The Backpacking Boomers

As a child, I was mesmerized by the Silk Road, imagining it magically paved with elegant silk, camel caravans carrying exotic goods along its path. That childish image is long gone, but my fascination remains — not only with the cities that still flourish, but also with those that were abandoned and often forgotten, along what was once a network of Asian trade routes used from the second century BCE until the mid-fifteenth century. Two of these cities have long captured my im

To have my stories about our travel adventures published in the Toronto Star has always been a dream of mine. And now that dream has come true again, this time, about our travels in the remote Mangystau Region of Kazakhstan. As always, we hope our travel experiences encourage others to step off the well-trodden paths. https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/this-well-travelled-reader-and-her-husband-wanted-to-find-a-place-with-few-visitors-they-chose-kazakhstan/article_0afbe776-

Ancient Petroglyphs of Tanbaly We’re heading back, way back, to the Bronze, Iron and Medieval Ages; the petroglyphs of Tanbaly, Kazakhstan, are our time machine. Tanbaly, which means painted or marked place in Kazakh, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to 5000 petroglyphs carved into the rock surfaces, 3000 of which are located in Tanbaly, a remote river canyon. Leaving the chaotic traffic of Almaty, it’s a smooth two-and-a-half-hour drive to Tanbaly Canyon with our driver

I squeeze my eyes shut as we crest the hill into nothingness, opening them as we careen back down into the steppe grasslands, scattering herds of sheep in all directions. It’s day one of our two-day off-road adventure through Kazakhstan’s remote and wild terrain of Charyn Canyon National Park, home to the Charyn River. Our skilled driver-guide Damir, who knows this area intimately, gives us a bird’s-eye view of unique landscapes along the canyon’s 154-kilometre length. He has