Uzbekistan has the best food out of the stans and is pretty cheap. Visit Samarkand and if time permits, lake Aral.

>>2875326
>pretty cheap
Can you compare this to SEA?

>>2875342
It's comparably cheap if not cheaper at times. Lodging is more expensive than Vietnam but roughly on par with Thailand or Malaysia. Food is a bit pricier usually but still very affordable. Transportation can be hilariously cheap, Yandex (aka Uber) is sometimes borderline free. Entry frees are similar.
Mind you there is a gap of a few years between the time I've been in SEA and Central Asia and with the current inflationary shitshow this might be a very much outdated perspective.

File: Registan_Square_Night_Samarkand_Uzbekistan_5K_2880x1800.jpg (2.0 MB)

>>2875289
I have been to Uzbekistan last summer. It is a rather cheap country overall, both in terms of accomodation and in terms of general expenses (food, transportation, etc.).
In general, I would say that Uzbekistan is a pretty good entry-level, beginner friendly country for travelers. It has plenty of sights, mostly related to its three main historic cities, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, all of which have beautiful sights and monuments, with some nature and other places added in for bonus (Aral Sea, desert fortresses of Karakalpakstan, and Ugam-Chatkal nat'l park being among them). Geographically the country is essentially one big string of cities with deserts on both sides, so it's very easy to see all the main sights together in a linear trip that starts in the capital Tashkent and ends in Khiva (or potentially Nukus if you want to see Karakalpakstan). The country is also generally very tourist friendly - it's easy to find western standards hotels and guesthouses, booking trains is quick and hassle-free, people are generally very welcoming towards foreigners (their government, which is essentially a dictatorship, is heavily investing in the tourism industry, and I heavily suspect that is playing a role). Hygiene standards can be iffy, so it's very likely you'll get diarrhea - just accept it and take the usual precautions.
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File: KhivaWalls.jpg (274.1 KB)

>>2875395
I would say that the main drawback of Uzbekistan is that some of its cities can quickly start feeling like movie sets for tourists rather than real, lived in places. The architecture is gorgeous, but after a while it does all start to look the same (at least to the untrained eye of your average western tourist). Also, it can get a little less impressive when you learn that all the beautiful facades (like the ones in Samarkand's registan) are all Soviet-era reconstructions and restorations - the original ones are all long gone. Compounding all that, the aforementioned heavy investment in tourism has had effects which are becoming very evident even from a tourist's perspective. A great example of this is Khiva (picrel), which is a gorgeous old city that looks straight out of a fantasy movie in pictures. However, the entire historic part of the city (within the city walls) has been transformed into a "museum-city" entirely for the consumption of tourists. The only commercial activities within the city walls are tourist attractions, tourist hotels, souvenir sellers and tourist restaurants (you can find better and much cheaper restaurants walking 100m away from the city walls and into the modern city, where people actually live). Khiva is the most egregious example, but Samarkand and Bukhara also suffer from this. You can see why after spending a few days spent here you can start to get the creeping feeling that you're not in an actual, real place, but in an amusement park set created and managed for the entertainment of tourists. It is a shame, because the place is genuinely beautiful, but I guess it's yet another proof that you really can't have your cake and eat it too.
TL;DR:
>cheap, beginner level country that is easy to travel to and move around
>beautiful thousand-and-one-nights architecture and old cities
>very welcoming attitudes towards foreign tourists
>can start feeling like Disneyland after a while

>>2875394
Can concur.
In Kyrgyzstan a 10 minute walk could be foregone with Yandex ride costing ~$0.50. Food delivery also super cheap.

>>2875289
Most boring country I've ever been in my life. It almost has a Southern European vibe though which is nice.
Lots of really old White tourists visiting. The place BORING af. Every fucking town has the same attractions. Ancient silk road structures.
Did you like seeing old buildings in that last town? Because you're gonna love the next town, it has the same shit. Then if you go from that town to the next town, you'll see the exact same shit again.
If you're an archeologist then it's good I guess. But a normal person has no profound interest in silk road buildings. Fucking hell. Couldn't wait to leave

>>2875665
Sounds like you're seething because everybody from the boomers to the Uzbek cuties acted like you didn't even exist. A common problem in countries which are very neat and orderly. There's no room for spontaneous connections. Everyone is satisfied with their existing social circles.

>>2875665
you missed your daily lexapro, sweetie

>>2875665
>only visited the “big 3” award
Come out to the Fergana Valley and the other stans

>>2876639
Uzbekistan outside the museum cities is not “neat and orderly”
Uzbek cuties in Andijon and Kokand will smile at you and look away (not much else because of religion and the language barrier) locals will spend a five hour shared taxi ride talking to each other about you and having the guy in the car who speaks the most English ask you questions
I’m halfway through a Central Asia trip now, and so wish that I learned conversational Russian

>>2875665
I agree the standard Khiva -> Bukhara -> Samarqand route is actually extremely repetitive, but there is some welcome variety with the Aral Sea and Tashkent has a very different feel compared to the rest of the country. I'd assume Fergana has that too, though I haven't been.
I had fun and I liked Uzbekistan and I'm definitely glad I went but I don't really feel the desire to come back, unlike, say, Kyrgyzstan, which I'd be more than glad to go hiking in any time.

>>2875664
>In Kyrgyzstan a 10 minute walk could be foregone with Yandex ride costing ~$0.50.
lol, what a fat american mindset. a 10 minute walk is nothing.

>>2875398
Them being restorations doesn't bother me at all. You go to the places where history happened and you see ruins, and that's nice. But to see things restored makes you feel like you are present for that time, seeing beautiful things that are dispapearing in a modernized world. And that is a different experience and nice.

I'm going to Tashkent soon, with tours nearby, so this thread is useful to me. Speaking of cheap transport has any used private drivers for long rides beyween cities or crossing borders? Maybe they take you to the border and you walk and catch another ride. I like traveling in a private and relaxing manner, if anyone jas any experience let me know. I've basically only seen travel channels doing this.

File: file.jpg (2.0 MB)

>>2875398
I guess it is understandable that the facades are reconstructed/repaired, otherwise it would just be the bricks which could then be vulnerable to further damage
there is a similar phenomenon in Kashgar to what you described, the old city has basically been hollowed out and replaced with a tourist play-park
but other smaller cities I went to (in Xinjiang, not Uzbekistan) had better-preserved old centres with people actually living in them. maybe it would be better in smaller Uzbek cities?

I agree with those who said you can't just go to cities, it does get a bit boring, having some nature is good but transport can be difficult in central Asia.

I would like to go Kashgar - Kyrgyzstan - Uzbekistan or Taxian - Tajikistan - Uzbekistan but it would probably need me to buy a car to have any degree of freedom

File: IMG_20260404_145323.jpg (4.7 MB)

>>2875289
I've been there last month. I enjoyed it. Though i mostly only go to the touristy part of the country.
I really want to go back there someday because i feel like i barely scratched the surface of the country's charm.

>>2875394
>>2875395

isn't the cost of flying in there really expensive tho?

>>2880154
flying everywhere is expensive now lol
it's not too bad, like 150 dollars one way from Istanbul, 200 if direct
but it is harder to fly to from the east (Asia) or south (Middle East)
if you are coming from Europe it is not too bad for that distance

>>2880154
I flew there last year for less than $120 from Europe using combined low cost flights. WizzAir has a route from Abu Dhabi to Samarqand that often runs dirt cheap, your only issue is getting to UAE cheaply.
Istanbul has a shitloads of low priced flights to Central Asia too as Anon before mentioned.
No idea what you'd do flying from the states though, but it's nothing particularly expensive from Europe at least.

>>2880185
>>2880406
guess it would make more sense from N. America as part of a round-the-world trip

>>2880185
If you're flying from Kuala Lumpur, it's like 150 minimum for direct flight. That's how i get there.

Planning a trip to Uzbekistan soon

Are these good or bad options to include, looking for touristy areas

Turkmenistan
Kazakhstan
Tajikistan
Kyrgyzstan

>>2880910
You can only do Turkmenistan as part of a guided tour.

>>2875289
great architecture

File: IMG_3659.jpg (3.6 MB)

Well well, I figured there would be an active Central Asia thread on /trv/ somewhere, given how contrarian anons can be lol…

I am a 31 yo PhD student from burgerland, and I have just moved to Uzbekistan to teach English classes for a while. I needed a change of pace in my life, drift of purpose, I’m a literal sperg about researching Persianate/Islamic civilizations in my spare time, probably many of the other reasons you can imagine I came here.

I’ll put on a trip, and I can bump the thread from time to time with some reports of things, and try to answer any questions you might have.

>>2885862
I have a few questions:
What would you consider the quintessential central Asian city? Why?

>>2880910
If you need a visa for Tajikistan do as far in advance as you can. I had to skip it because they took 6 weeks to reply to my application, and even then they were nitpicking details rather than confirming.

I'm in Azerbaijan right now, Baku is very rich, cosmopolitan, cheap,they like white dudes. Lots of nice parks and public spaces. Seems like they spend their oil wealth on infrastructure. Lots of young happy people everywhere

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