Spent about 2 months (June 3 to August 10) this year travelling overland from the UK back to Hong Kong, since I study university in the UK and wanted to do some backpacking, especially exploring Central Asia. I have a Hong Kong passport so I am very fortunate since it would be difficult otherwise.
It's hard to answer where did I enjoy the most as I loved all the places I visited, but I feel turkey would be the answer, the people were the friendliest and the atmosphere, especially in Istanbul was unique. Uzbekistan was a close second, though I went in the hottest heatwave so did not spend much time outside lol, would definitely be first if the weather was tolerable. The people I met on this trip were all so welcoming and kind, and I met so many other backpackers, even in places you don't expect.
I wanted to keep the photography simple, so brought a small film camera, these are all film photos.
I had planned the trip for around a year before, but mostly figuring out the route. Everything else I just did on the fly since the schedule will change often. I tried to travel through Europe quickly as it was more expensive and I can explore it in the future, Russia, and China as I wanted to get home soon.
I want to share the route as it would have been really helpful for me researching online before. Apologies if it is a little bit messy.
The route I did was London - Eurostar to Paris - TGV Lyria from Paris to Zurich, then sleeper train from Zurich to Budapest, Hungary - Sleeper train from Budapest to Bucharest, Romania.
Train from Bucharest - Ruse - Sofia, Bulgaria. Sofia - Istanbul sleeper train. Istanbul HSR to Ankara, Ankara bus to Cappadocia/Kayseri then took the Dogu Express to Erzurum.
Took the bus from Erzurum to Hopa to cross the border to Georgia at Sarpi to Batumi. From Batumi I took a series of marshrutkas to Mestia for some trekking, and then to the capital Tbilisi.
From Tbilisi I took a sleeper train to Yerevan Armenia for a few days then came back by marshrutka. Next I took more marshrutkas to Stepantsminda then crossed the border to Russia to the city of Vladikavkaz.
From Vladikavkaz I took a few trains through Russia, to Mineraldye Vody change to Volgograd, then from the nearby city of Volzhsky a 36 hr train through the Kazakhstan steppe into Nukus, Uzbekistan.
There I took a bus to and back from the town of Moynaq where the abandoned fishing boats are, then took a taxi to Khiva. From Khiva took HSR to Bukhara, Samarkand, then Tashkent. From Tashkent I took a bus to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
From Bishkek I took a shared taxi to Karakol for the Ala Kol trek, then took a bus from Karakol to Almaty, Kazakhstan. Next I took a bus from Almaty to Urumqi, China. Now in China this was simple, taking a long 13hr HSR to Xian, then another 11 hour HSR to Hong Kong.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!