A theme was starting to form on our trip — maps were/are wrong, and the rough roads were causing significant delays. Knowing we had a seven-hour journey ahead, we woke up very early to hit the road to Tash Rabat. We wanted to drive the Pamir Highway, and decided we would do this from Bishkek …
One of the main reasons we wanted to visit the Stans was to drive the Pamir Highway. Looking at the cost to hire a driver in both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, it became clear it would be a lot cheaper to rent our own car, and drive it ourselves. Picking up the rental car Before picking …
With a 7 AM Air Astana flight to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan we headed to the airport in Astana. After our initial flight delay, we made it from Astana to Almaty in time for our connecting flight to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. While waiting at the gate, we noticed one of the gate attendants had a bit of an …
History has interested me for as long as I can remember. How the human race has committed atrocities, and how we learn from the mistakes of others. How people are able to rise up against the odds, and prevail. KarLag is an example of one of these atrocities. What was KarLag? KarLag (short for Karaganda …
If you are going to check out nature’s attractions, I recommend looking up what the sight will actually look like in that season. We learned out the hard way that Big Almaty Lake was in the middle of snowy mountains after we got stuck in the snow heading to view the lake. We also learned …
When most Westerners hear Kazakhstan, they think Borat (very nice, I like—hopefully you read that in a Borat voice). Borat was filmed in Romania rather than Kazakhstan and Sasha Baron Cohen’s character speaks Hebrew, not Kazakh. Safe to say the portrayal of Kazakhstan in the movie is very different than real life. All Borat aside, …
Nothing says relaxing vacation like driving a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder across unknown territory, avoiding potholes, sheep, and a tumble over the side of a mountain. Before deciding to rent a car and drive the Pamir Highway, I heavily researched the options. We decided to rent a car and self-drive Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan because: The first …
Read more “6 Things I Wish I Knew Before Self-Driving Central Asia”