Globe Guide Hub is run and edited by Engin, who has travelled in every destination this site covers. Every price, opening time and rule here is checked against a primary source and dated in the text; where something could not be verified, we say so. More in our editorial standards.
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Kazakhstan by Train: Classes, Fares and the 13-Hour Sleeper
Sixteen thousand kilometres of railway, almost no English coverage, and a night on a Kazakh sleeper that is genuinely worth having.
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Baikonur and the North Aral: Gagarin’s Pad Is Kazakh Again
The pad that launched Sputnik went back to Kazakhstan in 2025, and permit rules changed in June 2026 — though every operator…
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Mangystau: Kazakhstan’s Desert Just Became a World Heritage Site
UNESCO inscribed five rock-cut mosques in July 2026, and the region started charging for Bozzhyra and banned drones weeks later. The current…
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Astana: The Capital Built From Nothing, and Its New Metro
A driverless metro opened in May 2026 after fifteen years and several criminal convictions. What is worth your time in a city…
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Almaty, Charyn Canyon and Kolsai: Two Day Trips That Changed in 2026
Medeu’s rink has been shut since 2025 and Big Almaty Lake banned private vehicles in April 2026. Current fees, roads and timings…
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Kazakhstan Travel Guide 2026: The SIM Trap and the New Registration Rule
Two things changed in 2026 that almost nothing online has caught up with — the registration rules, and a phone registration requirement…
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The GBAO Permit: How It Actually Works in 2026
Three ways to get a Gorno-Badakhshan permit, a factor-of-four price gap, the extra permits for Zorkul and Lake Sarez, and one contradiction…
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The Pamir Highway in 2026: What the Situation Actually Is
We set out to write a how-to guide and stopped. The road is open and permits are being issued — and there…
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Dushanbe and Hisor: The Buddha Is in the Other Museum
The famous reclining Buddha isn’t where guides say it is, the Rohat teahouse was demolished in 2025, and most of Hisor fortress…
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Penjikent, Sarazm and the 90-Minute Road to Samarkand
A 5,500-year-old UNESCO site whose museum often has no power, a Sogdian city still underground, and the easiest border crossing in Central…