Planning a trip to Central Asia?! These are the 3 things, I WISH I KNEW before travelling Central Asia. Central Asia is a diverse region that is highly undervisited, and these are the basics to know!

1. The People.

In this part of the World there is an interesting melting pot of people and ethnicities! You may be in Tajikistan, but find yourself looking at someone with green eyes, light skin and a thin nose. Tajiks are actually descendents from the Aryan people, meaning they are closely related to Iranians/Persians. Regardless of whether the people look Asian, Persian, European or Arabic, everyone is extremely warm and welcoming here. Most people are very interested in foreigners, as they don’t see too many of us. So you will have 95% genuine interactions, which is pretty rare from what I’ve experienced around the World. Just make sure to learn a bit of Russian, or use a translate app, so you will be able to communicate a few key sentences with your new friends.

2. The Mountains

Central Asia is a hiker’s paradise. The towering mountains in the Central Asian region are some of the highest in the world. The Pamir Mountains are formed by the meeting of the Himalayas with the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun and the Hindu Kush ranges. These massive, snow-capped peaks are commonly referred to as “The Roof of The World”. Mountain ranges cover more than 90% of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, so if you like hiking, you’re at the right spot. Furthermore you can maybe spot some interesting wildlife on the way (like the Marco Polo Sheep, and if you’re very lucky, a snow leopard). Btw. the snow leopard is supposed to be the least aggressive to humans of all big cats, so don’t worry

Big Almaty Lake, Kazakhstan

3. The Perfect Time

Central Asia is slowly starting to become noticed by travellers. Kyrgyzstan has already eased visa restrictions and has set up homestay and adventure programs, making it fairly simple for you to visit and experience the country. There’s just enough tourism infrastructure in the region at the moment, yet it retains it’s authenticity and still feels like an epic place to travel. Currently there are only a handful of tourists travelling here, however, things are definitely picking up and in a few years (I predict) this part of the World will be swarming with backpackers and travellers all wanting a piece of The Stans. Now is the right time to go. Gustav

MY WORST BORDER ENTRY EVER….
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Country 88

The Registan Square is a real gem located in the very heart of the ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

I flew into Tashkent, Uzbekistan from Almaty, Kazakhstan and I read online that it was now possible to go 5 days visa-free in Uzbekistan, if you came by flight! So that was the plan.. Inbound/outbound flights was arranged, I thought it would be all good ✔

But there was one catch. You HAD TO have an outbound flight with Uzbekistan Air, and mine was with Astana Air. They told me to buy another ticket back to Almaty for $200 in 3 days, and with only $150 dollars on me and no ATM’s where I could access, I had to give my Visa-card and password to a random dude in order to proceed….
Probably the worst 30 min of life waiting, when he went to get the last $50, in the other end of the airport, with free access to my bank account 😳😱😱

When I then got back to the border control, they looked at the new flight ticket and said…. No.
BUT THEY JUST TOLD ME TO BUY THIS TICKET?!?!?! 😤 I was about to go berserk and I could see they enjoyed themselves so much. Their new demand was that I couldn’t go back to Almaty where I came from…. So back we went to the transit center. I was then told that the only option now was flying to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan and add $70 extra. I look super pissed at the corrupt agent and said, ‘no, that’s impossible.’
He could probably see that it wasn’t fun and games any longer and then said ‘okay okay’ and fixed my return ticket to Bishkek for the $200 already paid, and FINALLY they let me in…. 🙌😍👏🙌

4 HOURS OF waiting/discussing with the military, 2 cancelled future flights, lots of anger inside me, but now on the inside of Uzbekistan for 3 days and I’m here to make the best out of it 🌷💚

Travelling isn’t always as easy as it looks on pictures, there are a lot of obstacles on the way!!! But when you overcome them, the feeling is hard to describe.

All the troubles of getting into Uzbekistan was worth it, when going to ‘The Registan Square’ in Samarkand. Otherworldly place.

MY LAST COMMENT:

3 years ago I was actually rejected entrance in Rwanda in Africa, because I couldn’t control my temper when treated unfairly at the border, so guys, always remember to stay calm, when dealing with the border control.

Have a good day!

– Gustav