Lost on the Silk Road

Welcome to the first blog.

My name is Henrich Toth and I am a traveler and a long-time Central Asia lover, I hope you will enjoy it and learn something new.

Let´s dive into it.

So how was my preparation before my first time visiting Central Asia?

It consisted of 2 ultimate questions.

1. Things to do in Central Asia.

2. Is Central Asia safe?

Now, after years, I know this was useless. In this part of the world, you visit what was once ancient Silk Road. Authentic culture and people, not just tourist attractions.

Kazakhstan Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan the Post-Soviet countries getting independence in the 1990s also called “stans”. Sometimes Afghanistan is counted also. It was an unknown part of the world for most of us (and was the same for me), but after one week it was a life-changing trip for me.

I fell in love with the region.

There were some travel guides online, but I decided to spend a week here mostly wandering around without a serious plan - flights, hotel for the first night and that´s it. I was very curious about meeting the people and seeing how life was going.

Why no one knows much about this part of the world?

When I arrived in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana in the October evening of 2017, it was freezing, but still, instead of a taxi, I took the bus to get to the hotel. The city looked inhospitably, but at the same time very exotic and modern - the city in the steppe full of new oil money architecture all built after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Later I found out why this is the case and where to find fine Soviet gems in Astana. Local people in this part of the world are very friendly and hospitable, possibly because it is one of the pillars of their religion - Islam. I found this after meeting my first local friend Talgat in my hotel (we are still in contact now). Interesting fact: a lot of people speak Russian, they look Asian and their religion is Islam - this is what I call exotic.

After Astana, I visited Almaty, the incredible former capital of the country and maybe also the world capital of Soviet mosaic art and the heart of the country and still a cultural capital. My journey then continued to Kyrgyzstan´s capital Bishkek and Issyk-Kul lake regions. I almost missed my flight on the way back to Almaty - there was a presidential election held in Kyrgyzstan and the border between countries was closed, it just opened at the last minute.

When I arrived home, I knew this was the place I wanted to know more about and go back to as soon as possible. Since the first trip in 2017, I visited different regions of Central Asia by myself and also showed it to my friends and clients more than 15 times.

How about the prices? This part of the world is very affordable, with hotels and restaurants. The flights here are not cheap as the competition between airlines is not very high - the area of the country is remote.

But how is it, this part of the world is so different?

Central Asia was always connecting Europe and China, it is even called Eurasia. The Silk Road trade routes crossed through Central Asia, leading to the rise of prosperous trade cities like Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva in Uzbekistan acting as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe and the Far East. A rich history includes revolutionary names like Timur also known as Tamerlane whose empire in the 14th century was 70% of the size of Russia today and Alexander the Great whose wife was from today´s Tajikistan. From the Iranian tribes to the Mongols and Russians, all of this influenced the region for what it is now. The geographic location is the explanation of how mixed this part of the world is.

Except for the Tajiks speaking the Iranian language, all the other countries are Turkic, by religion from shamanic, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and now predominantly Islam coming in the 7th century.

Nowadays the countries are in the sphere of influence of China and Russia still far from Europe or the US. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were known for their nomadic lifestyle back then, Uzbekistan was known for ancient cities, art, and culture, Tajikistan was known for having more than 93% of the country mountainous, Turkmenistan with the 4th biggest world gas reserves for being the closed North Korea of Central Asia.

The vibe today in one word is AUTHENTIC. The Samarkand bread made in this city for thousands of years with the same recipe, the Kazakh Beshbarmak from the Nomad times is made of horse meat, the Khujand bazaar in Tajikistan is full of meat, spices, and green tea, the best pilaf, and a lot of smiles.

Food, atmosphere, people, culture, architecture, nature - Central Asia has it all for me and I hope once for you too.

Where is Central Asia? Find out now.

Join our next trip in small groups!

by Hendriks Toth

check the vibe of the region here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKB6MFhLerM