[繞道亞洲心臟的一人背包旅行] Bypassing the Heart of Asia: a Solo Backpacking Trip
(English edition available below)
從2018年5月7日開始，我將自己一個人飛到烏茲別克首都塔什干，開始為期42天的「亞洲心臟繞道」旅行。這是我這輩子第一趟超過一個月的自助旅行。
「亞洲心臟」指的是中亞，一個突厥、蒙古與伊斯蘭文化相遇並交融的地方。這趟旅行之所以稱作亞洲的心臟繞道（heart bypass），是因為路線雖然貫穿俄羅斯、中亞與中國，卻不是直接「刺穿」亞洲的心臟，而是從心臟的一端繞一大圈到另外一端。用文字說明不太清楚，看下面這張路線圖應該就比較明瞭了。
Starting May 7, 2018, I’ll be on a 42-day solo backpacking trip to Central Asia, Western/Northwestern China and Russia. The title I give this trip is “Bypassing the Heart of Asia”.
The heart of Asia, commonly known as central Asia, is a region where Turkic, Mongolian and Islamic cultures intertwine. After Rather than “piercing” through it, I will first get to one side of it, and then make a huge detour to the other side. This is why I call it a heart bypass. (I guess it still sounds vague. Check out the maps attached to this post.)
這趟旅程的發想，源自於去年的幾趟歐洲行。由於工作的限制，我幾乎都是用一個禮拜甚至更短的假期自助旅行，每次只能跑一兩個國家，沒過幾天就得回到工作崗位上繼續奮鬥；累積下來固然是去了不少地方，卻少了那種「壯遊」的暢快感。於是我開始想，有沒有可能讓自己有段更長的假期，可以來個瘋狂一點的大旅行，例如，用一個月的時間，從歐洲的最西端走陸路與海路一路回到台灣？尤其路上會經過的幾個前蘇聯國家，獨特的文化與神秘感非常吸引我。
那陣子正好也開始認真思考轉職，因此心裡便默默下了這個決定——等我換工作的時候，一定要爭取到至少一個月的間隔，利用這段長假來實現我的大旅行夢。那時候為了準備面試，每天都忙著練習演算法題目，每當卡題卡到想要翻桌放棄的時候，我就會想到自己的大旅行，想到自己有一天可以從葡萄牙的最西端出發、搭著火車穿過歐亞大陸，最後站在臺馬輪的甲板上，看著基隆港從地平線上慢慢浮現，以熟悉的家鄉風景作為一個月旅行的終點，那會是何等難忘的感動呀！想著想著，就有動力繼續解演算法題了。
後來找工作的過程大致順利，但這趟大旅行的規劃則不然——我很快就發現，事情根本就沒有我想的那麼簡單！
首先，陸路旅行最大的挑戰之一其實是簽證。在我規劃原本的路線上，持台灣護照前往俄羅斯、哈薩克、烏茲別克、吉爾吉斯都需要申請簽證，而這幾個國家的簽證都相當難辦，必須要先購買邀請函（每張索價美金70-100元），然後親自跑到位在華盛頓特區的大使館辦理，就算一切順利也要等上一兩週，然後再親自回去領取，簽證費用則都至少是美金100元起跳。落地簽？有（俄羅斯除外），但是要從機場入境才有落地簽，走陸路只能用正式簽證。這四張簽證如果全部辦下來，時間和金錢根本不是我能負擔得起的。
其次，一個月的時間看似很長，其實根本就不夠！就算我決定重點放在中亞、跳過所有歐洲的景點不停留，每個國家最後可能也只夠停留三四天，而且其中2/3的時間可能都在坐車。花了這麼多時間和金錢辦到簽證，哪有可能一國只去走馬看花個三四天？無怪乎那些真正有心的背包客旅行都至少是三個月起跳，甚至半年一年，大概因為只有這樣才能充分利用每張簽證的價值吧！
最後我只好開始妥協，先放棄了從歐洲最西端出發的想法，接著決定允許少數一兩段不走陸路（以便拿到比較省錢省事的落地簽或電子簽），後來又努力減少造訪的國家數量。最後，就產生了這趟先往東再往西、在中亞和蒙古周圍繞了一大圈的奇特路線。
第一週：烏茲別克
第二週：吉爾吉斯
第三、四週：中國新疆、甘肅、寧夏、內蒙古
第五、六週：俄羅斯從東向西橫跨
為什麼要先一路向東、繞了一大圈之後才入境俄羅斯，而非從俄羅斯開始一路往東？這樣規劃的原因是，俄羅斯簽證是世界知名的難搞加上昂貴，但正巧在2018年，趁世界盃在俄羅斯舉行之際，自助旅行者聽到了千載難逢的福音：凡購買世界盃門票者可以在球賽期間免簽證入境俄羅斯，整個開放期間是6/4到7/25。由於我的旅行得在6/17結束，如果要利用世界盃門票入境俄羅斯，就只能利用6/4-6/17這段期間。因此我只好先把中亞和絲路走完，然後再往上以由東向西的方式橫貫俄羅斯。
寫著這篇文章的此時，有點不敢相信自己竟然已經找好新工作、從前公司離職、申請好所有簽證，彷彿幾天前還在為了轉職奮鬥，現在才驚覺兩天之後就要出發了！
這趟旅行對我來說有很多個第一次：第一次一口氣旅行這麼長的時間、第一次前往中亞、第一次走陸路跨越亞洲與歐洲，除此之外還有另外一個第一次：第一次嘗試一路用臉書專頁的形式分享我的行程，以及路上見到的人事物。過去我比較喜歡先把旅程跑完，等凱旋歸來之後再把旅程中最美好、最精華的部分呈現出來（當然也有很多時候是根本就沒有認真寫）；這次選擇用同步的方式紀錄，意味著我寫下的文字將更加貼近自己當下的感受，路上經歷的好與壞、成功與失敗都更可能被攤在別人面前。不確定這種方式寫出來的文字會是如何，但就把這當成一個實驗性的寫作計畫吧，我這樣想著。
歡迎加入我的旅程。我們後天晚上出發！
This grand trip idea started last year, after a few European trips I took. Due to the limit of my paid time-off, those trips lasted only one week or even shorter. Then I started thinking: how cool would it be if I can get a longer time off, let’s say like 1 month, to travel from Europe to Asia through all the former Soviet Union countries (which seem extraordinarily attractive to me after my Baltic States trip last year)? And I knew that the best timing for me to do that would be the gap between two jobs. Therefore, I started conceiving this trip while looking for a new job. The job search went fairly smoothly, but the trip planning soon faced some difficulties.
The biggest difficulty is visa. As a Taiwanese passport holder, visa is required for me to enter Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyz, and those countries are notorious for their lengthy and costly visa application process. For each visa, I have to buy a letter of invitation (LOI), go to the consulate in Washington DC in person, wait for one or two weeks, and then pick up the visa in person. Each visa can take a month and cost $200-300. Things have changed recently -- visa waiver is now available for many western countries, but not for Taiwan citizens, unfortunately.
Another difficulty is time. One month may seem long, but to travel from the westernmost point of Europe (Lisbon) to Taiwan without flying, it’s still way too short. Even if I take train through all the European countries without making stops, I’d probably have only 3-4 days to spend in each central Asian country, and 2/3 of the time I’ll be on the train. This is not the way I would like to travel!
As my original plan was quickly proven unrealistic, I began to make compromises: giving up the attempt to start from the westernmost point of Europe, allowing myself to fly once (in order to enter using visa on arrival, which is applicable only if you fly in), and reducing the number of countries to visit. Finally, I came up with this “heart bypass” itinerary:
Week 1: Uzbekistan
Week 2: Heading east to Kyrgyzstan
Weeks 3-4: Heading east/northeast to western and northwestern China
Weeks 5-6: From Russian Far East heading west to Golden Ring, the European part of Russia
Some may wonder about this: why do I travel eastward into China first and turn westward to go back to the European part of Russia first, instead of starting from European Russia and go eastward all the way? This is because Russia has a visa waiver policy during the 2018 FIFA World Cup: all foreign ticket buyers can enter Russia between June 4 and July 25 without a visa. Since my trip has to end on June 17, the only period for me to take advantage of that would be June 4-17. That’s why I have to do Central Asia and China first and enter Russia later.
Still cannot believe the trip is just around the corner! I have found a new job, wrapped up my previous job, and been approved for all visas. This is my first time trying to write about my trip while still traveling -- previously I always did that after trips. Writing while traveling means the narratives would probably be closer to what I actually see and feel on the way. I’m not a big fan of broadcasting or checking-in everywhere to show off my trip, but I’d like to do this “near-time writing” as an experiment, and see how my travel and my writing would both be made different.
Welcome to join my trip. Get yourself ready to head out with me on Sunday night!
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