Don't be a douche, it reads "Avoid non-essential travel to the areas within 30 km of the borders with Afghanistan," I am heading out for my walk. This was the last social media post and they were heading north I gather. Does that look like 30Km from the Afganistan border?
The Tsarnaev brothers came from Dagestan and visited their country before the Boston Marathon bombing. Russians warned the US about the Tsarnaev brothers which our intelligence services ignored! Lots of muslim extremists in the former Soviet republics. That is why Russia has a no tolerance attitude because they have been attacked by these Islamic terrorists within their own borders! One more reason the US should have cordial relations with Russia because Islamic terrorists in the US will always be a threat to us! Russia can provide intelligence info to the US!
“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.” ― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar Like so many, you are a big mouth coward. Find some homeless to snigger at. They were in an area considered up until that point safe enough and they did the right thing traveling in a group and that is that. They will have taken a route followed by thousands before. The type of people who make the world a great place, not sniveling snickering toads like you boys. You have no courage keyboard warriors.
BS. Kazakhstan has some amazing scenery and no terrorism to speak of. You're effectively saying one shouldn't go to Connecticut because Alabama is backwards.
I've never been to Tajikistan.... I certainly respect your opinion. I'm sure it does have beautiful scenery, most mountainous regions do. Regarding terrorism however.... since you brought up good ole 'Bama (Roll Tide).... Its farther to go from Orange Beach to Muscle Shoals than it is to go from Kabul to Tajikistan. Now I'm no border security expert.... but I'm gonna say that mountainous border region between these two (or at least one) shithole country's is pretty much wide f'n open. You can say what you will about experiencing new cultures blah blah blah.... but stupid naive tree hugging vegetarian Millennial's from California out to prove there is no evil in the world have no fucking business being anywhere near Kabul or the surrounding areas unless they want to end up starring in a beheading video or creating a nightmare for our State Department and the corresponding 60 Minute's interview with their whining parents. Scenery aside.... they're f'n stupid. Period. If you want beautiful scenery and the experience of meeting new cultures.... bike your ass around Italy and come home in one piece, not in a body bag.
Well, I was replying to your comment that every "-stan country" is a shitty destination. For many of us, Italy would be boring as hell and way overdone. But I do agree that it's stupid to go biking that near Afghanistan/Pakistan. Meanwhile doing it in Kazakhstan near the Chinese border is not really dangerous. Some years ago in Europe, a bunch of "cool guys" went to bike around Lebanon and Syria. They got kidnapped and the government paid an unknown amount as ransom. I was fuming that my tax euros went to bail those idiots out.
I was looking at Kazakhstan on the map.... you don't hear about it a lot. Big place. My bad for painting all the "stans" with one brush. It does look cool.