Terry Rodgers
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observaterry.bsky.social
Terry Rodgers
@observaterry.bsky.social
160 followers 180 following 240 posts
I'm into writing, scribbling, travel and photography.
From Edinburgh.
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Concluding my Silk Road travels in the desert: ancient ruins, ancient cities, ancient trains, and who's the freeloader inflicting the world's worst joke on their travelling companions?
(Yes, it was me...) 🇺🇿
observaterry.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/s...
Silk Road stan 7: one for the road
Our final stretch of the Silk Road took us into the desert and the ancient past. We boarded the sunrise train across the Kyzylkum (“Red Sands”). The journey to Urgench lasted four hours…
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November 13, 2025 at 4:38 PM
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"You're having a dinner party with characters from #StarTrek. Which four are you inviting?"
I think the booze and chat would be pretty damn good with this lot... 🖖
Dr McCoy from the 1960s Star Trek Scotty from the 1960s Star Trek Guinan from Star Trek: The Next Generation Jadzia Dax from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
November 9, 2025 at 7:50 PM
observaterry.bsky.social
Penultimate part of the Silk Road trip: the rather fetching city of Bukhara in Uzbekistan, which is ideal when you've been on the go for two weeks and you're energy's running low... 🇺🇿
observaterry.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/s...
Silk Road stan 6: bucking up in Bukhara
We arrived in Bukhara late at night. Our time in Uzbekistan so far had been fast-paced, with rail journeys in and out of Tashkent and Samarkand and when I woke the next morning I had no idea who I …
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November 7, 2025 at 12:48 PM
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SAMARKAND! A name that conjures up images of exotic adventures and ancient history! A highlight of Uzbekistan!

Also a place where I made myself the subject of a recurring joke for the rest of the trip... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
observaterry.wordpress.com/2025/11/01/s...
Silk Road stan 5: makes a mark in Samarkand
If there’s one name that conjures up the idea of the Silk Road, it must be Samarkand. It’s an ancient city, one of the oldest continually-inhabited on Earth. It contains iconic architec…
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November 1, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Reposted by Terry Rodgers
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"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"
October 28, 2025 at 10:46 AM
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Overnight in a Kazakhstan sleeper train, overnight in Tashkent, and no time to rest: my introduction to Uzbekistan... 🇺🇿
observaterry.wordpress.com/2025/10/25/s...
Silk Road stan 4: dash into Tashkent
When you arrive in Uzbekistan, you can see a clear difference between it and its neighbours, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. For one thing, it uses the Roman alphabet which gives it a more Western feel.…
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October 25, 2025 at 3:44 PM
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Uzbekistan: photos from in and around Khiva...
A ruined desert fortress eroding into the sand. The top of a minaret with its Islamic crescent moon mirrored by the actual crescent moon. A statue of two men sitting and laughing with a samovar next to them. The turquoise patterened Kalta Minor minaret, abandoned halfway through construction.
October 23, 2025 at 3:48 PM
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Uzbekistan: photos from around Bukhara...
Sunrise near the Kalan Minaret. The distinctive curving walls of the Ark of Bukhara with an original, unrestored section, reflected in water. A turquoise dome and courtyard tree seen through an archway. A statue of Mulla Nasreddin, a cheerful local folk hero on his donkey, lit up at night.
October 23, 2025 at 3:31 PM
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Uzbekistan: a handful of photos around Samarkand...
Shah-i-Zinda necropolis is covered in intricate mosaics of blue, white, and turquoise tiles. Detailed blue and gold decor inside the Amir Temur mausoleum. The madrasses of Registan Square lit up at night for a show. Three vast archways and minarets are lit up in soft greenish light. Hazrat Khizr Mosque silhouetted against the dusty afternoon sun looks like something out of 'One Thousand And One Nights'.
October 23, 2025 at 12:45 PM
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Uzbekistan: a few photos around Tashkent...
Sunset silhouette at the Hazrati Imam complex The vast, colourful dome at the centre of Chorsu Bazaar The beautifuuly decorated, cosmonaut-themed station in Taskent's metro with shimmering pillars and paintings of figures in the Soviet space programme. Hotel Uzbekistan in the afternoon sun, with a geometric concrete lattice covering the windows.
October 23, 2025 at 12:04 PM
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Kazakhstan: four days, five locations, an upset stomach, and one epic blog post; nothing but excitement from me!
🇰🇿
observaterry.wordpress.com/2025/10/15/s...
Silk Road stan 3: Kazakhety yak (don’t talk back)
Kazakhstan is the world’s ninth-largest country, and I was only there for four days. The trip I was on skimmed along the southern edge, focusing on Almaty, the former capital. Even so, it pac…
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October 15, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Terry Rodgers
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One of the most painful and interesting things about writing is just how much you need to read, see and consider, that you will not include in the end. But you cannot write what you are writing unless you have thought about it.
October 6, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Terry Rodgers
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Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
October 5, 2025 at 9:08 AM
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Part two of my Silk Road travels: Eagles! Beaches! Valleys! Yurts! And the worst toilet in central Asia!
#Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬
observaterry.wordpress.com/2025/10/05/s...
Silk Road stan 2: it is cool at Issyk Kul
Kyrgyzstan isn’t a huge country, but it has huge variety within it. You could easily imagine any number of fantasy films being made (or re-made) here. We’d started out in Bishkek, where…
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October 5, 2025 at 3:00 PM
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Details from the start of my Silk Road tour: Bishkek and the Kyrgyzstan countryside... 🇰🇬
observaterry.wordpress.com/2025/09/27/s...
Silk Road stan 1: Kyrgyz fizz
There are some things you can’t remember ever not knowing about them. The Silk Road is one of those things for me. But unlike particular cities, or structures, the Silk Road is more of an ide…
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September 27, 2025 at 4:04 PM
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Kazakhstan: views from the sleeper train to Shymkent and the border...
Sunrise over a remote village, seen through the restaurant carriage window. A combine harvester waits to be used, in the middle of a field. Beyond the farmland are distant, arid hills. In endless, arid plains, grazing cows are no bigger than specks. Four-person compartments are quite cosy when you include everyone's luggage. Better make sure you get on with them!
September 24, 2025 at 12:29 PM
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Kazakhstan: a handful of photos from around Almaty...
The vibrantly coloured Ascension Cathedral is bright yellow with multicoloured domes topped by golden Orthodox crucifixes, glinting in the sunlight. In the leafy park in front are a multitude of pigeons and stalls. The ornate interior of Ascension Cathedral is dominated by the colour gold, and icons of various saints all around. A dynamic war memorial monument with an eternal flame in front of it, commemorating holding back the Nazis in WW2. Almaty's colourful market has dozens upon dozens of stalls in the main area selling herbs, spices, fruit and veg, plants, and meat. Beyond this is a labyrinth of stalls selling clothes and trinkets and knick-knacks.
September 24, 2025 at 12:28 PM
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Kazakhstan: Esik's archaeology (kurgan burial mounds and museum), and Lake Esik in early autumn...
The 'Golden Man' is a reconstruction of a young aristocrat's ornate red and gold burial costume, which has become a national emblem of Kazakhstan. (Nobody truly knows if it was a young man or woman, but they're assuming it was a young man.) A Kurgan (burial mound) in the middle of a grassy, yellow plain with green hills and mountains behind it. Lake Esik has deep turquoise waters which contrast well with autumnal leaves. Across Lake Esik, taken from water level at the shore, with forested hills and mountain valleys reflected in the placid turquoise waters.
September 24, 2025 at 12:26 PM
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Kazakhstan: from the border to Lunar Canyon and Black Canyon
Two Bactrian camels chew grass on a plain fringed by distant mountains. A long straight road follows every bump and contour of the landscape to a vanishing point. Lunar Canyon: a river with lush green banks flows through a sandy canyon. Black Canyon seen from above where it os hot, dry, and windy. Deep below, the Charyn river wends its way between two lush, green banks.
September 24, 2025 at 12:23 PM
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Kyrgyzstan: Djety Oguz and Karakol
A river valley at sunrise with shafts of light and shadow coming over the mountain tops onto trees and a lively river. Djety Oguz, the 'Seven Bulls' - striking red rock formations at the end of a valley hike. A brightly-coloured wooden mosque in Karakol built without nails apparently. A wooden cathedral with ornate spires painted green and blue, topped with Orthodox crucifixes, amid a colourful garden.
September 23, 2025 at 3:50 PM
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Kyrgyzstan, around lake Issyk Kul: eagle hunters; Barskoon valley; and a night at a yurt camp near Djety Oguz.
An eagle hunter and his apprentice on horseback, holding their eagles aloft with their wings outstretched. A memorial to Yuri Gagarin in Barskoon valley. A boy on horseback makes his way down the forest hillside from Barskoon waterfall. A forested valley lit by moonlight.
September 23, 2025 at 3:39 PM
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Kyrgyzstan's countryside: Burana Tower; a memorial to the Urkun (revolt against the Russian Empire); and sunset at Chon Kemin valley.
Balbals are mediaeval stone grave markers in the shape of human figures. Burana Tower is the region's oldest minaret and used to be twice as tall, overlooking a caravanserai and fort. It is seen here with distant, hazy mountains behind it. The memorial to the Urkun (uprising against the Russian Empire) consists of two gold-coloured panels depicting armed Russian troops aiming their rifles, and fleeing civilians. In between is a statue of a family hugging each other in sorrow. Sunset over Chon Kemin valley casting rays of light and shadow over broad farmlands.
September 23, 2025 at 3:32 PM
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A handful of photos from around Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan...
Sunrise over the southern suburbs, including modern high-rise hotels, and in their shadows, older and slightly dilapidated homes. The Golden glow is also the result of sand and dust blowing in over the Ala-Too mountains from the Taklamakan desert. Changing of the guard at the gigantic flagpole in the city centre. Those soldiers can kick their feet up really high! Ala-Too Square, looking past the modern shops towards the snow-capped mountains. The statue of Lenin still stands from Soviet times, with a star-shaped flowerbed in front of him.
September 23, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Terry Rodgers
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Autumn arch.

Excited for the colours to change!
September 20, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Reposted by Terry Rodgers
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Harold Wilson in 1968:
August 26, 2025 at 1:19 PM