Introduction: month begins with disruption, followed by more disruption, is this not how life often unfolds. Fleeting and ephemeral moments of calm, punctuated by obstacles. Just one small step from catastrophe.
Solved obstacle is replaced by a new obstacle. Hercules battled the hydra; cut off one head, two heads re-appeared. Vacations may be picture perfect, but over a long enough period of time, whirled travel goes sideways, shatter any illusion of glamour.
As the Buddha parable suggests, we each have 83 obstacles. This is reality, this is the nature of life, this is what it means to be of human form. Resist and suffer, or accept (equanimity). Life involves pain, but I (alone) create (and may end) my own suffering.
Initially you are overwhelmed. Gradually you realize it is like a wave. Resist, and you will be knocked over. Dive into it, and you will swim out the other side.
Deborah Moggach, These Foolish Things (2004)
TUE 30 JUNE: ninety-minute drive from Mazari Sharif to Hairatan; goodbye to guide and driver. Stamped out of Afghanistan by Taliban. Walk across Friendship Bridge, over the Amu River. At half-way point, luggage inspection. Agent takes apart entire contents of 7-kg backpack. Curiosity perhaps; what does an American tourist pack.
Exit the bridge; second agent does not allow me to enter immigration. He flips my passport in the air, laughs, and repeats “America.” He allows other individuals to enter and exit the immigration hall. Twelve minutes, like a cat playing with a mouse, beyond the limit of polite conversation; deeply disturbing behavior.
Allowed inside immigration hall; third agent reviewed passport with magnifying lens and examined every page. Showed me that laminated data page cracked along the photograph, worst place for passport damage. I am somewhere between shock and disbelief. After one hour, I am reluctantly stamped in to Uzbekistan, perhaps, because there is no US embassy or consulate in Afghanistan to remedy.
It is illegal for an immigration agent to damage a passport. Passports are government, not personal, property. There are traveler reports, from time to time, that an agent may damage a passport to later induce a bribe to allow entry to said country.
Fourth agent takes apart entire 7-kg backpack. I have experienced this behavior at airports, the power play. Travel 80 of 200 countries, perhaps, one of the worst land border crossings that I remember; worse than Dominican Republic to Haiti (2017). All four Uzbekistan agents were passive-aggressive, or just aggressive.
Taxi to city center; head is spinning. Afghanistan was busy, and even with a guide, nothing was easy. Need to reconcile the damaged passport, but how.
Normal wear and tear, accident, or deliberate, does it even matter; options:
– 1. continue to travel until I am denied entry due to damaged passport; immigration is challenging enough even when documents are in good order, I will be denied.
– 2. return to United States: Tashkent > Istanbul > New York ($1,000 Turkish Airlines). Travel on existing, damaged passport, replace upon return to United States.
– 3. obtain emergency passport from US Embassy in Tashkent. Takes six weeks to obtain ordinary, ten-year passport; unreasonable due to immediate onward travel.
Wednesday, may you never need the purple passport; if you travel long enough, you will likely earn the purple passport, dubious honor. Wake up pre-dawn, email US Embassy, with subject line: E33 – EMERGENCY PASSPORT – GARTH ADAM MONROE, with details in the text body. Embassy opens 9am; receive a reply in less than 90-minutes via email and WhatsApp (voice). Instructed to complete and print passport form DS-11, pay $165 on-line fee, and report to American consular section in Tashkent at 8am Thursday before embassy closes at mid-day for US holiday weekend.
Cancel travel reservations for the week, including Tajikistan. Book (same day) evening flight from Termez to Tashkent. Flight is on-time, pleasant surprise. Metro is closed for the evening; thirty-minute taxi to hotel. Tashkent appears modern and vibrant. Check into the hotel at 11:30pm; in bed before midnight.
Thursday, US Embassy Tashkent is located outside the city center, in the northeast corner of the city. Pleasant, thirty-minute walk to the embassy. To suggest that the embassy is a secure building is an understatement. Multiple layers of security and inspections; surrender iPhone at the entrance. Appointment promptly at 8am. Staff was pleasant, helpful, and compassionate. They issue the emergency passport; I am finished before 9am, and return to the hotel. Happy inter-dependence day.
Emergency passport is valid for one year, no biometric chip, twelve total pages, but limited to five pages for (~25) visa stamps. It is not valid for (airport) entry to Belgium, France, or Netherlands. When I return to United States, will exchange the emergency passport for ordinary, ten-year passport, with no additional fees. Intend to travel across Europe by train, from Istanbul Turkey to Lisbon Portugal. Do not anticipate any issues transiting France, as I will enter the Schengen zone at Bulgaria.
FRI 03 JULY: brief walk to Tashkent Central Station, morning train to Samarkand, arrive mid-day. Wonder if there is a competition, who may design the most uncomfortable train seat. There is no metro, take one of two trams towards AirBnB.
Saturday, nine hours of sleep, first night of rest since departure from Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan is a pleasant surprise. Comfortable weather, warm but not hot, almost perfect, for exploring the city sites. Samarkand is modern and clean, and I am mostly ignored. Credit card is widely accepted. Uzbekistan feels more European than Russian, despite becoming independent in 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Uzbekistan is one of only two, double-landlocked nations (visit Liechtenstein in September), surrounded by five landlocked nations: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Signage appears in Uzbek and Russian. Uzbekistan is considered an authoritarian state with limited civil rights.
MON 06 JULY: public transit does not load onto Google maps, do not wish to pay for taxi, 90-minute walk to train station in the temperate, morning air. Train from Samarkand back to Tashkent. Four-hour journey is as tedious as the previous journey on Friday. I am familiar with Tashkent, and check into private room at local hostel.
Tuesday, visit local sites, but, the best experience is riding Tashkent metro. Each station is uniquely decorated, like a work of art, like an art museum, as special as Stockholm metro. Contactless credit card accepted, each ride cost $0.15 USD.
Wednesday, receive (second) Azerbaijan tourist eVisa. Had to reapply upon receipt of emergency passport; previous eVisa tied to previous passport.
Thursday, Andorra comes to my attention. It is not inside the European Union, and is not inside the Schengen area. Planned to travel from Toulouse to Andorra to Barcelona, which would risk an exit stamp from France, and risk denied entry to Andorra. Modify travel, Marseille to Barcelona via direct train. Round-trip bus from Barcelona to Andorra; Andorra and Spain both accept emergency passport.
SAT 11 JULY: one-hour, pre-dawn walk to airport. Doubts arise, I should have just returned to United States. Travel on emergency passport feels diminished. Neither fault, nor blame, nor self-hatred, but embarrassed and disappointed. Following three months in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, this was supposed to be the fun part of the journey. It is like my passport gave up and quit, “go on without me.”
Check-in at airline counter, present emergency passport and eVisa. Agent immediately calls supervisor. They do not speak English; hostile body language. Emergency passports are not ubiquitous, primarily issued only by G7 nations.
Uzbekistan immigration, present old passport (with entry stamp) and new passport with letter from US Embassy. Agent immediately calls supervisor. Eye-roll, stink eye, dirty looks, “dirty American” comments. Stamped out of the country.
Three-hour flight to Baku Azerbaijan, over Turkmenistan and Caspian Sea.
Exit aircraft, present emergency passport at immigration. Agent immediately calls supervisor. Eventually, I am stamped in to the country. This behavior will likely mirror the remainder of the journey. Breathe into a very tight space, one border at a time.
Sunday, slow start to the day, no alarm, wake up following eleven-hours of sleep. I have a headache, and I take medication, before it morphs in to a migraine. Migraine is never one trigger, but combination of triggers (lack of sleep, stress, anxiety, food allergy).
Baku, is the capital of Azerbaijan, and sits on the coast of the (landlocked) Caspian Sea, 92-feet below sea level. Azerbaijan was independent for less than two years, before it was seized by the Soviet Union in 1920, and regained its independence in 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan economy is driven by oil and gas exports, and is one of the largest oil and gas suppliers to European Union.
TUE 14 JULY: H1 city bus to airport, contactless credit card ($1 USD) operates all day, but with a thinner schedule between midnight and sunrise.
Airline agent is pleasant, but asked supervisor to review passport. Exit Azerbaijan immigration, agent asked for supervisor to review passport. One-hour flight to Tbilisi Georgia. No visa required to enter Georgia, but the country requires medical insurance (as of January). Purchased token policy with IMG ($20 USD). Clear immigration, agent said nothing. Travel to Tbilisi was less bad than travel to Baku.
Wanted to take overnight train from Azerbaijan to Georgia, via the Balakan-Lagodecki border, but border closed to non-locals (ie. closed to anyone traveling on an eVisa).
City bus (#337) from airport to city center ($1 USD), contactless credit card, one-hour. Georgia was Russian territory from 1921-1991. Ride past grubby, Russian-era, panel construction, apartment blocks. Hanging from balconies, laundry flutters in the breeze, on display to the world; grey underwear and wife-beater t-shirts.
Tbilisi has green, deciduous trees, in contrast to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan. Sunny, pleasant, summer day; no need to see sites, simply enjoy this fine weather.
Un-fussy AirBnB, third floor walk-up, 1950s apartment block. There is a central, garden courtyard; at sunset, a bat flips through the air catching insects. From the balcony, watch lights turn on across the city, and the warm glow from Holy Trinity Cathedral.
FRI 17 JULY: some days, wish iPhone screen cracked and not passport data page. Dread almost every travel day, dread crossing borders. Not a drug runner, fugitive, or terrorist. Just an independent tourist, why is immigration so intimidating. Not a pleasant experience. Intention is for a day of no drama, is this too much to ask.
Overnight train to Yerevan Armenia departs 10pm. Modern train car; only two berths in the compartment. Train car attendant – provodnitsa – speaks only Russian.
Clear Georgia immigration at midnight. Agents jokingly pass around my passport (“fvcking American … get a load of this”). Clear Armenia immigration at 2am. Agents gravely pass around my passport (“fvcking American … what the hell is this”).
Train arrives on-time in Yerevan at 9am. Overnight train from Batumi to Yerevan (via Tbilisi) operates only during the summer, on alternative nights (north one night, south subsequent night). 18-hours Batumi; 12-hours Tbilisi. Tickets may be purchased on-line. Metro (subway) to city center; contactless credit card. Wax on. Wax off.
Sunday, visit Genocide Museum. 1.5-million Armenians murdered by the Ottoman Empire during World War I (1915-1916). Marched from Armenia to the Syrian Desert with little food or water. It is argued that genocide enabled the creation of modern Turkey (1923). Turkey continues to deny the genocide; thirty-four countries disagree.
Demoralized. Earlier this year, visited the Killing Fields in Cambodia. Bear witness to the brutality of man. Reminded of the State of Israel, country borne from the holocaust and murder of six-million Jews. Does mankind learn nothing from history.
Under Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, and Smotrich, hatred and violence beget hatred and violence; an eye for an eye and the world goes blind. Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, long suggested that, “No one has the right to do wrong, even if wrong has been done to them.” Slaughter of innocent Israelis does not justify the slaughter of innocent Palestinians, Lebanese, or Syrians.
TUE 21 JULY: walk to Kilikia bus station, ghastly, Soviet architectural relic. Share van back to Tbilisi Georgia; Armenia-Turkey land border remains closed since 1993. Once outside Yerevan, Armenia landscape is stunning; rolling green hills punctuated by snow-capped mountains (even in July).
No drama travel day; five-hour journey (v. ten-hour train). It is better to visit Armenia following Azerbaijan. Contested Nagorno-Karabakh region is populated by Armenia, but claimed by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan often protests Armenia passport stamps.
THU 23 JULY: five-hour train from Tbilisi to Batumi Georgia, Black Sea port city. No-drama travel day, modern train car, on-time. There is no proper luggage storage. Overhead racks too small for tourists with large luggage. Luggage stacked in the vestibule, blocks exit door egress. If there is a train accident, flying luggage would injure passengers, or block safe exit from the train. Farkakte.
Batumi is a low-key tourist destination, visited not by foreign tourists, but by local citizens, enjoying summer at the beach. Black Sea beach does not resemble a sandy beach, but one of smooth, polished rocks; be sure to wear water shoes.
SUN 26 JULY: wake to sinking feeling of dread, there is no salvation, nothing will save me. Is life not held together by a fragile, imperceptible thread of hope, and, what happens when that delicate thread is shredded (to bits). How many countries … one … one hundred … two hundred … does it even matter … does it not make any difference.
City bus (#16) from Batumi to Sarpi border, one-hour. It is chaos, crush of people to exit Georgia immigration. I am the person that brings the immigration line to a grinding halt. In addition to emergency passport, asked to present (Texas) driver license, and the damaged passport … um … okay … I can dance, too.
Cross border from Sarpi Georgia to Sarp Turkey, share van to Hopa, and check into hotel. There is no good reason to visit Hopa. No good reason to remain in Hopa. It is a border town, pass-through destination. Remain two nights, not because I want to, but, it slows down the journey, and provides a buffer when life goes sideways. Provides a glimpse into a world that I would not otherwise travel. Eastern Turkey, long on cigarettes, tea, and backgammon; short on English and tourists.
TUE 28 JULY: visited western Turkey three years ago; eastern Turkey is remote by tourist standards, with limited infrastructure. Six-hour mini-bus to Kars Turkey, with truly, dramatic scenery: rugged, arid mountains, azul-colored lakes, and high plateaus.
Wednesday, there is a minaret outside the hotel. First call to morning prayer 4am. Call to prayer was lovely; it was also very loud.
Public bus from Kars to Ani Ruins. On Google maps, location is labeled “Ani Ruin Tourist Bus.” Round-trip fare $2 USD. Ani Ruins historic site dates back to the middle ages, and lies on Turkey-Armenia border. Wonderful day; few people at the site. Appreciated down-time and alone-time; introverts are easy to spot. Sweet fragrance of the high plateau, and the plaintive-sound of the wind.
FRI 31 JULY: Doğu Ekspresi (eastern express) train departed Kars at 8am for 26-hour, 1300-km (800-mile) journey west to Ankara, capital city of Turkey. Coordinated train tickets with Amber Travel, recommended by the Man in Seat 61.
For the remaining two months of this nine-month journey, it will be a whirlwind, connect-the-dots train odyssey from Turkey to Portugal, and everywhere in-between.
Whirled travel is not often fun, but, it provides a means to synthesize and better understand a world that I do not understand. “Are you not entertained (Maximus).”
Cost: cumulative travel costs, during past 217-days.
Lodging: $4,623 total | $21 day (private room: 143 nights | 66%)
Transport: $6,324 total | $29 day (plane | train | bus | ferry | taxi)
– – Philippine Airline ($1100 JFK – MNL, 18-hour non-stop, $61 flight hour)
– – Four flights ($300 Bangkok, Myanmar, Bangkok, Chiang Mai)
– – Six flights ($1,600 India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Bhutan, Nepal)
– – Seven flights ($1,000 inter-India on IndiGo; Karachi Pakistan)
– – Two flights ($300 Islamabad to Skardu; Kabul Afghanistan)
– – Three flights ($500 to Tashkent; to Baku; to Tbilisi)
Food: $734 total | $3 day
Other: $4,975 total | $23 day (FX | ATM | visa | tourism | RV & motorbike)
– – Bhutan ($1,375 five-day, four-night | travel prohibited without guide)
– – Afghanistan ($2,500 seven-day, six-night | Untamed Borders)
Total: $16,656 total | $77 day | $28,000 annualized
– – Cash burn: $795 | $4 day (when credit card not accepted)
Credit card accepted more frequently; have not exchanged any currency.
Currency: Philippine Peso (PHP), Myanmar Kyat (MMK), Thailand Baht (THB), Laos Kip (LAK), Cambodia Riel (KHR), Vietnamese Dong (VND), Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR), Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR), Bhutanese Ngultrum (BTN), Nepalese Rupee (NPR), Indian Rupee (INR), Bangladeshi Taka (BDT), Pakistani Rupee (PKR), Afghan Afghani (AFN). Uzbekistani Som (UZS), Azerbaijani Manat (AZN), Georgian Lari (GEL), Armenian Dram (AMD), Turkish Lira (TRY).
Conclusion: seek truth, not my truth, but, universal truth, that which is true. Over time, come to understand that there is: no purpose, no meaning, no certainty, no permanence, no fairness, no safety, no security. Perhaps life is mostly not knowing.
To know the truth, to know something that is true – in a world of lies, deceit, and manipulation – would it make any difference. Perhaps we may only endure.
In this world, one-third of the people use a spoon and fork, one-third use chopsticks, and one-third use fingers, and we are all civilized just the same.
Rick Steves, on the Hippie Trail (2025)
garthmonroe 