Search found 66 matches

by blakep76
Wed Sep 11, 2019 12:29 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Silk Road Planning Advice
Replies: 8
Views: 8204

Re: Silk Road Planning Advice

Try and do the lowlands in May.

Temps in parts of all of the 'Stans, Iran etc will be getting blisteringly hot by late June. Best to move up into the hills/highlands at that point.
by blakep76
Thu Sep 05, 2019 2:07 am
Forum: Uzbekistan
Topic: Getting money at the Tashkent airport - arriving 3AM
Replies: 6
Views: 2330

Re: Getting money at the Tashkent airport - arriving 3AM

You can certainly just pay your first few expenses in $ if you need, book a taxi through the tourist information counter who will take both currencies, hotels will definitely take USD, and can give change in som if you prefer. Once you are downtown there are banks everywhere to change cash. But real...
by blakep76
Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:00 am
Forum: Uzbekistan
Topic: Getting money at the Tashkent airport - arriving 3AM
Replies: 6
Views: 2330

Re: Getting money at the Tashkent airport - arriving 3AM

Agree.... The money changer is open 24/7...just be aware though that it closes random hours for "technical upgrades" i.e workers needing to take a shit. The airport guys are stricter also than banks and money changers elsewhere as far as the quality of the $ you are trying to change, so make sure yo...
by blakep76
Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:38 am
Forum: Roads, borders and security updates
Topic: Border crossings reports: Dostyk/Dustlyk (Uzbekistan/Kyrgyzstan)
Replies: 67
Views: 35149

Re: Border crossings reports: Dostyk/Dustlyk (Uzbekistan/Kyrgyzstan)

Crossed this border from Kyrgyz to Uzbek a couple of days ago. Arrived at about 9am and there were already many, many hundreds of people jammed into the queue on the right side. Blazing hot sunshine, packed in tight inside a chicken wire fence. A lot looked like they had been there for many hours, a...
by blakep76
Mon Aug 26, 2019 5:32 am
Forum: Visas & embassy reports
Topic: Tajikistan E Visa agent application websites?
Replies: 7
Views: 1241

Re: Tajikistan E Visa

Booking.com has a lot of hotels that can be reserved without paying upfront or needing to provide credit card details. You can book one and then cancel it once the visa is issued. But it's probably not necessary. I highly doubt anyone ever checks these things. Just find a random hotel in Dushanbe on...
by blakep76
Mon Aug 26, 2019 2:05 am
Forum: Visas & embassy reports
Topic: Tajikistan E Visa agent application websites?
Replies: 7
Views: 1241

Re: Tajikistan E Visa

With e-visas it's best to always stick to the official government site if you can. For TJ it's the one mentioned by Thorsten above. In my case I also had issues with the site not accepting any of my (Chinese) cards, so I ended up using ivisa.com as they have a lot more payment options. I paid with P...
by blakep76
Sat Aug 17, 2019 12:34 pm
Forum: Tajikistan
Topic: Latest Tajikistan Stupidity: Bring 10 copies of your GBAO/Visa
Replies: 7
Views: 2768

Re: Latest Tajikistan Stupidity: Bring 10 copies of your GBAO/Visa

Just did this trip....asked the driver about it, and his reply was that the guards at some of the checkpoints are either genuinely slow, or being deliberately annoying, frequently taking 10 mins per passenger to enter the details into their notebooks. If you have a full car that can mean half an hou...
by blakep76
Sat Aug 10, 2019 6:16 pm
Forum: Visas & embassy reports
Topic: Tajikistan e-visa apllication: adress in Tajikistan needed?!
Replies: 4
Views: 2485

Re: Tajikistan e-visa apllication: adress in Tajikistan needed?!

After filling the form of evisa I got an email, and I was asked to send place tickets, booking confirmation and plan of a trip, so I guess it's not a rule. None of people I spoke with had to attach any additional documents, so maybe it was just my bad luck. Btw my evisa application was rejected. Yo...
by blakep76
Fri Aug 09, 2019 9:54 am
Forum: Outdoor adventures
Topic: Drones in Central Asia - rules Q&A
Replies: 42
Views: 21745

Re: Drones in Central Asia - rules Q&A

Re: Drones in Uzbekistan - I saw this sign at Tashkent Airport this morning....
by blakep76
Fri Aug 02, 2019 8:06 pm
Forum: Afghanistan
Topic: Afghan Visa in passport - problem for other countries?
Replies: 3
Views: 3914

Re: Afghan Visa in passport - problem for other countries?

Word for the wise - avoid trying to enter Israel with evidence of a visit to Afghanistan unless you enjoy sitting in a stuffy office for 3 hours getting yelled at by intelligence officers......'You can't even tell us your grandfather's date of birth or your great aunt's maiden name and you want us t...