Our nineteen-day itinerary to visit Central Asia’s Stans countries proved to be the trip of a lifetime. Every day revealed new cultural experiences that amazed, thrilled, challenged and opened my eyes to an unknown world to me. Excuse the borrowed locational reference, but I felt I was living One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, and every day Scheherazade revealed a fresh magical story.
If I’ve piqued your interest reading “Tracing the Fabled Silk Road in Central Asia,” I have some advice about how to consider this grand adventure. I’ll refer here to the three of five Stans we visited, though they all provide exciting experiences to enjoy.
Don’t miss Uzbekistan’s Silk Road cities
Put Uzbekistan and its three Silk Road cities––Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand––at the top of your trip-of-a-lifetime bucket list. Of all the countries, Uzbekistan contains the highest number of historic treasures to amaze you; most are UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites. Following preservation initiatives begun by the Soviet Union in the second half of the twentieth century, the Uzbek government has invested in the preservation of its historical landmarks and cultural attractions. They have encouraged the development of a hospitality industry of good hotels and restaurants for tourists.
The three cities form a convenient and well-traveled tourist route. They were originally established centuries ago at oases in the Kyzyl Kum Desert. With our guide and driver, we drove several hours between these cities. For me, it was not an unpleasant experience; the drives heightened my sense of adventure. With the introduction of more high-speed trains this year connecting them to Tashkent, the country’s capital, and to each other, travel is about to get much easier among them.
While we’re on the subject of Tashkent, I enjoyed the “big city” feel of the largest city in Central Asia. If you have a full day there, make sure you visit blue-domed Chorsu Market (especially the meat market and bread ovens), then take a ride on the subway to the stations that serve as elaborate themed art installations.
Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan are well worth consideration
Kyrgyzstan is a stunningly beautiful country, dramatic landscapes the likes of which I’ve never seen before. Its geography and mostly rural nature make it a trekkers’ paradise. Resorts and recreational facilities line vast Issyk-Kul Lake’s north shore. The south shore is less developed, home to the country’s semi-nomadic communities and dozens of yurt camps for visitors. That’s where we visited the eagle hunters with their trained golden eagles, practicing an ancient nomadic hunting tradition. We enjoyed our travels there––hiking, hill climbing, and “yurting,” staying in circular, portable dwellings used by nomads for centuries. Nature takes center stage, and four days in this country rounded out our Central Asian experience.
Visiting Turkmenistan is a more challenging destination. All Stans except Turkmenistan have a visa-free or e-visa process for entering their countries. Turkmenistan has a more complicated process, and you must be sponsored by a travel agency that will get a Letter of Invitation for you from the government to fly into Ashgabat, where you will apply and receive a visa at the airport.
That said, if you love cities and appreciate their uniqueness, then out-of-this-world Ashgabat is the reason to make the effort. This ultra-modern, yet seemingly deserted, central city of gleaming marble and gold amazes and thrills. Despite serving as an homage to Turkmenistan’s two dictators-for-life since its 1991 independence, Ashgabat is a unique urban creation to behold. If you do visit this city, then you could fly directly to Tashkent to begin your Uzbekistan journey.
If you just have to see the Darvaza Gas Crater because it’s a cool, wondrous thing, be prepared for a nine-hour car ride round trip from Ashgabat over inadequate roads, unless you opt to stay in a very basic yurt camp at the site overnight. Frankly, the yurts didn’t meet our accommodation standards, so we headed back to Ashgabat, though the return slog, bouncing around in the back seat of a Toyota in the dark, got us back in bed at 2:00 a.m.
Tourism increased substantially after the COVID lull, especially in Uzbekistan. But none of the places we visited were too crowded to enjoy. Most of the people who looked like tourists seemed to be from other Asian countries. We did meet a Dutch tour group at the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan boarder that we saw again three times in Uzbekistan traveling the same itinerary we did. At the yurt camp in Kyrgyzstan, we encountered a dozen Costa Ricans who had traveled from Beijing following the Silk Road trail, partially on bicycle, with an archeologist as their tour guide.
Generally all the Stans are very safe countries for tourists. Personal harm is practically unheard of; just observe the usual travelers’ precautions about protecting valuables, using hotel safes and minding your belongings in crowded places.
Select and work with a tour company
Where to start? Going to Central Asia is not like wandering on your own through France or Italy. This adventure requires a planned itinerary. Even if you decide to travel unescorted, making transportation and hotel arrangements requires careful planning months ahead of time. Know that English-speaking isn’t common, so polish up on your Russian, since that’s the common language. I recommend working with a travel agency with experience in Central Asia; they will make all those arrangements for you, and your guides will speak fluent English.
Several American agencies, and even more in Great Britain, sponsor small group trips (usually eight to fifteen or so) to Tashkent and then tour guests around the country. If you choose Uzbekistan as the focus of your trip, nine to ten days will give you enough time to see the highlights. If a few more choice destinations are added in one or two of the other countries, take a 14-16-day trip. Of course, you’ll have to add travel time to your plans. You might also consider a bespoke tour as we did, the two of us escorted through the Stans with a guide and driver in each country.
Start exploring potential itineraries for Uzbekistan and other Stans with Bestway Tours and Safaris. Have a conversation with principal Mahmood Poonja to discuss options. What we particularly appreciated is their system of local managers in each country to help facilitate travel, a feature we relied on in Uzbekistan to deal with an unexpected issue. Follow up that exploration with a Google search for “Trips to Central Asia,” and you’ll find other individual companies to check out.
Don’t forget to purchase travel insurance that also covers evacuations for mishaps or illnesses. I urge you to make these arrangements no matter your destination. Our travel insurance company covered all but a small portion of the extraordinary costs of evacuation, surgery, and return to the U.S. associated with my Kyrgyzstan mishap. In another example, a friend was part of a twelve-day group trip to Europe. One woman fell and broke her ankle in Paris on the second day and had to return to the U.S. Fortunately, she had a good policy that helped her get home.
I hope you decide to explore the options of an adventure to Central Asia. You’ll find traveling in the Stans is a lot cheaper than traveling to Europe or Japan. I’d be happy to share more experiences and advice with you. Contact me at culturaleyewitness@blainebonham.com, and we can go from there.
If You Go
ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS:
- Entrance requirements: no visas needed except for Tajikistan, which has an e-visa process, and Turkmenistan. That country requires an application for a Letter of Introduction from your tour company to allow you to fly into Ashgabat, where you apply for a visa at the airport
TRAVEL COMPANY:
- While visitors can travel on their own in all but one country, I recommend touring with a travel company. The staff will negotiate border crossings, language, site visits, accommodations, and restaurant options. In Turkmenistan, travelers must be registered with a travel company
- Look for a travel company that offers several tours of various lengths and destinations in Central Asia, since they will have more experience in leading tours to this part of the world. Some companies offer high-end travel, with upscale accommodations (read “expensive”). Compare prices. Research others.
- At the risk of excluding other good companies, here is a very partial list of highly rated American and English companies that offer small group tours (8 to 20 travelers) and many offer personal tours for one to four people.
- Very partial list: Bestway Tours and Safaris, Adventure Bound, East Site Travel, G Adventures, National Geographic, Wild Frontiers
AIR TRAVEL:
- Turkish Airlines is the major airline company flying into Tashkent, Ashgabat, Bishkek, Almaty, and Astana. Departs from Istanbul
- Regional airlines fly from Istanbul and other cities: Uzbekistan Airways, Air Astana, Turkmenistan Airlines
- Economy airlines: Pegasus Air, FlyArystan, WizzAir, Flydubai, others
TRAVEL INSURANCE (Necessary to have):
- We used the top-rated company according to Forbes Advisor––Faye. We upgraded a basic policy that allowed for cancellation for any reason whatsoever (stubbed toe, headache, etc.)