Feels like 50% of my time & budget is spent on legal issues.. Visa fees, letters of invitations, international transfers, express service, badakhshan travel permits, military check points (bribing), consular interviews or endless Offices of Visa and Registration.

So closed are these Central Asian republics. And with some time spent here, I gett to understand that for some countries here it’s the only tourist attraction they have. Remoteness is moneyable. Tourists hate tourists. Please get me to the deserted island where i can see only myself and my coconuts. Or my horse-milk in this case. Even the hassles to get your papers all in order are an adventure for the intrepids around. You get back home and you tell your mom and buds that life was so hard. Or you write it on your blog (check).

Kyrgyztan is the country with the biggest potential to please backpackers, with Alpine like trecks and hicking, gorgeous landscapes and (sometimes) a certain degree of unsafety. Than it’s the easiest country to get a visa for.

Tajikistan has NOTHING except nothingness. Let’s focus on something hard access. Harder is the visa to get.

Uzbekistan has it all to attract formal tourists. High quality historical sites and safety. German nannies walk around with Japanese hords. Real money, not backpacks leftover. 100$ for one Visa, 35$ for invitation letter. Expensive makes it for some hasssssssles. Backpackers still make it, still complaining that life is hard.

Turkmenistan. Almost as hard as North Korea. Obliged expensive escorts (tour operator).

Well, Afghanistan is quite easy to get a visa. Moneyable hassles have some limits, it seems.