OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
81 SEE THE ‘STANS’
“Travellers are looking for new, less-explored, brag-worthy destinations,” says Emma Prineas, acting head of marketing at Wendy Wu Tours, and the ‘Stans’ of Central Asia – which stretch from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and Russia in the north – fit the bill. Visiting Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan [Ark Fortress, Bukhara, pictured] allows travellers the opportunity to “cover five distinctive destinations in as little as three weeks,” says Prineas. “The all-encompassing landscapes that include vast deserts, rolling grasslands, verdant valleys and snow-capped mountains form a stunning setting to the five ex-Soviet republics. Travellers have the chance to camp by a giant burning gas pit in the middle of
