Where are you going? Why?

[Atif Qazi]

Hello, my name is Atif and I am from Pakistan. I am planning a road trip between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. These 4 countries are a must on my list and want to experience the old silk route. If time and monetary situation permits then will add Iran and Iraq to the list. As far as your question related to why I want to do this is because I am a travel buff and that is pretty much it

I would really like your guidance in border crossing points for foreigners between these countries and probably a road map if I want to do these 4 countries at least within maximum 2-3 weeks.

[bwv812]

It will be really difficult to see those four countries in two or three weeks. Most people feel the five-day transit visa for Turkmenistan is short enough that they have to rush, and you're talking about basically five days per country.

Just in terms of travel time, and assuming a fairly short route, you're looking at:
- one full day from Bishkek to Osh
- one full day from Osh to Murghab (but also need time to arrange ride)
- one day from Murghab to Khorog
- maybe 30 hours from Khorog to Dushanbe
- one day from Dushanbe to Samarkand
- one day from Bukhara to Khiva

That's six days of doing little other than sitting in a car.

[tbcelina]

Hello!

I'm Celina, from Argentina. I'm going to Iran in late February -but I've already started to obsessively look for information and daydream about the trip. I think planning a trip and getting excited about it is half the fun!

My original plan was to do about three weeks in Iran and 10 days in Turkey (I fly into Tehran and out of Istanbul). But I did what I always do: I looked at a map and started thinking about what other places I could go to. So now it's Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Turkey. I don't want to get too carried away - my priority is still Iran. But it would be nice to do a couple of stops in Armenia (one in the south after crossing the border -such as Goris- and Yerevan) and one in Georgia (Tbilisi). In Turkey my priorities are a few days in Istanbul and Cappadocia.

I'm not sure when I became a bit obsessed about going to Iran. I think it was after reading a few blog posts from a solo female traveller who raved about how friendly Iranians are. Every single account from travellers to Iran that I read afterwards confirmed this. It seems to have so much going for it, the question is more: why wouldn't I?? I spent an afternoon in Istanbul on a stopover a few years ago and HAD to go back because it's such an amazing city - plus flying there from Buenos Aires is much cheaper than flying to/from Tehran, so adding Turkey to the trip was a no-brainer.

Anyway, those are my travel plans for the time being. After I do this, I have the feeling that travelling to Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, etc.) will become somewhat of an obsession. But hey, one obsession at a time!

Celina.

[steven]

Great plan, Celina, and nice to see a South American traveler again. We miss you here! Iran is generally considered the highlight of the Silk Road for most travelers, so you cannot go wrong with that. Also, you might be surprised that Armenians and Georgians are also incredibly friendly. Have a good time dreaming (I am also dreaming about Iran right now, will go there in 1 month), and let us know if you have any questions!

[twowheelredinski]

Caravanistan Comrades,

Thank you for assembling such a usable and informative site. It has helped me get my head around the black-hole of Central Asian visas.

My vague plan is to spend up to ten weeks cycling through Iran (Tabriz to Bandar Abbas; maybe along the Caspian) and then, weather- and visa-permitting, cycle furiously through Turkmenistan, maybe hitch/bus through Uzbekistan, and then ride through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan before heading somewhere warmer, if not home.

I wanted my first tour to be through somewhere treacherous for cred so I chose Iran. It was only once I booked my flight that I was surprised to read it was a favourite among cycle tourers and after two weeks here, I can see why. The hospitality is unbelievable, the geography picture-perfect (snow, desert, sea, forest), and camping is easy and safe.

I also intend to cycle parts of the silk road because of its mystery, and my feeling of it being the middle of the world. More to the point, I really wanted to see what's cracking in Tajikistan after seeing this photo, which I thought was proper groovy: http://zahariz.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/kkh25.jpg

[bwv812]

Seeing people dressed as in that picture will be very difficult. They are actually getting married, which will be very unusual in November. I believe you have a better chance of seeing colourfully-dressed Kyrgz people in Afghanistan's pamir knot (near the Chinese border) and around Tashkurgan and the Karakorum Highway in China, where traditions are somewhat better preserved. It actually appears that this picture is from around the Chinese lake Karakul, next to the Kakarakorum highway. This makes sense, since I saw lots of women wearing bright red dresses, often with sequins, and traditional headgear around Tashkurgan and assumed this sort of thing would be common in Tajikistan: it wasn't.

[Metz family]

Hi,
We are a Belgian family with 3kids (2, 4, 6yrs old) leaving here in april for a 12month trip by camper, brussels-bangkok, following the silk road into china and then going down to south-east Asia. This site has already been a source of loads of information, the day i discovered is, all the preparations seemed so much easier!
Still loads of questions though, so I'll start posting soon
And why? Well lots of people ask us this question, especialy my mother in law We have always loved trvaveling when younger, we met on a plane coming back from one of these travels, we want to show our kids the world and how other people live, experience things as a family, spend quality time together (ok, we realise we will get tantrums in ouzbekistan as well) en also show that it is still possible to travel with kids. You dont have to stap exploring because you've got kids, right?
Just at another pace, and thinking things over twice, not taking some risks we would have taken if we were just the 2of us.

Tine &Jérome

[Roosmarijn]

Hi there,

My name is Roosmarijn (Rosemary).
I plan to make an overland trip for approximately 6 months.
1st of January i leave from the Netherlands to Turkey/Iran/Turkmenistan/Uzbekistan/Kirgistan/China, all overland.
Hopefully maybe back to the Netherlands trough Mongolia/Russia.

Either way, trains will be my new home

This website is the best! Amazing how up-to-date information we can find here.
For weeks i had problems figuring out all the visa requirements, but tonight all the puzzle pieces fall into place.
Thank you guys for that.
I will use this site a lot during the trip, so see you soon.

Rose

[steven]

Great to see you here Roos, and compatriots Tine and Jerome!

[Kasia&Victor]

Hello fellow travelers!

We're Kasia & Victor, a Polish-Spanish couple, currently living in Warsaw, Poland. In two weeks time we're starting our round the world trip - from Poland towards Turkey (via Ucrania, Romania and Bulgaria), Iran and the Stans, hopefully to China and than south-east Asia. We are planning to travel across Asia on our bicycles and then cross Pacific to Americas. Our objective is to travel WITHOUT taking planes, only on land or water. The travel we're taking is not any special project - it's just our dream coming true. We want to travel slow, enjoying people we meet, food we taste and air we breathe.

We've been reading Caravanistan for some time now, gathering information about visa procedures, itineraries and safety, specially important nowadays. We've already modified our route, limiting our stay in Kordistan (both in Turkey and Irak).

I hope that in few weeks time we'll be apble to post some embassies reports ourselves and share with you some useful information.

All the best and safe travels!