2023 Exotic Silk Road
Jim and Carol Tyndall, along with Jamie, their daughter (all owners of Fun For Less Tours), were able to experience this fantastic part of the world on a private train. At the time, the train only visited 3 Stan Countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan & Turkmenistan. The train did not visit Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan. Knowing the train missed the countries of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, they went in early to explore the areas the train missed. Even though they had all traveled to over a hundred countries, they knew almost nothing about Central Asia and its history of the Silk Road. To say they were overwhelmed with the ancient beauty and their people – would be an understatement. Jamie felt it was the best trip she had taken anywhere in the world. To Jim and Carol it shot right up near the top of all the places they have ever visited. After the trip, they agreed to charter the whole train for our groups – BUT, they needed to redesign the trains itinerary and needed to add the countries of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. A train is not like a bus that you can just take a different road, pull over almost anywhere and stop or park. Getting permission to travel by rail, wanting to stop and park your train like a bus is not easy. It took close to a year of working with all of the governments and local train companies to get permission to change our itinerary and add the additional two Stans – Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, The only reason this is possible, is because we are chartering the whole train, changing the itinerary, and adding additional nights on the train. read more
