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Anonymous
Hey travellers,
I'm new to the board looking for some advice for a university graduation adventure I was planning on having.
After graduation (June 2009), I want to travel a good portion of the Silk Road. I want to try to hoof it across as much as I can and take up as much as I can. I really want to have an awesome adventure before I resign myself to becoming a cog in the engineering corporate machine.

Attached below are the two routes I'm trying to decide between:
The first (in red) starts in Egypt, goes to the UAE, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and then ends in Pakistan.
The second (in navy blue) starts in Morocco, goes to Algiers, the UAE, Turkey, Afghanistan, and ends in Pakistan.
I want to end in Pakistan because I've got some family over there, but my starting point is up in the air. I want to take in as much of the Middle East as I can, but I was also debating traveling into Asia a little bit more before turning back to Pakistan. I was sort of thinking of an alternate route extension for both routes at Afghanistan to Nepal and then China, or just straight to China.

My questions to you:
1) Which one of the routes makes more fiscal sense? Alternatively, which one of them do you think offers the richer traveling/cultural experience?
2) Are there any experiences you can share from your personal visits from any of these places?
3) Are there any places on the route that I haven't marked that I should be visiting?
4) How should I start figuring out how much I'll need to spend to travel to all of these places?
5) What preparations should I start making for the trip?
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>> Anonymous
see that documentary with ewan mcgregor
>> OP
>>41730
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=Ewan%20McGregor&rh=n%3A508530%2Ck%3AEwan%20McGregor
&page=1

I don't think any one of these really helps.
>> ABC123
You should take the red route but skip UAE because there is nothing there but deserts - and unless you have lots of money you won't be able to enjoy Dubai, which really isn't that great anyways. Skip Afganistan because it is a war zone and replace Pakistan with something else because the climate is similar.

If you want to go Iran you should apply for a visa way ahead of time because you may be rejected multiple times before they accept. If you are from the States it may difficult to get a visa but they are easier on other countries.

Fiscally speaking, Egypt is cheap and Iran is cheaper. Turkey not so much but you could make it work.

Culturally speaking, Iran has the most to offer - they've been around for at least 10,000 years and have influenced many things in that time.

If you do choose to go to Iran, you should definitely read up about it, either the LonelyPlanet books or Wikipedia - there are also some documentaries you can find on YouTube.
>> Anonymous
>>41767
He's referring to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Way_Down_%28TV_series%29

Pretty good series. Don't know how helpful it'll be, but you should check it out anyway.
>> Anonymous
>>41919
When you say Dubai is expensive, how expensive are we talking about? What sort of costs should I be looking at if I were staying there for a short period of time such as a week?
>> Anonymous
>>42078
really expensive.
>> Anonymous
If you want an involving and great trip, I'd suggest option 3

Morocco-Algiers-Tunis-Egypt by land, sail to the greek islands, and travel to Istanbul through Greece. After looking through continental Turkey, fly to China, and make your way through SE Asia on your way to Pakistan.

Seriously, if your looking to travel and enjoy it, avoid the Middle East, unless your a moslem and speak good arabic, otherwise its mostly a waste of money. Northern Africa is beautiful, and is very culturally enriching, the Greek Islands are fantastic (though you could avoid them I guess...), and European Turkey is weird in teh juxtaposition of European and Islamic values.

However, Afghanistan and Iraq just aren't plain safe for pretty much anyone, and Iran can only be visited with a tour group. Saudi is Ok, but boring for non-moslems, as the best sites are restricted. The UAE is just a boring generic city, unless you can afford one of the 7 star hotels. And the cool palm islands just look normal islands from the ground, and the rest is one bog building site. Avoid like the plague if you have anything approaching what could be called a budget...

SE Asia however is awesome. If you want something better, you could travel north from Istanbul through East Europe and take the Trans Siberian to beijing and move from there.

However, that could expand your budget bit more. For reference, I did something rather similar, starting in UK, moving through Spain and NA, and doing the Trans Siberian option. Was awesome.
>> Anonymous
>>42404
Well, I actually am Muslim and kinda sorta speak Arabic. I was working no improving that before I left. I was aiming to get an Asian-Middle Eastern sort of experience, saving Japan for a solo trip.
I'm going to be taking your advice and stay away from Iraq and Afghanistan, though I was going to be staying away from Saudi Arabia for entirely different reasons (no nightlife, kind of boring, etc.).
I'd also heard that the north African reason was very culturally rich and beautiful, but I was trying to factor in travel costs as well. Do you think a route 4, going through the Morocco-Algiers-Tunis-Egypt overland route then Turkey would be one that'd be a better alternative?
>> Anonymous
>>42469
>though I was going to be staying away from Saudi Arabia for entirely different reasons (no nightlife, kind of boring, etc.).

Plus they're disgusting Wahabi fucks that need to be cleansed from the face of the planet.

Also just go to Kurdistan, its the only place in the middle east worth visiting. Just watch out for your usual durka durka mohammad jihad hysterics by followers of the death cult called islam.
>> Anonymous
>>42494
Seconding this. The whole anti-Muslim thing can be rationalized by lots of people in american universities as racism or xenophobia, and their arguments make sense since some American muslims are less retarded than their overseas cousins. Islam fucking sucks. Shame that Islam won out in the end, many of the Christian Arabs I know/met are some of the coolest I've ever talked to.
>> Anonymous
>>41710
You can't go through Iraq, or Afghanistan. Or Israel for that matter.

I'd say go from Eygpt through Jordon and Syria. The vast wastelands of Saudi Arabia are not worth the expense. Iraq is extremely dangerous to drive through, the main highway that goes South to North is a IED/American soldier filled gauntlet. There are stretches non-military traffic cannot navigate, frequent road-blocks, and curfews, ect, ect.

Go around that country, and I'd say don't bother entering Saudi Arabia either.
>> Anonymous
>>42494
>Kurdistan
>worth visiting
wat

Is there actually anything worth seeing?
>> Anonymous
>>42556

Kurdistan isn't even a country... it's like an area.