https://www.nikhilnelson.co/writing daily 0.75 2026-09-07 https://www.nikhilnelson.co/writing/yaluriver monthly 0.5 2026-09-07 https://www.nikhilnelson.co/writing/turkmenbashi monthly 0.5 2026-09-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/abff430d-56d7-4f93-86d6-7964ef3b7d89/TMB-3.jpg Writing - Turkmenbashi: Behind the Curtain - "Beautiful scenery, kind people... but behind it all is a government who refuses to act to help its own citizens.” The Balkan Mountains at sunset and Turkmenbashi’s town center and port in the foreground https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1788670750151-CLUJHFBUPGO3UB6YFZ06/IMG_3556.jpeg Writing - Turkmenbashi: Behind the Curtain - The side streets of Turkmenbashi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1788670750163-MKFOJMW3KYG5TJJGP1U5/IMG_3550.jpeg Writing - Turkmenbashi: Behind the Curtain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1788670751988-11JRA0UU0ZW70CDCDZT2/IMG_3548.jpeg Writing - Turkmenbashi: Behind the Curtain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1788794106107-KGCI8O4U7QPEA5MNMCFL/IMG_3558.jpeg Writing - Turkmenbashi: Behind the Curtain https://www.nikhilnelson.co/writing/moynaq monthly 0.5 2026-09-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/93f4f93c-e905-46ba-930d-38e3c2b49ea5/image-14-1024x735.webp Writing - Moynaq: The Cost of Cotton - Fifty years ago, Moynaq was a large fishing town, one of the main ports on the Aral Sea, home to a large cannery and a fleet large enough that roughly 500 ships once worked these waters, pulling out roughly 25,000 tons of fish a year. The Aral Sea itself was one of the four largest lakes on earth before the 1960s, covering something like 68,000 square kilometers. Then the Soviet Union built a network of canals to divert the rivers feeding it, in order to irrigate cotton fields across the deserts of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and the sea started disappearing almost as fast as the canals could carry the water away. Photo: The shrinkage of the Aral Sea https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1788322928474-O52188SZ77S94TAYF63A/Aral-6.jpeg Writing - Moynaq: The Cost of Cotton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1788322928478-QH1OR45Z8NGBKE9CRNCF/Aral-3.jpeg Writing - Moynaq: The Cost of Cotton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1788322930641-PII06RPKQVHA1A863WLW/Aral-2.jpeg Writing - Moynaq: The Cost of Cotton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1788794256344-QQF8ENK9QMZLDTNCZTMW/Aral.jpg Writing - Moynaq: The Cost of Cotton https://www.nikhilnelson.co/writing/ashgabat monthly 0.5 2026-09-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1788794398812-Z3FOFX9EGSS05HHHE1F6/IMG_3444.jpeg Writing - Ashgabat: A City Built on Marble, and the One Behind It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1784878329283-JXVZR1P8EGHRD7IX16R7/IMG_3476.jpeg Writing - Ashgabat: A City Built on Marble, and the One Behind It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1784878328378-LWWLGIP56SRCXGX8GICA/IMG_3487.jpeg Writing - Ashgabat: A City Built on Marble, and the One Behind It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1788794398994-L17WJM47LT6E5PJGEWLV/IMG_3471.jpeg Writing - Ashgabat: A City Built on Marble, and the One Behind It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/c592d680-2528-40f1-932e-c55aeae1ab1d/IMG_3342.jpeg Writing - Ashgabat: A City Built on Marble, and the One Behind It - As bizarre and interesting as new Ashgabat was, my favorite part of the city by far was the older, Soviet built town. Its smaller, pedestrian-friendly streets are lined with trees and scattered with parks, and markets like Gulistan Bazaar mingle with residential districts to form neighborhoods that actually feel human. In Old Ashgabat, I was also able to resurrect some of my favorite travel pastimes, sending postcards, posing with Lenin statues (the one in Ashgabat is remarkable), and hunting for Soviet art. Photo: An ornate statue of Lenin in Ashgabat’s leafy old town https://www.nikhilnelson.co/writing/bukhara monthly 0.5 2026-09-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/ca348278-e48a-47b6-9275-84396ca39a8f/IMG_2832.jpg Writing - Bukhara: A Rug, a Swim, and a City Time Forgot - Make it stand out Photo: Bukhara’s old town and the Kalon Minaret at Sunset https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/8e7875d1-5296-41de-8413-dfcbc74f1525/IMG_2740.jpg Writing - Bukhara: A Rug, a Swim, and a City Time Forgot - The Ark of Bukhara, a walled complex that once held the Emir's palace, is also worth seeing, even though the history there is a grim one. The square in front of it is where two British officers, Stoddart and Connolly, were executed as spies in the 1800s, caught up in the broader rivalry between the British and Russian empires for influence in Central Asia that came to be known as the Great Game. Nearby is the Zindan jail, which is where the two men were actually held captive for months before their execution. Photo: One of Bukhara’s silk road trading domes https://www.nikhilnelson.co/home daily 1.0 2026-03-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/31f4091b-d4a1-4c5d-b7ae-78ce98e1009d/IMG_3173.jpeg https://www.nikhilnelson.co/about daily 0.75 2026-06-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/8b31796a-5bb1-4ebc-962b-253932f128e2/IMG_5227.jpg https://www.nikhilnelson.co/photos daily 0.75 2026-06-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/e94ef476-a0d6-4306-81db-1c3911b59baa/Turkey-16.jpeg Photos Kapadokya, Turkey (2025) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/aff19f80-fb1b-419e-bb13-f6aa80fb5128/Elmau-1.jpeg Photos Schloss Elmau, Germany (2024) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/b0511c7f-be7d-450b-87e3-3641552f5944/26667-1-scan-33.jpeg Photos Lake Kivu, Rwanda (2025) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/62512ba3-1ae0-4716-a528-b028f42dc175/China+Film-11.jpeg Photos Chongqing, China (2026) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/f4b96210-0bcb-4146-bd89-401772990fb4/Egypt.jpeg Photos Cairo, Egypt (2026) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/ba01c8e4-4d63-48b7-9da4-38797daad089/Madrid-6.jpeg Photos Madrid, Spain (2026) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/a15a5dc4-f200-40c4-8fd7-fcdbcd8223ca/Darwaza-2.jpeg Photos Darwaza, Turkmenistan (2026) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/ef3b476b-4ddb-4ead-be79-abf0f519bc2a/Taiwan-23.jpeg Photos Wu Lai, Taiwan (2024) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/85feeb78-cd0c-44ef-87b0-64bc94292a90/Buchs-2.jpeg Photos Buchs, Switzerland (2024) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/8ee5136f-d529-4946-857b-6d8d997ee2e9/Fuji-10.jpg Photos Tokyo, Japan (2024) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/6b8e00cd-2755-4d2c-956b-5160060bd228/Fuji-7.jpeg Photos Mount Fuji, Japan (2024) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/eadacab9-1c97-4c31-ab84-9c66766f5dce/Jordan5.jpeg Photos Wadi Rum, Jordan (2026) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/8582e8d0-51a3-4f26-9baa-2dbcc644c811/Madrid-5.jpeg Photos Madrid, Spain (2026) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/d9372eab-fe98-4b64-921d-a1cb496601ea/Samarkand-4.jpeg Photos Samarkand, Uzbekistan (2026) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/f132fd26-a42c-4662-9154-e4aa6b30aeff/Fuji-52.jpg Photos Kyoto, Japan (2024) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/13c20e9c-2d98-447f-8fc7-8e9bf6dedb93/Taiwan-6.jpg Photos Taipei, Taiwan (2024) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/69bb504d-6afc-41a1-bcd0-5f256d6e6419/Turkey-5.jpeg Photos Kapadokya, Turkey (2025) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/b8ea9f5e-eb29-4125-afea-2e3d43359fd7/Egypt-2.jpeg Photos Giza, Egypt (2026) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/018184a1-1971-457f-9ef4-e08c95b94a56/Hungary-3.jpg Photos Budapest, Hungary (2024) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/276812c3-530a-4bd0-b2d5-16d02acbaad6/Uzbek-5.jpeg Photos Samarkand, Uzbekistan (2024) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/e43cb7dc-114e-41e5-9a92-4f87b6f15902/TMB-3.jpeg Photos Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan (2026) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/e53a616b-ee30-45b0-9605-f812f0c7abae/Aral-6.jpeg Photos Moynaq, Uzbekistan (2026) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6996bb32a119ce56d2293dab/1791f8ca-a811-4810-9432-18c746d84ed0/Buzludha-13.jpeg Photos Buzludha, Bulgaria (2026)