Ken Powell, a seasoned globe-trotter and experienced photographer (powellphotography.ca), blogs (powellponderings.com) about his journey with Adventures Abroad’s 21 Day Five Stans Tour, which covers Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. His insights, images, and expertise offer a wonderful glimpse into this extraordinary tour.

A brief synopsis of the physical and cultural landscapes of these regions will help give you a deeper appreciation of the diversity and history I will encounter on this tour. And the blog entries that follow will be instead of a day-by-day diary account of the delights and challenges of exploring the five Central Asian "Stans", I have chosen a number of memorable vignettes and experiences to tell the story another way. So let's start!

My travels over the years have circled this Central Asia area but never entered it. So let me highlight where we were in relation to the neighbourhood. Look at the following map. First of all, the obvious: they are all landlocked countries (with the exception of the Caspian Sea). It shows Russia floating on the top of the largest and northernmost Stan, Kazakhstan. To the east China borders three Stan’s – Kazakhstan and the two smallest Stan’s – Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Across the south, three countries touch on the Stans – Pakistan and Afghanistan (they border Tajikistan, a bit of Uzbekistan, and a lot of Turkmenistan) and the third country to the southwest being Iran. (We were within a few kilometres of Iran during our 5th travel day.)

By the way, the suffix “stan” means “place”. It comes from the Persian word istan which means “land” or “place of”; it’s used to indicate place where people of a particular culture or group live.

Geography - Deserts, Mountains, Seas/Lakes, Canals, and Cities

Rugged and inhospitable terrain define the Stans. No wonder they were such a challenge to transit in the Silk Road days.

Deserts
The deserts are enormous in three of the five Stans. The exceptions being Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which are mostly mountainous. In Uzbekistan, the Kyzyl Kum Desert lies to the northeast. In Turkmenistan, nearly 80% of the country is taken up by the Karakum (Black Sand) Desert, the largest in the Commonwealth of Independent States (which is made up of Russia and the Stans plus others). 90% of Kazakhstan is made up of steppes, the sand masses of the Karakum, and the vast desert of Kyzylkum (which means “red sand”), a huge and desolate place.

What does this mean for travellers? Desert conditions mean long drives over roads that are quite frankly atrocious. There are almost no facilities along the way, so you’ve got to be independent. We passed many a tire that had blown or disintegrated. We also passed quite a few vehicles (mostly trucks) that were experiencing mechanical difficulties. Men (always men) were labouring on some part of the vehicle to encourage it to produce a few more miles.

Mountains
The mountains are many and very dramatic. The Tien-Shan and Pamir-Alai mountain ranges dominate in both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan while the latter had other ranges. As a result, 94% of both countries are mountainous. (Kyrgyzstan’s average elevation is 2,750 m; the highest point is Peak Pobedy at 7,439 m, with another being Lenin at 7,134 m.)

Seas/Lakes
To the west is the enormous Caspian Sea which is on the western edge of the Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan borders. This sea straddles Europe and Asia and contains 143,000 square miles of water area. (Our own Lake Superior ain’t so superior and is less than a quarter its size.)

Then there is the Aral Sea (it’s really a lake – formerly the fourth-largest one in the world). It had water but began shrinking in the 1960s and has now shrunk to a mixture of toxic chemicals from industrial projects, runoff of pesticides and fertilizers, and toxic chemicals from weapons testing. Thank you, Russia. It has now largely dried up over the past 15 years. A current plan is in place with all the Stans cooperating to rehabilitate the area. This has been tried in the past.

Two lakes are worth noting. The first is the enormous Issyk Kul Lake. Surrounded by the Tian Shan and Pamir-Alai mountain systems which occupy two-thirds of the Kyrgyzstan area.

The second is Iskanderkul Lake. Both these lakes figure in my vignettes later.

Canals
Regarding canals, the second-largest irrigation canal in the world, the Karakum Canal, crosses the Karakum Desert which brings water from the Amu Darya River to the southern regions of the desert. It is in Turkmenistan and runs through the capital city, Ashgabat. The canal is also a major factor leading to the Aral Sea disaster I just referred to.

Cities

Tashkent, Uzbekistan
The city dates to the 3rd century BC and is the cultural and political capital of the country. It is large with a 2.5 million population. In 1966, most of the buildings were lost in a devastating earthquake. It was rebuilt “Soviet-style” (which means bland and commonplace, although it hasn’t dominated everywhere). The Chorsu Bazaar was great, selling pretty well everything one can imagine. I particularly liked the bakery section and the smell that came with it. Most of us tried the warm freshly baked bread.

Khiva, Uzbekistan
This was a peak trading post on the Silk Road and I got the feeling that not much has changed since those days. The city has existed since the 8th century as a minor fort and trading post. It’s not large – less than 100,000.

A big point of attraction is the ancient fortress Ichan-Kala, which is surrounded by a high defensive wall whose foundations were laid in the 10th century; it’s essentially the inner town. Many families live here, most of whom are hereditary artisans. All the significant attractions of Khiva are located here, including a very beautiful “short minaret” called Kalta Minor.

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
The city lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km from the Iran border. My separate piece on the uniqueness of this city, and the country of Turkmenistan described it further.

Mary-Merv, Turkmenistan
We flew to Mary which is located near the famous old Silk Road city of Merv. Several cities have existed on this site. It is claimed that Merv was briefly the largest city in the world in the 12th century. The ruins are quite extensive mud brick buildings.

Bukhara, Uzbekistan
This ancient city (a UNESCO site) contains hundreds of well-preserved mosques, madrassas, ancient public baths, bazaars and caravanserais (roadside inns), dating largely from the 9th to the 17th centuries plus a massive royal fortress. Considered one of the best examples of well-preserved Islamic cities of Central Asia of the 10th to 17th centuries, it was a glimpse of pre-Russian Turkestan. We saw the 12th century Kalen Minaret, a prominent landmark. The tower so impressed Genghis Khan that he ordered it to be spared when everything else was destroyed by his men. It was a prominent stop on the Silk Road trade route.

Samarkand, Uzbekistan
We took a bullet train from Bukhara to Samarkand, a true crossroad city of cultures. It is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia and at one point one of the largest. It’s sometimes called “The Rome of the Orient” and was already flourishing when Rome and Babylon were founded (it was founded in the 7th century BC). It’s divided into two parts: the old city, which includes historical monuments, shops, and old private houses; and the new city, which was developed during the days of the Soviet Union and includes administrative buildings along with cultural centres and educational institutions. One evening we stood in the enormous Registan Square, the city’s ancient centre bounded by three monumental religious edifices, and watched huge searchlights play over the square.

Dushanbe, Tajikistan
As the Silk Road passed through here the consequences are clear: many nationalities coexist. The city is the capital of Tajikistan and it is flourishing with lots of construction. A surreal feeling came over me when we were given a guided tour of an edifice called the Navruz Palace. You will have just read my separate piece on this “palace”.

Almaty, Kazakhstan
The view flying into this city is dramatic, as the country is rugged and mountainous. The two million population represents 10% of the county’s total. It’s the only Stan city with a subway (nine stops!). It has a more Western feel, with Starbucks and KFC franchises, and a lot of store signs in English.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
The capital of Kyrgyzstan, this was a major trading stop along the ancient Silk Road. It is set at the foot of Central Asia’s Tian Shan Mountains range, 800 meters above sea level. It is a city of wide boulevards and marble-faced public buildings. Soviet-style apartment blocks are prominent.