Backpacking central asia

[DrToothandtheElectricMayhem]

Does anyone have any experience of this please? Namely Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan?
And also the south Caucasus - Armenia and Georgia?
I have a DS heading that way shortly and would be great to hear from people who’ve been. He wants to get off the beaten track for a bit, and I suspect that is the place to do it.

Watching as I might go back packing in Uzbekistan next year! From what I've read, it looks really safe and easy. But that's probably the most touristy of the stans. I know people who've done it in Georgia and had a good time.
Depending on how experienced he is he might want to do a Get Your Guide type trip for getting to wilder places. Actually I was talking to someone recently who'd backpacked round the stans and had a great time. But she'd done a private tour and got to this remote yurt, and there was a backpacker there who'd been stuck for a few days! They'd hitchhiked there, but not managed to get a lift out! It was so remote that there hadn't been much traffic passing by and the car my friend was in was full so I don't know how much longer they were stuck!

I watched the latest series of race across the world, where they travelled that region and the hitchhiking thing worries me. Not so much for his safety, he’s a 6’3 brick, but for that very reason that you can end up isolated, and as much as he wants to be a bit off the beaten track, I’m not sure he wants to be isolated!

Has he been backpacking before? I travelled through this area about 15 years ago with a friend, we were in our 20s. Had a GREAT time and found it fascinating. But we were already seasoned backpackers. I assume it has got a lot easier since then. But if he goes with some common sense and an open mind he will have a great time.

He’s been to SE Asia so not completely green to backpacking, but i suspect it’s a different pace altogether there. It looks amazing, I’m looking forward to the photos.

Definitely less touristy than a lot of SE Asia. But not untrodden. He will have a ball. Worth considering the time of year - I found myself in the middle of Ramadan which was fascinating, but something else to navigate in Kyrgyzstan. It can also be cold in the moutains (although my travelling partner only brought with her 'a cardi I found last night in the Walkabout in Shepherds Bush ' (awesome Aussie travelling chum).

Time to make some lose plans and do lots of reading.

Mind you -I went pre smart phone era so info was a lot sparser!

My route: land in Tashkent - internal flight to Khiva - shared (interesting!) taxis onward to Bukhara and Smarkhand and back to Tashkent. Then bus (literally cross the grassy steppe) to Almaty - onward taxi to Bishkek - out round Lake Issy Kul to the Tian Shen mountains - back to Osh and back to Tashkent through the Fergana valley.

Fab trip of a lifetime.

Also did a trip from Baku - Tbilisi - Yerevan - also brilliant. But if I had to choose it would be the Stans all the way.

I was going to say watch this! Lots of tips!

Thank you for that - I’m really excited for him, he’s just turned 18, travelled to Cambodia and Vietnam and got dengue, he’s now recovered but isn’t ready to come home so he’s off to the Stans to finish his trip. It seems like it’s way less well trodden than most other backpacker routes but he’s outdoorsy and loves chatting to locals, so I’m excited to see where he ends up. He’s keen on hiking, camping and wants to do white water rafting so he should be able to tick all those things off there!

It sounds like he's the sort of person who will make the most of it and have a ball. I lived in Cambodia too - v different kettle of fish.

Have a fab time. I have fond memories of natural hot springs high in the Tien Shen mountains followed by a dip in snow melt river! (I did slip on a frozen yak poo dashing across the meadow to the river). Amazing memories.

The border with Azerbaijan and Armenia remains closed. FCDO advises against all travel to within 5km of the entire eastern border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, due to tensions between the 2 countries.

He should read the Foreign Office travel advice for the countries he intends to visit.

@AttilaTheMeerkatthanks for that, we’ve already seen that which is why he’s skipping Azerbaijan for now and would fly into Armenia I think.

He probably does not want a group tour, but this might help with route and itinerary.

https://lupinetravel.co.uk/all-tours/central-asia-5-stans-tour/?start-date=10/10/2026