News from the road – Central Asia – May 2025
It was quite the epic adventure. Five countries in Central Asia, with everyone in our group taking in the tour extension as well as the main tour. This lengthened our expedition but at the end of it we just wanted to keep exploring this fascinating region.
They’re often called the ‘Five Stans’ but we discovered five quite different countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Each has its own culture, landscapes and history, yet they are linked with ethnic and language groups spanning borders, and a shared history of ancient civilisations, the influence of the Silk Road and latterly decades as part of the Soviet Union.
We could imagine caravans of camels crossing the deserts we traversed by coach, train and plane. Busy markets continue today in towns that were trading hubs on the Silk Road. We visited inns and public baths that had catered to weary travellers. Magnificent buildings housing mosques and religious schools told the story of the spread of Islam across the region, while an observatory six centuries old reminded us of the early advances in astronomy and mathematics made here.
It wasn’t all deserts. In Tajikistan we crossed high passes, stayed by a mountain lake and followed raging rivers. The mountains of Kyrgyzstan were strikingly similar to those in Slovenia and Switzerland, with farmers moving their herds to alpine pastures for the summer. In Kazakhstan we got a sense of the enormity of the Central Asia steppes: vast grasslands that stretched into the distance forever.
The cities were just as varied. Tashkent in Uzbekistan is full of grand Soviet Brutalist buildings, following its rebuild after a devastating earthquake in the 1960s. Dushanbe in Tajikistan is studded with grand public buildings and striking monuments. But nothing could prepare us for the weirdness of Ashgabat, capital of the secretive Turkmenistan. This artificial city gleams with white marble buildings and is criss-crossed by wide boulevards that are largely empty of cars.
We learned about a rare breed of horse and the making of felt and silk paper (which doesn’t contain silk). We were treated to traditional music and dance. We were impressed by one of the world’s best collections of Russian avant-garde artworks, located way out in the middle of a desert. We climbed atop a hill where Zoroastrians once laid out their dead to be picked clean by vultures. We enjoyed an opera performance in a stunning theatre building.
Every day was full of surprises. One thing that didn’t change, though, was the universal friendliness of the people we met. Everywhere we went people welcomed us, and were curious about where we were from and why we’d travelled so far to their country. They welcomed us into their homes to share meals, take a cooking class or watch traditional handcrafts like weaving and pottery. We will always remember their hospitality.
Our journey spanned a large part of Asia that’s unknown to many New Zealanders, and we returned with indelible memories of a rich adventure.
We plan to run this tour again next year, so email us at info@calderandlawsontours.co.nz to be notified when the itinerary is published.
