“The Five Stans” Part 1 of 2 ~Everything You Need to Know About the Visa Process and Other Details”

• August 28, 2019
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

“Booking with Advantour and Acquiring Visas”

We recommend Advantour. They are super organized and detail oriented. 

Have you ever heard of the “5-Stans?”

If not, they are five countries in Central Asia that we are allowed to visit, as tourists.

The 5-Stan Countries we got to visit were: 

Kazakhstan 🇰🇿   …….The Modern meets the Old

Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬 …….. The Beautiful

Tajikistan 🇹🇯 ……….. The Unforgettable

Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 …….. The Friendly

Turkmenistan 🇹🇲 …..The Mysterious

We self-tour as much as we are able, in order to save money, and control our own pace. However, there are the exceptions when a tour does make more sense, when it comes to obtaining Visas, the language barriers, distances to travel, and difficult borders to cross. The “Five Stans” definitely falls into “all of the above” category for us.
In fact, I created our own itinerary for solo travel, which is legal to do; and while it is doable, it would exceed the cost of a tour, just in transportation expenses; and the tour has us flying most border crossings, saving a days travel at each crossing.
Another reason for choosing a tour is when the Visa requirement is more complicated than most (Turkmenistan to be specific).

It is important to note; if you choose a tour company, make sure the company you choose has the inclusion that reads they will secure your visas for you, and the service is included in the cost of tour.

Also, pay attention to the details

“Participants need to be in good health, be able to walk for 4-6 hours every day at moderate speed, climb stairs and hills, and be able to carry their own luggage for up to 1/2 mile across borders.”

We are excited, currently making our reservations, ahead of time (recommend).

Here is a peek 👀 at some Visa requirements we must provide to the 5-Stan tour company for them to prepare our legal documents. Yes, we do have our work cut out for us in Visa prep alone, but oh the places we get to explore!

As far as tours go, this tour actually went according to itinerary, which was a novel experience for us, and we welcomed it. As with other tours with more issues, we still never get to choose our traveling mates. Ha! On this tour there was one guy that was a total jerk. He was mouthy, rude and inconsiderate. I think he had mental issues, but other than him, we enjoyed the whole trip. He rubbed others the wrong way, too. It happens, when a bad apple gets in.

This tour was also very fast-paced, and more than I could handle. (brain fatigue TBI). I actually took two days off from touring, to stay behind at the hotel, or walk around the city or town on my own. Daryl stayed with the whole itinerary, so I saw his photos, of anything I may have missed. I enjoyed staying behind, catching up on writing and processing photos. I much prefer to travel without touring, but for these five countries, we would do it all the same. It was a good call, and we recommend this way of seeing all the countries at once!

VISAS

“ …..We also need the following information in order to process  e-visa for Tajikistan and letter of invitation for Turkmenistan tourist visa:”

1. One recent passport-sized photo. Quality: the documents must look sharp and clear in electronic format, not checkered, glossy or blurry; scans must be delivered to us in JPEG or PDF format and must be minimum 250KB and maximum 1MB in size.
Black and white scans are not accepted by the State Migration Services.
Scans of paper passport copies are not accepted; they must be scans of originals.

The whole photo page of the passport must be scanned, and to avoid any confusion, it is best if the scan simply shows all four edges of the page.
The original size of passport-sized photo scans must be 3×4 cm minimum and cannot be a photoshop version of the photo from the passport scan. (we will have to print them out on color photo paper, as if we received real original photos from you); a digital passport-sized photo is best.

If you do not have access to a scanner, a digital photo made with a digital camera or smart phone could be acceptable as well, as long as the quality is as described above, and there is no flash/gloss/shine, making any part of the scan unclear

If there are more than 1 person in a booking, you could scan one page with all photos on 1 paper, as long as you put some form of reference with each photo, so that we are 100% sure who is who.

2. Name of educational institute (name of institute of last/highest educational certification)

3. Place of institute (place and country)

4. Field of study in institute (department, faculty, field/direction/specialization, for example medicine, economics, engineering, linguistics, management, history, law)

5. Workplace (company name, address, your position);

6. A letter from the employer on the letterhead with the company seal confirming your employment and position;

7. Valid Citizenships

8. Marital status

9. Home address, phone numbers (if you currently reside abroad, please put two addresses, the one in the country of your citizenship, and your current one);

10. Previous visits to Tajikistan/Turkmenistan (dates, purpose)

11. Any relatives, friends or other contact persons in Uzbekistan/Turkmenistan;

12. Copy of your air tickets.

Based on this information we prepare visa support applications and submit them to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of respective country. Ministries review applications

*Turkmenistan: allow three to four week waiting period to get approval  or denial. Turkmenistan reserves the right to deny any application without providing explanations.

Turkmenistan visa will be issued at the border. Visa support letter will be emailed to you when ready.

*****

Not mentioned in the list above, we also had to provide detailed info on our children, and their spouses. Luckily, they were all in agreement of sharing their private info. We were told up front by the tour company, obtaining a Turkmenistan Visa would be the most challenging. That ministry only allows so many visitors per year. Not only that, they easily dismiss requests for visas, often. For this reason, we chose the tour, as a group tour application, is usually the most successful. Individual, solo travelers, not so much.
Fortunately, we received passage for all five countries. It was a hard trip, but a very rewarding one. We traveled so many miles on the hottest of days. We saw so much, and learned even more!

We flew into Kazakastan, ahead of the tour date, and secured a hotel that would store our luggage, so we could travel lighter. That plan worked out well. After the tour, we returned to Kazakastan and got caught up on everything for about five days, before moving on.
We were exhausted, satisfied, and even a little proud of ourselves for accomplishing five countries in two weeks!

Accommodation:

Price includes:

1. All transfers: 3-7 pax on minivan/van, 8-16 pax by 20 seat bus;
2. Accommodation based on double/twin room sharing, breakfasts included;
3. Sightseeing tour program with English speaking guides in each country;
4. Entrance fees to sights as per itinerary;
5. Economy class tickets for flights: Almaty – Bishkek-Tashkent, Mary – Ashgabat, Urgench- Tashkent;
6. Economy-class tickets for trains: Tashkent – Samarkand- Bukhara;
7. Visa support for Uzbekistan triple entry visa and Turkmenistan tourist visa;
8. Tajikistan E-visa and Uzbekistan E-visa;
9. National folklore show in Bukhara on Day 9;
10. Meals: welcome lunch in Almaty on Day 2, lunch at home of a local family on Day 4, lunch and dinner at Seven Lakes on Day 7, lunch in Mary on Day 10,  camp style dinner at Darvaza on Day 11, dinner in Khiva on Day 12:
11. Tour leader to accompany the travelers for the whole period of the tour starting from 6 pax.
12. Tips are included starting from 6 pax and will be distributed by Tour leader.

Price does not include:

1. Tour leader to accompany the group of 1-5 travelers for the whole period of the tour;
2. Full board (lunches and dinners);
3. Hotel charges for additional services;
4. Consular fees for Turkmenistan tourist visas ($80) and migration tax ($12);
5. Consular fees for Uzbekistan tourist visa at Tashkent International Airport ($60-80)
6. Visa support for Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan tourist visas ($50);
7. Personal travel insurance;
8. International Air fares from/to home.

STANS

please see Uzbek and Tajik e-visas in attached files. Now, you have all required visas (you will obtain Turkmen visa at land border with our LOI).

You just need to pay consular fees for Turkmenistan visa, when you obtain it at the land border while passing to Turkmenistan overland.

You need to pay in cash in USD, around $85 per person … $170 total

> Uzbekistan and Tajikistan e-visas fees were covered by our company

Normally, we hit up ATMS at Airports, train and bus stations for each new country we enter.  Am I to understand there will not be ATMS in these public places?  If so, is it best to get US dollsrs, after getting to Kazakastan?….to be used in all Stans, where we can’t use a credit card? Remember, unlike the other guests, we are not coming from home, and haven’t been there in a very long time.

*There will be ATMs in Almaty, Bishkek and Tashkent airports and banks. You need to get cash in those cities for the rest of the tour.

Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)

Tashkent (Uzbekistan)

In markets, shops and café/restaurants, you will need to make payment in local currency.

It is possible to exchange US Dollars and Euros into local currency at banks and exchange offices in hotels. Exchange offices and banks do not accept hard currency banknotes that are older 1996, worn out, have handwriting on, torn, lined or wrinkled. Such banknotes are accepted only in National Bank for about a 10% fee.

It is extremely difficult to change local currency back into dollars at reasonable exchange rates in Central Asia countries. We recommend you to take a lot of smaller Euros, or US dollars in $20, 10’s and 5’s. You are able to use them for a lot of your payments.  And you are advised to spend what local currency you have before leaving the country.

Please see the attached files and print the following files:

1. Tour booking confirmation (attached).  Please kindly check final program with timings of international arrival and departure.
2. E- ticket Almaty-Bishkek (attached) – allowed luggage is 20 kg and hand luggage – 5 kg
3. E-ticket Bishkek-Tashkent (attached)- allowed luggage is 20 kg and hand luggage – 5 kg
4. E-ticket Urgench – Tashkent (attached)

 Note:

1. air ticket:   Mary – Ashgabat  you will get in Ashgabat
2. train tickets: Tashkent – Samarkand Bukhara you will get in Tashkent

 On arrival in Almaty at 21:55 on August 15, 2019, you will be met by our driver with signboard with your name on it. Please see attached file – meeting instructions.

Please see also meeting scheme at Tashkent International airport on 22nd August 2019.

20 August, 2019  at 9:30 am your Tour Leader(in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) will be waiting for you at Resident hotel reception to start your tour.

“Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are visa FREE countries

Uzbekistan TRIPLE entries E-visa needs to be obtained on-line in advance https://e-visa.gov.uz/main  Each entry visa should be arrange separately. So, you should have 3 separate E-visas to Uzbekistan. Visa fee is 20 USD per each entry.

Tajikistan E-visa needs to be obtained on-line in advance. We will arrange it for you. The price of the service is inc. to the tour price.

Turkmenistan visa can be obtained at the land border while passing to Turkmenistan overland. We’ll arrange LOI for group visa.”

Money:

– Do not bring USD notes issued earlier than (1996), torn, dirty, stamped (you will be surprised how a tiny bank stamp can decrease value of your note by at least 10%).

I would recommend you to take a lot of smaller Euros, or US dollars in $20, 10’s and 5’s. You are able to use them for a lot of your payments.  Most guides and drivers readily accepted foreign currency and you can pay your extra service at the hotels in dollars or credit card.  A lot of shops give prices in dollars.  Since you have to have currency from 5 different countries, you may not want to have a lot of those currency left so do not convert a lot of money to local currency.  You can plan to use it up the last day and then if necessary pay the hotel, guide and driver in dollars if you don’t have any local currency.   

 Meals

We have several meals included as per your tour itinerary. Please kindly note that other lunches and dinners that are not included in the tour, you will need to pay yourself . Please consider ~$10 – $20 per meal on average. The price depends on the menu and the place: national house, café or restaurant.

Water

You will be provided with drinking water (1l per day) during the tour. Please drink only bottled water.

Voltage

The voltage in the region is standard European one (220 V / 50 Hz). If you want to use 110/120V devices in hotels or other places where there is only a 220/240V power you will need a step-down voltage converter or a combination converter.

Clothing

Because of the large amount of sightseeing on foot in dry, dusty and sometimes rough areas (i.e. dirt, cobblestones, etc.), comfortable, solid walking shoes with strong soles and support are essential. You may be required to remove your shoes upon entry to some religious sites. It would be better to avoid wearing shorts when visiting religious places, mosques, mausoleums, etc. Also, ladies should cover their shoulders and chest and preferably wear a hat or a headscarf.

Roads

Quality of roads in the region is average. Please do not expect very smooth road pavement. Some roads might be bumpy. At any time you are free to ask the driver to go slower (if that is not against road safety regulations).

You may have roommates just in the guest house in Seven lakes. shower and toilet are shared.

In other places, you will have your own room with private shower and toilet.

In Darvaza gaz crater, you will overnight in a private tent or you can overnight in shared yurt(4-5 people). shower and toilet are shared.

 Total cost paid to Advantour $7000 in 2019. Extra expenses would be paying for our food, when it was not included in the package.