Tourism offices tend to keep a low profile on the Silk Road. A lot of people also only speak local languages. But if you have specific questions, they might be able to help where we cannot. Find a list of contacts below, and let us know if you found them helpful, or if you have other useful contacts.
We will update as we find out more.
Afghanistan
The head office of Afghan tourism can be reached at +93 202 300 338. They might be located at Great Massoud Road, Kabul.
Iran
French speakers can contact the tourism office in Paris. More contacts very welcome.
Kazakhstan
You can try out the national tourist office website. For Astana, contact Aigerim Mukhamejanova. Contacts for Almaty are at the Almaty tourism office. Shymkent tourism office also has a dedicated website.
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan is replete with tourist information centers in major tourist towns like Karakol and Kochkor. These are all fronts for commercial tour operators like CBT and others. Nonetheless, they can offer you good info and are generally happy to help in the hope of selling you something. We welcome your reports on particularly good/bad experiences you had with them.
You can also try the government tourism office.
Mongolia
Travel Mongolia is the place to be.
Pakistan
You can try the national site, and regional websites for Khyber Pakhtunwa and Punjab.
Tajikistan
- The National tourism office no longer has a website. There’s also a tourism development center. Based in Dushanbe, Bakhriddin Isamutdinov is a good source of information, but his English comes from Google Translate.
- For Fann mountains and Khujand, contact ZTDA. They have an office in the park behind the history museum. E-mail address is [email protected]
- For the Eastern Pamirs, previously there was META in Murghab, but it no longer exists.
- For the rest of the Pamirs, contact PECTA, with office in Khorog. All of these have also started acting as tour operators.
A tourist police division has been tasked with helping travelers in Tajikistan. You can reach Saidov Umedzhon at +992 911 00 5555 or on Instagram. He speaks English.
Turkmenistan
No good info yet for Turkmenistan.
Uzbekistan
Not sure if they are open to responding to your questions, but this is the official website of Uzbektourism.
South Caucasus
Governments have set up tourist information centers in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia
We have not found a national tourism office for Armenia yet. Try the Yerevan tourism office at Argishti street, 1. Tel: (+37411 ) 514-230. E-mail: [email protected]. Gyumri has a dedicated tourism office.
South Ossetia
Good contacts for South Ossetia are welcome.