3 weeks in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, preliminary travel questions (page 10 of 12)

There are still 2,140 kilometers between Tehran and Bishkek. In the area, it's more Vladimir who gives me the creeps...

We'll see later if Turkey is affected since that's the route I'm taking.

Missiles will run out.

Not drones and other low-cost weapons, but they don’t go as far...

It’s crazy how dictators always find money to destroy both the world and their own people. If they put that much energy into humanitarian projects, Earth might be a Garden of Eden—minus the religious fanfare and the dreary vibe.

Challenge accepted! 😉

Alright, I'm arriving with a two-wheeler—it's less bulky and practically leaves no trace. What date is the Faugeres tasting?

I’m really not thrilled about a ballistic Iranian or Israeli-Iranian meet-up to get to Kyrgyzstan.

This reminds me of 1988, just before the end of the war, when an American ship was sent to the Strait of Hormuz to secure the oil tankers of the Gulf’s "friends," who, of course, aren’t Islamic theocracies with veiled women. And they shot down an Iranian Airbus A300 heading to Dubai, claiming it was a small Iranian F-14 fighter jet. The Airbus was full of little kids, and the Iranians weren’t happy. So the other day, after the Americans fired a missile at the Shiite leader and another at a school full of little kids during negotiations in Geneva, the memory of 1988 came flooding back to the Persians.

Flights to Bishkek from Western Europe go either through Russia and Kazakhstan or through Turkey, another hub for Central Asia, and then over Russia, the Caspian Sea, and Uzbekistan. Well north of Iran.

Back in the 1240s, John of Plano Carpini left Lyon for southern Germany, met Russians in Poland who took him to Kiev—and he doesn’t mention any Ukraine, since it didn’t exist yet—and from there to the lower Volga, where the western capital of the Mongols and Tatars, Sarai, was located near Volgograd. The Russians came there to pledge allegiance. He then continued north of the Caspian Sea to the Aral Sea, followed the Syr Darya through Kazakhstan, and entered Mongolia via the southern Altai.

Plano Carpini, one of the first buddies of St. Francis of Assisi, was an ambassador for Innocent IV, who gave him two letters: one for Alexander Nevsky, asking him to submit to the Papacy (which the Russians took very badly, since the Carolingian Catholics had besieged Constantinople in 1204, carved up the Roman Empire, and were exterminating the Prussians while eyeing Pskov and Novgorod). The Germans’ kindness made the Russians prefer to ally with the Mongols. The other letter was for the Great Khan in Karakorum, asking him to convert. You can imagine the Mongols’ reaction in their capital.

In the 1250s, William of Rubruck went south to Constantinople and took a ship to Feodosia in Crimea, where he didn’t mention any Ukrainians since there weren’t any. From there, he followed the Don River with the Russians, crossed the steppe to Sarai, and more or less took the same route as Plano Carpini.

Plano Carpini and Rubruck didn’t cross the Kyrgyz valleys—they skirted the mountains to the north. But what beautiful journeys they were.

It was Marco Polo who went through the Levant, Anatolia, Iran, and then up through the Pamir, leaving Kyrgyzstan to the north of his route. There’s a roadside restaurant in the Pamir with a Marco Polo sign, but he wasn’t there when the Venetian passed by.

Hi Catherine and everyone else,

Turkish Airlines flights to Manas Bishkek follow the same route—Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan—as most European or Turkish airlines heading to Asia. If there’s a risk in taking Turkish Airlines to Bishkek, there’s the same risk in taking Air France to Hong Kong or ANA to Tokyo.

Michel

Yes. Except that the Iranian dictatorship is in a tight spot and is trying to drag all the countries in the region, including Turkey, into the mix to put pressure on Trump.

Erdogan is also feeling the heat a bit—voters are turning away from him and his increasingly dictatorial party.

In short, when everyone’s trying to secure their power and wealth, no one can predict what might happen in the end.

On the other hand, China doesn’t really want the global economy to collapse or its own economy to go down the drain. A impoverished population is one that could revolt...

So, I’m pretty optimistic about this trip going ahead.

Much less so about the fate of Iranians at the hands of the revolution’s bloodthirsty regime.

Hi there, Maybe it’s wiser to head back to Southern Africa 😄

So, I'm pretty optimistic about how this trip will turn out.

So, how's it looking?

So, is Kyrgyzstan still on the itinerary? 😉

Cool! A travel journal to come 😄

If she comes back...😇

If it happens... The main issue is still the flight.

Worth watching. https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/131868-000-A/kirghizistan-la-democratie-confisquee/

There’s so much to see along the southern route.

Watch out—this road is currently under construction almost the whole way.

The Chinese went all out: a four-lane highway!

To build it, they tore up nearly all the existing pavement for 180 kilometers...

Basically, right now it’s a dirt track with construction everywhere...😏

That said, the landscapes are still gorgeous! ;)

I can confirm that the word "guesthouse" is prominently displayed in Kyrgyz towns and villages.

As for the food, I take back part of what I said! Only one bad meal so far. At a guesthouse. Greasy rice is definitely not my thing!

The mutton is actually lamb, and in a stew with potatoes—delicious!

Breakfast, on the other hand, isn’t great...

Good thing I brought ground coffee, a filter, and a filter holder...

Coffee isn’t really their thing, like in many countries!

(Who’s the idiot who invented Nescafé? )

Construction still isn't finished on the southern road after all these years they've been working on it. Enjoy this country!

This is utter nonsense to ruin the whole road instead of doing it 10 kilometers at a time...🤪

And I don’t really see the point of a four-lane highway.😮 It’s busy but flows really well.

Good thing I didn’t plan a direct leg all the way to Karakol from Chon-Kemin!😄

And I’m glad I brought ground coffee, a filter, and a filter holder! It’s not their thing in many countries! (Who’s the idiot who invented Nescafé?)

Not even a little Nespresso machine sometimes?

A live travel journal is pretty cool too!!

Okay, that’s enough of that... Tell us about the weather—hot with thunderstorms and rain 😏