How to Apply for Central Asia Tourist Visa as Philippine Passport Holder

an adventure of Pinoy backpacker in processing travel documents

general info:
* Central Asia 5 "Stan Countries" are the most challenging to visit due to visa requirement and flight availability
* Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan still requires the Letter of Invitation (LOI)
* Kazakhstan (most beautiful among 5 "Stan Countries") requires Tourist Registration if stay is 5 days or longer.
* Uzbekistan has the cheapest visa fee and has the quickest way to apply

* Kyrgyzstan - visa upon arrival (30/90 days single entry for $50/$100), No LOI required

* Tajikistan - eligible to apply for E-Visa (45 days single entry for $50), No LOI required
* Uzbekistan - eligible to apply for E-Visa (30 days single entry for $20), No LOI required

* Kazakhstan - As of Sept. 2019, visa upon arrival (30 days single entry), No LOI required
* Turkmenistan - applied for Transit Visa only (3 days single entry for $10), No LOI required

Central Asia Countries completed as Philippine Passport Holder (souvenir fridge magnets)

Solo Trekking and Hitch-hike to Ala Archa Waterfalls (Ak Sai)

5 Days Solo Trip in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

April 20 to 25, 2018

Bishkek City Walk Tour

The real deal of experiencing Central Asia adventure is to sight-see and feel the glaciers of mountain ranges. For now, day-hike only to have that experience and by the way, I'm above the chased waterfall at 2,665masl covered by very thick ice in spring season. Self-guided solo budget day hike to Ala Archa Waterfalls (2,665masl). 5 hours steep, slippery, muddy and icy trekking with more than 500m elevation gain on an 8km trail. Countless slippage throughout the trail using this light-trekking type shoes with soaked socks penetrated by mud and ice. I underestimated the Kyrgyzs mountain in spring season (aside from wearing light sweater, long sleeve dry fit shirt and ordinary pants).

ALA ARCHA NATIONAL PARK DAY-HIKE TO AK SAI WATERFALLS ITINERARY

April 21, 2018 Saturday
0815H ETD Osh Bazaar; Marshrutka #265 40KGS
0930H ETA Ala Archa National Park; Hitch-hike to Main Gate
1000H Start Trekking
1100H Broken Heart marker trail (2,377masl)
1130H Tepshi Plato marker trail (2,458masl)
1230H Ak Sai Waterfalls 2,665masl; rest and photo-ops
1300H ETD Waterfalls
1500H ETD Ala Archa National Park; Hitch-hike to Bishkek (luckily)

Solo Trekking and Hitch-hike to Ala Archa Waterfalls

Bishkek City Walk Tour

5 Days Solo Trip in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

April 20 to 25, 2018

Introduction and Visa Application in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

I spent my 1st day in Kyrgyzstan by sightseeing the capital city by foot. The ambiance is like a rural province of Russia; no skyscraper, no english signs and almost no western establishments. Bishkek is, an interesting example of a czarist planned city; laid on a grid with wide boulevards flanked by irrigation canals and large trees, buildings with marble façades, and Soviet apartment complexes. 

Bishkek was founded when the Uzbek khan of Kokand built a small clay fort by a settlement on a tributary of the Chuy river in 1825, to connect up several stop-off points on the Silk Road through the Tian Shan mountains. In 1862 it was captured and trashed by Russians, before they set up their own garrison. Russian peasants were soon lured here by land grants and the fertile soil of the Chuy Valley. The renamed town of Frunze became capital of the new Kyrgyz ASSR in 1926, but it was renamed Bishkek (Kyrgyz form of it's old Kazakh name, Pishpek) in 1991.
https://wikitravel.org/en/Bishkek

Bishkek City Walk Tour

5 Days Solo Trip in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

sightseeing the Central Asia's best tourist attraction

April 20 to 25, 2018

"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world."

My 57th solo backpacking trip, 1st and 2nd country to visit in Central Asia Region, total of 66 countries visited so far and of course, usual budget do-it-yourself itinerary from arrival to departure. I did not research that much for this countries as I'm expecting that language barrier will be a huge challenge to make the itinerary successful. 

Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a South-Central Asian Union country of incredible natural beauty and proud nomadic traditions. What would become modern Kyrgyzstan was annexed by Russia in 1876 and became an independent country with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It has the most liberal tourist visa policy in Central Asia and one of the more progressive post-Soviet governments in the region.
https://wikitravel.org/en/Kyrgyzstan

timezone - UTC +0600H                       capital - Bishkek      
language - Kyrgyz / Russian              currency - Som (KGS) 1 USD = 67 KGS
visa - Philippine passport holders are visa upon arrival (30/90 days visa issued upon arrival for $50/$100)

http://www.kgembassy.org/en/consular-issues/applying-for-a-visa/general-visa-information/

Tajikistan, Tajik Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia that borders Afghanistan to the south, Xinjiang in China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and Uzbekistan to the west and northwest. The ancient Silk Road passed through it. 
https://wikitravel.org/en/Tajikistan

timezone - UTC +0500H                       capital - Dushanbe    
language - Tajik / Russian              currency - Somoni (TJS) 1 USD = 8.8 KGS
visa - Philippine passport holders are eligible to apply for E-Visa (45 days e-visa for $50)
https://www.evisa.tj/index.evisa.html

5 Days Solo Trip in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (Glacier on mountains)