I have only 14 days to spend in Central Asia. It is just enough time to give me a feel for the area, so that I can come back at later time. I'm traveling solo, and I am not on a tight budget. In other words, I can fly from place to place, if need be. But, I am looking for something different and quasi-exotic. If I were to go to Samarkand, I am not planning on spending 5 days there; just enough time to glean its essence . . . maybe 2 days or so.
I need advice from a seasoned traveler in this area. What would you recommend for 14 days in Central Asia?
Thanks!
lonelystella
1
yakkalot
In uz you could do a single day in samarkand easy, bukhara and khiva could really be an afternoon each and don't know if you want to see the aral sea, but its pretty interesting. So morning taxi, then arvo in the towns.
Thats about five days in uzbekistan.
Kyrgystan is lovely, bishkek could be a day, and some places like kochkor (a horse trek is well worth the three days) and karakol are lovely. The sunday market is neat.
Kazakhstan is amazing, but on your time scale mabey not as things are very spread out and not amazingly different to what you would've already seen in the other two.
Taj is a lot of mucking around twith permits etc so mabey a miss.
Turkmenistan is wel worth it.
You going to xinjiang?
Flying in and out?
cheers, luke
2
lonelystella
Thanks for the reply! In your second sentence, you wrote " . . . the arvo in towns." What does "arvo" mean? Also, where in Xinjiang do you suggest to visit? Where would you fly into and are you able to get a visa at the airport? Thanks again for your helpful advice.
3
ekan1
"Arvo" is a dray-cart.
When you will be in Kyrgyzstan you can try the Backpackers Hostel 'Free and Easy" in Bishkek.
They promise to open "The donkey riding tour" to the US embassy in Bishkek, to sacrifice a sheep etc.
See: www.backpacker.com.kg<BR>
Pro tip
Lonely Planet
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