Has anyone been to the Stans recently? Was scoping out a trip and want to know the vibes.
Uzbekistan has the best food out of the stans and is pretty cheap. Visit Samarkand and if time permits, lake Aral.
>>2875326>pretty cheapCan you compare this to SEA?
>>2875342It's comparably cheap if not cheaper at times. Lodging is more expensive than Vietnam but roughly on par with Thailand or Malaysia. Food is a bit pricier usually but still very affordable. Transportation can be hilariously cheap, Yandex (aka Uber) is sometimes borderline free. Entry frees are similar.Mind you there is a gap of a few years between the time I've been in SEA and Central Asia and with the current inflationary shitshow this might be a very much outdated perspective.
>>2875289I have been to Uzbekistan last summer. It is a rather cheap country overall, both in terms of accomodation and in terms of general expenses (food, transportation, etc.).In general, I would say that Uzbekistan is a pretty good entry-level, beginner friendly country for travelers. It has plenty of sights, mostly related to its three main historic cities, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, all of which have beautiful sights and monuments, with some nature and other places added in for bonus (Aral Sea, desert fortresses of Karakalpakstan, and Ugam-Chatkal nat'l park being among them). Geographically the country is essentially one big string of cities with deserts on both sides, so it's very easy to see all the main sights together in a linear trip that starts in the capital Tashkent and ends in Khiva (or potentially Nukus if you want to see Karakalpakstan). The country is also generally very tourist friendly - it's easy to find western standards hotels and guesthouses, booking trains is quick and hassle-free, people are generally very welcoming towards foreigners (their government, which is essentially a dictatorship, is heavily investing in the tourism industry, and I heavily suspect that is playing a role). Hygiene standards can be iffy, so it's very likely you'll get diarrhea - just accept it and take the usual precautions.(1/2)
>>2875395I would say that the main drawback of Uzbekistan is that some of its cities can quickly start feeling like movie sets for tourists rather than real, lived in places. The architecture is gorgeous, but after a while it does all start to look the same (at least to the untrained eye of your average western tourist). Also, it can get a little less impressive when you learn that all the beautiful facades (like the ones in Samarkand's registan) are all Soviet-era reconstructions and restorations - the original ones are all long gone. Compounding all that, the aforementioned heavy investment in tourism has had effects which are becoming very evident even from a tourist's perspective. A great example of this is Khiva (picrel), which is a gorgeous old city that looks straight out of a fantasy movie in pictures. However, the entire historic part of the city (within the city walls) has been transformed into a "museum-city" entirely for the consumption of tourists. The only commercial activities within the city walls are tourist attractions, tourist hotels, souvenir sellers and tourist restaurants (you can find better and much cheaper restaurants walking 100m away from the city walls and into the modern city, where people actually live). Khiva is the most egregious example, but Samarkand and Bukhara also suffer from this. You can see why after spending a few days spent here you can start to get the creeping feeling that you're not in an actual, real place, but in an amusement park set created and managed for the entertainment of tourists. It is a shame, because the place is genuinely beautiful, but I guess it's yet another proof that you really can't have your cake and eat it too. TL;DR:>cheap, beginner level country that is easy to travel to and move around>beautiful thousand-and-one-nights architecture and old cities>very welcoming attitudes towards foreign tourists>can start feeling like Disneyland after a while
>>2875394Can concur.In Kyrgyzstan a 10 minute walk could be foregone with Yandex ride costing ~$0.50. Food delivery also super cheap.
>>2875289Most boring country I've ever been in my life. It almost has a Southern European vibe though which is nice. Lots of really old White tourists visiting. The place BORING af. Every fucking town has the same attractions. Ancient silk road structures. Did you like seeing old buildings in that last town? Because you're gonna love the next town, it has the same shit. Then if you go from that town to the next town, you'll see the exact same shit again.If you're an archeologist then it's good I guess. But a normal person has no profound interest in silk road buildings. Fucking hell. Couldn't wait to leave
