Silk Road travel budget Q&A

[steven]

Please post all your questions and comments regarding budget planning and expenses for the Silk Road below. Be sure to check our pages on

Travel budget

Kazakhstan: https://caravanistan.com/kazakhstan/budget/
Kyrgyzstan: https://caravanistan.com/kyrgyzstan/budget/
Tajikistan: https://caravanistan.com/tajikistan/budget/
Turkmenistan: https://caravanistan.com/turkmenistan/budget/
Uzbekistan: https://caravanistan.com/uzbekistan/budget/

Money and banking

Kazakhstan: https://caravanistan.com/kazakhstan/money/
Kyrgyzstan: https://caravanistan.com/kyrgyzstan/money/
Tajikistan: https://caravanistan.com/tajikistan/money/
Turkmenistan: https://caravanistan.com/turkmenistan/money/
Uzbekistan: https://caravanistan.com/uzbekistan/money/

For Iran, there's this thread on budget planning.

[Hussain]

Hey all would be flying to Kazakhstan day after tomorrow and will be travelling across kyg - tajik - uzbek - Kazakh for a month. I’m in a dilemma on how much money I should bring. I’m from Singapore and was thinking of changing 800 USD In cold hard cash and leave some money on my master and Visa cards for bookings etc. How easy is it to change money in the countries and on average how much would I need for each country? Do the shops/travel agencies/hostels accept usd as payment or strictly local currency? We are Budget backpackers too. Thanks a bunch!

[Fenna]

I have only been to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan (though from what I've understood, Kazak would be the most expensive and Tajikistan the least, so these two probably present a happy medium). I spent roundabout 350-450 euro in a two-week period, backpacking on a budget.

With regards to money: bringing hard cash is a good idea, though these countries (especially Uzbekistan) are very focused on Visa and you will have not issues withdrawing money from atms (of which there are plenty now). Mastercards in these countries are of very little help.