Trip end of october/beginning of november

[ilSigPin]

Hi from Italy!
First post here. Above all I would like to thank this website for its incredible and detailed work. A trip in the "stans" has always fascinated me and reading the thread in the past months made me drool with jealousy.
Due to work I don't get time off at ideal periods, so there are a few questions that I would like to ask:

Planning a trip to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan would be too late? Would it be too cold already?
My dream itinerary considered a combination of Aqtau (therefore the Mangystau region), then moving to Turkistan, Shymkent, and Taraz, then Almaty, visiting the region, and then ending in Uzbekistan with trains from Samarcanda to Bukhara, Khiva, Nukus and the Aral Sea (a little more than two weeks).
Anybody would have info regarding visiting the Mangystau and the Almaty? Like 4x4 rentals? Guided tours?
To visit off road paths is it mandatory to have a driver with the 4x4? Or can you directly rent it and drive and bring your supplies?

Any info really would be appreciated, also if anybody has crossed similar journey as this one, so you can definitely hit me up with DMs if you don't want to bother people with comments!

Unfortunately at the moment my fellow tripmates are probably forfeiting so if anybody is interested we could even try to arrange something.

Love from Italy

[sebhoff]

A little more than 2 weeks seems *very* short for this! Distances are great - Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country on earth. Or are you planning to fly as much as possible? I’d stick to Uzbekistan if you can’t stay longer than that. Also - you didn’t list Tashkent. It’s an interesting city!

[TulaCosmoline]

With a total trip duration of 2 weeks, using trains will eat into your travel time a lot. They're quite slow in this region, and the distances between your chosen locations are quite substantial.

In my opinion it's not too late at all. It's subjective of course but personally I would much rather put a sweater or jacket on while visiting the mountainous parts of this itinerary rather than sweat like a pig in the cities. I was not far from some of your listed locations just a week ago and the heat was oppressive, and it's still not what I would consider comfortable. In October the temperature will be much nicer for browsing bazaars and sightseeing in Uzbekistan.

Sorry to hear that your companions bailed out. I'm not far from the Uzbek border, would be glad to meet up somewhere depending on how your plans develop. We can exchange contacts if you want, let me know.