1

Samarkand, Khiva and Burkhara are all quite different so I think it's worth going to all three. That would probably take up about half your time, including travel in between those cities. You could do some side-trips, such as visiting the desert forts from Khiva.

I haven't been there, but from researching it I think Kyrgyzstan might be a nice contrast to Uzbekistan, as a lot of the activities there seem to country rather than city-based.

2

Hi, james!
At first, I also planned to travel around 5 stans for 17 days or so, from Almaty-Aktau-Turkmenistan-Uzbek-Tajik-Kyrkys-and Almaty, again.
However, due to the short vacation, I've decided to enjoy 4 stans, especially Pamir Highway, and cut into 14 days.
Next May , I'll fly to Tashkent and to Samarkent, Penjkent, Tajikistan, Dushanbe and Bishkek, Kyrkiz. and get out to Almaty, Kazak.
I just hope the Highway would be as beautiful as the Karakoram Highway where I've been to 7 years ago.

3

Honestly, I think you're better off concentrating on one 'stan (for the purposes of your trip, Uzbekistan would be the best) than racing to fit two or more in. While it would be possible to split your time with (e.g.) Kyrgyzstan, the best things about the more mountainous 'stans are the outdoor activities such as hiking, horse-trekking and staying in yurts, and April is a bit early for that kind of thing - the nomads won't be out on the jailoos yet.

With 17 days in Uzbekistan, you could do loads. As well as Samarkand, Khiva and Bukhara (all of which are, IMO, worth at least three days each, but crammed into a short space of time I admit mosque fatigue might be a problem), you could visit Shakhrisabz, go to Nukus for the Savitsky gallery, tour the forts around Khiva, do some trekking in the Nurata mountains (they have a good homestay programme) and look around the markets in the Ferghana valley.

I did the trip to Mazar from Termez in early 2010. It is a fascinating place, and the Blue Mosque is beautiful; however, the security situation is not a joke, and I personally wouldn't have done it if I hadn't known people in the city who could show me around and tell me what and where was safe (I'm a woman and I was travelling on my own though, which I think does make a difference). Unless you want to go to Afghanistan for its own sake (or very specifically to see the Blue Mosque), I'm not sure the trip would be worth it given your time constraints.

4

Thanks for the advice. I know that if I visited two stans I wouldn't be able to see everywhere in each place but thought getting a taste of the countryside in one of the others may be good. I think due to the time constraints I will just stick to Uzbekistan this time.

Ertaga I wanted to go to Mazar to visit the Blue Mosque and just generally see what life is like in Afghanistan. I was only planning on a night or two in Mazar. I thought it was around 10 hours journey from Termez? Obviously safety is my main concern.

5

It's about a couple of hours from Termez, including border crossing time: get a taxi from Termez airport to the border post, and then on the other side it's possible to get transportation to Mazar. I believe it's relatively straightforward to find places to stay (except during peak pilgrimage season).

The decision whether or not to go to Afghanistan is very personal - you just have to research the hell out of the security situation, which obviously changes all the time, keep up-to-date with what's going on and decide whether for you the risk is worth it. Might be worth asking on the Afghanistan forums for advice from someone who's done the trip very recently.

6

I agree with one of the above that having too many -stans in 17 days is a bit too much. See this Two Stans Tour - it is designed for 12 days approx. But you can have slightly more time in each city, such as Samarkand or Bukhara in Uzbekistan.. Also, I would recommend to read this article:
http://www.intltravelnews.com/2011/07/touring-five-%E2%80%99stans from a guy who did this complex tour in 2010.