Quote:
Originally Posted by Des Senior
So what's it really like and what are the real risks, from people who have been there, seen that? If you don't lock your bike in a locked yard overnight is it likely to disappear?
Never heard of it
Do flocks of vultures appear every time you park trying to liberate stuff from your luggage?
No
Can you visit a shop without leaving an armed guard by the bike?
Are you serious?
Other than unofficial muggings by traffic police, are muggings a real hazard?
I've only heard of one mugging (at gunpoint) in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. Not a very nice place. Foreigners have also been attacked in Osh, Kyrgyztan on occasion.
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Theft is generally not an issue in Central Asia, but in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia it's not unheard-of for things to disappear if they are left on an unguarded bike.
But beyond not inviting opportunistic theft, I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Some places I would be a little more cautious than others in Central Asia.
-Atyrau, Aktau in western Kazakhstan
-Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia
-Anywhere in Kyrgyzstan
But still, compared to Europe, theft is almost negligible. Don't worry about it too much.
EO
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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.
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