three days of touring

I couldn't ask for a nicer group of traveling companions!  The 9 Aussies who make up the tour group are a wonderful bunch -- smart, funny, generous, playful and interesting.  As one bloke (aee how I'm getting into it, mate?) said, a tour like this serves as a great filter and pretty much guarantees a simpatico grouping.  Though truth be told, there was a Frenchwoman named Sophie on a recent tour who has become legendary for not going with the flow.  That said, this particular week's agenda -- unlike the upcoming Uzbekistan itinerary -- is non stop activity during waking hours. Today went from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm.  It's just the nature of the country that there aren't a lot of options to go off on your own for unstructured time

It's putting a dent in my blogging time and I'll try to get some highlights of our visits to date shortly. But now: sleep.