Product Description

Discover Central Asia

Lose yourself among the blue domes and mosaics fo the Registan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Play Marco Polo, exploring Silk Road forts while bathed in the light of the snowcapped Hindu Kush in the Wakhan Valley, Tajikistan.
Watch a Kyrgyz eagle hunter in action, and taste the delights of fermented mare's milk in Kyrgyzstan.
Follow in the footsteps of British spies, Chinese pilgrims and Russian explorers and embark on your own Great Game.

In This Guide:

Five authors, five 'stans, 27 visa stamps (78 visa checks), 182 pots of green tea, one (short) detention by the KGB.
Everything you need to know about visas, travel permits and crossing Asia's remotest borders.
Trek into remote alpine valleys, follow herders on horseback or ride camels with our new Activities chapter.
Visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler suggestions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44722 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 508 pages

Review
...for the adventurous traveler who wants to live like a native.' --Real Simple Magazine, June 2005

From the Publisher
Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travelers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travelers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travelers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travelers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Customer Reviews

Your companion to Central Asia
Well researched and easy-to-use, this Lonely planet was our primary companion to plan our and along our trip to Central Asia.

The only drawback is that the conversation guide is very limited (on purpose I guess), so if you don't speak any Russian, invest in a conversation guide for your trip.

a practical overview
This doesn't answer questions such as, "What kind of winter jacket should I bring", but it does tell you about the traditional Kyrgyz practice of wife abduction. The packing lists on the Peace Corps wiki are a good source if you need to know what kind of clothes to bring: [...]. Type in "Packing list for ___(country)___". Unfortunately, they only have lists for the countries in which the Peace Corps has volunteers. However, most likely they have people somewhere in the region about which you are interested.
This book is full of practical information about each country (and some funny tidbits), some ideas for itineraries, and useful tips. Since I have not seen any alternative, this is your best bet if you want a guide to Central Asia.

Excellent guide to central asia
Once again Lonely Planet has done a very good job. This guide is the best introduction to the five Central Asian countries. I used it in Tajikistan recently and intend to use it again.