Caravanistan -

Rémi C.

Site très intéressant, bien utile pour préparer un voyage sur la Route de la Soie et appréhender ses surprises !

Overland V.

Hi there,

This is a brief review about how Caravanistan.com helped us during our trip across Central Asia in 2019. In retrospective, Caravanistan and iOverlander were the two resources we found most useful to plan our trip, respectively find sites and places - these are the 'must have' resources if you envisage a similar journey.

We started our planning perhaps one year before departing, and while looking for information on what documents were required to enter a country, visa required or not, which border crossing to choose, how to cross it, where to change money, what challenges to expect etc., somehow we always found ourselves returning to the Caravanistan.com site, and finding the expected advice and information. Certainly, one can go to the various .gov sites and collate the necessary information, but that's at hindsight a fragmented and pretty laborious task. There're also online travel agencies that can help, but there you end up finding more information on the specific tours that they offer, rather than what you're truly looking for.

What more? Caravanistan has coupled the 'static' information (general description pages) with 'dynamic' content contributed by travellers (topic related forums), making it a very up-to-date source of information. For example when preparing to enter a new country, you first go through the description provided for this country, learn about the generic rules and assimilate the instructions you need to know, then you move on to the forums and check whether there were recently any problems or issues - perhaps you need to choose an alternate border crossing than the one you intended to.

Which route to take? The most renown places to visit are well described on Caravanistan.com, and that's good enough to pin-point the must-see places and get a rough idea on how get through a given region. For example the Pamir Highway, we were confronted with the choice of the north, middle or south route - which one to take? We've searched all over the internet looking for travel reports, but the most concise description was eventually found on Caravanistan, and thanks to that we made up our mind... for the marvellous south route along the Afghan border.

While on route, that's where iOverlander.com comes very handy! It's late afternoon and you start to wonder where to stop for the night... yes, you're on the right track, but there aren't any suitable places to camp, what to do? Well, open the iOverlander map and scan for any places in the next say 100 km, quickly read what other kind souls have reported, and head towards that place you thinks suits you best. It's kind of reassuring to know that someone else before you has found a place to stay - while in many regions this isn't a concern (like Mongolia), there're indeed other areas where you will struggle.

In summary, to us Caravanistan.com has been the 'one stop, find all' site! Complemented with iOverlander.com, you have all you need for your unforgettable adventure.

Happy travel!
Marcel from Overland Vagabond

Markus

I'm very thankful for this site and their service. They made my bicycletrip along the silkroad much easier.

Max P.

Caravanistan are absolutely fantastic! They are friendly, provide efficient service, and are extremely helpful. Their website provides detailed travel information on Central Asia, from obtaining visas to suggested travel routes, activities and interesting articles. I was so pleased to find their website, and their knowledge relieved a lot of stress that can be present for the new traveller! Thank you so much, Caravanistan, and I'm sure I'll be in contact again soon!

Chantal S.

Caravanistan is doing awesome work! The website has become the go-to bible for travelling the area. The amount and quality of the free content is unprecedented!
When I was in Central Asia the phrase: "Just check Caravanistan for that" was not only widely used, everyone knew exactly where to go and what to do.
Massive thanks for helping the travelling community ahead!

Paramount J.

We are collaborating with Caravanistan for more than one year and during this time, Saule and Steven showed an exceptional level of expertise and experience in tourism industry. We are looking for a long term partnership with Caravanistan and can highly recommend as the most updated and reliable travel website in Central Asia!

Stefanie L.

While preparing for my Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan adventure I came across the Caravanistan website. I found all the information I needed on here, as well as a fantastic tour operator and a travel companion on the ride share forum.
We had lovely drivers who took such great care of us and endured our numerous requests for toilet and photo stops with absolute patience!! They made us feel welcome and well looked after.
Our trip from Dushanbe to Karakul was one of the most beautiful ones I have been on. Thanks to all the information and tips on Caravanistan, the people we've met along the way, the beautiful landscape, the hospitality at our home stays and the great organisation of our tour operator this trip has been an amazing and memorable experience for me. I was sad to leave and I hope to return to Pamir one day. I can highly recommend Caravanistan to anyone planning to travel to and around Central Asia!

Victoria H.

Caravanistan saved my trip!

I am so so thankful to Caravanistan! About 3 weeks before my trip to Armenia, i found out that Vietnam is one of the only countries that need to obtain a visa from the consulate and have to have an official Letter of Invitation from the MFA. ( before that i thought i could do an online one).

After some time of crying over my useless passport, I decided to call every single tour company in Vietnam/Armenia/Russia, weaver i could find on internet to see if there is any that can do it. Turned out no-one knew how to do it ( in Vietnam only one agreed to do for 850$), in Armenia they did not even know what that is, because most of people that travel to Armenia do not need a visa. Armenian tourist market is mostly focused on Russians. Even 5 star hotels like Marriott did not know how to help me.

Thanks God Steven and Vladimir agreed to do it, though it was their first time. A bit of inside on the process of getting a visa ( if you are unlucky to have one of the rare passports that need one). You will need a LOI from a company in Armenia that is submitted to MFA of Armenia and after 14 days ( officially) if they approve they will put it into the system. After that you can apply for a visa at your consulate, and it will take maximum 7 days to get a visa. In my situation here, by the time i found someone who agreed to do that i had about 2 weeks till my flight and I was super worried that i would not get one in time.

Vladimir managed to get my LOI in 7 days !!!! The lady in the consulate was also super helpful and managed to issue me the visa in 3 days, so i got one on Wednesday and flew on thursday. I AM SO GRATEFUL that i found Caravanistan, from now on if i ever need to go traveling in central asia, i would definitely contact Steven.

Thanks a lot!