Sat Nav/Maps and Road Conditions

[Spark78]

Hi everyone,

I am planning to drive across the silk route in summer this year. Driving from Turkey in to Georgia then through Azerbaijan into Iran. Planning to spend a week in Iran and exit to Turkmenistan via Gaudan-Bajigran crossing. My provisional route is Ashgabat-Mary-Turkenabat-Bukhara-Samarkand-Tashkent-Kokand-Osh.

Would like to hear from somebody who has done this stretch recently or in last few years about road conditions. I will be driving a Diesel LC, read about issues with Diesel supply so will be carrying few Jerry cans.

I am thinking of buy a Satnav and detailed maps of the whole route. Any specific recommendations with regards to these. Any particular DOs/DON'Ts or things that I should carry for June/July?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[steven]

Hi Spark, road conditions are fairly up to date for central asia on the site under transport/driving, the route before central asia should be easygoing good roads everywhere in genreal.

[Kapesta]

Hi Spark,

A Friend and i are currently on the road and doing a similar route to you, though after Samarkand we went to Dushanbe (where we currently are). I would say that driving through Georgia is a good reflection of everything that comes after. Road conditions generally don't get worse, just pothole fields every now and again. Also in terms of driving style, only Iran is maybe a little more chaotic but by the time you have driven through Georgia, it shouldn't be a problem.
As for maps, we used a combination of Here Maps (Nokia), a paper map from world mapping project, google maps, and recently Open Street Maps. A combination of these will usually get you pointed in the right way, as they are not all accurate.. New roads being built etc.
Not too sure about Diesel supply as we are driving on Petrol, but i think it shouldn't be a problem as all the Trucks etc. require it..
Any more questions dont hesitate to ask
Oh, and in Iran watch out for the $&*!-ing speed bumps. They put them everywhere, even on major roads where you can be doing 70kmh...

[steven]

Would like to add that for maps, I have recently fell in love with maps.me. It works on OSM, but I prefer it to OSMand (on Android).

[AndrewRogerson]

Another vote here for MAPS.ME. I'm currently cycling from China to the UK and it's got a handy route planner, although a feature to avoid highways would be handy.

[steven]

http://cycleroute.org/ is your new best friend.

[Spark78]

Thanks Steven, Andrew & Kapesta.

Have been so engrossed with preparing for my trip that didn't get a chance to come back here, I leave next week.

Guys could you help with some other queries.

I was initially planning to drive from Ashgabat to Mary but now thinking of going up to Darwaza. Could I travel east/North directly from Darwaza & how are the road conditions on that route? How long does it take drive up from Ashgatbat? I will probably be there in first week of July, how hot does it get in middle of the day I will only be spending 3-4 days in Turkmenistan, any particular sight seeing you would recommend?

How easy is it to get sim cards and how is coverage for mobile internet. Could one use same number for roaming across Turk/Uzbek/Kyrgyz or better to get a new connection each time?

Thanks is advance for your help.

[steven]

Sim cards - best to get a new one each time. In Turkmenistan I thought mobile internet was terrible but somebody wrote to me saying my info on the site is wrong and it is great. It is obviously very hot in the desert: 50 degrees celsius at the moment. Goes up in summer.

For driving times and roads see http://caravanistan.com/transport/driving/turkmenistan and http://caravanistan.com/transport/bus-s ... rkmenistan

[Spark78]

Thanks Steven. 50 deg is hot, it was 22 in London today and I had to turn the AC on

So do people go there early morning or late evenings?

Also could suggest about th eroute from Dawaza towards Turkmenabat or is is better to come back to Ashgabat?

[bwv812]

It is obviously very hot in the desert: 50 degrees celsius at the moment. Goes up in summer.

Maybe it gets that hot near the crater, but the desert itself isn't that hot. 40 is still extremely hot, but it's not 50; there aren't many places in the world that ever go above 50.

https://www.google.com/search?num=40&q= ... an+weather