Here are some basic facts of life for the self-driving motorist in Central Asia.
Road rules
As a rule, don’t do anything you wouldn’t do at home. Just because other drivers do not respect the road rules, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. If you are driving your own car or motorcycle, you will stand out for police.
If you break the rules, you will have no rebuttal when stopped and will have to pay. This includes not stopping for pedestrians at crossings (particularly in Almaty) or driving a dirty car (particularly in Astana)!
Don’t drink and drive! A zero-tolerance policy operates all over Central Asia.
Speed limits (in km/h)
- Kazakhstan speed limits: 110 on motorway, 90 on some bigger roads, 60 inside the city.
- Kyrgyzstan speed limits: 60 in the city, 90 outside of the city.
- Uzbekistan speed limits: 60 in the city, 90 outside of the city.
- Tajikistan speed limits: please let us know if you find out!
- Turkmenistan speed limits: 60 in the city, 90 outside of the city.
Dangers
Loose animals crossing the road are a serious danger when driving with low visibility.
Police will try to extort money from you. The best way to deal with this is to not do anything wrong and to not give in. Most drivers don’t report serious trouble. Police often prefer to target locals, because they are more willing to accommodate a culture of corruption (as one police officer said: I wish I could stop accepting bribes, but they just keep on giving!).
Drunk, reckless, irresponsible driving is the norm.
Central Asia’s elite knows that they will not be held accountable if they damage another car or kill a person. Stay out of their way. They drive black or white 100,000$+ cars with tinted windows and a vanity plate like AA 007 XX.
Basic Russian for drivers
Russian is still understood by most people in Central Asia. A short dictionary for drivers (bold syllables are stressed)
- Petrol: Ben-zin
- Diesel: Di-zel or diz-top-li-vo
- Fill up the tank completely: Pol-nyi bak
- To which direction is …?: Koo-da…?
- Map: Kar-ta
- Tire: Shy-na
- Engine: Dvi-ga-tel
More resources
A great blog of a 4,5 year drive on the Silk Road comes from Daniel Sprague. He sadly reveals little of the practical side of things, but it is a beautiful and inspiring document nonetheless of a great journey through the Former Soviet Union, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent.
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Hi,
I am really impressed with all the valuable information on your website. Especially the border crossings!!!!! Thanks!
One additional question: We want to go to Europe with our own car, starting in Australia via Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, China, going through Kyrgisistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan around August/Sept 2014, finishing with Iran and Turkey.
It looks like we are required to hand in our itinary for China to Chinese officials beforehand and need to be accompanied by a guide – is that the same for the Stan’s or can we move freely? Do you know of anybody who did the self-driving or a good site I could refer to?
Kind regards,
Eva
I don’t know so much about the China situation, but yes, you will need your own guide all the way, it will cost you. In ‘Stan countries you are free to drive yourself. I’ve known a few people who did it personally, will do it myself in a few months (the other way round). If you have any more questions, please check out our new (still empty) forum (caravanistan.com/forum), I will be happy to answer your questions in detail there. Another famous self-driver who wrote a lot on the Lonely Planet forum is Daniel Sprague, sadly they deleted many of his posts, I hope they will come back soon. He has a blog somewhere, you might find it with the help of a search engine.
Keep me posted on your progress!
Daniel’s post trip “blog” is http://eurasiaoverland.wordpress.com/
I’ve only skimmed it: i wanted to make sure i leave some stuff to discover when we are on the road form June! Not sure he has tips up there if anyone has questions though.
A fantastic resource indeed! Too bad he reveals little of the practical side on this blog. But as a Silk Road travel blog, I believe it is the best one out there.
Update: I’ve added it to the article above.