Caravanistan

I'm not sure about the exact rules (as unpredictable as they can be) about the permit/guide. But I'm curious, are you not taking a boat trip as suggested on the Pamir Trail website? If you do the hike, successful or not, definitely send a message to Jan at Pamir Trail and let him know how badly the ...

Organic Maps is fine for city to city and town to town, with Google Maps being helpful only in cities when looking at restaurant reviews. For hiking it does not make much of a difference between the numerous competing apps, in Central Asia they are all using the same data source: Open Street Maps. I...

Malicious checks by border guards ended with the former president and the newer tourism policies (formal and informal). I have not heard of bag checks for medications in years (at least not at major border crossings and airports). Having any pills in their original packaging is always helpful in cas...

If you are actually just wanting to see the type of farming system, the upper Zarafshon valley is a clone for agricultural systems in the Pamirs - high dry valley with little diversion canals (''ariqs") from glacial streams irrigating an aluvial fan or a bench. That's on the road between Dushanbe an...

Same company, but country-specific SIMs. Gotta buy a new one when you cross the border.

Tickets can and often will be sold old before they are available to the general public at the 45-days-before date when they go on sale online. I never tied too hard to figure out why. I assume that tour companies and government purchasers get to buy before the public does. So I make plans assuming I...

This will be a brutal itinerary for a 3.5 year old - and in fact for anybody over 35. This is mostly train and car time. And you might not get tickets for the faster trains. I assume the latter part you have a private driver? I've been travelling long enough in the region to know that this itinerary...

The little canisters that fit in your hand and that you take hiking? Hard to find - available in just a few cities. The big heavy tanks that you fill up at petrol stations? Easy to fill most everywhere. But I'm not familiar with that brand. Does it have a unique valve that doesn't work universally o...

Because of Kazakhstan's export ban. https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-fuel ... 66275.html

Jan still wants to go take a look at Khurjin Pass, as do I (if I have the extra time). I was certain I could do the pass and approach without being on a glacier. It would involve a slow detour on moraines and scree slopes. The guide telling me about the tourist who fell into a crevasse and died scar...