Questions about Uzbekistan/Tajikistan
 

Hello fellow FlyerTalkers, I'm planning a visit to Uzbekistan/Tajikistan in December/January.
I have two questions though:
1. I've thought about getting a driver from Dushanbe to Samarkand via the Iskanderkul lake (halfway between two places). Is that possible? If yes, probably leave a recommendation will be great.
2. Is it going to be extremely cold or just around -2-5C (28-41F)?

Thanks very much.

I can let you know a bit in about a week or so. I'll be in Bishkek, Tashkent and Khujand.

I would look at the following places if you want to plan in advance:

1. Book a tour with Advantour - they are very responsive so you could customise things to your taste.

2. Find a car and driver in Indy-Guide.

3. Find a car and driver via Caravanistan.

4. Find someone when you get there - not sure how easy / reliable this is though.

When booking I would also consider how you intend to pay. With Advantour I paid in advance which meant that I could travel “cash-light”.

Other options may require paying in cash when you are there which could mean having to carry around a large amount of cash for a while - something which you may have to declare at customs.

We went to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan two years ago. The cities of the Silk Road in Uzbekistan are among our more memorable travel memories. We also used Advantour thanks to earlier recommendations on this board. I highly recommend them. Our arrangements were excellent and the prices were good. I used Yuriy Klyuev <[email protected]> who is now in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Do check out caravanistan.com

The target might not be exactly the same as this forum (more on the 'backpacker'/overlander kind of tourists) but it's a goldmine of info on borders, transportation and so on. Steven and Saule also have a great network of local guides and the forum is also very useful.

They also offer tours with some local operators - I’ve not used a tour operator via Caravanistan but they seem quite open about what they offer and selective in the operators they work with so I’d imagine they’d be of decent quality.

I’d also echo a comment further up the thread about Advantour. They seem to me to be a little more expensive than some of the other options but I found the whole experience to be professional and seamless from start to finish - I was very happy with my experience with them.

I used guides and services recommended by them. Not bad at all.

Thanks for everyone's recommendation. I decided against Tajikistan due to recent terrorism concerns in border region. Still some great infos nonetheless.

Any updates here? Worth driving from Dushanbe to Samarkand or better to fly for safety reasons? Any difficulty for US citizens to get a tourist visa online for either country? I know during Covid the system had been suspended.