Caravanistan

Just applied for an E-visa for myself and my girlfriend. She was rejected without giving any reason "apply again and we will reconsider", I got it. No clue why. We ve both been to Tajikistan several times together, never had any issues. Both swiss nationals. We will just try again, but still anoying...

Hi Yarkand is ok, the old town is partially not restored, which makes it quite interesting in contrast to kashgar. By the time we were visiting(december 2016) only one hotel was accepting foreigners: hotel de long in the centre. But this can change. Compared to Hotan and Kashgar Yarkand feels much s...

@roro de rien @lissie45 I think you are actually relating to me. It is indeed near the train station Xike er kul zhan. Thats how we discovered it - we saw it from the train coming from kuqa. Our train stopped there - but this wasnt noted in the schedule. So you can try you luck. Your idea should bas...

@Roro I have some pictures in the facebook Album I posted (can be seen without having an account: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154214748822322&type=1&l=427eb87cdb), they are rather at the end of the album, in the description I wrote: "Landscape near Xikeerkul..." . We came back to Kas...

I did everyone of the places in a single day, although Bing gou and Danxia can certainly be done in one day, even by public transport. About mati si I'm not sure. I was there in winter, when only the caves (plus the mountains) could be visited. Having seen later Mo gao caves in Dunhuang and before a...

I did a similar trip to you this and last year. My suggestions and impressions: I found Xiahe and Linxia on the way to it very interesting. Both add an impression that you will not find in any of the other places you mentioned. Cancelling train tickets should be possible at a (low) cost. Certainly c...

Hi: Osh-Murgab directly is possible, shared taxi drivers do it. I only did it in winterby shared taxi. Once 12 hours, once 40hours (!) due to heavy snow. I also did the Bishkek - Osh Road only in winter, took us 10 to 18hours (again, heavy snowfall). Aparentlythe road is pretty ok without snow, no n...

Another thing that travellers should consider, is the measures that have to be taken in case of an animal bite and their logistical consequences: If the patient has previously been vaccinated there will be 2 additional vaccine injections over 2- 3 days. If the person was not previously vaccinated th...

Possible but tight. Youll spend almost all days in the car. If thats your goal, why not. If you need more time you could still go from Osh directly to Bishkek in the end. Only one bufferday for this whole journey seems optimistic. The driving times seem to be what local drivers need in good conditio...

I ll give you my view as a physician and traveller to those areas: dogs are common in all the countries you go to, except china. Muslim countries are probably among the countries with the most wild dogs (e.g. Morrocco, Tunisia). This is no protection. If you are a frequent traveller to rural areas I...