In Cambodia I met the director of the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan. I mentioned that I was going to Kyrgyzstan and he laughed and said "why?"

I'm here to tell you, friends, that that man is an idiot. Kyrgyzstan is lovely and unique and weird.

Had the first "oh my god i'm gonna die" moment of the trip yesterday, riding a horse in the mountains. I don't know why they even gave me that whip.

Probably going to apply for an Uzbek visa so I can visit Tashkent, Samarkand and other cradles of Central Asian civilization. Or I might fly to Berlin - want to visit Berlin before the trip is over, and events have transpired such that my trip will now be a bit shorter than I planned ... don't worry, these were good events.