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between the time I've been in SEA and Central Asia and with the current inflationary shitshow this might be a very much outdated perspective.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
>>2875665Sounds like you're seething because everybody from the boomers to the Uzbek cuties acted like you didn't even exist. A common problem in countries which are very neat and orderly. There's no room for spontaneous connections. Everyone is satisfied with their existing social circles.
>>2875665you missed your daily lexapro, sweetie
>>2875665>only visited the “big 3” awardCome out to the Fergana Valley and the other stans
>>2876639Uzbekistan outside the museum cities is not “neat and orderly” Uzbek cuties in Andijon and Kokand will smile at you and look away (not much else because of religion and the language barrier) locals will spend a five hour shared taxi ride talking to each other about you and having the guy in the car who speaks the most English ask you questions I’m halfway through a Central Asia trip now, and so wish that I learned conversational Russian
>>2875665I agree the standard Khiva -> Bukhara -> Samarqand route is actually extremely repetitive, but there is some welcome variety with the Aral Sea and Tashkent has a very different feel compared to the rest of the country. I'd assume Fergana has that too, though I haven't been.I had fun and I liked Uzbekistan and I'm definitely glad I went but I don't really feel the desire to come back, unlike, say, Kyrgyzstan, which I'd be more than glad to go hiking in any time.
>>2875664>In Kyrgyzstan a 10 minute walk could be foregone with Yandex ride costing ~$0.50.lol, what a fat american mindset. a 10 minute walk is nothing.
>>2875398Them being restorations doesn't bother me at all. You go to the places where history happened and you see ruins, and that's nice. But to see things restored makes you feel like you are present for that time, seeing beautiful things that are dispapearing in a modernized world. And that is a different experience and nice.I'm going to Tashkent soon, with tours nearby, so this thread is useful to me. Speaking of cheap transport has any used private drivers for long rides beyween cities or crossing borders? Maybe they take you to the border and you walk and catch another ride. I like traveling in a private and relaxing manner, if anyone jas any experience let me know. I've basically only seen travel channels doing this.
>>2875398I guess it is understandable that the facades are reconstructed/repaired, otherwise it would just be the bricks which could then be vulnerable to further damagethere is a similar phenomenon in Kashgar to what you described, the old city has basically been hollowed out and replaced with a tourist play-parkbut other smaller cities I went to (in Xinjiang, not Uzbekistan) had better-preserved old centres with people actually living in them. maybe it would be better in smaller Uzbek cities?I agree with those who said you can't just go to cities, it does get a bit boring, having some nature is good but transport can be difficult in central Asia. I would like to go Kashgar - Kyrgyzstan - Uzbekistan or Taxian - Tajikistan - Uzbekistan but it would probably need me to buy a car to have any degree of freedom
>>2875289I've been there last month. I enjoyed it. Though i mostly only go to the touristy part of the country. I really want to go back there someday because i feel like i barely scratched the surface of the country's charm.
>>2875394>>2875395isn't the cost of flying in there really expensive tho?
>>2880154flying everywhere is expensive now lolit's not too bad, like 150 dollars one way from Istanbul, 200 if directbut it is harder to fly to from the east (Asia) or south (Middle East)if you are coming from Europe it is not too bad for that distance
>>2880154I flew there last year for less than $120 from Europe using combined low cost flights. WizzAir has a route from Abu Dhabi to Samarqand that often runs dirt cheap, your only issue is getting to UAE cheaply. Istanbul has a shitloads of low priced flights to Central Asia too as Anon before mentioned.No idea what you'd do flying from the states though, but it's nothing particularly expensive from Europe at least.
>>2880185>>2880406guess it would make more sense from N. America as part of a round-the-world trip
>>2880185If you're flying from Kuala Lumpur, it's like 150 minimum for direct flight. That's how i get there.
Planning a trip to Uzbekistan soonAre these good or bad options to include, looking for touristy areas Turkmenistan Kazakhstan Tajikistan Kyrgyzstan
>>2880910You can only do Turkmenistan as part of a guided tour.
>>2875289great architecture
Well well, I figured there would be an active Central Asia thread on /trv/ somewhere, given how contrarian anons can be lol… I am a 31 yo PhD student from burgerland, and I have just moved to Uzbekistan to teach English classes for a while. I needed a change of pace in my life, drift of purpose, I’m a literal sperg about researching Persianate/Islamic civilizations in my spare time, probably many of the other reasons you can imagine I came here.I’ll put on a trip, and I can bump the thread from time to time with some reports of things, and try to answer any questions you might have.
>>2885862I have a few questions:What would you consider the quintessential central Asian city? Why?
>>2880910If you need a visa for Tajikistan do as far in advance as you can. I had to skip it because they took 6 weeks to reply to my application, and even then they were nitpicking details rather than confirming.
I'm in Azerbaijan right now, Baku is very rich, cosmopolitan, cheap,they like white dudes. Lots of nice parks and public spaces. Seems like they spend their oil wealth on infrastructure. Lots of young happy people everywhere
>>2887075I have only been to Uzbekistan so far in Central Asia, so I could not tell you about the region as a whole. I am crossing over to Tajikistan soon to renew my visa (which is visa-free for burgers like me).I would say that >>2875398 is on the money more or less, and Bukhara is probably most "quintessential" because it was the traditional center for religious education and culture in the region. I would add that almost of all of the tourist sites in Uzbekistan center around former religious sites, mainly schoolhouses for religious scholars and tombs of spiritual figures, all of them were secularized in the Soviet period except for the Mir-i-Arab school in Bukhara, the only traditional madrasah left in the country, an arrangement which continues to this day from the Soviet period (there are some modern-style madrasahs in Fergana and Tashkent). I think the Soviet academics did a better job of restoring the sites than they might get credit for, but in my humble opinion, I wish that traditional Islamic authorities could be allowed to use these buildings for their original functions, and that pilgrims to these shrines could still practice all the rituals they used to observe (which were largely constrained after independence due to influence from fundamentalist Islam and fear of chimpouts like what happens to the shrines in Pakistan). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpJud3mfNmIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drP1M71NWGMIn Iran, there is a very famous couplet composed by Hafez which all schoolchildren learn:اگر آن ترک شیرازی به دست آرد دل ما رابه خال هندویش بخشم سمرقند و بخارا را> 'agar 'ān Tork-e Šīrāzī * be dast ārad del-ē mā-rā> be xāl-ē Hendu-yaš baxšam * Samarqand ō Boxārā-rāIf that Shirazi Turk accepts my heart in their hand,for their Indian mole I will give Samarkand and Bukhara.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirazi_Turk
>>2887691Are there any green areas or parks with trees in the tourist areas? All the pictures I see are devoid of vegetation
>>2887802>Are there any green areas or parks with trees in the tourist areas? All the pictures I see are devoid of vegetationAbsolutely there are, especially in the areas of Samarkand, Tashkent, and around the Ferghana Valley (pic related is the green space outside of the Museum of Victims of Political Repression in Tashkent). Places like Bukhara and Khiva are firther away from mountains, and therefore more arid, which makes them have less greenery, though they certainly have their fair share of green spaces. A lot of the greenery is from the mountains and the river valleys going through the arid regions. You see a lot of mulberry trees here, some of them obviously very old as they are thick enough for two or three people to put their arms around, they drop their berries all over the place in May and June. Also there are ash trees, cherry trees (I've eaten mulberries and wild cherries fresh from the tree several times now), and several species of conifers and deciduous trees imported from other parts of the world in planned areas. Uzbeks are very proud of the special kinds of fruits and vegetables they grow, as they consider themselves (along with Tajiks) the settled and cultured ethnicity in Central Asia, and they have their own kinds of bread here which are good.
>>2887879Thanks, am I missing much if skip bukhara and Khiva or is it just more of the same architecture? I'm flying in and probably out of Tashkent as that seems like where the flights and not in a hurry but not sure if it's worth extra long train rides
>>2880910Uzbekistan is a legitimate S tier destination, the rest are crap. Genuinely the next two best “Stan’s” for a visitor are Afghanistan and Pakistan. And Afghanistan is really only for the meme factor. Turkmenistan would be cool if they were not so cunty about everything in terms of the visa and what you are allowed to do.
>>2875398I’m just curious where doesn’t fit this mold in the current year? Feel free to recommend places that are not as beginner-friendly as Uzbekistan (btw I consider Uzbekistan an intermediate country, I don’t think we can quite say it’s as easy as Canada or Portugal).
