Maps help tell our story:
Great blog post (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):

Excerpt from Bill’s Blog:

“A first impression of our travel itinerary through Central Asia – that is Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – may be that we were wandering around the area aimlessly, criss-crossing back and forth, zig-zagging when we were finished criss-crossing and backtracking when we were done zig-zagging.

Well, I blame Dave for all this – he was the mastermind and spiritual leader of our travel through the Stans and there definitely was method to his madness but it does look a bit all over the place. To help provide clarity – or maybe add to the confusion – I’ve put together this map and an explanation below.

Okay, here’s the basic explanation for where we went on this trip, broken down into four different sections.

  1. Mangystau – we started in Almaty Kazakhstan and flew domestically to the far west of the country to Aktau where we spent a few days travelling and camping in the fabulous Mangystau region. You can follow this section at: Mangystau
  2. Pamir Highway – after flying back to Almaty we flew to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, and drove the entire length of the Pamir Highway down south along the Afghanistan border all the way up to Osh, Kyrgyzstan. This story begins here: The Pamir Highway
  3. Uzbekistan – We then transferred by car and train from Osh to Tashkent and flew to Khiva where we began a wonderful three city visit to Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand. You can read about it starting here: Uzbekistan
  4. Kyrgyzstan – On our last leg we flew from Tashkent to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan and took off on an eight day trip crossing this wonderful country, then crossing back into Kazakhstan and finishing where it all began in Almaty. Here’s that story: Kyrgyzstan

As I’ve said before, it was really a case of planes, trains and automobiles, completely different to the way Julie and I have travelled before but it maximised our time in the region and worked out remarkably well.

Dave was the magician in putting this all together and we couldn’t have done it without him. Thanks to Dave, we owe him big time.”

https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=24007

  1. Mangystau, Kazakhstan – 3 nights



Great blog post with Photos (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):
Mangystau – https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=23132

2. Pamir Highway – Tajikistan & Kyrgyzstan

Great blog post with Photos (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):
Pamir Highway – https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=23210

3. Pamir Mountains

Great blog post with Photos (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):
https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=23318

4. Kyrgyzstan

Great blog post with Photos (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):
https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=23385

Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan

5. Uzbekistan

Great blog post with Photos (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):
https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=23462

6. Bukhara & Samarkand (Uzbekistan)

Great blog post with Photos (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):
https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=23548

7. Seven Lakes, Tajikistan

Great blog post with Photos (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):
https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=23663

8. Special Kyrgyzstan

Great blog post with Photos (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):
https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=23743

9. Better and better Kyrgyzstan

Great blog post with Photos (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):
https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=23828

10. And finally…Almaty, Kazakhstan

Great blog post with Photos (written by Bill Lawler who joined us on our fantastic trip):
https://www.ourpangaea.net/?p=23890