If you have a question (or comment), please use the Contact Form and I’ll get back to you. Eve
Colton: September 17, 2019 at 5:45 pm
Alright I gotta ask. What does horse meat taste like? Super taboo to eat that stuff over here.
EveColorado: In reply to Colton. September 18, 2019 at 10:11 am
It tastes just like beef, grass-fed, tough, beef. At lunch we tried to guess which was which. One was a little less tough than the other and we decided that was the horse meat. I don’t know why we don’t eat it unless horses are too nice looking and friendly, and our cowboy culture. Would be like eating a pet. Cattle, pigs and chickens aren’t usually pets. That sounds logical to me!
Zack: September 17, 2019 at 5:46 pm
Looks like fun! Wish I could experience that, keep us all up to date on your journey, can’t wait to see you guys and hear about it when you get back.
EveColorado: In reply to Zack. September 18, 2019 at 9:57 am
We are having fun, and we’ve had super weather, the only rain was one evening/night–must be Camelot! You definitely will hear about it when we get back, be careful what you wish for.
Morgan: September 18, 2019 at 4:47 pm
I’m glad you guys are having a great time! Really excited to hear about the whole trip when you guys get back! XOXO
EveColorado: In reply to Morgan. September 18, 2019 at 5:16 pm
Good to hear from you, Morgan. Look forward to telling you all about it. xxxx
Val: October 02, 2019 at 6:37 pm
Just read through your blog. Looks like you are having a wonderful time! The food looks amazing too (except for the horse meat, eeewwww).
EveColorado: In reply to Val. October 02, 2019 at 8:05 pm
We are having a wonderful time. You’d love the bread. Not so much the horse meat!
Pat B: November 21, 2019 at 9:57 pm
Enjoying your blog of the Stans. I am going on the May 2020 trip and looking forward to the trip. Thanks for all the great insights.
Two questions: What hotel did you stay at in Almaty? Also, the departure is a little confusing but it appears you had the last day on your own on the 13th and so your flight is departure on the am of the 14th? I see the 2:55 am flight is the only one out of Ashgabat. Did ET keep a late departure room for the tour so you could freshen up before leaving ?
Great trip. Thanks,
Pat
EveColorado: In reply to Pat B. November 22 at 11:34 pm
Hi Pat,
So glad you enjoyed the blog. As well as keeping family updated while we were gone, I was hoping it would be useful to other people and they would feel comfortable contacting me with questions–and you’re the first!
When we checked with ElderTreks in May, at that time they were planning on using Renion Park Hotel in Almaty, and Grand Turkmen in Ashgabat. They did stress that those hotels were not guaranteed to be the final ones until one month prior to departure date. (Ashgabat ended up being the Nusay Hotel.)
Almaty was Renion Park Hotel. In May we booked our pre-nights through Booking.com, booking the previous night (13th) and telling them we wouldn’t arrive until very early morning on September 14th. We booked the Free Cancellation option for the flexibility to change hotels should ET end up using a different one. After the confirmation from ET on Aug 16 that we would be at Renion Park, I checked the accommodation cost then, and it was much, much more expensive than back in May, so it was worth the little extra to get the Refundable and not wait until a month before.
Before we left home, I wasn’t too happy about going in a few days early–one of the drawbacks with using Award Miles–but it turned out to be great and we really liked Almaty. It would have been pleasant to have another day or two to explore other parts of town.
There are three hotels with the name Renion, so make sure you get “Park” if that is the one ElderTreks is using.
In Ashgabat you need to have ElderTreks book post-trip night(s). From a late June email from ET: “Please be advised, if you are planning to stay in Ashgabat after the tour ends on Oct 13th, you will have to book your post-night with ElderTreks. In Turkmenistan, all accommodations, all services and airport transfers must be booked through our local partner, as they will be applying for the Turkmenistan Letter of Invitation and it must show on the application that everything has been booked through them.”
ElderTreks doesn’t keep a late departure room for ET-ers, you need to ask them to make a reservation for you if you aren’t flying out 2:55 am the morning after the farewell dinner. We did, for the 13th, so we could stay in our room after check-out time and use it up until our midnight departure to the airport. It was expensive, 160 USD, but worth it for the comfort of not having to sit in the lobby for hours.
I’ll be happy to answer any other questions or concerns you have.
I took a quick peek at your website and will enjoy going back to explore around it.
Eve
Pat B: November 23 2019 at 4:44 am: In reply to EveColorado.
Hi Eve
Thank you so much for info. I am sure there will be further questions and clarifications. I love that you have given practical info on your site as it is hard to find otherwise. I was happy to read that Roger was your guide. I love him! However, I think Claire Priest is doing ours and she is almost as good as Roger. More questions later and thank you again for the blog.
Pat
Pat B: December 20, 2019 at 6:30 pm
Hello Eve,
Season’s greetings to you and your family.
More questions as I struggle to find decent flights to and from the Stans. I can work out a decent flight to ALA (thought I would fly into Munich for a couple days then on to IST and ALA). However, coming back is a challenge. Our farewell dinner I assume is 6 June so the flight out will be the 2:55am Turkish Air on 7 June to IST. How did you get from there to DEN? LH or another airline. I see LH has some that go into Frankfurt (hating that airport more every time I use it) and then LH or UA to DEN? I can catch a direct on UA DEN to my home airport in San Luis Obispo.
I don’t believe I have ever had such a hard time getting to and from a destination. Coming out of ASB does not seem an easy trip. I need to start choosing trips that don’t bring me in and out of airports between 2-6 am in the mornings!
Thanks,
Pat
Pat B: December 20, 2019 at 6:35 pm
And as I delve into your blog a little more I think I have most of my answers, should have done that first. Sorry. I see the dinner was on the 12th and that the am flights went out the 13th. You flew into Frankfurt so you took the LH out of IST? Pat
Pat B: December 21, 2019 at 6:18 pm
Hi Eve, and happy holidays
For some unknown glitch, my last message did not post? Don’t see it so will ask my questions, though reading your blog I think you have answered most of them.
I am trying to figure out my flights from the west coast. I suspect it will have to be via LH as I can get a good UA flight out of here to DEN then I want to fly on to Munich for a couple days to visit my exchange student/daughter near there. Then it would be TA MUC to IST to ALA. Happily, all are Star Alliance.
Return is not so easy. I see you left on what appears the only flight with is the 2:55 am TA to IST. Reading your blog, you must have caught the IST to FRA at 6:25am? Looking at the airports information, I read that there would be NO immigration nor customs but you were able to go direct to your LH flight to FRA? I am a little nervous about just over an hours connection time to get from TA to LH and with the new airport at IST, a little concerned. How was that connection?
From FRA I can catch a LH or UA flight, much as I hate to go through FRA (hating that airport more every time I use it).
And am I right when I understand that the last day of the tour was 12 Oct and that ET lists 13 Oct because that is when the 2:55 am flight leaves?
So I am thinking of arriving the morning the tour begins (about 5am 11 May) and departing directly after the dinner on the 6 June. Dinner is the night of 5 June.
Thanks for any clarification. I suspect I may have to figure flights than just call UA to do the booking as the online site doesn’t like to deal with a return from ASB. I need to pretty much put all the flight legs in separately and force the schedule to list the options. I think in future, I will choose tours that arrive and depart at decent times. But then I guess I would never be able to explore Africa and parts east.
Happy holidays and have a terrific and adventurous 2020
Pat
EveColorado: In reply to Pat B. December 21 at 6:36 pm
Apologies, Pat, for being tardy answering your questions. Are you using United award miles? Maybe there’s been an auto-correct from UA to TA in your message? Let me know. We didn’t go through IST but through FRA in both directions. I need to finish reservations I’m making for a grandson’s honeymoon (the first one getting married–great fun), and will get back to you. Eve
Pat B: December 21, 2019 at 7:50 pm
How exciting for you. What fun!
No I am not using award miles as I use them for flying my nieces around the world and pay for my tickets to earn the status, etc.
I see you departed at 2:55 am and the only flight I see there is TA to IST. I will do more searching for any of the airlines going out of ASB direct to FRA.
Also, seeing as most people arrive in the early am into Almaty, did ET have a room for you that first day? I know you went in earlier but when did ET start booking the room. The first day of your tour was 17 Sept so I assume that night was on them. I am hoping if I arrive around 5am that ET will pick me up and have a room for early checkin for me.
No rush on answers. I am still exploring and figure I will contact UA sometime after the holidays to have them book the flights. I just want to have it sort of planned what I want at that time. The main issue is getting home from ASB.
Pat
EveColorado: In reply to Pat B. December 26 at 9:12 pm
ET didn’t have a room for anyone on the morning of the first day in Almaty–just for that night. Trish and Elaine made a reservation through Booking dot com as 1) it was quite a bit cheaper than through ET and 2) they chose the free cancellation up until a day before the trip started so they could cancel if ET chose a different hotel (they didn’t). I see now that one can make a reservation direct with Renion Park Hotel with free cancellation for the same price as with bookingdotcom–which I’d do if I was doing it now.
I’ve been looking for the same flights we took back from Ashgabat through Frankfurt, and see they are no longer offered by United. Bummer. Nor does Lufthansa. Guess you’re stuck with coming back through Istanbul. In a way that’s better as you’ll only spend half the time we did on that awful A-321 plane that United/Lufthansa as well as Turkish use.
United’s website was being buggy today, and if it is still like that when you decide to make your reservation, make sure you tell their agent that you haven’t been able to book the multi-city trip online because their website is acting up, that way they should wave the telephone fee (you probably know that already, you seem very savvy).
And…….if you think this is a p-i-t-b, just wait until you try to get your Uzbekistan Visa!!!! 😉
Pat B: December 26, 2019 at 11:47 pm
Thank you Eve, and way to scare me on that visa! ;-)))
I will call UA as the online UA will just not book the ASB to IST portion of the trip. I see the Turkish air leaving 2:55 am but United online will just not do that portion. It looks like I will forego the Munich stop as I had to gasp at the price for it. So I am looking at the UA out of Denver to Frankfurt then onward to ALA arriving 12:10am. I will take your advice about the room. I always book the room on my own, love Bookingcom, as ET is ridiculous in their price for rooms. And thanks for the tip for paying for the cancellation privilege as it will ease my concern that ET will change their mind. I plan to depart after the dinner to avoid additional hassles there. Return flight is ASB to IST on Turkish then on LH into FRA where I can catch the UA flight through Denver. I am somewhat in shock over the $$$ of the air ticket. Oh, well.
Where are you heading next? I did not book anything during their recent sale but still looking at a couple possibles. I hope we have the fortune to one day meet along the ET trail. And thank you so much for your advice and clarification.
Pat
EveColorado: In reply to Pat B. December 27 at 1:27 am
Pat, I’m curious, why do you return to Denver rather than FRA to Los Angeles or San Francisco? I didn’t look closely, just a quick one, but it seems you’d save a little bit by flying into LAX or SFO then on to SBP.
Our next trip (hubby and me) is to Papua New Guinea. We’ve been there three times, in 1998, 2008 and 2018 (can you see a pattern here?? Now we’re breaking it.) First trip was with Trans Niugini Tours, the next two with ElderTreks, Nitin was our ET leader, great guy. In 2018, we’d planned on doing the bit with TNT first, meeting up with ET in Mount Hagen at the Sing-Sing and then going on with the ET trip. Unfortunately, due to tribal annoyance with the government over the results of an election, the locals burnt one of Air Niugini’s planes and we would have had to spend about three days of the 10 day trip on the road, TNT offered to refund our money, which we accepted and just did the “second” part with ET. Now we’re going to do that first part. We just recently had an email that the Ambua Lodge has reopened and we’ll be staying there, which makes us very happy as we loved that lodge. Well, to be truthful, we loved the Sepik Spirit and the Karawari Lodge, too! We’re so excited. Last week I finished making flight (and hotel reservations)–phew. Glad we have Award Miles to use as the $ cost is unbelievable in Business and I’m too old and creaky and need to be able to put my feet up when flying that far.
Let’s hope we do meet somewhere in the world. Let me know your next trips. I have a feeling we won’t be doing many group trips any more, but, “you never know”.
Pat B: January 6, 2020 at 8:50 pm
Hi Eve, thought I would catch you up on final flights. I finally had to book two tickets for convenience. So booked the UA flight into DEN and LH flight that then goes to FRA and on to Almaty. Booked a night at the Reunion Park and they will pick me up at airport for $10. The return is difficult so I booked the 2:55 flight out of ASB to IST and a flight on to Munich. I will just visit there a couple days then catch the UA flight direct to SFO. I am most comfortable with this sort of connection when booking two separate tickets. ET has booked my friend a return flight through IST with a horrendous 8 hour layover in IST. Thanks for you information. Indeed, by posting your blog, you have certainly helped this traveler.
Pat
Pat B: January 23, 2020 at 7:53 pm
Hi Eve, re-reading your response I realize I never answered your question about Denver. It is because UA has a direct flight DEN-SLO where I live, thus cutting out SFO and LAX, always a good thing when possible. I am now in a “battle” with Gillian who wants my confirmation codes for flights and she has not understood “no”. I never share the codes with others. She explains that it is so they will know if there is a “change” which is precisely it, they would have to go into my reservation and add their email, etc to it. All they need is a flight number and they will see the same information. Have you ever gotten the impression that, booking your own flights, that ET would do anything to assist in case you miss a connection or flight is cancelled? Anyway, I do not want to share.
I am impressed with your Papua New Guinea and will keep it in mind. I am always looking for other places out of the ordinary where a tour is desired.
Pat
EveColorado: In reply to Pat B. January 24, 2020 at 2:31 am
Hi Pat. Glad you’ve got your flights made. Also, you going via Denver now makes sense to me!
I’m spending a week in Chacala, Mexico, and tonight’s the first time I’ve had internet connectivity for five days, so am thumbing away on my phone as fast as I can before it disappears again!
I never thought about the confirmation code thingy. You’re correct, there’s no need for them to have it, it’s not like UA notifies one about changes, anyway, at least they never have me. And, no, I wouldn’t expect ET to help in any way. Besides, I don’t know what they’d be able to do that you couldn’t. Stick to your guns. I just looked back at my emails for the trip, was dealing w Rhea, sent her “snips” of my reservations that didn’t include the confirmation code, and that was that, no request for them. So, you definitely are right–don’t do it. With previous trips I’ve noticed Gillian makes mistakes.
Well, I’ve pressed my luck long enough and better get this sent.
Eve
All pages: In Transit : Kazakhstan : Kyrgyzstan : Tajikistan : Uzbekistan : Turkmenistan : Notes after returning home : Q&A, Comments