Route

Your Journey into Adventure

Our Adventure Research Staff has carefully designed this spectacular rally to deliver thrills from every one of the 8000 kilometers of this course!

Rally Begin: May 26, 2012
Budapest, Hungary

Rally Finish: June 12, 2012
Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Rally Totals: 18 days – 8000 kilometers (5000 miles) – infinite dreams!

Click the link below the map for the detailed, daily route!


Central Asia Rally 2012 on a larger map

Where the Hell are We Going?

We kick things off with – what else – an giant party at Budapest’s famed Statue Park, and from there it’s off to the races!  Our first four days spent speeding across the paved roads and managed highways of Ukraine and Russia will have you thinking “Well, this isn’t so hard!”  But this is just a warm-up to get you up to speed.  As we pass the Black and Caspian Seas, we step back in time to an era before traveling was all about comfort, abundance, and safety.

Traversing the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan (not to mention a brief foray into Afghanistan) can be perilous – road conditions vary wildly, temperatures & weather can change at the drop of a hat, and oases of civilization might be separated by hundreds of kilometers.  Endless deserts, lofty mountain climbs, precipitous descents, sandstorms, washed-out roads… all of these and more are par for the course!
Journey’s end is Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.  You’ve come 7500 kilometers,  shared an amazing adventure with your fellow enthusiasts, and created stories to tell for the rest of your life… that doesn’t sound half bad, does it?

 

What the Hell are We Going to See?

What’s an adventure without witnessing vistas firsthand that 99 in 100 people will never, ever see in their lifetimes?  Just some of the remarkable sights to savor:

  • Race through the lush plains of Ukraine in all their summer glory (and amidst 2012 European Cup soccer revelry).
  • Speed along the banks of the famed Volga River as you traverse Russia.
  • Contemplate divinity (and pray for navigable roads) in Kalmykia, Europe’s only Buddhist province.
  • Explore the ghost-ships of Kazakhstan, forever buried in sand as the blistering deserts swallow the Aral Sea.
  • Navigate the crimson sands of the Uzbekistan’s Kyzyl-Kum Desert, renowned for yielding magnificent dinosaur fossils.
  • Wander the greatest ancient cities of the fabled Silk Road, including Samarkand and Bukhara (home to Marco Polo).
  • Brave the cruel twists & stunning peaks of the Pamir Highway – the world’s 2nd highest roadway – with portions of the drive above 4300 meters (14,000 feet).
  • Pop into Afghanistan to visit bustling marketplaces that are unchanged in over a thousand years… and then pop right back out again before they ever know you were there!

It’s a hard road and an exhausting journey so be prepared to weather hardships that include cranky commissars, vodka-and-tea-fueled escapades, baking sun and withering cold, delectable native cuisines, frantic escapes through crowded border crossings, bizarre liquors of questionable provenance, rock slides, probably some brief nudity from your fellow adventurers, dust & sand, and some of the loveliest, most hospitable locals you will meet anywhere.

The Central Asia Rally is truly a once-in-a-lifetime adventure… and it’s easy to get involved!