Central Asia | GlobalSalsa: travel writer Belinda Jackson

Apr

Why now is the best time to visit Afghanistan: The World Awaits podcast

Come to Central Asia’s forgotten country, Afghanistan.

I’ve long been fascinated by Afghanistan, since I first read historian William Dalrymple’s inspiring book In Xanadu; A Quest, and followed Irish travel doyenne Dervla Murphy, who cycled through Central Asia in the 1960s.

So I am very proud to bring this interview to you on my travel podcast, The World Awaits, about travelling in Afghanistan.

If you asked, “Why, of all times, would you run a story about the region now?” I’d respond, “If not now, then when?” Australia’s government foreign advisory

website Smartraveller has kept its advice, ‘Do Not Go’ unchanged for 20 years.

My guests are James Willcox of extreme travel group Untamed Borders, and also author of the new Brandt guidebook to Afghanistan, and Fatima Haidari, Afghanistan’s first female tour guide.

From Herat and now living in Italy, Fatima leads virtual tours through Afghanistan, a tribal country with enormous diversity. She talks not only about the tours, but the impact tourism has upon her country, from the natural beauty of Bamiyan, chaotic, crowded Kabul and the poetic heart of Herat.

“Isolation is the worst way to punish a population,” says Fatima, who shares the profit from the tours with a women’s education charity she established in Afghanistan. “Because the media is so heavily censored, tourism is one way to help open up the country. It helps local businesses and helps us to get out of isolation just a little bit.”

Listen on Apple Podcasts , Spotify or via our website https://theworldawaits.au

You can join Fatima’s virtual tours here https://untamedborders.com/itinerary/virtual-tours-with-fatima-afghanistan/

And take a tour with Untamed Borders https://untamedborders.com/

The Bradt guidebook to Afghanistan https://www.bradtguides.com/product/afghanistan-pb/

Champions of the Golden Valley https://www.championsofthegoldenvalley.com/

Secret Marathon Film https://thesecretmarathon.com/

Untamed Borders’ founder James Willcox

Podcast links

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/5eRb6ckSE286bxJugtDuRf?si=48279324689b4b0a
Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-141-travelling-in-afghanistan-keeping-your-eyes/id1689931283?i=1000760319714

Feb

The top travel destinations for 2026: ABC Radio, 3AW Radio clips

To misquote Taylor Swift, January slipped away like a bottle of wine – I spent a lot of time on radio and podcasts, chatting about the travel trends of 2026.

My big takeaways;

Egypt: A radio announcer said while he was introducing me that no-one is going to the Middle East right now. Hello, Egypt? With the Grand Egyptian Museum finally, fully opening in late 2025, all that pent-up demand for Egypt has broken, like the Nile in flood. New Nile cruisers of all persuasions, from petite luxury to giants jostling for space at the docks – it’s all happening this high season.

Every tour company scared off by the disaster happening next door as Israel continues to bomb a population of old men, women and children into oblivion has, of course severely (and deliberately) damaged the tourism industry in the region over the past two years, but with ‘ceasefires’ and the like broken, Egypt is working on a new normal.

Central Asia: Uzbekistan is the ultimate dinner party brag destination right now, and this trend is only going to grow, with all the five ‘stans, including deeply weird Turkmenistan, getting more tourists, more trains and infrastructure as we come for the plov and the turquoise mosques , madrassas and public squares.

Japan: More than a million Australians a year are heading to Japan, it’s not stopping any time soon. Cherry season, ski season, summer, winter – it’s an all-rounder.

Australia still loves Bali as hard as ever, Paris still the top city for visitors, Italy hot as ever while we chase our euro-summer… Canada and Mexico will benefit from the 2026 FIFA matches – it remains to be seen what happens with the third host country, the US, given a high proportion of attendees will not be US citizens. That’s just me slipping the boot in here.

I could go on, or you could simply tap into some of the radio interviews I’ve done recently for ABC Adelaide, ABC nationwide summer, 3GB…

I also had a fun chat with Rory McLaren on ABC Adelaide about travel experiences you can’t have these days – think climbing Uluru (thankfully, because this sacred rock and icon of Australia doesn’t need any more poo on it), inflight cockpit visits (mourning this one) and smoking on trains/flights/most places. Any you’d like to add? I’d love to hear in the comments below.v

Take a listen: https://soundcloud.com/user-367644299/abc-adelaide-radio-lost-travel

ABC Adelaide Radio - lost travel experiences Rory McLaren

In the meantime, travel well!

Jul

ABC Radio interview: luxury train travel in Central Asia

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan: how romantic are the names of these Central Asian countries? Travelling in them has been a long-held dream of mine.

I travelled along the legendary Silk Road by luxury train, visiting these three, historic countries- exploring their history, their food and their glorious architecture. I don’t use the ‘trip-of-a-lifetime’ phrase lightly, but Golden Eagle Luxury Trains certainly steps up to the description. Take a look at their fabulous instagram account at www.instagram.com/goldeneagleluxurytrains/ or visit their website, goldeneagleluxurytrains.com

Click here to listen to my interview with Philip Clark on ABC Radio’s Nightlife program.

20 June 2022

May

Airline review: FlyDubai to the Silk Road city of Almaty, Kazakhstan

It might seem weird posting a flight review in the midst of a global lockdown, but irrepressible travellers are already looking and booking deals around the world for travel late in 2020 and throughout 2021.

If it’s not on your radar, FlyDubai operates a fleet of Boeing 737-800s out of Dubai Airport’s Terminal 2. It’s currently still on the ground, but when in the skies, its destination list includes some intriguing cities including Prague, Naples and Dubrovnik in Europe, Tbilisi in Georgia and its new route from Dubai to Finland’s fun little capital, Helsinki. It also services the ancient cities along the Silk Road including the Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat and Almaty in Kazakhstan, which is where I was headed on this journey.

The UAE is already opening back up, with sister airline Emirates flying from its Dubai base to Sydney and Melbourne, sprinkling hygiene kits around its cabins, which includes masks, gloves, wipes and hand santiser. Like Emirates, FlyDubai is owned by the Dubai government, and the two often codeshare.

Click here to read my review, published in the Traveller section of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers. The print edition is currently in slumber, dreaming of its next destination.

Mar

Notes from a zombie zone: Turkmenistan’s Ashgabat airport

To get through the departure gates at Ashgabat airport, in the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan, I had to have my passport scanned.

And my fingerprints.

And my thumbprints.

And my retinas.

They’re taking no chances in this airport. Not that there would be many me look-alikes here. There just aren’t that many people, full stop. And most of the women are swanning about with impossibly high headdresses and long, vivid gowns that sweep the already immaculate white marble floors.

Should you find yourself in Ashgabat any time soon, click here to read my review in the Traveller section of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers.

Oct

Journey through three ‘Stans

I have just spent six days on the Golden Eagle – a private train travelling along the web of Silk Road routes, from Almaty in Kazakhstan though Uzbekistan and to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

I’ve long wanted to visit the ‘Stans, but as the song goes, it was just that the timing was wrong. So the chance to visit aboard a luxury train couldn’t be passed up.

Travelling along the Silk Road, my journey from Almaty to Ashgabat.

Of all the stops on this journey – Almaty, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Ashgabat, the winner of the beauty prize is Samarkand.

Its Registan Square, pictured above, is just so big, and so awe inspiring, it’s almost overwhelming to try to take in all its beauty in one day, let alone in one photo.

However, it was the quieter, more secretive streets of Khiva that possibly caught my attention. Even though its historic Old City isn’t lived in anymore, it just seemed to have more life. Maybe it was the fact it had more scarf and textile shops, each tucked into a picturesque niche lined with Uzbekistan’s trademark turquoise tiles.

This part of the world is no stranger to travellers – these oasis towns have been receiving new ideas, cultures, languages and religions since time began.

But they’ve slipped off the radar in recent decades, only to be coaxed back on by new, more lenient visa requirements and our desire – and ability – to explore further, with international flights now into all the major cities.

A few details:

I flew into Almaty and out of Ashgabat via Dubai with its low-cost carrier, fly Dubai.

The Golden Eagle is a luxury private train that started its great rail journeys on the iconic Trans-Siberian route across Russia, www.goldeneagleluxurytrains.com

Disclaimer: I was a guest of Golden Eagle Luxury Trains.

Jan

The most amazing man-made structures in Asia

Faster, higher, longer and older: there’s no doubt Asia plays the one-upmanship game when it comes to architectural statements.

It’s a tough call, making a list of the top 10 architectural statements in Asia. You could go crazy on weird shopping malls or kooky skyscrapers, or totally old-school with a list of heroic monuments and temples.

I’ve earmarked some of the newest, such as Shanghai Tower and Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, and sought balance with some of the oldest and (in my eyes) most beautiful, such as Indonesia’s Borobodur and the Bibi-Khanym Mosque in Uzbekistan.

Would love to hear your thoughts on my list, which was first published in the Sydney Morning Herald/The Age newspapers’ Traveller section.

Sunrise at Borobudur temple on Java. Photo: iStock

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