Currently in Almaty, Kazakhstan. My visa is up at the end of the month, looking for the next stop.
My plan is Samarkand > Bukhara > Khiva. Maybe a flight to Karakol before heading to Uzbekistan.
Turkmenistan & Afghanistan are off limits. Tajikistan sounds sketchy after reading about those bikers stabbed to death on the Pamir Highway. I need a visa for Iran.
This makes me think about Pakistan & India, but summer is terribly hot. Tempted to try Kashmir anyway, idk. Caucuses or Asia perhaps, depending on flights.
Anyone here have experiences to share?
post pics of your travel, I would like to visit central asia
https://caravanistan.com/forum/
This is a good site. I didn't know they had a forum. Thanks!
No problem, hope it helps!
I wouldnt let 1 single attack on tourists put you off an entire country lol, I'm sure tajik is fine with a bit of plannng and keeping your wits.
Just dont do a bike tour.
I'm in Pakistan now. Now is the perfect time to visit as the most beautiful part of the country is the mountainous North. I'm buying a tent tomorrow and a motorbike later this week and spending the next couple of months exploring.
Afghanistan is also open at the Torkham border.
Is Kashmir safe to visit as a foreigner? Better to fly into Islamabad or Lahore?
I have no India/Pakistan experience so I'm concerned of being overwhelmed. Does a Pakistani stamp in my passport limit future India travel?
Kashmir is very safe - as are most militarised places round the world. The tension - when present - has nothing to do with foreigners.
If you have a fear of being overwhelmed start in Islamabad. It only has a million inhabitants, it's very safe, green, clean and modern. Karachi would be overwhelming.
Pakistan is not what you think. As long as you stay out of Balochistan, it's very safe and friendly.
Post on sighsee if you visit Darra Adam Khel, please. It's kind of our dream place
i posted on k about my visit there in 2019, im going there again soon in a few weeks. it not as cool as it used to be, it's all regulated by the military now and all the weapons are contained in the limits of darra. it's still cool tho, i'll do a trip report.
torkham is also open both ways, i crossed it within the past week.
I went to uzbekistan recently. My only advice would be don't plan to spend too long in samarkand, there is
>registan
>timur lame's mossaleum
>shah-izinda ensemble
>afrasiyab museum and area
>ulug beg's observatory
AT MOST to see. The city is not interesting or beatiful and those things are mostly things you can quickly see and are fairly close to eachother. You could easily do everything in a couple of days just walking between everything if you plan it well then get to bukhara and khive which are much nicer places to be. ATMs are hard to find in samarkand as well and I seem to remember I needed to pay for most things in cash, there is an ATM on the other side of the road opposite registan inside the entrance of a bank. When I was there they told me I woulfnt normally be able to enter twice with the same ticket even though onpine people say you can. I was a ble to anyway though becuase I arrived earlier than the ticket gaurds in the morning. If you only want to pay for entry once then go in the evening to see it in darkness and all lit up. If you linger around long enough, a police man WILL offer to let you up onto one of the spires to view it from above for a small bribe in cash so bare that in mind.
A pity, since Samarkand is one of those magical city names like Timbuktu.
I don't suppose other silk road cities like Tashkent, Tashkurgan, or Yarkand are much these days either.
>only cities
Kyrgyzstan has some of the biggest mountains in the world you fucking moron, that's the wonder not going to dilapidated post soviet concrete shitholes or getting stamped on the passport a stamp of a meme country just to brag about "i've been there" (while actually you don't know absolutely nothing about it)
>the avatarfagging muh cities retard at it again
OP here. This is what I've settled on over the next ~2 months. I plan to do some excursions out of the cities, of course. I just need internet for work.
Caravanistan has been good for information, but the forums are slow and filled with weirder people than sighsee.
by car? do you speak russian?
How were the grills OP? I dated a Kazakh girl briefly in Almaty but she had that stuck up russian princess attitude.
Beautiful, but timid like east Asians. Glares from Kazakh men if seen together in public. They rarely speak English, and my Russian is very basic. You can still snag some, though 😉
I wonder what Krgystan/Uzbekistan will be like. Probably more difficult.
I'd think Uzbeks would be easymode since they're the most low class central Asians, basically Russia's mexicans.
Thoughts on Turkmenistan
You need a visa and it's still closed for the coof.
Moving to Dushanbe, Tajikistan in a few weeks. Any Advice?
I'm going to forego Dushanbe for Leninabad. My Kazahk friends here have been telling me there's a lot of riffraff in Dushanbe, and there's nothing of particular interest to me. I guess I'd suggest heading into the parks, but I don't really know.
Why are you moving there?
Deep state foreign affairs stuff for the gov
Be careful in Uzbekistan atm
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/3/uzbekistan-president-announces-fatalities-in-karakalpakstan
Dude, this was resolved in like 24 hours. Uzbek pres retracted the changes which would remove their sovereignty after a day of protests.
I imagine there is still some leftover strife, but from what I can tell things have settled. Karakalpakstan is also the far north of the country, above Khiva. I don't think many touristos go further than that.
Also, Al Jaz? C'mon, man!
All Jazeera is a perfectly fine news source retard
>a state owned news source is perfectly legitimate
Found the anglo
what about kyrgyzstan? also mongolia? these are countries I would see since I want to visit almaty too. btw how was it??
t. spoonfeed me
Sheet bro whats the most useful language to know to travel there? Russian? Turkish? Both?
Russian is the the lingua franca in Central Asia. I speak a little.
Not entirely by car. I'll be flying from Almaty to Bishkek, then some Kryg travel by car. I'll probably have to fly to Tashkent, because it's a hassle to take rental cars across borders. Everyone here wants a bribe.
Seems there are nice railways in Uzbekistan. I'll utilize those to get around.
Khujand (Leninabad), Tajikistan is tempting me. We'll see.
Its good to know there are still places in the world where english does fuck all to get by in a country
>i speak a little
What fag you should learn more
Even still, in many of the former Soviet countries the youth do not maintain their Russian, but rather revert to being monolingual in their own tongue. In Georgia, for example, only old people speak Russian & Georgian where the young can only speak Georgian. This isn't the case in Kazakhstan, but I'm curious to see what it's like in the other *stans.
Usually people under 25 have some level of English from the Internet or Hollywood. Sometimes it's just 'goodbye', sometimes it's enough to hold a conversation about their favorite album.
Whats ironic is that every blue pilled fag thinks the world will speak more english im the future but truth is the forecast on that is super doubtfull
>Brexit EU looking to replace english to french or german
>USA world hegemony losing influence fast
>Petro dollar getting cucked hard by saudis, arabs, and indians buying oil in their respective currencies
>poverty worsening which equals education world wide worsening.
Sure internet makes english learning more accesible but the entire world is becoming poorer that aint gonna help
He says as he speaks English with people all over the world on an English speaking board owned by a nip
>Petro dollar getting cucked
You brainless commies don't even know the $ is the strongest currency in the world right now besides the Ruble....Jap and yuro are crashing. Basically every opinion you have is retard level backwards. Pick some stocks for me so I can short them you insufferable college retard
Because most countries are still shooting themselves in the foot with dumb covid measures , here in america we just let old fucks like u die as it should be. Once this covid shit is done, you better believe the american dollar will go to shit, you patriotic uncle sam cock sucker. Petro dollar will be a thing of the past
>muh heckin sighsee is in english bro ,that reflects current political climate
Youre just butthurt since youre a monolingual retard
You can pay my social security while I travel the world. Uncle Sam is pushing his gay agenda and making everyone speak English (except the illegals in America) kek but they don't affect me in Vietnam.
>Economic crash happens in america
>uncle sam gonna have to cut that social security check a little shorter
God imagine being such a pathetic poor old fuck you have to rely on a meager allowance, have fun dying in some 3rd world shit hole since you cant afford living in any western country
Wrong again commie, social security goes up every year because unlike you lazy retards old people vote. I win you lose, forever
>i win
>is retirement age , he looks shit and stinks
>only has social security to rely on like a poor cuck
Ok winner enjoy life in a cambodian retirement home getting tortured to death