Central Asia/Mongolia/Siberia Timeline
 

Hi guys,

frequent reader of the posts here as we are planning to cross the above in 2013. Just a quick one for you, what is the best time of year to do this?

I wanted to get away early, down through Europe, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azer and across to maybe Turk, then Uzbek, Tajikistan and the usual route up and out of either Magadan or Vlad.

Now I know it gets cold :freezing: in most of these places, then also hot :Beach:

but I would rather not go to extremes of either. we can handle both as we will be in a 4x4 with 4 season bags etc.

So I was thinking of getting to the Pamirs for April or May, Mongolia for July or August then Siberia for Sept/early Oct?

Im basically looking for the longest trip possible (Im finishing work and going to Australia beerchug) but I dont want to be stuck in Siberia at -50!

so any suggestions as to a sensible timeframe? whats the earliest time for the Pamirs as I think this area will be the crux of the trip start. I know its open year around but Im looking for a time when temps are around or over 0

also, whats the last call in Siberia? realistically.

any hints/tips appreciated jeiger

G

Ok, a fair bit of searching and I have produced the attached. It covers all the countries I plan to drive through, data sources also given. Hopefully it will provide some interest to others :thumbup1:

I would still like to hear from others on thier experiences, especially around the Pamirs as I couldn't find any good climate data for Khorog or the Pamirs in particular.

beer

G

Khorog is already up at around 2000 metres altitude. I dont think its wise to plan to travel between Dushanbe and Sary Tash before late May. Even in Mid July you can have thick snowstorms at the passes.

Thanks Walter, thats what I was worried about.

Late May is going to limit our onwards plans, :( but if it has to be it has to be...

when would you get out of Siberia? I still dont know if we are containering the 4x4 from Magadan or Vlad yet. I need to find out the options.

Thanks again :thumbup1:

G

Pamir
 

Hi Griff - a few things to consider regarding Tajikistan....

We traveleld through in July and it was still pretty cold on the pamir highway, but my wife was ill up there, and we managed to drive it in two days, getting to Osh. THe first 200kms in Kyrgystan was TERRIBLE road, so don't expect to go fast (although the Chinese were there working).

The Pamir is a great road, and you can speed through if the cold is effecting you - but I really wouldn't want to consider travellnig fast on very many other od the roads in Tajikistan. We travelled the Wakhan corrider route, which was great, really exciting and beautiful, but we were constantly stopped by landslides. These were fixed by onsite engineeres, with dynamite and JCBs. But the newly created roads were pretty scary, and I wouldn't have wanted to travel those with any ice or snow about.

Finally - remember Tajikistan is still liable to through your plans around.We were thinking of not going the Wakhan route, but forced to because (apparently) some Taliban chief was misbehaivng on the northern route.

Not sure if I have helped or not - but its a great route through the Stans and I it was the highlight for us of our entire trip.

Good luck

Ollie

I did the same trip this year. Send me your email and I'll email my itinerary for help. No GPS etc as I just went but awesome awesome awesome. Don't miss the Wakhan and enjoy the ferry across the Caspian!!