Where are you going? Why?

[Cees]

Please take a moment to introduce yourself and your travel plans/worries/black holes, so myself and others can chime in with hopefully useful thoughts.

One of the questions I am always interested in, but often gets too little attention next to the where and how of travel, is why are you (planning on) traveling here? Do you have a peculiar fascination? Did it just happen to be on the way? Do you live here? Before we all get bogged down in visa talk, I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on this one too.

Cheers (and welcome once again),
Steven

Hello Steven,
I am 63 years old and retired. My wish is to travel by bike over a long distance. Last year I read a story about two Dutch girls who cycled from the Netherlands to China. At that moment they where in Italy. I was very excited about the courage of them. So I started to make my own cycle-plan.
I never had the opportunity to make such a long trip. Now because I am retired and also with the support of my wife I made this dicision. I must given my age no longer wait, I think.
So now I am collect the necessary visa.
I hope to get the answers as soon as possible.

Best regards,
Cees

[steven]

Hi Cees,

we get many Dutch overland cyclists, dozens, possibly hundreds in any given year. I just met a 70-year old Dutch cyclists who was going to cycle 3 months around Russia this summer with his girlfriend. So you are not alone!

Good luck!

[laouen]

Got the question to introduce myself, so here it goes...

I'm Sofie, motorcycle traveler and together with my husband, I'm embarking on our biggest adventure yet at the end of April. We will be traveling from our home in Leuven, Belgium through Turkey and the Caucasus to Iran and then on to the Stans, Russia and Mongolia... and back. We have 5 months for the entire trip.

At the moment, we're doing the final maintenance on the bikes and sorting out the visas. 25 of April is D-day!

[steven]

Hi Sofie, great to hear. I am quite close to Leuven at the moment, if you want to have a chat about your trip before you go, always welcome, just send me a mail. Have a good trip!

[DAEMO79]

Hi all I am Damian, and i have been stalking the Caravanistan web site since January.

I was a Musician then ended up a data jockey for a major law firm . So, like the spoiled teenager I was, I want my soul back.

My Wife and I are leaving London and heading towards the south pacific - overland. (We are not doing the Mongol rally, which has its pros and cons).
Originally we were just driving through Russia to Mongolia in our Nissan Micra. Then I stumbled upon the Stans. Detour was a must. so waht was originally the trip was just a 1 year stay in India and has become a 18-24 month adventure back home (I'm originally from NZ).


So, why the Stans.... partially 'Because its there' and ideally for the landscape, remoteness from my reality, and the romanticism of the silk road.
Unfortunately the suitability of the vehicle and a lack of expendable cash means we can't visit a lot of what first drew me towards the regions. Namely White cliffs of Kazakhstan/Bukhara/Samarkind.

All the research mad so far has clarified that I will have to return (solo) sometime in the future with my bicycle.

We have no real plans on any stage of this journey, it's more about living off grid and surviving the best we can on what little we have and becoming gypsies for a while. (We are living in the car until it brakes down).The 'Jewel in the crown will be the Altay /Altai region of all four borders Tuva, Lake Bikal, and the Mongolian steep with all the Throat singing one can muster.


That's it I guess... I am excited to find what I see.


Daemo.

https://fleaingreality.wordpress.com/

[steven]

Great story Damian, very jealous of your journey. Your years of soul-destroying London work will not be in vain, as you will be able to suck up life all the more vigourously now. Enjoy it!

[DAEMO79]

Great story Damian, very jealous of your journey. Your years of soul-destroying London work will not be in vain, as you will be able to suck up life all the more vigourously now. Enjoy it!

Ha Ha, Cheers Steve.

I will be wearing the shit out of my cowboy hat on this mountain spotting venture.

Regards,

[irishmcbride]

Hey!

I'm travelling out to Central Asia with some friends this August, flying in and out of Almaty, for three weeks. Hoping to take in all 4 countries (Kaz, Kyrgz, Uz & Taj) at a minimum in some way, but ideally including the old silk road cities and maybe a cheeky jaunt up to the Aral Sea if we have the time.

As to why, personally I've always been fascinated by the former Soviet Union, and I've always wanted to see Samarkand. I've ticked off all the other former Soviet republics, so almost got the full set! I've always heard that Central Asia is a beautiful part of the world, so I'm looking forward to finding out.

Can't wait!

[gateskatherine]

Hi everyone

My husband and I took 12 months off work to travel through India, Nepal, SE Asia then Mongolia, Russia and the Stans through to Iran. We took 12 months off a few years ago to travel and absolutely loved it, and this time round I guess we wanted to challenge ourselves a bit more and reach a few places that are still (relatively) untouched by tourists. I'm also intrigued by the mix of cultures and the history of the Stans, it's a place I have always wanted to understand better.

We are in Vietnam at the moment, so about to start to the process of applying for our visas on the road. Caravanistan has been a god send!

Katherine

[steven]

Thanks for the introduction Katherine, always interesting to hear your stories. I think if you can handle Vietnam, you can handle Central Asia. I at least find SE Asia much more challenging to travel with the heat, the noise and the touting.