Category: Central Asia

I make a gesture as if turning a steering wheel, point to the road in front of the ranger station and ask, “Karasho?” — The ranger gives a thumbs-up: “Narmalna.” So the road I’d been warned about in Almaty seems to be passable. I am stopped in Basshi, the last village before Altyn-Emel National Park,…

For the first few hours after leaving Dushanbe, the journey takes me through dusty, hot lowlands. This also is Tajikistan. The Honda purrs along; I’m glad the air conditioning is working. The forced break in Dushanbe and the abrupt cancellation of our original travel plans did take a toll on me after all. So I’m…

After we got stranded at Iskanderkul, an adventure awaited us that we hadn’t anticipated: hope and fear over our vehicle, an emotional rollercoaster in a city that revealed its beautiful, absurd and warm-hearted sides to us. You can read the first part here. Friday: Plan B We’re sitting in our hotel room, thinking things over.…

After we got stranded at Iskanderkul, an adventure awaited us that we hadn’t anticipated: hope and fear over our vehicle, an emotional rollercoaster in a city that revealed its beautiful, absurd and warm-hearted sides to us. A chronicle of events: Sunday: Arrival in the Capital We cruise towards Dushanbe at a cautious 60 kph. The…

A long day behind the wheel, a nasty track, fatigue and a few stupid decisions was all it took. Now we’re standing there, on a mountainside in the middle of nowhere. The Honda is parked with a damaged drivetrain on the least steep part of mountain meadow I could find. Tea water is boiling on…

The border crossing into Tajikistan goes smoothly. As is common in Central Asia, the co-pilots have to go through the separate pedestrian lane while I take the car across. After a bit of back and forth between customs, road authority and paying various fees at different payment points, after an hour, we are in the…

To be honest, I always imagined Tashkent to be a hostile concrete hell. After all, according to the weather statistics, it is the hottest place on our entire trip. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. The city is much more pleasant than expected, even at temperatures above 40 degrees. There are many parks with…

When you’re travelling fast like I am on my way to Samqrqand, you spend a lot of time at borders. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Today it will be more. I’m travelling from my overnight camp near Shymkent to the Uzbek border, expecting a easy crossing from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan — two countries that don’t have…

Coming from Russia, the Kazakh border has a relaxed, Central Asian vibe. In the queue in front of me I spot number plates from pretty much every stan. When it’s my turn, I’m first led into a back room. The officer sitting there is obviously not in the mood for an interrogation and waves me…

After a short day in Belarus, I approach the Russian border at the Minsk-Moscow motorway. This is not really a border crossing, as Russia and Belarus form a state union. Citizens of both countries can travel back and forth across the border relatively unhindered. Only foreigners are waved onto the shoulder. A quick look into…