Location Overview

Russia and Northwest Asia offer a travel experience that spans centuries and continents. In Russia's far east, the city of Vladivostok opens to the Pacific, closer to Tokyo than to Moscow, and offers visitors sweeping views from its suspension bridges and steep streets. Moving inland, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) experiences some of the coldest inhabited temperatures on Earth its residents carry on with reindeer herding, diamond mining, and festivals celebrating endurance and the northern spirit.

Northwest Asia is a region where ancient empires once thrived and modern adventures now unfold. Stretching across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, this part of the world is home to some of the most captivating historical cities on Earth. Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva in Uzbekistan are living testaments to the grandeur of the Silk Road, while Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan offer dramatic mountain ranges such as the Pamirs and Tien Shan, where travelers can sleep in traditional yurts under a dome of stars. In Kazakhstan, the singing dunes of Altyn-Emel National Park produce an eerie, musical hum when the wind brushes across the sand. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan surprises visitors with the surreal Darvaza gas crater, a fiery pit that has been burning for decades in the middle of the Karakum Desert.