I have spent a fair amount of time this fall planning a trip for next fall. I will resist the urge to book anything for a while in case it doesn’t come to fruition. Also, because I tend to like to plan and book things in advance and I would like a little more spontaneity in the trip. That being said, this is the very tentative itinerary (I actually have this in a nice easy-to-read spreadsheet, but it won’t copy and paste easily here in a readable format):
Kazakhstan: Fly into Astana, spend a day and take the night train to Almaty. 3-4 days in Almaty.
Kyrgyzstan: Tour from Almaty to Karakol. 2 days in Karakol taking in the Dungan culture, then on to Bishkek for a couple of days. Fly to Osh for 2 days.
Uzbekistan: Cross the border from Osh and go to Andijon and if time permits on to Tashkent. Spend one night in Tashkent and take the train to Samarkand for two nights. Train to Bukhara for two nights. Train to Urgench and taxi to Khiva for one night. Train to Nukus for two nights (probably not worth it, but logistics appear to require it. Train back to Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan: Train and/or taxi to Aktau. Aktau is a port town on the Caspian Sea. I will give a boat about one chance. As intriguing as it sounds to go by ship across the Caspian, it sounds anti-climatic. Ship traffic is irregular. Stock answer appears to be tomorrow. So, if there’s a boat there when I arrive, I’ll get on it for the next 30+ hours for the ride to Baku. Otherwise, I go to the airport and fly in 50minutes.
Azerbaijan: Baku for 4-5 days. Lots to see in the City and surrounding area. On the way out, take the train to Sheki and spend the night in the Caravanserai. Then on to Georgia.
Georgia: 4-5 days in Tblisi and the surrounding area. Bus or train to Armenia.
Armenia: 2-3 days in Yeravan. Then on to Tatev, taking in some sites along the way. Armenia is the world’s oldest Christian nation, so lots of monasteries. There’s also the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh that’s a possibility, and Lake Sevan. Back to Georgia (Georgia and Iran are the only land border crossings.)
Georgia: A night in Tbilisi and then on to Batumi and a border crossing to Turkey.
Turkey: A bus to Cappadocia for a couple of days and then on to Istanbul for a week +/-. Fly to Greece.
Greece: Athens? Haven’t put much thought into it and can’t get that excited about Greece. Maybe I will change my mind or drop Greece. On to Italy.
Italy interest me. Originally I was just going to base out of Milan for a week or so (cheap flights). Now, I am considering starting further south (Naples is a possibility) and working my way up. I could also see Rome and/or Florence. The Vatican is a possibility, though I need to pace myself on churches. I also want to visit San Marino as I have kind of a pet interest in microstates.
Leaving Italy: Rent a car in Milan and drive to Switzerland. spend a night somewhere like Lucerne. Drive to Liechtenstein and have lunch. Liechtenstein is too expensive to spend much time in so drive over to Germany to spend the night. Drive to Luxembourg the next day and spend the night. spend one night in Lyon and head to Monaco. Eventually find my way back to Milan to return the car and get on the bus.
France: Marseille for a week +/-. Bus or train to Spain via Andorra.
Andorra: I said i had a pet interest in microstates. And on to Valencia for a week +/-.
Spain: Valencia.
Portugal: Take the train to Lisbon or Porto. Fly home from Portugal.
All this leads us to books. These are the books i hope to have read by the time i leave:
Kazakhstan: Aitmatov, “The Day that lasts more than 100 years”
Kyrgyzstan: Aitmatov, “Jamilla”
Uzbekistan: Alexander, ‘A Carpet Ride to Khiva”
Azerbaijan: Said, “Ali and Nino”
Georgia: Chiladze, “Avelum”
Armenia: Bohjelian, “The Sandcastle Girls”
Nagorno Karabakh; de Waal, ‘Black Garden”
Turkey: Shafak, “The Bastard of Istanbul”
Greece: Gage, “Eleni”
Italy: Forrester, “A Room with a View”
Switzerland: Twain, “A Tramp Abroad”
Liechtenstein: Harrer, “Seven Years in Tibet”
Luxembourg: Pavone, The Expats”
France: Gary, “The Life Before Us”
Andorra: Cameron, “Andorra”
Spain: Caubre, “Confessions”
Portugal: Mercier, “Night Train to Lisbon”
That’s about it for now.