Caravanistan

You start with 'high comfort' but then say you'll fly in with Wizzair. I've flown BUD-TSE, when Astana still had that IATA code, on Wizz because the price was cheap as chips and I needed a new spine and knees once arrived. Since then, it's either Air Astana or Turkish Airlines for me.

Your last photo is my favourite place in the whole of the Pamir highway 'land'... I miss it quite a bit.

In my time in Central Asia I've never felt sick. Sure, for the first few days I try to stay away from raw fruit and veggies, but I'm also a big fan of the buckets of raspberries from Dushanbe's bazaar. If in doubt, go with cooked food and lepyoshka bread. The one thing that gets me with clockwork pr...

I have a friend in Yerevan who confirmed that the rental market there just exploded thanks to the influx of Russians escapees.

Have you checked on Air Manas? Unlike all the others they actually have some modern jets (Airbus A220s).

The same thing will happen to you between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Pony up the fee for the visa is the verdict I'm afraid...

I know many like Sary Mogol better than Sary Tash, but I love the 'Tash a LOT and can only recommend it. I'd actually go one step beyond and suggest you make it longer than just a daytrip. I haven't been there since 2019, but I doubt much has changed. The road itself isn't that much of a great scene...

The Majlis podcast held, on the 12th of June, a show on the situation in GBAO. I think they could've done a better job to provide an 'helicopter view' for those who aren't that in the weeds of GBAO, but the bottom line is that the situation there doesn't seem to be peachy. The panelist seemed all to...

Those with a deeper knowledge of cars and driving will undoubtedly chip in, but here's my experience of talking to drivers in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the pre-Covid, pre-Ukraine invasion era. Overall, I had the distinct impression that diesel was harder to find than petrol. In fact, ...

I saw a guy driving around on a VW Golf Mark I, just outside Karakul in Tajikistan. It definitely can be done. The tricky bit if it's too snowy (we got some snow in late May/early June over the higher passes) and of course land clearance. After Murghab we hit some proper craters. I'd go with a simpl...