Caravanistan

The reason why the tours are expensive is that Baikonur wasn't meant to be a tourist's attraction. They could make Baikonur completely closed and unavailable for visitors. Like there are other objects not available for tourists but could be interesting if the authorities opened them. At least Baikon...

Hugh wrote:Man, I'd love to see a launch! 😃

How much does it cost to go inside?

You need to buy a tour from one of the Baikonur tour companies.
The advertisings I saw were about $800 - $1000 per person. Need to apply about 50 days before the dates of your visit.

So much information Julia, thanks. I like the sound of the way that you travelled independently and am pleased to hear that you felt safe during your trip. I'm not sure I could learn Russian but would definitely try to pick up as many tourist-useful phrases of the country that I was visiting. It al...

Hi. I've done that. Watched a rocket launch from about 30 km away. Or maybe a bit closer because we took a car and drove from the railroad/road to the steppe closer to the launch point. But still were far from it. My opinion it doesn't worth it. It wasn't too bad though. We saw a long bright tail. I...

I see your point now.
Sorry, it wasn't clear for me from the initial post.
I didn't go to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in late autumn because of the reasons you mentioned. Only travel there during summer.
Hopefully somebody will share their experiences about travelling there in autumn.

And I don't think Mongolia is warmer than Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan. Should be the same if not colder. If you want something warmer better to travel to the South, maybe Iran (you mentioned) or something. Kyrgyzstan looks ok at the beginning of autumn. But as you're going to Tajikistan afterwards, not...

Hi. I saw so called night trains from Astana to Almaty on Kazakh railway website. They take longer than a night. About 13 - 18 hours depending on a train. Some trains make less stops and faster. So they leave from Astana early evening or later evening and arrive to Almaty the next morning or around ...

Hi. I travelled independently around Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Organized transportation and accommodation myself, booked trains, negotiated with taxi drivers, booked hotels and apartments for myself. Sometimes hitchhiked and stayed with locals I met on my way for free as a g...

Hi Kanter

Thanks for the hike report. Do you have a gpx trek of that hike?

Some experienced hikers were there in the beginning of October two years ago. They have a blog but in Russian. From their report Allaudin lakes, Dushaha lake and other lakes in that area are possible for hiking in early October. But if you plan hike through passes expect lots of snow. Also it's cold...