Best & worst so far...

Nothing exciting to report really, apart from a colorful and chaotic walk around Osh bazar again today. Sunday attracts more traders and buyers than normal, many from outside Osh and there is a whole array of regional, traditional clothing being worn, a dazzling display of colour and local cultures... Very nice.

Anyway, as I have little to rerport other than I am off to China tonight, I will fill in a gap with a best and worst list from my travels so far:

Best Guesthouse/hostels:
Blacksea Backpackers, Odessa
Godzilla's hostel, Moscow
Sakura Guesthouse, Bishkek

Best Towns visited:
Brasov (Romania), Odessa (Ukraine), Almaty (Kazakhstan)

Worst Town visited:
Atyrau (just a business city)

Best Currency:
Uzbek Som (has great artwork of famous sites in Uzbkeistan)

Worst Currency:
Uzbek Som (You get bundles and bundles as largest denomination is equivalent to around 60 Euro cents,I saw people walking around with plastic bags full of money !!! )

Best Tourist Site:
Registan, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Best Nature:
Lake Song-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

Best Beer:
Sibirskaya Korona.
Tian Shan served in ice glasses at the Bull & Bear, Almaty.

Worst Beer:
In a cafe in Fergana, Uzbekistan, don't know the name though as it was served draught to my table.

Cheapest Beer:
Found in a cafe near Chorzu bazaar, Tashkent (300 Som = $0.25, Euro 0.20, GBP0.13)

Best local cafe:
Bar next to Renaissance in ZARVSHN complex, Tashkent

Best foreign style pub:
Bar, Sarajevo
Metro, Bishkek

Most Mashrutkoes (minibus) seen in town:
Chisinau (Moldova), Osh (Kyrgyzstan) & Shimkent (Kazakhstan) are all overrun with mashrutkoes!

Most Expensive:
Moscow

Least Expensive:
Uzbekistan & Kyrgyzstan

Worst Crooks:
Kyrgyz Taxi drivers

Best Bazaar:
Shimkent (Kazakhstan)

Funniest Person:
Noda ("the professor") from Japan staying in Bishkek.

Best Travel Mates:
Not fair to pick anyone out, but special mentions for those I have spent some time with go to Justyna (Poland), Tina (Oz), Kristina & Leah (US), Jon (US), Yuta & Ikiko (Japan) and Andy (UK).

Hottest girls:
Odessa & Moscow

Nicest girls:
Kyrgyzstan

Friendliest local people:
Uzbekistan

Worst border crossing:
Moldova/Transdniestr

Most Weddings seen in a day:
Astrakhan

Best Night Club:
Arcadia, Odessa

Best Waiters/waitresses:
Koreana night club, Osh (Kyrgyzstan)

Top 10 Recommended places to visit from my route so far:
1. The Registan, Samarkand, (Uzbekistan)
2. Lake Song-Kul (Kyrgyzstan)
3. Red Square, Moscow (Russia)
4. Piran (Slovenia)
5. Bridge at Mostar (Bosnia)
6. Old towns of Kotor & Budva (Montenegro)
7. Brasov (Romania)
8. Predjamski Grad (Slovenia)
9. Altyn Arashan (Kyrgyzstan)
10. Aksu Zhabagly Nature Reserve, (Kazakhstan)