Preparing for Central Asia

As a friend of mine in Ireland remarked recently, 'It seems like yesterday I was reading your reports from Africa and now you are almost ready for the off again'. This is indeed the case. I am now nearing the end of an eight-month period of volunteering at the Pestalozzi International Village Trust near Hastings, in the south of England, and am getting ready to set off on my next expedition, a six month journey by road from the UK through Turkey and Central Asia to Beijing, then back via Mongolia, Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Russia to Saint Petersburg. Once again, I will be travelling with the Dragoman company, on an Overland Truck through some of the most rugged, but also the most beautiful scenery that the planet has to offer.

What exactly is an Overland Trip? Its a journey by road in a truck, often 4 wheel drive, that has been fitted out with seats, camping equipment, cooking facilities, large storage tanks for fuel and water, and all the tools and spares required to keep the truck running through some of the most remote areas on the planet. Add a couple of drivers, up to 20 passengers who have never met each other before, and point them in the direction of somewhere far off and exotic. This is a 'hands-on' journey for all, not a guided tour. The truck gets you there, but its up to you what you see. Participation is the key - on a typical day you might have to bargain for food at a local market, and then, in the evening, prepare a meal for 22 hungry travellers over an open fire. On a bad day, you will be stuck for hours at a border, or spend all afternoon digging the truck out of sand or mud. Luckily, there are not too many of these. On a good day you get to explore bits of the planet that are not accessible by public transport. You get to see some stunning scenery. You get to meet many people from many different countries, and to get to share some great times with a bunch of other like-minded travellers who will often turn out to be friends for life.

The number of companies that travel through such remote parts of the world in this fashion is, as you would expect, quite limited. I chose Dragoman because of their experience, and the quality of their trucks and equipment. You can read the trip notes here, and see a map of the route, with my last-recorded position, here.

 

The Route
Why did I choose this route? I have wanted to go to Central Asia for many years, but either the time or the money didn't work out. At last, the two have come together for a chance to journey across some of the last great wilderness areas left to explore. No flying between cities and 5-star luxury for me. I choose the Great Outdoors every time, and the chance to rough-camp across deserts, mountains, and miles of wide open spaces.

You'd have to be a fairly determined 'Stay-At-Home' not to wish to explore the bazaars and cities of Central Asia, or feel a twinge of excitement at the mere mention of fabled 'Silk Road'. These overland routes, for there were a number of 'roads' not just one, have been in use for over 2,000 years, when trade started between the great civilizations of China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and Rome. Civilizations come and go, but their antiquities and architecture, religion and culture remain to inspire and thrill the traveller today. This is what I hope to discover, as well as to learn more about the people who live along the way, and see just what countryside and scenery there is to be seen from the back of a 12 ton Overland truck. Stay at home? That would be rather difficult, as I sold my only home to be here !!

 

Itinerary
For those friends and family who are interested, here is my rough itinerary:

Section	From	To	Period	Start	Finish
00	London	Istanbul	9 nights	17 Mar	26 Mar
01	Istanbul	Ashgabat	25 nights	26 Mar	20 Apr
02	Ashgabat	Tashkent	14 nights	20 Apr	04 May
03	Tashkent	Bishkek	15 nights	04 May	19 May
04	Bishkek	Xi'an	31 nights	19 May	19 Jun
05	Xi'an	Beijing	16 nights	19 Jun	05 Jul
06	Beijing	St Petersburg	77 nights	13 Jul	28 Sep

 
The route from the UK goes though Western Europe to Turkey. The route continues into Georgia, then through Azerbaijan to the Caspian Sea, and across to Turkmenistan. Now in Central Asia, we travel through Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to China, which we cross to reach the capital Beijing, the most easterly point of the journey. Heading north and west, we cross Mongolia, pass through Siberia to Kazakhstan, then across Russia to end at Saint Petersburg, on the Baltic, at the end of September. I'm not quite sure how I'll be getting back to the UK from there - maybe on the truck, or maybe by train.

 

Keeping In Touch
Looking through books and the internet, I get a rather negative picture of the expectations of receiving 'Poste Restante' mail through Central Asia, so have only selected a few addresses to receive mail whilst I am away. You are most welcome to try, though, and all letters received will be much appreciated.

MAKINS, T
Poste Restante,
Central Post Office
Mopra Kocesi,
Ashgabat, 744000
TURKMENISTAN

You should post letters to Ashgabat by the 4th of April. I will be arriving there on the 20th.

MAKINS, T
Poste Restante
GPO-Post Office
40 Renmin Xilu
Kashgar Uygur
Xin Yiang Sinkiang
CHINA

You should post letters to Kashgar by the 2nd of May. I will be arriving there on the 23rd.

MAKINS, T
Poste Restante
International Post Office
Jianguomen Beidajie
Beijing
CHINA

Beijing seems a little more reliable. You should post letters to Beijing by the 20th of June. I will be arriving there on the 5th of July.

MAKINS, T
Poste Restante
Central Post Office
Bogenbay Batyr 134
Almaty
KAZAKHSTAN

You should post letters to Almaty by the 1st of August. I will be arriving there on the 18th.

Some notes for those of you not familiar with 'Poste Restante': it allows me to go to the main post office, show my passport, and pick up any mail that is waiting for me. Post offices normally hold mail for 1 month ONLY, so please don't send your mail too early. Your local office will advise on postal times, though generally 2-3 weeks is sufficient. It is MOST important that you copy the address EXACTLY as shown above, and that you don't write my name in any other way than 'MAKINS, T'. Note that security is not always guaranteed, so parcels and packets may get lost or stolen. A letter, airmail form, or greetings card in a sealed envelope is the most likely to reach me. If you wish to send a package, parcel, or magazine, please send it separately from your letter, and mention in your letter that you have sent a parcel. Note also that it is not unheard of for envelopes with attractive stamps to be stolen, too, so just use the most boring ones you have, or get the letter franked on a bulk-mailing machine. Don't forget to send the letter via Airmail, and include a return-address on the rear of the envelope.

 

Emailing
If you prefer to email me, which is much more reliable, you can find my email address on the Contact Page. I am unsure just how many Internet Cafes there will be along the way, or what opportunities there will be to contact you, but all messages will be replied to eventually, even if a month or so goes by between visits to the World Wide Web.

 

Other Preparations
As you might imagine, preparations for such an extensive journey can take some time, even if someone else is looking after the truck. My packing list, which you can see here, has been thoroughly checked and revised once again, with experience gained on my previous 8 Overland journeys. I checked the required vaccinations too, and found that another 7 were required to bring me up to date. These have overflowed into a new International Certificate of Vaccination - you can print your own from my page here. The most difficult aspect of planning has been in acquiring the numerous visas required for the journey. On most other Overland Routes, you can pick up the majority of visas along the way, either at the border, or in the capital city of the previous country. For Central Asia, however, they need to be ordered beforehand, and the application accompanied by various letters of invitation or approval. Without the help of such experienced visa companies as Travcour or Real Russia, this would be very difficult indeed.