chaiya - Nakhon Pathom - Bangkok - Nakhon Ratchasima - Phimai - Nong Khai - Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang - Chiang Rai - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Boten - Kunming, China China Stage 3 Route (DONE!): Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Shangri-La - Shambala - Litang - Chengdu - Leshan - Chengdu - Xi'an - Zhangye - Jiayuguan - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Almaty, Kazakhstan Stage 4 Central Asia Route: Almaty - Shymkent - Tashkent - Nukus - Muynak - Turtkul - Khiva - Bukhara - Samarkand - Tashkent - Khujand - Fann Mountains - Dushanbe - Kunduz, Afghanistan *Follow my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/obeysianipar/) for direct messages **Message me for sponsorship --- Music Credits: And Awaken - Stings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.