After failing to secure a Letter of Invitation for trip we had planned for Turkmenistan – we decided to throw our efforts, and resources into a trip to the rest of the ‘Stans – Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
We had around twelve days and a lot of ground to cover.
Planning the trip was a mission in itself. Information is scattered and scarce and a lot of the local websites are in Cyrllic. Flights don’t go regularly, and many local airlines don’t come up in the big aggregate sites – making it difficult to find routes, let alone make reservations.
In the end we managed about three days in each country – with the bulk of our time spent in the capitals, with a day trip or a side trip to another city tacked on.
| Thursday | 31 | Istanbul |
|---|---|---|
| Friday | 1 | Almaty |
| Saturday | 2 | Dushanbe |
| Sunday | 3 | Lake Iskender, Hisor |
| Monday | 4 | Samarkand |
| Tuesday | 5 | Tashkent |
| Wednesday | 6 | Osh |
| Thursday | 7 | Bishkek |
| Friday | 8 | Lake Issyk kul |
| Saturday | 9 | Almaty |
| Sunday | 10 | Nur Sultan |
| Monday | 11 | Istanbul |
So in the end we got flights for around $390 direct to Almaty on Turkish Airlines.
Seeing as though we landed at 0545 and didn’t know what to expect when we arrived, we decided to take up an offer by the hostel to organise a driver for us.
Immigration was a breeze and before we knew it we were out. We found the driver without any drama and were on our way.
The transfer was 2.500 KZT or around $6.50 and took around 20 minutes to get into town and to our accommodation at L.E.S Hostel.
We probably didn’t need to, but we booked the night before our arrival and the one of or arrival, to make sure we had somewhere to get cleaned up and crash for a few hours before hitting the town.
Generally during our time in Central Asia – there weren’t many tourists, and so we managed to get in to our rooms as soon as we arrived.
Anyway, we dropped our stuff off, had a quick two-hour nap, then re-grouped in time for breakfast.
We didn’t have much of a plan for Almaty – just to wander around and see the sites. I wouldn’t say there’s a great deal to do or see there – but it was a nice sunny day and we enjoyed ambling round taking pictures and carrying on.
We stopped at Float Cafe for Coffee, then continued up the road to Ethnocafe for lunch.
In the afternoon I decided to go and check out Arasan Spa while Gavin opted for a nap.
A couple of hours later we re-grouped for dinner and a few drinks. After getting rejected from Barmaglot bar, because of what I was wearing, we continued down the street to Yard House Pub. In the end we ended up crashing a Halloween party at the rooftop bar in the fancy-ish Kazakhstan hotel.
The next day – Saturday the 2nd of November – we didn’t have much more time than for breakfast before heading back to the airport for our flight to Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
The best flight deal we could find was using the Tajik airline – Somon Air. Our flight cost around $110 each and left Almaty at 1325 and got in to Dushanbe around 1400.
The reason we decided to fly to Tajikistan – apart from the distance – was we organised e-Visas which to be collected on arrival. We figured we’d have the best chance of achieving this at an international airport, rather than at a land border.
As predicted we breezed through immigration, gave a taxi a couple of dollars, and before we knew it were at our accommodation for the night – Green House Hostel.
This place had come up in a lot of blogs – and it was clean and tidy, and just a few kilometres from the airport – but a bit of a way into town. We’re talking twenty minutes – so nothing too crazy – but it could have been closer. We dropped our stuff off and made a bee-line for the city centre.
Again, there’s not much to Dushanbe – but fortunately, what there is to see, is all clustered around a couple of blocks down town – making site seeing pretty easy.
We ended up at Al Sham for a Middle Eastern-inspired dinner, before heading over to 28 Monkeys bar for a few cocktails.
The following day we had planned to go to see Hisor Fortress in the morning but when we checked in to the hostel we saw they were offering a number of day trips. In the end, we decided to do a trip up to Lake Iskenderkul in the morning, with a quick stop at Hisor fortress in the afternoon. They were in opposite directions, but it was only a bit of a detour and meant we got to see both things.
We were up early for breakfast, and right on time, around 0800 the driver had arrived.
We checked out of the hostel and settled in for the three hour drive north to the lake.
The scenery was great, and apart from a toddler with car sickness, the trip went without too much drama.
We arrived at the lake around 1100 and after taking a couple of pictures we did the little hike up to the waterfall.
It’s only about a kilometre, and takes about 20 minutes, but it’s worth it to see something different at the lake. Apparently there was a longer hike to another lake, but seeing as though we were short on time, and trying to squeeze Hisor in too, we decided just to see the waterfall and head back to the car.
We arrived at Hisor around 1500 and spent an hour or so there before heading back for Dushanbe.
The tour cost us around $115 for the two of us which was probably a bit expensive, but we got to do and see everything we had wanted.
After a couple of nights in hostels, we decided to opt for a bit of luxury and spend the night in Vatan hotel. A double room went for about $66 and were big, clean and spacious with a spa bath.
Dinner was around the corner at Trakier, with a few night caps back at 28 Monkeys, the very poorly stocked Oblaka skybar in the Dushanbe Plaza and at Bandes bar.
Monday the 4th of November, we opted for another early start for our long trip across the border into Uzbekistan.
We hadn’t organised this in advance and so it took a bit of stuffing around to get our arses into gear. The woman at reception offered us a car to Samarkand, Uzbekistan – for about $300. We thought that was a bit too much, and failing to find any other more reasonable options, we decided to take public transport.
Reception called us a taxi and gave him orders to take us to the place where the shared taxis gather. He was to negotiate a good price for us and then we’d continue on our journey. It was pissing with rain, so it’s sort of lucky everything worked out for us. The taxi driver stopped on the side of the road, a dozen or so people came racing at the car shouting their destinations and prices. Eventually we settled on a good deal – about $55 to the border – about four hours – through rain, snow, and sunshine. The border crossing was pretty easy – and before we knew it we were in a cab for our onward journey to Samarkand.
We were fortunate enough to profit from the 2018 reopening of the Panjakent border – making a fairly quick and easy journey from Dushanbe to Samarakand. When I was researching people said they had had to go all the way up the the Oybek crossing. Apart from asking people on the ground, we found the best resource for information about border crossings was Caravanistan’s comprehensive blog.
The taxi from the border to Samarkand cost us about $10 and took around 50 minutes.
We stayed in Hotel Rahmon which was a great budget option, close to all the sites.
We spent the rest of the day checking out the Registan and all the mosques and mausoleums, before heading over to Platan for dinner.
Another early start and we were back on the road to Tashkent. We opted for another shared taxi – $26 and taking about four hours.
We had anticipated taking taking the early fast train at 0630. It takes two hours city to city. You can see times here – but we didn’t managed to secure tickets online. We asked at the hotel and he had to ring Tashkent, for availability and we had to go to the train station to reserve and pay. There were only five seats left and it was already about 2200 meaning a very late night or a very early morning, so we decided to go by car instead.
Around lunch time we arrived at Home Hotel and dropped off our stuff and head out to Aflonsa for some lunch.
We spent the afternoon wandering around Tashkent before settling in for dinner and a few drinks at Steam Bar.
Seeing as though we had a long – seven-ish hour journey to Osh the next day – we tried again for the trains. We went down to the main train station to see if we could secure some tickets.
The ticket office can be overwhelming with lots of people and ticket windows catering to different needs. We waited for the better part of an hour before it was our turn.
The train left around 0800 and arrived at Adijan – the closest station to the border, around 1400. It cost us about $10 each for business class seats.
They recommend you get to the station a couple of hours early for registration. This wasn’t super difficult, but we head down around 0700 to have our passports checked and our tickets stamped before boarding the train.
The train was clean and spacious and I THINK they offer you free food and water. The trip was pretty painless and we passed the time enjoying the scenery and watching Netflix. 
At Adijan we didn’t have any trouble finding a taxi for our onward journey to the border. It’s a fairly big town with lots going on.
The taxi from Adijan train station to Dostyk border crossing was about an hour and cost us $10.
The border crossing was a bit chaotic, with hoards of local grannines pushing and shoving – but the formalities were painless and before we knew it we were in another cab – continuing on our way to Osh – a 30 minute drive.
Around 1700 we had arrived at EcoHouse Guesthouse.
There wasn’t a great deal of sunlight left so we did a bit of a lap of the town before looking for somewhere to warm up.
We ended up in Skybar but it was colder inside than out, so after a bit of research, we headed back up to Izum bar.
Next day – November 7th – we had another early start as we hopped in a taxi for our flight to Bishkek.
Taxi to the airport was about $4 and it took around 20 minutes.
Our Tez Jet flight left around 0930 and landed in Bishkek at 1015. It cost us it cost us around $66 each.
By 1130 we had arrived at our hotel – Madison Ave Bishkek. The taxi cost us about $7 and took around twenty minutes.
By about midday we were on the road – out exploring the capital of Kyrgyzstan – our fourth Stan. We made a bee-line to Cafe Faiza for a bite to eat.
After lunch we head back out in the world to explore Bishkek and its soviet monuments and buildings – which are all clustered around Chuy Avenue.
It wasn’t long before we were sniffing around looking for something to eat and drink. We had to sort out the next leg of our journey so a bar seemed like the most sensible option.
We had a couple of beers (and WIFI) at Craft Beers Bishkek, before heading up to Bar 12 for dinner and more drinks. In the end we ended up having a nightcap around the corner at the rather sleepy Times cocktail bar.
The next day was where our holiday nearly came unstuck. For the last few days we’d been playing it by ear because we had run out of time to plan everything. Also we wanted to be a bit flexible.
On Friday November the 8th – we had wanted to visit Lake Issyk Kul. It was about three hours from Bishkak and is supposed to be one of the jewels in Kyrgyzstan’s tourism crown.
We planned on going to spend the night in Karakol – on the far east shore of the lake before ideally continuing north across the border back to Almaty for our overnight train to Nur Sultan.
The trip to Karakol was supposed to be about six hours. From there north across the border it would be five hours. If we had to cross via a return trip to Bishkek it would be ten hours.
Being unable to find any conclusive border crossing infrormation on Caravanistan’s site – we decided to get in touch with a couple of local tourist centres and local hotels in Karakol.
It wasn’t long before our suspicions were confirmed – the border crossing had closed a few weeks earlier. It’s seasonal and only opened during the warmer, summer months.
So that was one thing solved. We knew we still wanted to see the lake – but still didn’t have transport. We had thought we had lined up a driver and a car for two days but they refused to give us a contact number, and surprise, surprise, they failed to show up at the hotel at 0900 the following day.
So were at a bit of a loose end, but luckily the girl in the hotel helped us sort everything out. In the end there was a guy working at the hotel, who was from the lake region, who often did tours with guests.
We paid him about $130 to take us to Cholpon Ata, on the lakes north shore, show us round, put up with us, then drive us back to the border north of Bishkek the following day.
Apart from having somewhere warm and comfortable to sit for the ride to the lake, it was good to be with a local to see what life is like for Kyrgz people.
We were on the road by about 1100 and arrived at Cholpon Ata by 1400. We found somewhere cheap and cheerful to stay before heading out to explore the lake and surrounds.
Lunch was at Kafe U Rybaka – apparently the best place in town.
One of the main reasons for visiting the area is to see the rock carvings, or petroglyphs – dating back to the 2nd century BCE.
We also had a good look at the lake before heading back into town to find something for dinner.
We ended up staying at Guesthouse Podsolnukhi. It was $7 for a double room with a private bathroom. Apparently in summer it’s impossible to find a room, but in the winter we could take our pick.
Another pre-dawn start saw us well on our way by 0700 heading back towards Bishkek and on to the border with Kazakhstan.
We were at the border around 1030 – an hour and a half ahead of schedule. All the formalities were simple enough and before long we were back in Kazakhstan.
It only took a couple of minutes to find a taxi to take us in to town – this time an actual shared taxi – there were four of us – for the three hour journey into Almaty. It cost $20 for the two of us.
We arrived at the train station around 1400 – four hours ahead of what our departure time was (I thought it was 1800 but it was 1852).
Unlike Uzbekistan there was no major security or passport procedures at Almaty 2 train station – so we decided to store our luggage and wander off into town for a few hours.
We had a nice lunch in Che Chill Pub – a couple of blocks away from the train station – before heading around the corner to Arsan Spa for a cheap massage and to while away some of the rest of the afternoon.
We were back at the train station at 1700. An hour before when I thought the train was leaving – but in actual fact two hours early.
We figured it might be difficult to find the train so we decided to chill out until it was time to go.
By 1830 the train had pulled up and we hopped on for our twelve hour, first class, journey to the capital – Nur Sultan.
The train cost us $45 each for the private double compartment sleeper. They threw in a few basic snacks but probably not enough to tide you over if you didn’t stuff yourself at lunch like we did.
After the novelty of our compartment wore off, we decided to go and explore the rest of the train – settling eventually in the bar.
I wouldn’t say it was the most comfortable sleep, but after the long day travelling we had had, i was pretty ready for bed.
0845, right on time, we pulled in to Astana train station. The foot of snow and subzero temperatures that greeted us were a bit of a rude shock compared to the mild autumn weather we’d had so far on the trip.
We booked into Mini hotel bereket even though we were only spending the day in Nur Sultan – so we’d have somewhere to charge our phones, leave our bags and take a shower.
By 1000 we were ready to head out and explore. First stop – Khan Shatyr – to buy some -9°C winter appropriate clothes.
We grabbed a long, late breakfast in Travellers Cafe – partly because we were starving – and partly because we were procrastinating going out in the cold. But we only had a day, so in the end we forced ourselves out to face the elements.
Like Bishkek, all the sites cluster around one main thoroughfare – making it a fairly easy, if not rather sprawling, city to explore.
By about 1700 we’d had enough and decided to head up to the Marriott hotel for a cocktail and snack before heading to the airport.
Our Air Astana flight left around 2030 for Almaty. It arrived an hour and a half later at 2200. It cost us $54 each.
Our flight back to Istanbul was 0745 on the 11th of November, so we decided to take a cheap hotel at the airport for a quick sleep before it was time to head home.
Aksunkar Gostinitsa cost around $30 each for a double with a private bathroom. It was pretty shabby and not the cleanest – but it was about 400 metres to the terminal and did us just fine.
