I have been considering all of your comments, as well as another traveler who suggested that I might not want to go back to Myanmar–that it’s such a special place the first time I might not enjoy it as much on second glance. And seeing another country (Mongolia) might be nice. It would be easiest to see Mongolia and then take a train to Chengdu, where I can arrange the special travel permit and flight I need to get into Tibet. I have been to Chengdu before and have a feel for how it all works.
On the other hand, unless I make a trip of the Trans-Siberian Railway sometime in the future, when will I see Eastern Russia? And the idea of entering China from Central Asia and traveling from Kashgar overland through the old Silk Road to Golmund and on to Tibet is fascinating. I’m sure it will be somewhat boring and lonely, but in the end I think it would be a real accomplishment.
Just to see what is possible, I have looked at flights to Vladstock, Russia (or VVO, as I’ve come to know it from it’s airport code) and they’re quite expensive–over $1,000 one way. However, I could fly to South Korea for around $500-600 and take a ferry to Russia. The ferry company has a website but it’s all in Korean. However, they were nice enough to respond to my email in English and told me that a one-way ticket to Vladstock is about $170 ($190 if I want a bed!). That beats the extra $600 a flight would cost.
Last night I had a dream that my sister and I were taking a train to China and we had to unexpectedly change trains in Turkmenistan. Surprisingly, the signs at the train station were in English which helped a lot. My sister’s an accountant so I was able to sit back and let her exchange money to buy our onward tickets while I explored. I’m not sure if this dream means I should or shouldn’t go to Central Asia. As you can see from the comments on my last post, my sister really wants me to go to Brazil so she can come along–there’s no way she will ever be traversing Turkmenistan. Although I appreciate both her and my mom’s advice, I do realize it’s heavily biased in favor of a) going to South America and b) keeping me away from any country ending in “stan”.
3 responses to “Dreaming of Turkmenistan”
honestly, i dont think vladivostok is anytihng special. i’d give it a miss. also… russia can be a bit of a difficult countyr to travel in since the people can be extremely unfriendly.
If you go to Central Asia, learn some basic Russian and the Cyrillic alphabet. I just returned from Kyrgyzstan and all the street signs were in Kyrgyz or Russian cyrillic. I speak and read Russian, so I had no problems, but if you don’t, it will be very hard for you to get around there.
Huh,
Interesting dream I must say. After consulting my dream dictionary, this is what I have come up with:
Train: Depends obviously on the context, however this could refer to developing one’s personality, striving for success and being sociable. Also, fleeing from the present situation.
Sister: (See illness or dependency) the feminine side of the dreamer, the emotional side.
Hope that helps!