Travelling in Central Asia in a campervan

[matheuw]

Hi everyone!

we are planning on travelling to Central Asia next Spring and later to get to Southern Asia for the Winter. I have a few questions regarding planning/preparation:

1) are VW T4 Transporters common cars in Central Asia or not? Based on this I will take more or less spare parts with me. After some travels I am now somewhat capable in repairing our car
2) do I need to make any preparations due to high altitude? Ours is a turbodiesel which should cope with higher altitude better, already have it raised as our last trip was to Western Africa.
3) any other issues to take into account? I know about the scarcity of diesel in some places, is it also poor quality?
4) approximate plan is to stay in lower areas of the Stans April/May, higher areas in Summer, Autumn - Iran, Pakistan and into India. We like to travel slowly and get to know a place we visit quite well. Is this a reasonable schedule for slow travel?
5) what is the attitude towards dogs in the area? Ours are 2 bigger shepperd dogs that are used to travelling (we just came back from a half year in Africa) and heat so no problem with that. More if people will be affraid or on the other hand curious of them.

Thanks!

Matt

[Lovetheworld]

1)
The T4 transporter is not common at all. In the beginning of your route you will see them, but that thins out. There are a few in central Asia and from Iran onwards to Pakistan and India, you can forget about it. So in Central Asia, depending on the country, you might get some spares, but don't expect much of it. After that, no parts at all, except for a small VW club in Islamabad / Rawalpindi who has helped foreigners before.
The van market is mostly dominated by Toyota and Mitsubishi.

2) I drove non-turbo diesels up to 5600 meter and I have also seen turbodiesel cars struggle to get over 4000 meter.
What is more important is the state of your engine. It should just start perfectly when at sea level. It shouldn't smoke too much etc.
Any problem you have at sea level is a gigantic problem at high altitude. With that I mean anything that relates to getting air and fuel into the engine and burning it.
Just watch your mirrors, as you may notice the smoking becomes heavier. It is also an indication that there is too much fuel, and you should just push the throttle a bit less, just use less power.
Which engine do you have?

3) Yes the quality can be low, but I think that should be okay with your engine. Just take a fuel filter with you, and don't fill anything that is not clear from a bottle or fuel canister.

4) Sounds okay to me. However, when it is really summer you want to be in the mountains of Tajikistan and Kyrgystan, and nowhere else. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and even the lower parts of Tajikistan (like Dushanbe) will be 40 degrees.
You can never get it quite right when visiting Central Asia.

5) In India there are lots of street dogs, and in other areas many muslims will be surprised that it is your dog and not a street dog. But in general it should be okay. I think people have mixed experiences with Iran. Lot of people have no problem with it, and I have seen overlanders take there dog in the car on these routes.
Just read into the paperwork yourself.

[matheuw]

Thanks for the reply! I have a 2.5tdi ACV engine. I have driven it up to about 3.000 meters a few times, but nowhere higher. Do you have an idea how difficult it is to potentially ship parts to Central Asia from Europe?

And one more question: is it reasonable to expect to have a monthly budget under USD 2.000 for two people (and the car) if we only seldom stay in paid accomodation?

[Lovetheworld]

3000 meters is nice but in Tajikistan there is the pass of 4700 meter, which is quite different. And next to that, cold starting on 3500 meter or so. But if your engine is running/starting fine and doesn't smoke to much, I wouldn't worry about it.

Importing car parts, that is hard to say, I think some countries like Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan will be hard. I sent something minor (not a car part) to Osh in Kyrgystan and that was a bit slow but no trouble.
Just use some company like DHL so that you get better service.

Oh yes, USD 2000 per month for two people not using hotels is very easy. You will find that sometimes it will be hard to spend that money. But it depends on how often you go dining or use some hotel, and of course your travelling speed in general.
Fuel is usually around 50 or 80 euro cent. In Uzbekistan it is cheap to go out for dinner, but in a lot of areas you are on your own or can eat a homestay which we did not like to use because of potentially getting sick. If you are just roaming around in Central Asia, there is not much to spend big money on, except for maybe activities that involve a guide.
So you can save some money for shipping the car and flying.

[victor rodamon]

Hi Mathew, we are doing something similar...trying to travel arround centrel asia during may-june....may be we meet somewhere arround.