If you have been following this blog, you know that I started the trip with 96 countries, so completing the trip would give me 101. Spoiler alert: I made it!
To prepare you for the upcoming adventure, here are some questions that I got before, during, and after the trip, along with my responses:
Q: You must be crazy to go there! Aren't those countries full of terrorists? You'll get shot or kidnapped!
A: The "5 Stans" are all former Soviet Republics that became independent when the Soviet Union broke up in 1989. Although about 70% of the residents of the Stans are Muslim, the countries all have secular governments, and there are no radical Islamic movements to speak of in any them. Note that the "5 Stans" doesn't include Pakistan or Afghanistan. Those countries *are* full of terrorists.
Q: You must be crazy to go there! They hate Americans!
A: In general, people in foreign countries like Americans, even though they may not like the American government. Even so, I wasn't prepared for the people in Central Asia--they are the friendliest people I have ever encountered. If you indicated that you wanted to take a picture of them, they not only were happy to pose, but they wanted *you* to be in the picture with them. Everywhere we went, local people crowded around us and were happy to try and talk to us.
Q: You must be crazy to go there! They're all police states, run by dictators! You'll end up in prison!
A: Admittedly, the countries of Central Asia don't win awards for democracy and freedom of the press. However, with one exception (Turkmenistan) we encountered very few restrictions and did not feel as though we were being watched. In Turkmenistan, not only were we told that we were being watched, we were introduced to the man who was watching us!
Q: You must be crazy to go there! I saw scenes of Kazakhstan in "Borat". Is that what it's like there?
A: "Borat" is a wonderful movie, but it's as accurate a presentation of Kazakhstan as "Deliverance" is of the United States. Here's a picture of central Almaty (the biggest city in Kazakhstan)--decide for yourself.
You'll see more of Kazakhstan in the next post.
Q: How do you get there from Raleigh? It must take 6 weeks!
A: The trip from RDU to Almaty, Kazakhstan (via Washington and Frankfurt) took 24 hours, including layovers. The trip back took 33 hours. It just felt like 6 weeks.
Q: Did Brenda come with you?
A: For some reason, she didn't find the prospect of using a squat toilet in Kyrgyzstan as appealing as I did, so she sat this one out.
Q: Did you stay in a yurt?
A: Although we ate a couple of meals in yurts, I didn't stay in one. The hotels ranged from mediocre to very good by American standards. Speaking of "American Standard", one area that was a little dicey was the plumbing. There were more than a few stops where the toilets were Asian style. Fortunately, this wasn't the case in the hotels.
Q: What language do they speak over there?
A: Russian is spoken everywhere, but each country has its own language (Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, and Turkmen). Outside of tourist venues, very few people spoke English. Some of the local languages are written in Cyrillic and some are written in Roman characters.
Q: What is the Silk Road? Is it paved? Do you have to pay a toll?
A: Technically, there is no single thing called "The Silk Road". The term is used to describe all of the different trading routes through Central Asia.
Q: If I'm crazy enough to go to Central Asia, should I go on my own, or should I take a tour?
A: Normally, I travel independently, but this is one place where I would recommend a tour, especially with Road Scholar. The one area where Central Asia was like most peoples' preconceptions is at the border crossings, which are complex enough to begin with, and even more difficult if you don't speak Russian or one of the local languages. Our tour guide, Jama (more on him later), was terrific, and did all of the border negotiations for us.
Q: Is there any difference between the different "Stans"?
A: In a lot of ways, there's not much difference. Here are some differences:
- Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are wealthier than the others because they are sitting on a lot of oil and gas. Their big cities have a lot of modern development. The main city in Turkmenistan (Ashgabat) has a lot of new, empty marble buildings, and is unlike anything I've seen anywhere. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are the poorest and look more "Soviet"--ugly apartment blocks and less modern. Uzbekistan is somewhere in the middle in terms of economic development.
- Turkmenistan is much more of a "police state" than the others. There were military and police everywhere in Ashgabat. I didn't notice a similar presence in any of the other countries, except at border crossings.
- The parts of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan that we saw did not have much in the way of old Silk Road towns, mosques, and other historical buildings. We saw a lot more of this in Uzbekistan, and we saw ancient ruins in Turkmenistan.
Here are some similarities:
- Their histories are pretty much the same--nomadic people, conquered by Muslims, conquered by Genghis Khan, conquered by Tamerlane, conquered by the Russians, and then part of the Soviet Union.
- The food is pretty much the same everywhere.
- Although there is a lot of diversity in terms of the way people looked, I couldn't see any differences between the countries.
- Very little English spoken except by tourism workers and salespeople.
A: I managed to stay relatively healthy throughout the trip. About half the people on the tour came down with major gastric problems or bad colds, and one person actually had to see a doctor (which they do have in Uzbekistan). Thanks to pre-medication with Immodium, I stayed mostly out of trouble, although I did wind up having to use a squat toilet in a mosque once, not having time to make it back to the hotel and a western toilet.
Q: I'll bet they're really glad to get out of the Soviet Union, aren't they?
A: According to Jama, a lot of people in the Stans would rather be back in the Soviet Union. A big chunk of people who had guaranteed jobs and incomes during the Soviet era are doing much worse after independence. One thing I noticed was that several of the historical museums that we visited had big displays on the Soviet Union, and still had pictures of Lenin and Stalin.
Next: Days 1-3--Almaty, Kazakhstan
