I’m standing in front of the house, it’s just past six, and the first thing I see are the Haflingers. They’re grazing freely across the meadow, while somewhere in the distance the sound of cowbells drifts over. No car has found its way up here – anyone arriving parks...
Uzbeks love children in a way that catches many Western Europeans off guard. Strangers talk to kids directly, press sweets into their hands, want photos — and none of this is a performance for tourists. It’s just how things are. Once you’ve seen it, you immediately understand why families...
Most countries you visit leave behind a feeling. Uzbekistan leaves behind questions. Not because the country is hard to understand, but because it goes deeper than expected — and you realise you’re not done with it when the return flight takes off. The country sits at the heart of...
I leave Bujtina Polia at 7 in the morning. Three, maybe four degrees. My fingers are cold. Hood up, double layers. Somewhere in the village a fire is still burning — I can’t see it, but I breathe it in. Warm chimney air that somehow found its way here,...
Tirana doesn’t show up in most European travel plans. Too unknown, too far off the standard Balkan route, no iconic landmark that works on Instagram. That might be the best reason to go. I arrived with mixed expectations and left with an impression that’s hard to compress into a...
