Feedback on three week itinerary

[flo_sg]

Hi all

thanks everyone for contributing to this awesome forum.

I am in the middle of planning a ~3 week trip through the stans and would appreciate some advice for travelers as it seems none of my friends have been to this part of the planet.

I'll be traveling by myself (though in case anyone wants to join for some legs, PM me!) and intend to travel at a fairly quick pace.

Arrive by air in Ashgabat from Amritsar
4 day tour with a travel agent through Turkmenistan, covering Merv, the gas crater and Konye Urgench
Cross over into Uzbekistan and take around 10 days to travel through Nukus, Khiva, Buhkara and Samarkand. Maybe add a Yurt Camp tour between Bukhara and Samarkand.
Drive from Samarkand to Dushanbe via Denau
Flight from Dushanbe to Khorog (aviation geek here)
Khorog across the Pamir
From Karakul to Osh and then back home

I know it sounds like a lot for three weeks but I don't mind so much spending a lot of time in busses.

Any suggestions on how to tweak it are welcome. I'll head out in early August and am waiting on my Uzbek visa.

cheers

[bwv812]

There aren't a lot of buses in Uzbekistan, and travel by share taxi is faster. Share taxis involve waiting until the car is full, so it may be necessary for you to buy the empty seats at some point if you want to stay on an ambitious schedule. That being said, I think your itinerary to Samarkand is possible, though you likely don't have enough time to do a yurt camp.

Travel from Samarkand to Dushanbe will eat up a whole day.

A big complication may be in obtaining a ticket for the flight to Khorog, especially since it will not fly on days the weather is bad (as I'm sure you know). You will have to buy your ticket in person, and although you won't actually be able to buy your ticket until the day before the flight, you may need to put your name on a list multiple days in advance. This can obviously cause problems to those on a schedule.

[steven]

Hi flo,

Late reply here but you have agood plan, seems like you already did a lot of research. I think it will be great!

[flo_sg]

Thanks to both of you and pointing out some potential issues - will do some further research.