Central Asia Trip Report (with video and pictures)
 

This fall we went to several places rich with history, but not so rich with visitors (at least relatively speaking) - Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. We hit a lot of places in short order, so this isn't really a "deep-dive" into a specific location, but rather highlights for almost two dozen different places all over Central Asia. We had a hard time getting a good idea of what to expect, so hopefully some of you considering visiting these areas will find this helpful. Here's a link to the report itself - http://justinandcrystal.com/CentralAsia/index.htm

The Cliff's Notes are that we felt very welcomed everywhere by the local people, and the sites were amazing. Some of the highlights included the Pink Mosque and Ali Ibn Hamzeh shrine in Shiraz, Persepolis, Naqsh-e-Jahan Square and Jame Mosque in Isfahan, the Gateway to Hell in Darvaza, the walled city of Khiva, the Kalyan complex in Bukhara, nearly everything in Samarkand, snow leopards in Kyrgyzstan, and great food in Almaty and (frankly everywhere) along the trip.

Compared to our other travels, this area is relatively less expensive, and if anyone is looking for a great spring or fall trip, we'd really recommend most everywhere we went.

Enjoy.

This is a terrific report. Your website is excellent. We plan to go but your report is so detailed and pictures so grand, I don't have to go any more :)!


Best,
KS Chan

Great report - I have dipped into 'pickled everything' and 'eagle in a hatchback' and it has totally whetted my appetite. I will be back for more!