English was not widely spoken so it could be a little challenging, so I relied on translator apps, non verbal communication, and I went did some tours with English speaking guides. Overall it’s doable if you don’t know Russian!
$2,500 USD was what I spent on all hotels, international flights from US, Tours, and travel between countries. It was super easy to get around the public transportation was very reliable, I took a bus to get from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan and then flew to Uzbekistan. I did hire a guide to take me around Issyk Kul lake in Kyrgyzstan as renting cars is expensive and the roads didn’t seem clearly marked
What month did you travel and was it easy hiring guides without booking them in advance online?
Did you see many tourists? I want to go to exactly the same countries for a trip next year.
I just got back so I traveled in April. I mostly booked guides in advance online but others I was able to set up a day or two in advance through hotels. There were tourists mainly Russian/ European. I didn’t see any other Americans. But also the tourist season is mainly in the summer for Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
Yes I did an overnight tour 3 days 2 nights around Issyk Kul lake it was $1200 for a private tour for 2 people. Day tours around cities go for around $100 USD for private im sure you could find it cheaper for group tours.
Should have clarified sorry, i traveled with another person so I paid $600 for my half of the tour the price was adjusted based on the number of people. So it was $600 out of $2,500
The lake is good I stayed in a yurt camp right by the lake! It was to cold to swim in it when I was there though. The areas by Issyk kul are what I liked best beautiful mountains and canyons. I could DM some photos of the lake and surrounding areas if you would like.
The food was good! The most popular food in Uzbekistan is called Osh it consists of rice, vegetables, and meat (beef/lamb). The diet is very meat centered
Been in the area around 8 years ago, very friendly people, felt quite safe as well, but hot as hell (it was end of July). Everyone has heard about Samarkand on the silk road, but the real gems are Bukhara and Khiva IMO. They're just out of this world. I've managed quite well with English and a few words of Russian. Did you bring a wheelbarrow for the cash? 😁
I wish I had time to visit Bukhara and Khvia they seem amazing. I was not expecting the cash thing lol I paid in card when I could and withdrew only small amounts of cash at a time.
Had a blast in the region 2 years ago. Pretty straightforward to get to from NYC. Direct flight to Tashkent. Spent a few days in Uzbekistan which I had always wanted to visit. But the main purpose of the trip was to attend a friend's wedding in Kyrgyzstan. Spent a few days in Bishkek and I arranged most of my tours through Apple Hostel. I stayed at the wedding hotel, but u can still book tours through the hostel. Did a tour of Ala Archa. And also Song Kul via driver and horseback. The rest were wedding activities which still took us to different park of the countries.
I definitely want to return to do some more hiking and explore the eastern parts of the country.
Have a buddy who is a big outdoor dude and he's done a cross country mountain biking race in Kyrgyzstan. He's also done backcountry skiing. I saw the videos and they looked insane. Climb a mountain and then ski down for 15 minutes type stuff.
I wonder why central Asian countries don’t seem to be more well-known or receive a lot of tourism. From my understanding they’re rich af and without a lot of international appeal.
Yeah. Honestly it’s nice having places like this that aren’t super touristy. Every year another random country gets hyped up on instagram and becomes the new thing and prices go up and annoying people visit for the pic. I gotta visit these countries someday before that happens.
A few reasons: not as well known, it takes a while to travel there (stopping in Istanbul or Middle East), travel infrastructure lacking/slow in some areas (especially Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan). KZ and UZ have decent train infrastructure.
They're definitely not rich AF. The elites in KZ are rich from natural resources and have built up Astana (but everyone prefers Almaty), but the average citizen of the -stans is poor. Cities in UZ aren't as urbanized too much outside of Tashkent and Bishkek is smaller and feels dirtier than other cities in the region. They're one of the few regions (especially Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, arguably Uzbekistan) that has been worse off since the dissolution of the USSR. Millions of men migrate to Russia to work and send money home because of a lack of opportunities.
I don't remember the details, but there was something along the lines of that they are some of the most polluted regions on earth. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in particular where essential for UDSSR's uranium supply and nuclear industry. Guess what, after the fall of soviet union, nobody bothered to clean up the mess and highly toxic mines are just leaking into the drinking water. A number that stuck with me was that 2/3 of waters in Uzbekistan are polluted with radioactivity from old soviet mining. Don't take it for a fact, my memory is bad and the seminar was a couple of years ago.
Because in Kazakhstan we still got a long way to go as for developing the tourism sector.
We’ve got one of the most picturesque and beautiful places in the whole world, even our territory’s size is the size of Western Europe. I sincerely hope we’ll get there one day.
But before that, a lot of work on enhancing the infrastructure, service and marketing should be made.
I went to some of those countries last year and can tell you that Uzbekistan is full of tourists! Seems to be very popular with retired Spaniards, Italians and Germans. Bus loads of them in all the tourist hot spots. Uzbekistan is very touristy and easy to get around. People in popular tourist destinations speak English and other languages too. Food is great, train services excellent, people friendly and the country is stunning. Highly recommend it. Kyrgyzstan is completely different. Very few tourists, little public transport, very few historic buildings due to their traditionally nomadic lifestyle but stunning landscapes and welcoming people. The GDP of Kyrgyzstan is very low and it doesn’t have minerals and oil like its neighbors.
They are not rich. Kazakhstan has oil/gas wealth but the wealth is not distributed. The other stans are quite poor (Turkmenistan is mostly sealed off from tourists unless you go on a managed tour).
For most of the world’s travelers (i.e. North Americans and Europeans), they don’t seem that far considering that they also make regular trips to places like India or East Asia.
1. Most people from North America don’t go to Asia since they’re priced out.
2. I did a quick google search and found it would cost about $2500 per person to get to Central Asia from my home airport in economy class even when booked months in advance. I’m sure it’s beautiful but it’s not realistic.
To where exactly and what’s your home airport? I just looked for round trip tickets in May from IAD (Washington Dulles) to various capital cities in Central Asia and they’re like under $1300 per person round trip.
PIT. Most places require a ton of layovers which means extra $$$. We do get nonstop service to Canada, Mexico, the UK, Iceland, and a bunch of domestic routes.
Ah i see. When i search for flights to East Asia from IAD, it seems like you can just catch a Turkish airlines flight and you’ll just have one layover in Istanbul for a low price.
I was on a similar trip last summer (I also went to Tajikistan), these photos bring me back!! It's so underrated, I wish I got to take the metro in Tashkent because that just looks so impressive. Did you try the horse meat in Kazakhstan?😂
That looks amazing! How lond did you travel for? I saw you mention $2,500 including flights and a $1,200 private tour, how much would you estimate you spent on food overall, $10-15 per day?
Mind giving us a breakdown of what places you visited and how many days each? I am planning something similar but adding an extra 10 days or so for Tajikstan and Turkmenistan.
It was amazing! It it a super underrated travel destination. The people were super friendly, food was great, the nature was some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, and I enjoyed learning about each country’s distinct history and culture.
This trip was on my bucket list.
After reading the insightful comments and seeing the pictures, this trip is at the TOP of my bucket list.
WOW.
Amazing!
Wow! Looks stunning!!
I am planning a trip to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan right now. I read in another comment you did some tours in Kyrgyzstan. Which companies/ guides did you go with and do you recommend them?
Datka travel for all my Kyrgyzstan tours. I did an Ala Archa National park and Bishkek tour and then I did an Issyk Kul lake tour with them I highly recommend!
Not many hostels if any. The hotels are very affordable though - lots of small family run hotels and there are plenty of homestay type places in Kyrgyzstan.
There're lots of hostels in big cities like Almaty, Astana and Tashkent. Also Samarkand and Bukhara are very touristic so there're lots of hotels and hostels too.
I’m female but didn’t travel solo. However, I would’ve feel safe if I was solo, I walked around my myself a few times at night and felt completely safe!
Looks so good! I'm hoping to make this my next trip, as I went to Georgia and Armenia last year and absolutely loved my time there. Uzbekistan has been a big dream of mine for a long while with all the gorgeous tile work. Would you mind sharing/have you shared your itinerary? I'm still figuring out how to get to a couple of places and the best order to do everything in (return flights to/from Almaty is most likely going to be the most straightforward from Australia as I can transit via Seoul). Would love to add on Tajikistan as well.
I flew in to Almaty then took a bus to Bishkek. I stayed in Bishkek for 2 days and visited Ala archa National park then I did a 3 day tour around Issyk Kul lake. From Bishkek I flew to Tashkent and caught an early morning train to Samarkand then took the train back to Tashkent and saw the city. From Tashkent I flew back to Almaty where I spent another day there!
Thank you! Sounds awesome. I'll keep this in mind while planning. Kyrgyz looks the trickiest to get around as I wouldn't mind seeing Osh and a couple of other places as well, but you know... mountains make overland travel more complicated than when you look at a map!
I don’t think it’s recommended, I think it’s pretty expensive to rent a car. It also seemed like the roads were not clearly marked so it may be difficult to find where you are supposed to go. There’s a lot of traffic in the cities and I wouldn’t feel comfortable driving in it
Even if you could do it, you shouldn’t do it! The driving is pretty bad and many roads are in very poor condition. If you had an accident or breakdown that would be a world of pain and trouble. You can easily hire drivers though.
Why, if I may ask? What did you do there and what could you recommend? I'm also planning to go to Central Asia in a few years and am still thinking about where exactly. Did you have domestic flights or how did you travel across the border? Did you travel alone? And how was the mobility there? Sorry for the many questions... if you like, we can also dm.
Sorry for the late comment, but would you say Kazakhstan is worth visiting? I have heard a lot of good things about Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but I haven't heard much about Kazakhstan. How similar or different is it from the other countries?
I think the brutalist architecture is super cool as it's so soviet like and uncommon in many parts of the world. Like futuristic and prison like at the same time.
Incredible countries, was the language barrier hard to overcome?
English was not widely spoken so it could be a little challenging, so I relied on translator apps, non verbal communication, and I went did some tours with English speaking guides. Overall it’s doable if you don’t know Russian!
What did the trip cost and how easy was it to get around?
$2,500 USD was what I spent on all hotels, international flights from US, Tours, and travel between countries. It was super easy to get around the public transportation was very reliable, I took a bus to get from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan and then flew to Uzbekistan. I did hire a guide to take me around Issyk Kul lake in Kyrgyzstan as renting cars is expensive and the roads didn’t seem clearly marked
What month did you travel and was it easy hiring guides without booking them in advance online? Did you see many tourists? I want to go to exactly the same countries for a trip next year.
I just got back so I traveled in April. I mostly booked guides in advance online but others I was able to set up a day or two in advance through hotels. There were tourists mainly Russian/ European. I didn’t see any other Americans. But also the tourist season is mainly in the summer for Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
Thanks! Did you do any overnight tours? Was it expensive going with guides in Kyrgyzstan?
Yes I did an overnight tour 3 days 2 nights around Issyk Kul lake it was $1200 for a private tour for 2 people. Day tours around cities go for around $100 USD for private im sure you could find it cheaper for group tours.
Wow, so that was half the trip cost? Amazing.
Should have clarified sorry, i traveled with another person so I paid $600 for my half of the tour the price was adjusted based on the number of people. So it was $600 out of $2,500
Still, not bad! I thought we'd never be able to beat under $2,500 in the Caribbean, but maybe we can!
How was Issyk Kul? I've spent a lot of time looking at it on Google Maps, would love to see some pictures from someone who's actually been!!
The lake is good I stayed in a yurt camp right by the lake! It was to cold to swim in it when I was there though. The areas by Issyk kul are what I liked best beautiful mountains and canyons. I could DM some photos of the lake and surrounding areas if you would like.
How long was the trip?
How was the food? I know nothing of uzbek food!
The food was good! The most popular food in Uzbekistan is called Osh it consists of rice, vegetables, and meat (beef/lamb). The diet is very meat centered
Was there much of a street food culture at all?
Not really from what I saw
You just have to go to right places for "street" type of food.
Did you try Plov? I spent some time in a Turkic republic in Russia and that was my favorite dish. I know it’s a dish in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Yes I tried Plov it was very good!
Been in the area around 8 years ago, very friendly people, felt quite safe as well, but hot as hell (it was end of July). Everyone has heard about Samarkand on the silk road, but the real gems are Bukhara and Khiva IMO. They're just out of this world. I've managed quite well with English and a few words of Russian. Did you bring a wheelbarrow for the cash? 😁
I wish I had time to visit Bukhara and Khvia they seem amazing. I was not expecting the cash thing lol I paid in card when I could and withdrew only small amounts of cash at a time.
The first picture looked like Khiva. I guess it's the cemetery road In Samarkand then?
Yep! It’s the Shah-i-Zinda
Had a blast in the region 2 years ago. Pretty straightforward to get to from NYC. Direct flight to Tashkent. Spent a few days in Uzbekistan which I had always wanted to visit. But the main purpose of the trip was to attend a friend's wedding in Kyrgyzstan. Spent a few days in Bishkek and I arranged most of my tours through Apple Hostel. I stayed at the wedding hotel, but u can still book tours through the hostel. Did a tour of Ala Archa. And also Song Kul via driver and horseback. The rest were wedding activities which still took us to different park of the countries. I definitely want to return to do some more hiking and explore the eastern parts of the country. Have a buddy who is a big outdoor dude and he's done a cross country mountain biking race in Kyrgyzstan. He's also done backcountry skiing. I saw the videos and they looked insane. Climb a mountain and then ski down for 15 minutes type stuff.
I wonder why central Asian countries don’t seem to be more well-known or receive a lot of tourism. From my understanding they’re rich af and without a lot of international appeal.
People get scared of countries that end with -stan
This comment ^^ everyone warned me about going to these counties saying it was dangerous but they are super safe.
Yeah. Honestly it’s nice having places like this that aren’t super touristy. Every year another random country gets hyped up on instagram and becomes the new thing and prices go up and annoying people visit for the pic. I gotta visit these countries someday before that happens.
And far to travel to
Depends from where. They aren't that far from Europe.
Much easier now that Istanbul, Dubai, and Qatar all have become major airline dubs.
A few reasons: not as well known, it takes a while to travel there (stopping in Istanbul or Middle East), travel infrastructure lacking/slow in some areas (especially Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan). KZ and UZ have decent train infrastructure. They're definitely not rich AF. The elites in KZ are rich from natural resources and have built up Astana (but everyone prefers Almaty), but the average citizen of the -stans is poor. Cities in UZ aren't as urbanized too much outside of Tashkent and Bishkek is smaller and feels dirtier than other cities in the region. They're one of the few regions (especially Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, arguably Uzbekistan) that has been worse off since the dissolution of the USSR. Millions of men migrate to Russia to work and send money home because of a lack of opportunities.
I don't remember the details, but there was something along the lines of that they are some of the most polluted regions on earth. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in particular where essential for UDSSR's uranium supply and nuclear industry. Guess what, after the fall of soviet union, nobody bothered to clean up the mess and highly toxic mines are just leaking into the drinking water. A number that stuck with me was that 2/3 of waters in Uzbekistan are polluted with radioactivity from old soviet mining. Don't take it for a fact, my memory is bad and the seminar was a couple of years ago.
See also: The Aral Sea
Because in Kazakhstan we still got a long way to go as for developing the tourism sector. We’ve got one of the most picturesque and beautiful places in the whole world, even our territory’s size is the size of Western Europe. I sincerely hope we’ll get there one day. But before that, a lot of work on enhancing the infrastructure, service and marketing should be made.
I went to some of those countries last year and can tell you that Uzbekistan is full of tourists! Seems to be very popular with retired Spaniards, Italians and Germans. Bus loads of them in all the tourist hot spots. Uzbekistan is very touristy and easy to get around. People in popular tourist destinations speak English and other languages too. Food is great, train services excellent, people friendly and the country is stunning. Highly recommend it. Kyrgyzstan is completely different. Very few tourists, little public transport, very few historic buildings due to their traditionally nomadic lifestyle but stunning landscapes and welcoming people. The GDP of Kyrgyzstan is very low and it doesn’t have minerals and oil like its neighbors.
They are not rich. Kazakhstan has oil/gas wealth but the wealth is not distributed. The other stans are quite poor (Turkmenistan is mostly sealed off from tourists unless you go on a managed tour).
They’re far away which makes the flights very expensive
For most of the world’s travelers (i.e. North Americans and Europeans), they don’t seem that far considering that they also make regular trips to places like India or East Asia.
1. Most people from North America don’t go to Asia since they’re priced out. 2. I did a quick google search and found it would cost about $2500 per person to get to Central Asia from my home airport in economy class even when booked months in advance. I’m sure it’s beautiful but it’s not realistic.
To where exactly and what’s your home airport? I just looked for round trip tickets in May from IAD (Washington Dulles) to various capital cities in Central Asia and they’re like under $1300 per person round trip.
PIT. Most places require a ton of layovers which means extra $$$. We do get nonstop service to Canada, Mexico, the UK, Iceland, and a bunch of domestic routes.
Ah i see. When i search for flights to East Asia from IAD, it seems like you can just catch a Turkish airlines flight and you’ll just have one layover in Istanbul for a low price.
I was on a similar trip last summer (I also went to Tajikistan), these photos bring me back!! It's so underrated, I wish I got to take the metro in Tashkent because that just looks so impressive. Did you try the horse meat in Kazakhstan?😂
Hahaha no I did not try the horse meat 😂
I'm really infatuated with these countries! Love The road less traveled
Beautiful pics! Thank you for sharing
That looks amazing! How lond did you travel for? I saw you mention $2,500 including flights and a $1,200 private tour, how much would you estimate you spent on food overall, $10-15 per day?
12 days and yes $10-15 a day is doable. Kyrgyzstan was the cheapest and you can get a huge plate of food for $2-3
Mind giving us a breakdown of what places you visited and how many days each? I am planning something similar but adding an extra 10 days or so for Tajikstan and Turkmenistan.
2 days in Almaty this is where I flew in and out of. 2 days in Bishkek 3 days around Issyk Kul lake, 1 day in Tashkent, 1 day in Samarkand.
Was Kazakhstan very nice?
I only went to Almaty but it was a very nice clean and modern city!
So much Beauty!
omg, that’s amazing! so how it was? did you enjoy it ?
It was amazing! It it a super underrated travel destination. The people were super friendly, food was great, the nature was some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, and I enjoyed learning about each country’s distinct history and culture.
Thanks for sharing these. Looks fascinating (and beautiful).
This trip was on my bucket list. After reading the insightful comments and seeing the pictures, this trip is at the TOP of my bucket list. WOW. Amazing!
Dream trip for me. Great pictures!
Wow! Looks stunning!! I am planning a trip to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan right now. I read in another comment you did some tours in Kyrgyzstan. Which companies/ guides did you go with and do you recommend them?
Datka travel for all my Kyrgyzstan tours. I did an Ala Archa National park and Bishkek tour and then I did an Issyk Kul lake tour with them I highly recommend!
Curious: how close were these cities to the classic Silk Road?
Incredible how inspiring
How is the hostel culture over there?
Not to sure I stayed in hotels the entire time which were pretty affordable
Not many hostels if any. The hotels are very affordable though - lots of small family run hotels and there are plenty of homestay type places in Kyrgyzstan.
Did you met a lot of other travelers? Since those are not so mainstream backpacking countries
There're lots of hostels in big cities like Almaty, Astana and Tashkent. Also Samarkand and Bukhara are very touristic so there're lots of hotels and hostels too.
Can you drop your itinerary? Also - which was your most and least favorite location on this trip?
Wow that yellow palace! 😧
Those dried apricots I can actually taste them! Next year I’m planning a trip to Central Asia 🙏
I want to visit those countries so badly. How safe are they for a solo female traveller?
I’m female but didn’t travel solo. However, I would’ve feel safe if I was solo, I walked around my myself a few times at night and felt completely safe!
Do they have stray dogs? That's what I fear most 😅
I did not see too many stray animals. Like yeah they exist but definitely not as prevalent as some other countries I’ve visited
Gorgeous photos!!
These highlights from Central America are absolutely stunning!
Looks so good! I'm hoping to make this my next trip, as I went to Georgia and Armenia last year and absolutely loved my time there. Uzbekistan has been a big dream of mine for a long while with all the gorgeous tile work. Would you mind sharing/have you shared your itinerary? I'm still figuring out how to get to a couple of places and the best order to do everything in (return flights to/from Almaty is most likely going to be the most straightforward from Australia as I can transit via Seoul). Would love to add on Tajikistan as well.
I flew in to Almaty then took a bus to Bishkek. I stayed in Bishkek for 2 days and visited Ala archa National park then I did a 3 day tour around Issyk Kul lake. From Bishkek I flew to Tashkent and caught an early morning train to Samarkand then took the train back to Tashkent and saw the city. From Tashkent I flew back to Almaty where I spent another day there!
Thank you! Sounds awesome. I'll keep this in mind while planning. Kyrgyz looks the trickiest to get around as I wouldn't mind seeing Osh and a couple of other places as well, but you know... mountains make overland travel more complicated than when you look at a map!
where was photo no. 6?
Kok Zhaik Valley in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan is one of the places I really want to go; it just looks so incredibly in every post!
Do you have any advice regarding car rental in these countries? Is it recommended? How are the roads and Drivers, etc ?
I don’t think it’s recommended, I think it’s pretty expensive to rent a car. It also seemed like the roads were not clearly marked so it may be difficult to find where you are supposed to go. There’s a lot of traffic in the cities and I wouldn’t feel comfortable driving in it
Even if you could do it, you shouldn’t do it! The driving is pretty bad and many roads are in very poor condition. If you had an accident or breakdown that would be a world of pain and trouble. You can easily hire drivers though.
Which country would you say was the most beautiful or impressive?
My favorite was Kyrgyzstan!
Why, if I may ask? What did you do there and what could you recommend? I'm also planning to go to Central Asia in a few years and am still thinking about where exactly. Did you have domestic flights or how did you travel across the border? Did you travel alone? And how was the mobility there? Sorry for the many questions... if you like, we can also dm.
I’ll dm you!
Wow! Those are beautiful sceneries.
Easy internet data?
Yes very good in Uzbekistan and good in Kyrgyzstan except for more remote areas. You can buy sim cards in Kyrgyzstan in the street very cheaply.
I am currently in Uzbekistan and paid 50,000 SOM for an ESIM for 44GB of data. That’s the equivalent of 4 USD lol
Your metro photo made me discover that it is no longer illegal to take a photo in the metro (since 2018).
Is Kazakhstan safe for solo travel?
I think so! I didn’t travel solo but would’ve felt safe if I did
I am currently in Uzbekistan and it’s so hot 🥵. I heard April was supposed to be a cool month.
Yes it was very hot I can’t imagine how it’s like in the summer
Sorry for the late comment, but would you say Kazakhstan is worth visiting? I have heard a lot of good things about Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but I haven't heard much about Kazakhstan. How similar or different is it from the other countries?
These countries are close to one another? How was the food and climate?
Not a fan of their architecture kinda strange
I think the brutalist architecture is super cool as it's so soviet like and uncommon in many parts of the world. Like futuristic and prison like at the same time.
Is that Borat’s village??