The last time I traveled solo was 7 years ago, to Penang in 2017 . Since then, I’ve always traveled with friends, which of course always turned memorable and fun. But the exclusivity of traveling with a friend or with a group often secludes us from the opportunity to meet new people along the way – something that I missed from my recent travels. Because I think travel should not be just about visiting places or experience things, it also should be enriched with people encounters.
The opportunity to meet with other people also becoming lesser as my travel style has shifted from hostels to decent hotels with good location. I eat in any restaurants with good review, don’t really look into the price tag anymore. Yep, I opted more for conveniences because my everyday life was already full of hassle at work, clearly I don’t wanna wrestle with another hassle during my time off.
Apparently that kind of travel style don’t feel fulfilling at some point. To be honest there was this time when travel didn’t excite me that much again if it only about ticking off places and taking billions of pictures to feed my social media. I guess I really missed the idea of getting the uncertainties and inconveniences during my travels. That’s when I realized I actually craved for some adventures.
Well, the universe seems to be on my side. In early January I got some not so good news. The company I’ve worked for finally joined the winter tech hype and laid off hundreds of people, including me. They basically shut down my department and rerouted the autonomy to the regional office. I was shocked but not that shocked. Well, I saw it as a blessing in disguise, because obviously at that time I really – really need a break from work – for so many reasons.
It took me a blink of eyes to decide what to do next. Clearly it was time for the adventure I had been craving for! Finally I had the chance to travel without the obligations to be always reachable and to tag my laptop along.
Yet it took me some time to decide where to go, till I finally settled that it got to be Central Asia – an unknown world that I’ve never landed my feet on and don’t even speak the language. Aaaaaak! I had goosebump just to think about it.
I planned to visit the trio – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. (I know – I know It supposed to be a quartet with Tajikistan included, but I did not want to overwhelm myself, so I had to pick 3 out of 4. Sorry Tajikistan!). I organized everything so thoroughly, I decided to start with Kazakhstan as the appetizer of the trip with all it’s beautiful alps and stunning lake trips. Next is Uzbekistan to bring me to architectural buildings from their ancient times – known as the Silk Road. And for the main course – is Kyrgyzstan with its gorgeous mountainous landscape and natural beauty.
It’s hard to tell you my favorite because 3 of them completing each other. But I’ll share the highlight of each countries.
Kazakhstan
I landed in Almaty, a city that does not have high raised building yet perfectly surrounded by the Kazakh Alps that become a casual hugger of the city. Almaty is not the capital of Kazakhstan but it has so many places you can visit easily, both inside and outside the city.
I spent first 2 days observing and walking around the city which I enjoyed a lot, they have this well-maintained sidewalks literally all over the city because the people seems to have an otoped culture that kinda cool. My favorite thing to do is to have a slow afternoon walk on Abaya Ave, a street that sprawl with modern cafes and restaurants but also very calm and cozy at the same time. Only sometimes these otoped riders surprised me when they rolled from behind – as they don’t really make a sound.
It’s also easy to notice that the younger people look well-educated and pretty stylish. They don’t seem friendly in the appearance, typical city person, but they actually are nice when you say hi to them first.
Another place I faved from the city is the Kok Tobe – the perfect place to enjoy the sunset. This place is located only 10 mins drive from the downtown, you can just go by Yandex or by gondola. Yandex will not send you to the exact location where the theme park is, it will rather drop you off in the parking lot, then you go to the top by walking or by shuttle bus.
In Kazakhstan I joined a day trip to visit the lakes and canyons, bought the open tour from Trip Advisor and you’ll get picked up in early morning according to the schedule. I stayed in AQ Capsule Hotel that perfectly located in city center that is very convenient, they even have a free laundry and indoor sauna too!
In total I spent around 5 days in Almaty including the lake trips and all in all I would say the city is so much a comfort zone if compared to Tashkent or Bishkek. It’s easy to navigate as you can quickly find every pleasant spot to eat, have a coffee break or just to sit down and watching people pass by. My favorite is Vanilla Cafe, their pastries options are mouthwatering!
The real adventure began when I hopped on to overnight 17hours bus to Tashkent, Uzbekistan and experienced a border crossing at Zhybek Zolly in the dawn time with a chaos queue amongst sea of locals.
Which I found it hilariously fun.
Uzbekistan
My first city in Uzbekistan was the hustle capital of Tashkent. I was totally drawn by all the pictures of Uzbekistan that I saw on the internet. From the beginning I already wanted to skip Tashkent because the other cities are too tempting to be visited soon.
What I noticed from Uzbekistan besides their magnificent architecture was the people are extremely adorable! From the person who’s coming from Almaty where people seems so tensed (may because it is a big city) and less smile, Uzbekistan people are very friendly and helpful. I had countless help from different people I met on the road. The kind of kindness I’ve always longing for to encounter in my travels.
I took train from Tashkent to Samarkand, stayed there for couple of days then continued with fast train to Bukhara. I actually wanted to visit Khiva too, but too bad the ticket was sold out on my desired date, I ended up dropping Khiva from the plan. But to be honest, I already feel fulfilled with both Samarkand and Bukhara. Both city offers stunning architectural gems that I adored so much.
Kyrgyzstan
I crossed another ground border from Tashkent to Bishkek via overland night bus. My seat mate was a guy from Bishkek that had a business trip in Tashkent, we chatted a lot and he suggested me to download GoBus for much convenient transfer from Bishkek to Karakol that I will take for next couple of days. Thanks to him, he was damn right! This GoBus tips is something that I could not find on the internet, all those articles always tell me that the only available options are either Mashrutka or private car.
My hostel in Bishkek is definitely the most favorite stay, it is very nice and clean and the receptions girl was the best! She helped me in everything, literally lol.
The trip down to Karakol was a smooth one. I tried hard not to fall asleep because I did not wanna miss the lake side road but I eventually slept most of the trip HAHA.
Karakol is very chill, well, it’s a country side that located in between the mountain so no wonder. I managed to try its popular local dishes called Ashlanfu in the central market.
It was still very cold in Kyrgyzstan, sometimes raining so bad. But I definitely like Bishkek more than Tashkent.
Kyrgyzstan turned to be my peak of events since I spontaneously decide to hike Altyn Arashan on my own. I did hike the mountain for 7 hours solo – something I have never done! Of course there were so much up and down during the trek, to me it was a heavy one since hiking was never really my thing. But I did have fun with my self and no regret at all. Something I am so much proud of!
I also visited both Jeti Oguz and Fairytale Canyon on the way back to Bishkek from Karakol. I finally decided to rent a car because I was still exhausted from my hiking, but that decision also make me able to visit both of the places.
It was a very very very liberating adventure. Now that I already back working again (got new job a month after I came back!), this adventure will be something that sits in my heart and I will forever cherish. Hopefully there will still be another opportunity in the future!
