यशवंत - end of Central Asia Tour | Mankar Pravin

+28 | यशवंत | Successful |
The plane landed 6 minutes before scheduled time at Delhi Airport. However Sachkhand Express was late by 6 hrs while reaching Nasik. Welcome to India.
We reached today, on 3rd July 2024, after 28 days, in safe and sound condition at Nasik. That’s an achievement. Was the Central Asia Tour successful?
In Backpacking, there isn’t kind of success or failure. The thought of Backpacking in your mind itself is a success. The planning process is success if you undertake thorough research of terrain to be visited. Execution is highly technical matter. Endeavor and Endurance is key. In Backpacking, there is nothing like ‘ success ‘ or ‘ failure ‘. Even if your planning fails, you face many encounters, there are many moments of risk, language barriers, odd experiences, still I will not call that trip as failure. Every moment you are winner because you are solving problems, marching ahead … successfully. Positive Attitude is must. One learns while backpacking in perpetual manner. If everything goes well , say we are successful. If there are many problems and still you returns to Den, then also say ‘ we are successful ‘.
As regards Central Asia tour, it was more than what I perceived before start & after in-depth study of terrain. The ground realities are totally different. We see towards Muslim countries with a gray shade in our mind. Our understanding is limited, sometimes I think. All 4 countries in Central Asia are modern, contemporary, neat and clean. A kind of ‘ Liberal Muslim Countries ‘. 4/5 ethnicities living to-gather. Russian influence is somewhat seen in packets. In Tajikistan, a week before, Hijab is banned. Wearing hijab is punishable offense. The law and order situation is perfect for tourists/local people. Discipline in traffic can not be imagined by Indians. Etc etc. Government is taking every step to preserve the history of Silk Route. All the cities which we had visited had 2500 years glorious history. The heritage is worth seeing by visiting.
The cost of living of all 4 countries is exceptionally low, I feel. Getting hostel for Rs 500 per person per night is a reasonable deal. So backpacking folks enjoy more by trying more. There are many things positive - Backpacking folks look at positive side only. Safety in the region very high. All destinations are served with ‘ tourist police ‘. In spite of huge language barrier, I felt safe while traveling day in day out with 2 ladies. People are exceptionally cooperative, to say least. Attraction towards Indians is very high. Bollywood has reached far, wide, deep since last 50/60 years.
On the above backdrop, we call ourselves ‘ यशवंत ' - We were welcomed by our near and dear. We missed Indian food for sure. So ‘ have a nice lunch ‘ was on our agenda, on top. I ate non-veg while Ulka ate veg. We all were craving for ‘ Chapati 🫓 ‘. So we ate lots of well.
From tomorrow onwards, back to routine. There is no fatigue. In the absence of fatigue, new backpacking ideas can be mushroomed. Stay tune.