I once caught a geography talk on part of Kyrgyzstan, and it sounded nice – pretty mountains.
Kyrgyzstan, because I’m a Sporcle addict.
Or perhaps, Durkadurkistan, if Team America has killed off all the terrorists there by now.
I want to go to Samarkand. The whole Central Asian/Silk Road area is very appealing to me.
I would love to go to Uzbekistan, but if I was driving there, I would be concerned about people drinking my battery fluid.
Yeah, a lot of people are acting like the idea of going to these countries for vacation is whacky. I know lots of people who travel in Central Asia and I hope to visit all the stans of the former Soviet Union at some point. There is lots to do and lots of history.
Kyrgystan: big skies, mountains, horseback riding, nomadic culture, throat singing are all things I associate with the country. I also had a friend who taught English in Bishkek and he had the most beautiful photos and a wonderful experience living and working with the people there. I’ve also had mild “I want to live in a yurt in the middle of nowhere” fantasies for years, so Kyrgystan has been on my travel radar for a long time.
Pakistan is a close second, as I’ve got a friend with family in Karachi who could serve as our “guide” for the trip. Additionally, there’s just a ton to see and appreciate with just about everywhere new.
This is something worth seeing.
Why, upstate New Yorkers, of course. 
Seriously, I was born in Punjab, which is northwestern India. The people there - my people - speak a combination of Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. My grandfathers were from Lahore, in what is now Pakistan, and both sets of grandparents fled across the border with their small children - my parents - when the Partition took place.
Western Pakistan and Eastern India, while there certainly are tensions, are not as dissimilar as perhaps they would like to believe. Living over here in the States it feels like much less of a deal than it actually is (and it IS a big deal, don’t get me wrong). Still, provided I am polite and respectful I could easily get by in Pakistan.
At the moment I’d lean towards Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan out of the poll options, if only because we stayed 6 months in Kazakhstan and had a few weeks each in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Had intended to travel via Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but were booking travel just as things were getting a bit violent in Kg, so played it safe in case we had to worry about border crossings getting closed and things. Both of them would have fantastic landscapes, as well as some great historical sites.
And for those that have picked Kyrgyzstan on the poll: I saw just the other week that they’ve changed to a visa-free regime for 44 countries (including US, UK, Australia, European countries etc) for stays of up to 60 days: http://www.rferl.org/content/kzrgzystan-visa-laws/24654980.html
That place is amazing. We camped the night on the other side of a hill just near it. You can stand by the edge and just feel these waves of heat coming over you (like when you first open an oven) and a bit of a scent of natural gas in the air. I also liked that there were similar pits nearby that had gas bubbling up through mud in one and water in another. However, unlike the GIANT PIT OF FIRE, these ones had railings around them.
Turkmenistan’s pretty surreal in general. Ashgabat seems to have about half the world’s supply of white marble on the outside of their buildings (I heard at a little cafe on the road near Derweze that apparently there are weird regulations about cafes needing to be two stories tall and covered in white marble or something like that, among other things…so it ends up cheaper for them to just build cheap little brick things and just let the government knock them down every year or so).
Not sure on a few of those, but heard/seen quite a few of those. Barely missed out on seeing the big golden statue of Turkmenbashi that rotates to follow the sun (had supposedly been taken down a few days beforehand) - I heard it’s been put back up somewhere though, but in a park a bit further out from the centre. (there’s still the golden baby-Turkmenbashi just near where it was though, atop the earthquake memorial)
Wikipedia says they moved it to the “Neutrality Arch,” and it no longer rotates, but the statue’s still around.
When you said “baby,” I thought it meant small :eek:
Go to Kazakhstan. Forget about Baikonur. It is hot, dusty, and flat. If you want some scenery that is easy to get to, try the Charyn National Park. I worked near Atryau and a group out us took a long flight to Almaty to see the gorges and Valley of Castles. It was outstanding.
Can’t speak to Baikonur, but definitely agree on Charyn Canyon. Certainly worth a day trip if staying in Almaty (think it was just a couple hours drive).
The other trip worth making from there is up to Big Almaty Lake, which can be done in a day-trip, but the Tien Shan mountains behind there make for some beautiful hiking if you have more time.
I would have said Kazakhstan but I’m leaning more to Uzbekistan now that I’ve been reminded of the best Silk Road cities being there.
My son really wants to visit Bangladesh (formerly known as East Pakistan), I think that should count. Of course he wants to go because a longtime friend moved there right after high school ended (a few weeks ago); the boy’s family was from there and they were moving back to be near family.
Personally, I don’t have any eagerness to go there.
Kazakhstan. Sounds interesting.
I’m more likely to go to Afghanistan but not by choice.
I said Kyrgyzstan because it has the coolest sounding name. I suspect that if I was really planning a vacation I would have more time to research it and think about it.
Snackistan.
A long shot, but I’m hoping to ride my motorbike out to Mongolia next year for a little spin, as you do, but no route set in stone yet, and none of my mates are interested (or rather, their wives have said no). Kazakhstan is on the cards, but if anyone else is driving/riding out that way, leaving the UK in May-ish, and has tips, or wants a companion for some of the journey, let me know. I need to start getting some concrete plans together!