Can the Stans handle the Merck girls?

So this is where we are going (except for Tajikistan) and here are some fun facts to keep you amused until the real information starts flowing….

Uzbekistan is one of only two double-landlocked countries in the world (the other is Liechtenstein) – meaning it’s surrounded entirely by landlocked countries.

Turkmenistan is home to the Darvaza Gas Crater, famously known as the “Door to Hell.”

• It’s a massive, fiery crater in the Karakum Desert, about 70 meters wide and 30 meters deep.
• It’s been burning continuously since 1971!
• Soviet geologists accidentally created it while drilling for natural gas. The ground collapsed, exposing a gas pocket.
• To prevent methane from escaping, they set it on fire, thinking it would burn off in a few days… it’s still burning over 50 years later!

Kazakhstan is home to the world’s oldest and largest space launch facility—the Baikonur Cosmodrome. 🚀 It’s where Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, blasted off in 1961, and it’s still used today for launches to the International Space Station!

Kyrgyzstan is about 94% mountainous, and it’s home to one of the world’s largest natural walnut forests in Arslanbob 🌳. The forest covers over 11,000 hectares, and locals say Alexander the Great once carried walnuts from here back to Europe!

And here are the faces of the Merck girls ….sara, marg, Lisa…..yes, yes, its an old photo but it was the only I could find where we were standing next to each other!