The Detouring Doctor

Visas in the 21^st century generally do not feature as a big part of the travel experience. More often than not they are the annoying bits of paper we fill in on the plane trip in and the stamp in the passport we queue up for at immigration on arrival. Sometimes as in the case of countries such as India they have to be prearranged but are a formality apart from the hefty fee which is a revenue raiser for the government of the day. Countries such as USA and even little Rwanda have put in online processes and abolished fees as part of the way forward while China seems to still be a little bit more demanding and closed about its processes. Then we come to the Stans who set the bar higher than any countries I know!

Reflecting their ex Soviet pedigrees the Stans present major barriers to any would be tourist and each country has a different set of standards. Overall there is a slow but steady chipping away at these barriers when compared with my research 10 years ago but there is still a long way to go. Special mention in this process goes to little Kyrgyzstan, the stunningly beautiful mountainous Stan often referred to as the Switzerland of central Asia. It has abolished visa requirements and fees altogether presumably as a prelude to a greater push for tourism. Yay! For me its already one down and only five to go! Easy street were it not for the fact that all bar one of the other countries have no embassy presence in Australia. Somehow I have to get my passport securely to and from embassies half way around the world.

So online I go and start to work my way through the mountain of paperwork. All of the questionnaires are more detailed than anything I have ever completed. Some ask for letters confirming my employment. All ask for obscure details such as my mother’s maiden name. The Uzbek process asks for a complete photocopy of my passport, every page, to be sent with the original as well as the obligatory passport sized photos. The Tajik process includes a separate application for a GBAO permit without which I cannot travel the majestic mountainous Pamir Highway and all bar one ask for a Letter of Introduction! This LOI, in theory represents an invitation to the traveller from a local person or a tour company who, I guess assumes some responsibility for the movements of the tourist within that country. For me as an independent backpacker I have to employ and pay a tour company to write them for me. A bit of online research and all roads lead to the catchily named Stantours run by a German expat living in Kazakhstan called David Berghof. David has rapidly become my new best friend!

The earliest one can start to collect visas is 3 months in advance so 3 months ago I made my first contact and I have a neat plan of attack which should see me just managing to pick up the 5 visas in the nick of time. I email David for the LOI and outline my plans for my first Stan. Turkmenistan has a further quirk in that independent travel outside the capitol for more than 3 days without a guide is not permitted so David sets me up with a 7 day tour, guide and transport and LOI. When he tells me that with the LOI I can get a visa on arrival at the airport without having to send off overseas my spirits lift and I know that the rest will fall into place!

With the extra time gained I immediately send my passport to the Afghan embassy in Canberra, which proves to be the easiest of all and back comes my passport with a shiny new Afghan visa! At the same time my Uzbek LOI arrives from David and it is with some trepidation that I prepare to relinquish my passport to the closest Uzbek embassy in Washington DC. Let the nightmare begin!

Ten years ago I first investigated the possibility of travelling though the central Asian republics affectionately known as the “Stans” to back packers. I purchased the Lonely Planet guide at that time and this out of date tome has sat beside my bed for the last six months. As with so many things in life, chance plays such a large part and as I feel out of love with my initial travel idea of walking the Camino Santiago this year, the accidental conjunction of having 6 weeks holiday and the time of year led me to resuscitate my former plans.

The Stans comprise the 5 countries that were the southernmost outposts of the former Soviet Union. Their people are vastly different to the rest of Russia. Asian and Muslim they had little in common with their former masters. Rich with oil and gas deposits, they were, though, prized possessions of the Soviet empire. They were also the springboards for the ill fated Russian invasion and occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union these countries were unpreparedly abandoned and left to become independent nations. Knowing nothing other than totalitarianism, each country threw up dictatorships as their governments and this more or less prevails to this day. Some experienced internal unrest with opposition groups and armed warfare but, with the obvious exception of Afghanistan all is peaceful and safe for travellers in the Stans today.

So why the Stans? A remote former Russian outpost, surrounded by troubled hotspots such as Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan as a holiday destination? Have I finally gone completely mad? I guess in a week’s time, when I fly into my first Stan I, and you my faithful readers will know. Suffice it to say that this is an area rich in history. Alexander the Great came through here in 300BC and built massive cities here the ruins of which, despite the predations of a rampant, marauding Genghis Khan still survive. In the middle ages the Silk road, the trade route between Europe and China snaked through this area leaving flourishing cities such as Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand which today are absolute tourist gems. Then there are my favourites, massive mountains and much of my time will be spent revelling in the mountain scenery of the 7000 metre peaks, glaciers and lakes of the Pamirs and Tian Shan ranges. To wrap it up I will finish in Astana, the new capitol of oil rich Kazakhstan with the crazy ultramodern buildings that have earned it the nickname the “Dubai of Central Asia”

For the record I will be starting in Turkmenistan and going though Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Internet availability is likely to be fairly lean so I apologise in advance if the emails are a bit spasmodic. Also as I am not taking a laptop there may not be any photos attached but I will try and keep the communications as interesting as possible. In the meanwhile I am packed and ready to go. Roll on Friday!