The Blank Spot on the Map – Central Asia

Travelers who are making plans to see the world often think of the usual places. Australia, Thailand, Japan, China, Europe, maybe even India, Brazil, or Kenya. Conspicuously absent from most agendas is the magical land of Central Asia. Central Asia is a a veritable blank spot on most top ten lists and the reason for this is as intangible as the ideas of the land itself.
Ask someone what they know about Central Asia and you might get an answer that makes sense. More likely you will get a confusion of India, China, and Borat. Yes, Borat.

It’s a sad thing that the amount of knowledge most people have of this vast area of land is a spoof movie that makes the residents look like village bumpkins and the landscape look like Russia. While it may be true that there are certainly villages, bumpkins, and Russian landscapes- this is hardly the entire picture. …