Hobo tourism/Afghan Expedition of Viktor Pinchuk

The Afghan expedition — conditional name of the project of the Russian traveler Viktor Pinchuk; the route included seven Asian countries, where the visit to Afghanistan was the dominant.

In Kabul, Kote-Sangi, 17. 10. 2008
Recommendation letter for Crimean photoartist from the National Union of Artists of Ukraine for obtaining a visa of Iran

General information

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  • Duration: 2 months.
  • Period: 25.09. 2008 — 25. 11. 2008
  • Idea: Viktor Pinchuk.
  • Number of participants: 1 (one).
  • Starting point: Samarkand
  • Number of countries visited: 7 (seven).
  • Way to get: plane.
  • Ways to move: air transport, land transport, pedestrian routes.
  • Nature of the journey: collect material, photography.
  • Purpose: information about Asian countries, prepare press material and a new book.
  • Format: hobo tour.

Visited places

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  • Uzbekistan: Samarkand, Bukhara, Termez (transit).
  • Afghanistan: Hairatan (transit), Mazar-i-Sharif, Ariyona, Kabul, Bamyan, Chardi (transit).
  • Iran: Mashhad, Tehran, Kashan, Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd, Hamadan, Kermanshah, Tabriz, Bazargan (transit).
  • Syria: Aleppo, Darat Azza, Homs, Safita, Tartus, Tadmor (Palmyra), Damascus.
  • Turkey: Urfa (transit), Gaziantep (transit), Antakya, Istanbul.
  • Jordan: Amman, Wadi Musa (Pétra), Jerash (city and ruins of the same name), Aqaba.
  • Georgia: Tbilisi, Poti (transit).

Мap of the route

The methods applied

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In the process of moving along the route the following accommodation options were used:

  • In low-budget locations designed to accommodate local poor: in Samarkand and Bukhara (railway-station rest rooms); in Iran and Syria (multiple times); in Istanbul, Amman, Aqaba, Tbilisi; in mehmunsarai (Afghanistan).
  • At the house of local people: in a small village of Ariyona on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif (Afghanistan).
  • Under the open sky: in the Syrian town of Safita on a hill using a corrugated sheet of cardboard (former package of refrigerator).
  • In the hostel: Yazd (Iran).
  • At the unknown facility belonging to the police: in the border town of Hairatan (Afghanistan).
  • On the floor of the office, provided to random street acquaintances: in Isfahan (Iran).

Outcomes and results

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Written and published in the press 25 articles (in Russian):

  • «Один день в Афганской тюрьме» — Crimean time: newspaper. — 11.12.2008. — № 137 (2669);
  • «По дорогам Сирии» — 19.02.2009. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 17 (2694);
  • «Узбегим дурдонаси» — 5.03.2009. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 23 (2700);
  • «Бродяга в Хашимитском королевстве» — 9.04.2009. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 38 (2715);
  • «Седьмая страна, или грузинский ночлег» — 30.04.2009. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 46 (2723);
  • «Ни слова по-турецки!» — 4.06.2009. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 59 (2736);
  • «Страна сэндвичей» — 18.06.2009. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 64 (2741);
  • «Эхо афганской войны» — 3.09.2009. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 95 (2772);
  • «В городе пальм» — 1.10.2009. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 103 (2780);
  • «Незабываемая Петра» — 5.11.2009. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 113 (2790);
  • «Три койко-дня в Грузии» — 24.12.2009. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 27 (2804);
  • «Посылка из Кабула» — 4.02.2010. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 9 (2814);
  • «Немного "секса" для дехкан» — 24.06.2010. — Crimean time: newspaper. — № 44 (2849);
  • «Афганский пленник» (ч. 1) — Magazine PROX: журнал. —2009 — №1 (21);
  • «Афганский пленник» (ч. 2) — Мagazine PROX: magazine. — 2010 — №1 (23);
  • «Такую Сирию турфирмы вам не покажут» — Мagazine PROX: magazine. — 2010 — №2 (24).
  • «Сон афганского узника» — 6. 08. 2009. — Republic of Crimea: newspaper. — № 27 (843);
  • «С рюкзаком по Сирии» — 10. 09. 2009. — Republic of Crimea: newspaper. — № 32 (848);
  • «Гульгула» в Бамиане» — 8. 10. 2009. — Republic of Crimea: newspaper. — № 34 (850);
  • «Ман тахи дастам…» — 21. 01. 2010. — Republic of Crimea: newspaper. — № 2 (863);
  • «Грузинский транзит» — 26. 08. 2010. — Republic of Crimea: newspaper. — № 29 (890);
  • «На пути к Али-Шадр» — 7. 10. 2010. — Republic of Crimea: newspaper. — № 34 (895);
  • «Исфахан и дырявый карман» — 20. 01. 2011. — Republic of Crimea: newspaper. — № 2 (908);
  • «Джераш — "королевство" в королевстве» — 2. 06. 2011. — Republic of Crimea: newspaper. — № 17 (923);
  • «Мечети Самарканда» — 23. 06. 2011. — Republic of Crimea: newspaper. — № 19 (925).


Problems, difficult moments

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  • Living in one of the many mehmunsarai of the poorest district of Kote Sangi, located on the outskirts of Kabul, on October 15, 2012, at about 19:00 local time, was detained by police at a checkpoint and sent to prison until the circumstances.
  • In a tiny settlement of the poor, located among the mountains outside the resort town of Aqaba (Jordan), local teenagers, for the purpose of entertainment, tried to arrange a kind of lapidation for the Russian traveler. Having hit a stone in the head, the attackers fled; the victim was assisted by one of the local people.
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Materials in Wikisource project

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Literature

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