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.

General information

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

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

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

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).

In 2018 the book "Afghan prisoner" was published, which describes the route and adventures of the expedition participant.
One issue in the series of TV stories "Around the world with empty pockets" (with the assistance of the Crimean TV and Radio Company) was dedicated to the Afghan expedition of the Russian traveler.

Problems, difficult moments

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.