Current TV: Chinatown, Africa

What are the 1.5 million Chinese in Africa up to? What is the meaning of China's deepening involvement on the African continent?

Current TV's Maria van Zeller provides some clues to the immediate as well as the complex and long-term ramifications of the spread of the Chinese diaspora, industry, and state in Africa.

Are the Chinese to fulfill Thomas Barnett's so-called "SysAdmin" role, or will the Chinese economically dominate the continent as they have throughout other parts of the developing world, incurring resentment of neo-colonials as in places such as Malaysia and Indonesia? Are the "SysAdmin" and neo-colonial one and the same, or is there some measure of mutual exclusion?

There are far more questions than answers, but this piece provides a few clues.

In "Chinatown, Africa", Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Angola to investigate China's rapidly growing presence in Africa. While many welcome China's investment, others see reason for concern. Chinatown, Africa is revealing look at a growing superpower's adventures abroad.

An Exercise In Soft Power: What The Beijing Olympics Really Mean To China

Within China, images of the coming 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing have been absolutely pervasive for several years. Since 2004, when a 14-meter countdown-clock was planted in Tian'anmen Square to date, the presence, image and promotion of the Beijing Games has grown through every part of Chinese public life. In Shanghai, replicas of the Olympic torch serve as lamp-posts lining major boulevards, the five bobble headed "friendlies" greet you on virtually every spare public placard, a plethora of commemorative items are sold in gift shops, sponsorships have been sold for every conceivable product, and events are staged to lardmark even seemingly insignificant occasions.

To the average Chinese citizen, the Olympics has been billed as far more than sport, but is recognized as China's so-called "national coming-out party" and viewed as an immensely important event, signifying China's rise, prestige in the world, and perhaps a means of shedding the national sense of "humiliation" that is common in Chinese public discourse and education. In economic terms, the cost of the 17-day event has been frequently estimated around US$40 billion, which probably does not account for the disruptions in economic activity (temporarily shutting-down factories, power plants, limiting traffic to improve air quality, air-quality monitoring, etc.) or the elaborate and occassionally comical security efforts to ensure the games are secure from "anti-China" elements. No chances are being taken and no expense is being spared to ensure the success of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.

This why I was recently baffled by the second paragraph of April Rabkin's otherwise righteous New York Times editorial piece China's Inside Game wherein she claims,

"What the (International Olympic Committee) and the rest of the world don’t realize is how little China cares what they think. Here in Beijing, the Olympic Games are primarily for domestic consumption, justifying the government’s new global power to its own people."

and then concludes the article in somewhat contradictory terms by reiterating Beijing's claim to the largest-ever viewing audience in language that suggests that international opinion is part of the the so-called "mandate of heaven."

"This August a few world leaders may boycott the opening ceremony. But the Games will go forward and be televised to what China will most likely declare is the largest worldwide audience ever. The Chinese government will have pulled off a modern Olympics — as close to a mandate from heaven as could be imagined by any dynasty of any era."

As an aside — in regard to the size of the audience, I suspect that Beijing's estimate is quite correct as more people have (Chinese-made) televisions, satellite and internet connections than ever before, and with about 20% of the world's eyeballs — heavily primed ones at that — on their turf, one wonders how many Chinese TV channels will be dedicated to the Olympics. Given that all channels were allocated to coverage of the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province, presumably a good number of the 40 or so standard television channels will carry the games.

While the Chinese audience has been preparing for the games for years, the rest of the world will also be watching with great interest, and the Chinese government and its sophisticated propagandists are keenly aware of this. In fact, Beijing estimates that the games will have about 4 billion viewers worldwide, the broadcast rights to which were sold for around US$1.7 billion. Additionally, foreign attendance in the various cities with Olympic venues is large enough that the Chinese government broadcasting public service messages on proper proper etiquette (which is a serious problem in China) and verse taxi drivers and other public service personel in basic spoken English.

The truth is that China does care a great deal about what impressions foreigners gain from the Olympics, and it is eager to ensure that they receive the proper messages. This point of view was positively asserted in an interview with Susan Shirk (author of the recently acclaimed book China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise) at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:

"You know, China wants to believe that it can rise peacefully, China's leaders want to believe they can rise peacefully, without provoking a conflict with the United States. But if, every time they do something they feel that they are the target of criticism, it breeds all sorts of suspicions that the United States, and Americans, will never accept China as a legitimate player in the world. Let us remember, the United States Congress had votes to deny the Olympics to China when it was competing for the 1994 Olympics because of its human rights record, and it did not get those Olympics. So getting the nod to host the 2008 Olympics was huge for China as a kind of respect and legitimacy. You know, China is more concerned about its international reputation than any country I can think of in the world, because of this kind of insecurity." (emphasis added)

So in August, with roughly 4 billion viewers tuning their sets to the games, the images and stories that are broadcast are very much part of Beijing's calculus in creating a successful games. For as it stands, outsiders still know very little of China, and without first-hand experience, one's preconceived notions are inevitably way-off, as anyone who has spent time there will tell you.

Thus, in China, under of government so deeply concerned with image, information, and ultimately mind-control, the large foreign audience presents a highly impressionable target, which it will attempt to bedazzle with it's futuristic venues, material wealth, technical prowess, organizational competence, and human performance. These narratives will be artfully presented through the media to project the power of Chinese state, the richness of Chinese culture, and the greatness of its people, ideas which Beijing hopes will take root in the minds of the viewership. In effect, it is to be the most broad-based propaganda effort in world history, and more directly, an attempt to plant the "official version of China" into as many minds as possible. It is, in a nutshell, a great psychological power play, an exercise in "soft power."

Of course, this is not to deny the realities of the progress that has taken place in China since its opening to the world about 30 years ago. However, it does expose the extraordinary disingenuousness of China's insistence that the game not be politicized. Although it is technically a sporting competition, the Olympics is also a contest among nations, which is inherently political. What events other than direct armed conflict could inspire greater mass nationalism than head-to-head competition between national teams? Of course, China is very much aware of this, and is making every effort to take advantage of the opportunity, which it hopes will translate into greater power and prestige for it's government, corporations, and citizens, while it tries to keep a lid on any elements that undermine this ambition. The public presentation of these 17-days are in fact the great drama of the 2008 Summer Olympics: the competing agendas of the official version, versus attempts by various disaffected, dispossessed and oppressed groups to disrupt the games and claim attention, and the reality of China, which lies somewhere in between.

Through the course of the Olympic torch-relay, the public display has been something of a PR disaster for China, as protest groups were effective in gaining attention or at least tarnishing China's image, as the recent Pew Global Attitudes Project reveals:

"Overall the current survey, which was conducted at a time when China was coming under harsh criticism for its crackdown on political dissent in Tibet, once again finds favorable ratings of China slipping in many countries. Positive views fell significantly in nine of 21 countries in which polls were taken in 2007, as well as in the current survey. Opinions of China tumbled the most in France (47% to 28%) and in Japan (29% to 14%). Favorable ratings of China are highest in Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania and Russia"

Inevitably, the unfolding those 17-days in August will be historic. Some businesses will reap a windfall from the games, as many have already in the build-up to the events. During the games, China will have the world's attention and an unprecedented opportunity to shine, and in all likelihood, after years of intensive development, China's teams will win the overall medal count. However, the way in which the Beijing Olympics is presented to world and the public perceptions and attitudes that it creates will determine the longer-term ramifications for China, and therein lie the real stakes.

From Urumqi

I am currently in Urumqi, the colorless capital of Xinjiang Province in China's far west. As a result of a massive government directed migration of Han Chinese to Xinjiang, over the years Urumqi has become an ethnic Han city and a new city at that, the majority of which appears to be about 10 years old. While there is a bazaar where a lot of unique items from the region are available for sale -- knives, carpets, furs, hats, musical instruments, textiles, etc. -- it is situated a large modern building which has an escalator that descends to a Carrefour in the basement. Additionally, pictured below is the bazaar's KFC above which Colonel Sander's stoic countenance hangs, as it has for thousands of years when boneless spicy chicken wings ("It's no bones, all flavor.") were first introduced to China via the ancient Silk Road. Also pictured flying above the Colonel are the flags of Turkmenistan, Turkey, China, France, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan.

While the majority of the city is Han Chinese, there are still a significant number of Uighur minority people as well as a mix of other Central Asian ethnicities, which gives the city some flavor. Relations with the Uighur minority is China's most problematic source of ethnic friction, there remains an independence movement in exile and in recent years, there have been both government atrocities and terrorist incidents. However, any open dissension is suppressed (as is the practice of the traditional Sufi Islam), and thus, the most public advocates of this minority are located abroad in the United States, Germany, and in China's central Asian neighbors. However, after 9/11, the US classified one Uighur armed resistance group as a terrorist organization, and thus, like other unrelated organizations in places like Chechnya, the government has been given a blank check to ruthlessly crack down on any opposition.

As one might expect, the ethnicities are not very well integrated and there are significant tensions, as the culture language and control of the region has only been imposed in recent decades. In fact, China claims to have ruled this area for up to 2,000 years, which is a gross distortion of reality, if only because the nature of its domain has changed so severely over the past 50 years. As my taxi was approaching the the bazaar, I struck up a conversation with my taxi driver. Noticing her rather northeastern sounding Chinese, I asked where she was from.

"I am from Xinjiang," she answered assertively.
"Really? Have you always lived in Xinjiang?"
"Yes, I am fourth generation Xinjiangnese."
"Is this were the Uighur people live?"
"Yes, this is the Uighur minority neighborhood."
"Is it safe here?"
"There are some thieves, so you have to be careful. We don't like them. We like Han Chinese people."
"Why don't you like them?"
"They can't speak proper Chinese so their difficult to understand.
"Do you think they are smart people?"
"There are some smart people, but too many are stupid."

Of course, like many other ethnic and territorial conflicts of the post-Cold War world, the politics of Xinjiang are largely driven by the importance of its natural resources. In this, China's largest province, periodically new substantial discoveries of oil and gas have been announced, and as of 2004, a pipeline was completed to pump gas from the Tarim Basin to Shanghai, to help fuel China's boom. Additionally, great quantities of natural resources from Central Asia currently pass or are planned to pass through Xinjiang, as China competes with other players for resources and influence in the region.

Here in economically growing and culturally graying Urumqi, the proximately nihilistic mantra of 21^st century development is loud and clear: stability and growth über alles. Echoing such prominent thinkers such as Thomas Barnett, the overreaching objective of development is to make the world a safe and stable place for capitalist corporate growth, and perhaps once these have been achieved, some hope, the idealistic, enlightened higher tiers of social order will emerge. Today, were he alive to visit Urumqi's bazaar, I am sure that Colonel Sanders would lead the march.

Image of Xinjiang Province from Wikimedia Commons.

Echos of Chairman Mao

As historical figures go, Chairman Mao Zedong hasn't accrued much affection in the West, where he tends to fall into the same category of 20th century despots such as Stalin and Hitler. Of course, in China, it's a completely different story, and his face is enshrined on all money bills and his portrait famously hangs at the entrance of the Forbidden City (the imperial seat of the Ming and Qing dynasties which broke ground in 1402).

Recently, I was thumbing through Quotations from Chairman Mao, and while it's not a great philosophical work by any measure, it was certainly one of the most remarkable and influential books of the 20th century, if only in China where it was used as tool of mass indoctrination. Even today, at the entrance of the CCP headquarters at Zhongnanhai, directly adjacent to the Forbidden City, there is a massive banner that reads "long live the invincible Mao Zedong thought."

While the book contains a good measure of vainglorious sophistry, the man who Noam Chomsky has called the "greatest tyrant that ever lived" does have something interesting to say. Below, I have excerpted two quotations and will allow you to draw your own parallels.

U.S. imperialism invaded China' s territory of Taiwan and has occupied it for the past nine years. A short while ago it sent its armed forces to invade and occupy Lebanon. The United States has set up hundreds of military bases in many countries all over the world. China' s territory of Taiwan, Lebanon and all military bases of the United States on foreign soil are so many nooses round the neck of U. S. imperialism. The nooses have been fashioned by the Americans themselves and by nobody else, and it is they themselves who have put these nooses round their own necks, handing the ends of the ropes to the Chinese people, the peoples of the Arab countries and all the peoples of the world who love peace and oppose aggression. The longer the U.S. aggressors remain in those places, the tighter the nooses round their necks will become.

Speech at the Supreme State Conference
September, 1958

Imperialism will not last long because it always does evil things. It persists in grooming and supporting reactionaries in all countries who are against the people, it has forcibly seized many colonies and semi-colonies and many military bases, and it threatens the peace with atomic war. Thus, forced by imperialism to do so, more than 90 per cent of the people of the world are rising or will rise up in struggle against it . Yet im­perialism is still alive, still running amuck in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the West imperialism is still oppressing the peo­ple at home. This situation must change. It is the task of the people of the whole world to put an end to the aggression and oppres­sion perpetrated by imperialism, and chiefly by U.S. imperialism.

Interview with a Hsinhua News Agency
September 29, 1958

Adventureless Tourism

Having probed a bit of the history of late-19th and early-20th century Western exploration of Asia, I am somewhat befuddled by the pretenses of "adventure" with which so many tourists arrive. The average tourist arrives looking...well, like a tourist, complete with a backpack, a full wardrobe of Columbia Gore-Tex clothing, hiking boots, a fedora, bullwhip, defensive sidearm, woman-in-distress, and preparations such that they should survive any eventuality for up to 20 minutes without a television and microwave oven. I know it sounds presumptuous, but it really is amusing when tourists make themselves highly obvious in their effort to prepare for the unfamiliar. Firstly, to a greater or lesser extent, tourists always appear to be out of place because as a matter of definition, they are out of place persons. Secondly, perhaps in ignorance and fear of the foreboding and unknown wilderness, tourists tend to over-prepare in ways that make them appear ridiculous. From camera-toting groups of bill-capped foreign tourists with well-secured waist packs, hiding beneath six-layers of sunblock, shades and an interpreter/tour guide at Disney World to the American college student who wants to play Indiana Jones for the summer in search of Dutch girls and the Lost World from the bunkbed of his youth hostel dormitory, mobile phone and iPod in hand (Indy likes U2, okay?!?!), the tourist has a way of making an auto-induced spectacle which may be acceptable in some cases or attract murderous thieves and bandits in others but which always makes him look like a tosser.

Of course, the reality of travel is always something quite different from what we anticipate, try as we might beforehand, and perhaps, therein is its appeal to some. Likewise, the reality of travel, its particular requirements, challenges, and threats are also something altogether separate from how individual travelers actually experience it, which for most intents and purposes is the most important thing. The truth of this is overwhelmingly obvious when you take for example Disney World, which is quite literally the Mecca of tourist locations (albeit franchised). While the actual physical experience of Disney World is basically droll and some of its locations are perhaps the height of suburban banality (e.g. Orlando, FL), it is the fantasy of being amongst the Pirates of the Caribbean or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or in outer space or inside of a volcano that consistently floods such parks with millions of tourists from all over the world every year.

So it seems that the same principle holds for most "adventure tourism," and what little adventure there is, for the average tourist, is mostly imagined. All of the potential needs are provided for, dangers anticipated and avoided, routes, navigation, and logistics are systematized, transportation, shelter and fuel are prepared, and most importantly, there is no objective and the course is always the same: a circle. There is little chance to employ the sort of faculties or confront the hardships that involve truly challenging environments such as physical and emotional endurance, ingenuity, exposure to extreme temperatures, lack of food or water, navigation and surveying skills, leadership, negotion, and command and control, creation of shelters, improvising solutions, keeping pack animals, sickness and medical care, etc. These were the sorts of challenges that faced real adventurers, at the time when there was a need for such, and it was undertaken by only the most expert and hardy of individuals and usually funded by governments and institutions.

Again citing Peter Hopkirk's Foreign Devils On The Silk Road, one episode stands out in particular -- when the great Swedish explorer, Sven Hedin made his first crossing of the Taklamakan Desert in what is now China's Xinjiang Province. Protected in the North by the Gobi Desert, to the West by the Tianshan Mountains, by the Pamirs in the Southwest and the Himalayas in the South, the Takalmakan is one of the most remote and menacing deserts in the world not only for its lack of water, difficult terrain, then-lack of reliable maps, and terrific stand storms, but also the time of Hedin's crossing, it was believed by many of the local tribemen to be haunted.

Although nearly forgotten as a consequence of his support of the German cause in successive World Wars, Hedin's feats of toughness, leadership, courage, and intellect were legendary in his time, and yet, he nearly died on his first crossing of the Taklamakan as remarkably recounted in this excerpt.

Hedin, as Younghusband had pointed out, was highly qualified for his role as a scientific explorer. When only twenty-one, after youthful journeys through Persia and Russian Central Asia, he had returned to Sweden determined to acquire the skills he felt he needed for what he saw as his life's work. He enrolled at the University of Stockholm where for two years he studied geology, physics and zoology. After graduating he enrolled at Berlin University, studying physical geography under the great Baron von Richthofen - himself a celebrated Asiatic explorer - as well as historical geography and palaeontology under other leading professors. He broke off his studies in 1890 to make his first journey to Kashgar, where he met Younghusband, returning for a further year's tuition under von Richthofen.

Then followed his nightmarish crossing of the Pamir and three expeditions across Chinese Central Asia. The first, in February 1895, was to prove to those who followed him - notably Sir Aurel Stein - that travel into the interior of the Taklamakan desert, and not merely around it, was possible, albeit extremely dangerous. His subsequent two Taklamakan expeditions, in December 1895 and September 1899, were to yield discoveries of enormous archaeological importance.

Like all visitors to the region, Hedin had listened to endless tales of lost cities, strewn with ancient treasures, lying deep in the Taklamakan. Many men, it was said, had ventured in search of them, hoping to make their fortunes. The few who had returned to tell the story spoke fearfully of how the guarding spirits had foiled them in their attempts to remove the treasure. One man from Khotan, Hedin was told, was luckier. He had fallen into debt and went into the desert hoping to die. Instead he had stumbled on a hoard of gold and silver and was now a rich man.

Hedin was fascinated by these legends, and was convinced that behind them must lie some grain of truth. He determined, in the course of his more serious task of mapping and exploring this terra incognita, to find one such city. To him the call of this ocean of sand was irresistible. 'Over there, on the verge of the horizon, were the noble, rounded forms of sand-dunes which I never grew tired of watching,' he wrote. 'Beyond them, amid the grave-like silence, stretched the unknown ... the land that I was going to be the first to tread.' Read on...

I Like Ulaanbaatar In July

While it may have the coldest average temperature of all of the world's capital cities (-1.3°C), Ulaanbaatar seems to be having a very pleasant July. Today is 21°C and sunny with low humidity, which is perfect for hiking around the mountains that surround the city, which I climbed for about 5 hours on Sunday. Unaware of how exhausted I was, when I returned to the guesthouse around 6 pm, I fell asleep until I awoke at 2 am, which gave me plenty of time to catch-up on my reading while the other residents slept.

According to Wikipedia, "Ulan Bator is located at about 1350 meters (4430 feet) above sea level, slightly east of the center of Mongolia on the Tuul River, a subtributary of the Selenge, in a valley at the foot of the mountain Bogd Khan Uul...After Mongolia first proclaimed its independence, upon the collapse of the Manchu Empire in 1911, the city [(then known as Ikh Khüree)] became the capital of the new Mongolian People's Republic in 1924 under its new name Ulaanbaatar." Today, the city itself is a relatively characterless post-Soviet strip of asphalt (complete with a "State Department Store") with rows of low-rise buildings throughout and some newer construction of hotels downtown and upscale housing developments at the city's edge. The streets flood when it rains, the roads become dirt trails just outside of the city, and there are frequent power blackouts (at least three in the last week). Manholes also present a hazard, as their covers are often missing or removed for maintenance, and I am told that it is even unsafe to step on a covered manhole as you may fall through. The food is fine by my standards (my fellow traveler's complaints notwithstanding) and very cheap, and I've taken to frequenting the popular National Fast Food Restaurant. "Fast" is a bit of a misnomer, but it serves very large portions and their Hungarian Goulash and Khuushuur are a cheap-thrill.

It seems that Mongolia, as a former Soviet puppet-state, still bears a burdensome industrial aesthetic that causes me to recall the scene in Borat, where Borat describes his competitive relationship with his neighbor: I get a window from a glass, he must get a window from a glass. I get a step, he must get a step. I get a clock-radio, he cannot afford. Great success! For example, as we rode in a guided tour bus en route to the horse races outside the city, I was amused by the industrial banality of the city's notables, such as power plants, sewers, markets, warehouse, "the first tall building," and a covered footbridge, which locals refer to as the "Titanic." Constructed around the same time the James Cameron's movie reached Mongolia, the footbridge is so-named because according to our guide, many of Ulanbaataar's young lovers use it as a platform for fantasy role-playing as Jack and Rose aboard the RMS Titanic.

It seems that the most attractive asset of Mongolia is its sparsely populated back-country, which as the least densely populated country in the world (1.7 per km²), represents most of the territory. There are great opportunities for camping, trekking, fishing, etc., and many companies offer tours of the Gobi Desert and Mongolia's far west, where I am told the ancient shamanistic religions are still practiced as well as hunting with eagles. Unfortunately, I won't have time for either on this trip, which is really more of an ill-equipped and unplanned detour. Additionally, it seems to be the conventional wisdom that if the country has any hope of improving in the near future, it will come through the exploitation of its vast natural resources, which include copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold.

There is an especially large Korean influence here, and through my many encounters with South Koreans, I have been told that there are strong historical and ethnic links between the two peoples, and at birth both Mongolian and Korean children bear a unique blue-black birthmarks on their posteriors, which is cited as evidence of the kinship between the two nations. Mongolia is also notably friendly to Americans, who can enter for up to 90 days without a visa and can obtain visas lasting up to 10 years. Conversely, Mongolians demonstrate very strong anti-Chinese sentiments, and at the mere mention of China, locals will express their dislike for their giant neighbor with the same consistency and virulence with which Chinese denounce Japanese. Based-upon what I have been told, Mongolians feel looked down upon by the Chinese, and that given the chance, the Chinese would "retake" Mongolia at anytime.

The people generally look like Chinese, but tend to be somewhat larger, and in my experience and according to the stern warnings posted on the door of the guesthouse, there is a tendency for violence, which I have witnessed on four occasions in my short time there. Mongolians also tend to be a bit more natural and untamed -- less stiff than their Chinese counterparts, and women's fashion tends tends to show a bit more skin and middrifts are omnipresent. For better or worse, Mongolians like hard rock and rap music, and many youths are something like wannabe gangsters in the middle of nowhere. Motorcycle gangs seem to be a thing in Ulaanbaatar and occassionally, you can hear them rumbling through the streets or watch as they blaze past. Basketball is also popular.

Despite their geographic closeness and shared history, the Mongolian language bears little apparent resemblance to Chinese, and I have been told that it is more closely linked to Japanese. Interestingly, due to the Soviet influence the Russian Cyrillic alphabet is still used in lieu of the traditional Mongolian script, although during the 1980's there was a failed attempt to reintroduce the traditional writing in the schools. Today, traditional script is largely used for decorative purposes, which stands in contrast to Inner Mongolia (the chunk of Mongolia proper that China retains), where the road signs are written in both Chinese and Mongolian, although with compulsory Mandarin language in schools, the real utility of such signs is dubious.

Border Crossings III: China-Mongolia at Erlian-Zamin Uud

Well, after a good deal of time spent tracing borders that I have yet to cross, I have physically crossed one. On an unplanned trip from Beijing, I entered Mongolia at Zamin Uud via the Chinese border town of Erlian. I departed from Beijing on Sunday night at 6 pm aboard a sleeper bus, which arrived in Erlian at about 4:30 am. At 8 am, I left Erlian for the border in a severely cramped, Soviet-era jeep with 4 other passengers plus our driver. The jeep was extraordinarily uncomfortable without any notable interior padding (just steel) and every door only opened from one side. I sat in the front seat, which was unstable, forcing me to lean forward to avoid crushing the passengers behind me, and adding to the discomfort was another passenger's large bag, which I had to keep on my lap, so overloaded was the jeep. Later I discovered the bag was filled with Chinese shoes destined for resale in Mongolia. The jeep, like many of the older cars here, also offered the option of starting by hand-cranking the engine through a keyway beneath the grill.

We passed through Chinese and Mongolian customs around 11:30 am, the former being much more difficult in exiting than entry to the latter (American citizens do not need a visa to visit Mongolia as a tourist for up to 90 days). Our Mongolian driver, who evidently passes this border daily, seemed to have a laugh playing cat-and-mouse with the Chinese border guards, as he twice attempted to carry all five passengers out of China simultaneously, and each time he was stopped, told to park and one passenger was forced to exit the vehicle. Evidently, four passengers is the limit for a single crossing.

We arrived a the train station around 12 pm, and then waited until nearly 6 pm to board the cramped also Soviet-era hard sleeper. I passed the time tolerating an extraordinarily talkative Frenchman and nodding-off in my chair. By the time we arrived all of the sleeper bunks were sold, and I was forced to pay 10,200 tugriks (about USD8) for two seats, which ultimately ended-up being an elevated 2/3-length sleeper and not exactly two seats as I imagined. After a harsh night choked by desert sand wafting in through the opened windows, about 40 hours of continuous travel, people bumping me as I slept, and Mongolians getting loud and physical, we wearily arrived at 10 am on Tuesday in Ulaanbaatar.

Books: Foreign Devils On The Silk Road

As part of my research, I've begun reading Peter Hopkirk's 1980 history of early foreign expeditions into Chinese Turkestan (modern-day Xinjiang Province). Really, given the noise, bustle, and distractions of daily life and the imminent push-pull of my routine, it's difficult to find any reading that doesn't seem academic. However, this book has mesmerized me over the past 24 hours, with its tales of adventure and peril along the Silk Road circa 1900 and portrayal of the motivations, challenges, successes and failures of early outside explorers of this wild country. Notably, the book describes the harsh cruelty of the Taklamakan Desert, which in Turki, according to Hopkirk, means roughly, "go in and you won't come back;" the Silk Road as a conduit of Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity; the influence of Greek culture on Buddhist art; the controversial removal of relics from Chinese territory; the murderous bandits and severity of the mountainous and desert routes; and the relatively limited range of most of its traders, few of whom actually traversed the enire distance from Rome to Xi'an.

Here is an excerpt that is fairly representative, and which captures some of the Indiana Jones, professor-et-action-hero flavor of the book.

The first of these early discoveries (and the most important as it turned out) was made inadvertently in 1889 by a party of native treasure-hunters who decided to tunnel their way into a mysterious, dome-like tower near Kucha, south of the T'ien Shan on the northern arm of the old Silk Road. For it was believed locally that the ruined building contained treasure.

Once inside the tower (probably an old Buddhist stupa, or tomb) the intruders found themselves in a large room in the centre of which were heaped quantities of old papers. As their eyes became accustomed to the dark they also found themselves gazing on the mummified corpses of several animals, including a cow, propped up as though on guard. When touched these crumbled to dust. Written on one wall in characters they had never seen before was a mysterious inscription. Although disappointed at not finding the treasure they had hoped for, they carried the papers to the house of the local Qazi, or Moslem judge, in a basket. There, two days later, they were examined by a Haji (one who has been to Mecca) named Ghulam Qadir. Despite not being able to read a word of any of them, he decided to purchase several.

At the same time, combing the region for the murderer of a young Scottish traveller was an Indian army intelligence officer, Lieutenant (later Major-General Sir Hamilton) Bower. The dead man was Andrew Dalgleish, who had already made a name for himself as a Central Asian explorer. For no apparent reason he had been treacherously shot and then hacked to death on a lonely pass by a huge Afghan called Daud Mohammed from Yarkand. Lieutenant Bower (who died only in 1940) happened to be in the region at the time, apparently conducting a clandestine survey under cover of a shooting expedition. Receiving orders from the Indian Government to track down the killer and bring him to justice, Bower set about organising a private intelligence service with tentacles reaching into Afghanistan, China and Russia. (Eventually two of his agents tracked down Daud Mohammed in Samarkand, coming face to face with him in the bazaar.) Meanwhile Bower himself had taken up the murder trail along the old Silk Road. In pursuit of his quarry he eventually reached the oasis of Kucha, which lies to the south of the T'ien Shan. There he heard of the manuscripts in the possession of Haji Ghulam Qadir. One of these, consisting of fifty-one birch-bark leaves, he bought and dispatched to Calcutta to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. At first the pages were judged to be unintelligible. However, they were finally deciphered by an Anglo-German orientalist, Dr Augustus Rudolf Hoernle. Consisting of seven distinct but incomplete texts, and written in Sanskrit using the Brahmi alphabet, the manuscript dealt largely with medicine and necromancy. Dating from around the fifth century, and probably written by Indian Buddhist monks, it proved to be one of the oldest written works to survive anywhere, older than anything that had come to light in India. It was only because of the extreme dryness of the Taklamakan region, whose climate can be likened to that of Egypt, that it had survived.

Border Crossings II: China-Kazakhstan

According to "China and Afghan Opiates," Jacob Townsend's 2005 paper for the Silk Road Studies Program at for the Central Asia-Caucus Institute, there are seven border crossings between China and Kazakhstan, and here, I have detailed the four major operational crossing points: Maykapchigay, Tacheng-Bahkty, Alataw (or Druzhba, Russian for "friendship"), and Khorgos. These, as well as numerous other border crossings between China and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan still follow the paths first trodden by traders along the Silk Road. For further reading on the Silk Road, the University of Washington maintains an excellent website, the Silk Road Seattle which includes numerous primary texts from past travelers among other records. Another great resource is the Silk Road Foundation ,which offers additional information on the culture, art, and history of the peoples along Silk Road.

A map of the ancient Silk Road:

Border Crossings from China to Kazakhstan

Each of the border crossings highlighted in this picture is detailed below via Google Earth, starting with the northernmost crossing and ending with the southernmost.

The Maykapchigay (Jeminay) Pass

Townsend: Heavy use by local shuttle traders. Little large-scale commercial freight.

The Tacheng-Bahkty Pass (near Laofengkou)

Townsend: Tacheng on the Chinese side. Open to nationals of any country. The Chinese government is in the process of upgrading Tacheng airport, which already operates commercial flights.


The Alataw Pass (Allah, Dzungarian, Junggar Men, Dostyk, Druzhba)

Evidently, this is the most commercially important pass between China and Kazakhstan. From Sina Business:

A Chinese locomotive passes a Kazak tank car at Alataw Pass railway station on the China-Kazakhstan border, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 10, 2006. As a major land port in west China, Alataw Pass has been playing an important role in the trade between China, Kazakhstan and other SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) member states. The volume of goods transported at the land port set a historical record of over 11 million tons in 2005. Moreover, a 1,000-km oil pipeline, connecting Kazakhstan's Atasu and Alataw Pass, has been carrying oil to China since last December.

The Chinese Alataw Pass Trainstation

From the Government of Xinjiang Autonomous Region:

In 2006, the total exported steel through Alataw Pass reached 168,800 tons, increased by 4.28 times as compared with that of the same period of 2005. The exported steel value of the foreign trade is 82.42 mln USD, 4.3 times more than that of 2005, creating a new record high.

The Khorgos Pass

Townsend: The most heavily used road link between Kazakhstan and China. Open to nationals of any country; open year-round. If you zoom in, it is interesting to note how much more developed is the Chinese side than the Kazakh, which is consistently the case at all four crossings.

Border Crossings I: China-Kyrgyzstan

Passing between China's Xinjiang Province and Kyrgyzstan overland is not merely complicated by the towering Tian Shan Mountains, but also by varying degrees of bureaucratic impediment. Currently, there are two sanctioned border crossings between China and Kyrgyzstan: the Torugart Pass into Naryn Oblast (province) and the Irkeshtum Pass into Osh Oblast, both of which can be aproached by road from Kashgar. However, each of these passes is restricted due to the Cold War-era bureaucracy, which persists today for the benefit of travel agencies. In order to cross the Torugart Pass, special permission must be obtained by foreign nationals (i.e. all but Chinese and Kyrgyz) who wish to cross, and while the Irkeshtam Pass is less restricted and requires only valid Chinese and Kyrgyz visas, it is a sensitive border region and thus, it is important to make adequate preparations before approaching it.

The Torugart Pass

Torugart Pass 3752m, one of two border crossing between Kyrgyzstan and China. The pass lies 400km south of Bishkek and 160km north of Kashgar.

From Wikipedia:

The Torugart Pass is a pass in the Tian Shan mountain range in Central Asia. Elevation: 3,752 m (12,310 ft). The pass is the main border crossing between the People's Republic of China (Xinjiang province) and Kyrgyzstan. The nearest large Chinese city is Kashgar, the nearest Kyrgyz city is Naryn. The road on the Kyrgyz side, from Torugart to Naryn and then to Balykshy and Bishkek, is narrow and in winter often impassable due to heavy snow and frequent avalanches, so that transport and trade between Kyrgyzstan and China are difficult and costly. The People's Republic of China is now considering to build a railway linking Kyrgyzstan to Kashgar.

Crossing the Torugart Pass complicated by the fact that it is classified as a "second grade" crossing, and therefore, it is techinically closed to all but Chinese and Kyrgyz and travelers of other nationalities must obtain special permission and follow strict procedures to cross it.

In addition to the necessary travel documents, travelers must be "relayed" between offically licensed travel agencies at the border. That is, a traveler planning to cross the border in either direction, must be accompanied to the border by a licensed travel agent, and another licensed travel agent must await the traveler on the other side of the pass.

As for documentation, in order to cross the border from Kyrgzstan to China, travelers need to apply to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Urumqi to obtain permission, which should be requested at least two weeks in advance. Conversely, traveling from China to Kyrgyzstan is less restricted, and one only need the company of a licensed driver/guide and valid Kyrgyz and Chinese visas. However, once in Kyrgyzstan, while the you are allowed to travel the road between the outer checkpost and the Customs and Immigration post, a "Border Zone Permit" is required if you wish to travel to other areas (off the main road) within 50 km of the border. Stantours has more on the requirements for crossing the Togurat Pass.

Although the border is technically opened all year, it is frequently closed for any number of reasons, which, according to Advantour (2003), can include:

Every Saturday and Sunday and on public holidays:

• Jan 1, 7; Feb 2
• Mar 8, 21
• May 1, 4, 5, 9 (it is best to avoid the first 10 days of May altogether)
• Aug 1, 31, Oct 1, 2 (but is usually closes for the first 10 days of October)
• Nov 7 and the following moveable feasts – Chinese New Year; Kurman Ait, Orozo Ait (It is best to avoid days either side of holidays – and especially do, if the holiday falls on a weekend)

For bad weather:

• It can snow in any month of the year – in July 1999 and August 2000 the border closed for three days because a meter of snow fell and blocked the road
• Often in October and in twice in 2001 heavy rains washed away parts of the road on the Chinese side of the border.

You should be aware that, sometimes the border can be closed at very short notice for all sorts of reasons.

The Irkeshtam Pass



Look at the traffic at the border! The line on the left is coming from Kyrgyzstan, and the right is coming from China. If you pan right on the map, giant landscaped Chinese characters are visible, painted at the roadside and drawn atop the outline of China. They read something to the effect, "My country is in my heart." Or following the road in the southwest direction, you will find what is presumably a loading dock with warehouses, which are surrounded by a chaotic scattering of dozens of trucks.

The Irkeshtum Pass is located 238 km from Osh and 250km from Kashgar. While no special permits are required to enter, nor need travelers be "relayed" between travel agents. However, since, I do not plan on crossing at Irkeshtam at this time, here, I will detail it no further, and to ensure safe and easy passage, I recommend contacting a travel agent in Kashgar or Osh for more information. The Caravan Café in Kashgar offers a great deal of experience in traveling through this region, although when I visited, I was given one day-trip price quotation that was considerably more expensive than some of the agents in the Seman Hotel. As for Kyrgyzstan, I cannot speak from experience, but the Osh Guesthouse seems like a reasonable starting point.

Here is a bit more about the Irkeshtam Pass from Advantour:

Irkeshtam is approached from Osh, the second city of Kyrgyzstan, in the South of the country. The road travels south along the valley of the Taldyk and Gulcho river gorges to the village of Sary Tash (“Yellow Stone” in Kyrgyz), which sits on a cross roads. To the West lies the road to Dushanbe in Tajikistan through the Kyzyl-Suu valley; to the South lies the road over the Kyzyl Art pass into the Gorno Badakshan region of Tajikistan and Murgab; to the east heading into the mountains lies the road to Irkeshtam and the Chinese border. This stretch of road is infamous for road accidents. It is asphalt until you reach Sary Tash, and then becomes a stone road and although the scenery is spectacular – with snow capped peaks on one side and green mountain meadows on the other – travelling along the road is slow and can take a long time – especially if you encounter a broken down vehicle which clocks the road. On the Chinese side, the road down to Kashgar is better, but still difficult.

The Great Eurasian Visa Laundry List

In order of transit, the visa requirements and procedures for each country on my itinerary are as follows:

Note: the US State Department has a very useful website on Foreign Entry Requirements.

1. China

• Renew visa in Shanghai before leaving to ensure easy reentry

2. Kazakhstan

• Obtain visa in Shanghai

Procedures and Requirements:

According to the Lonely Planet Forums, it is possible to obtain a visa to Kazakhstan in Urumqi if you are taking the train to Almaty, and initially, that was my plan. However, it seems there actually has been a Kazakh Consulate in Shanghai sinced 2005. Additionally, according to the US State Department's Consular Information Sheet on Kazakhstan, "as of February 2004, an invitation is no longer required for single-entry business and tourist visas."

Consulate General of The Republic of Kazakhstan in Shanghai
Address: Room 1005 - 1006 Orient International Plaza
85 Loushanguan Road, Shanghai 200336, P.R.China
Tel: +86-21-62752838, 62753878, 62755483
Fax: +86-21-62757300
E-mail: office@kzconsulshanghai.org

Application receiving hours: Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Visa Issuing hours: Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Further reading: Take that Borat! Sayat Announces Tours to ‘Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan’

3. Kyrgyzstan

• Obtain visa in Urumqi

Procedures and Requirements:

According one traveler, the Consulate of Kyrgyzstan in Urumqi is actually located in a place that I have been before -- in the Central Asian Hotel.

Central Asian Hotel
Telephone:0991-5196666
Fax:0991-5196555

According to the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic in Washington, DC, the required documents for American tourists traveling less than 30 days are as follows:

1. Completed visa application form. Please type and provide answers to all questions.
2. One passport size color or black/white photo.
3. Passport original (not a photocopy).

The posted visa costs are quite high, but there is no reason to expect that the prices in Urumqi will be the same as those in Washington, DC.

3. Tajikistan

• Obtain in Tajikistan Embassy in Beijing, Almaty or Bishkek

Tajikistan Embassy to China
Tayuan d.4 k.1 flat 31
100600 Beijing, PR China
Tel. +86 (10) 65323039
+86 (10) 65322598
Fax +86 (10) 65323039
Ambassador Jamshed Khilolovich Karimov

Embassy of Tajikistan in Almaty, Kazakhstan
Al-Farabi Str, 96, Almaty
Tel/Fax: (7-3272) 93-51-65, 93-51-80.
Consulate: Tel/Fax: 54-28-69

Embassy of Tajikistan in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Bulvar Erkindik 31 (app.2)
720040 Bishkek
Tel: 996-312 227321

Procedures and Requirements:

Saving Turkmenistan, visas to Tajikistan are reputedly the most difficult in Central Asia. According to the Tajikistan Embassy in Washington, DC, a Tajik visa requires the following:

1. Two fully completed visa application forms
   
2. Two passport size photos
3. Valid passport (at least six months validity)
   
4. Copy of invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan (If the purpose is private)
5. Cover letter of request from your organization or travel agency. Embassy reserves the right to request for additional documents.
6. A money order or company check payable to the Embassy of Tajikistan for visa processing. Please, note that we do not accept cash or personal checks.
7. In case of applying by mail, applicants should enclose a completely-addressed stamped return envelope or prepaid waybill, bearing the account number and showing themselves as both shipper and recipient regardless of delivery address. Embassy does not pay for the mail.

Again, the fees are quite high (US$80 for a two week visa!), but that will probably vary if I receive the visa in China, Kazakhstan, or Kyrgyzstan.

4. Uzbekistan

• Obtain visa in Beijing, Almaty or Bishkek
  

Procedures and Requirements:

The Uzbekistan Embassy in Beijing is notably better than most of the other Stans insofar as it does make some effort to provide good information on its website; however, visa instructions and travel agency information is not yet available. Thusly, ccording to the Uzbekistan Embassy in Washington, DC, Americans must meet the following requirements to obtain a tourist visa to Uzbekistan.

1. A completed visa application form
2. Passport (not a photocopy)
3. One color passport photo
4. Visa Fee

For private visits an Invitation Letter, issued by the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan, is required.

Tourist Vouchers of the National Company "UZBEKTOURISM" or authorized travel agencies are required (except for Citizens of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland) for the issuance of tourist visas.

Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in China
11, San Li Tun, Bei Xiao Jie
Beijing, China 100600
Tel: 86-10 6532-6305, 86-10 6532-2551
Fax: 86-10 6532-6304

Other useful links:

Uzbekistan Airways (English available)
Uzbekistan Railways Company "Uzbekistan Temir Yollari" (Russian)
National Bank of Uzbekistan (English available)

Embassy of Uzbekistan in Kazakhstan
36, Baribaev Str., 480100, Almaty
Phone: (3272) - 61 02 35
Fax: (3272) - 61 83 16

Embassy of Uzbekistan in Kyrgyzstan
213, Tynstanova Str., Bishkek
Phone: (996312) - 66 20 65
Fax: (996312) - 66 44 03

5. Turkmenistan

• Preferably, obtain visa in Beijing before departure.
  

Procedures and Requirements:

I believe that I have already covered this thoroughly in a previous post, but just for the sake of convenience, here is an overview of Turkmenistan's visa requirements.

In order to obtain a visa, a tourist must provide his or her personal passport and personal information to a licensed travel agency in Turkmenistan, which provides a letter of invitation. Once you have received the travel agency's letter of invitation, in order to obtain a visa, the MFA requires the following from each traveler:

1. Two Completed Visa Applications
2. Request from the Embassy to which you will be applying
3. Valid passport and its copy (valid for at least six months)
4. Two passport size photos glued to the applications
5. Fee , payable on collection of visa
6. Approved Visa Support
7. Stamped, self-addressed envelope, if the embassy agreed to serve by post

Embassy of Turkmenistan in Beijing, China
Ambassador: H.E. Mr. Kurbanmukhammed Kasymov
King's Garden Villa D-1
18 Xiaoyun Lu, Chaoyang District
Tel: +86-10-65326975
Fax: +86-10-65326976
E-mail: embturkmen@netchina.com.cn

6. Azerbaijan

• Obtain in Beijing prior to departure
  

Procedures and Requirements:

The Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affair lists the following documents requirements to obtain a visa from the Consular Department of the Embassy

• One copy of the completed visa application form (application forms may be photocopied);
• original passport or re-entry permit (no copies accepted);
• One passport-size photograph attached to the application form;
• receipt for the payment of duty;
• Letter of invitation from the receiving party
• Foreign citizens arriving by aircraft without an entry visa to the Republic of Azerbaijan can obtain a single-entry visa for a short period of time at "Heydar Aliyev" International airport in Baku.

The following documents are required in addition to payment of the duty:

1. One copy of the completed visa application form (application forms may be photocopied)
2. one passport-size photograph or a photocopy of the passport data

Consular fee for issuing visas:

• Transit single entry (up to 5 days) – $20US dollars
• Transit double entry (up to 10 days) -$40US dollars
• Single entry (up to 90 days) -$40US dollars
• Double entry (up to 90 days) -$80US dollars
• Multiple entry (up to 1 year) -$250US dollars
• Processing time – from 3 to 10 days
• Business hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 2pm to 5pm

Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the People's Republic of China
Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound
Villa No. B-3, Beijing, 100600, P.R.China
Phone: (+86 10) 6532-4614; 6532-4698
Fax: (+86 10) 6532-4615
Email: mailbox@azerbembassy.org.cn

Visa section
Phone/fax: (+86 10) 6532-1463

Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Kazakhstan
Latif Gandilov, Ambassador
Diplomatic City, Residence C-14
Astana, KAZAKHSTAN
Tel: (73172) 24-1581/24-1097
Fax: (73172) 24-1532
E-mail: astana@azembassy.kz

Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Uzbekistan
Namig Abbasov, Ambassador
25 Shark Tongi
Tashkent, UZBEKISTAN
Tel: (99871) 173-6167
Fax: (99871) 173-2658
E-mail: sefir@tps.ru

Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Turkmenistan
Elkhan Huseynov, Ambassador
M. Kosayev Street 62a
Ashgabat, TURKMENISTAN
Tel: (99312) 39-1102, 39-0095
Fax: (99312) 39-1447
E-mail: azsefir_ashg@online.tm

7. Georgia

Georgia is now officially my favorite country on this route! According the the U.S. Department of State Consular Information Sheet, "A passport is required. U.S. citizens visiting for 90 days or less do not need a visa to enter Georgia."

8. Armenia

According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, this is also very easy.

• A filled out visa application form (one per applicant).
• One recent passport-size photo, attached to the application form. The picture can be black-and-white or color.
• The original passport valid for 4 months.
• Money order or certified check payable to the Embassy of Armenia (no cash or personal checks can be accepted).

Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, PR China
Mr. Vasily Ghazarian ~ Ambassador
4-1-61, Tayuan Diplomatic Apartments,
Beijing, 100600, PR China
Tel: (8610) 65325677
Fax: (8610) 65325654
e-mail: armemb@public3.bta.net.cn

Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, Georgia
Mr. Georgi Khosroev ~ Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
4 Tetelashvili Street, Tbilisi, Georgia
Tel.: (995 32) 951723, 964286
Fax: (995 32) 990126
e-mail: armemb@caucasus.net

Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, Kazakhstan
Eduard Khurshudian ~ Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
579 Seyfulin St. Almaty 480075, Kazakhstan
Tel.: (7 3272) 692932
Fax: (7 3272) 692908
E-mail: akod100@hotmail.com
Internet: www.geocities.com/armkazembassy

Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, Turkmenistan
Mr. Aram Grigorian ~ Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Kioroghli St. 14, Ashgabad, Turkmenistan
Tel: (993 12) 295542; 354418
Fax: (993) 395538/49
e-mail: eat@online.tm

9. Turkey

US citizens are required to have visa to enter Turkey. They can obtain three month-multiple entry visas at the Turkish border gates. The cost is US$45

Central Asia Via Kyrgyzstan

Since returning from Cambodia, I have been exploring my options for traveling through Central Asia, specifically, the area that includes Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. At the moment, my time is fairly limited for this kind of travel, and traveling through this region is somewhat harrowing, not only because I am traveling alone, but because it is fairly "uncharted" as far as the commercial tourism industry is concerned. And in fact, at the time of this writing, there are no individual Lonely Planet guides for these countries (only a 2004 edition for the entire region, although the 2007 edition is due in August), and presumably, no infrastructure to make tourist feel at ease. Of course, this is part of the attraction for me, but naturally it creates an additional complication from the standpoint of travel, planning, and precautions.

For me, the ideal journey would pass through China and into Central Asia the Kyrgyzstan border near Kashgar, visiting as many of the five Central Asian republics as deemed both safe and practicable, then taking a boat across the Caspian Sea into the Caucasus countries (Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan). From Georgia, enter Turkey, and upon crossing the Dardanelles in Istanbul, passing into Europe and points beyond. Sure, this may sound far-fetched, but it has been done, and the route is displayed in the map below.

Beijing to Istanbul overland, then India and Nepal

​​​​​

I know that it sounds like a serious commitment, and it is, because transport is poor throughout much of the region and travel would most certainly be difficult. There are, of course, boutique companies such as Dragoman Overland that specialize in this kind of travel, but that both adds a substantial expense and takes away from the challenge of it. Nonetheless, I wouldn't consider making the trip without a guide of some kind, simply to avoid the inevitable miscommunication and probable extortion and theft. And in fact, I did begin researching the trip by contacting a travel agency which offered the following terse if not disturbing response to my inquiry:

Safety is a big concern for all foreigners in Kyrgyzstan. We ourselves have stopped working because of corruption and crime. I advise you to read up and ask around extensively before finalizing your decision to visit Central Asia.

Obviously, this individual's experience is probably not representative, and it may well be that there are other reasons than "corruption and crime" that ended his operations. Thus, I am currently exploring other options, and because I am determined to do it with maximum independence and minimum cost, I am looking into homestay programs, wherein locals open their homes to travelers. This would appear to be an excellent solution to both the cost issue and any safety concerns, since knowing locals is the most sure way to stay out of trouble, make friends, and learn to do as the Kyrgyz, et al do.

Unsurprisingly, both travelers and hosts must be interviewed before they can join services such as Servas, which appears to be one of the better programs and which intends to ensure that both travelers and hosts meet its standards of decency. In addition to Servas, there are other programs such as Home Exchange, Welcome Traveler, Adventure Travel, and the Go Abroad Traveler's Network, each of which offers additional options. Additionally, for women, there is a UK program called Women Welcome Women Worldwide, which provides a network of women who provide accommodation and hospitality to other women.