Visas and Accommodation: How to Avoid Intourist?
[Editor's note: Intourist has been renamed in Uzbekistan (because of the
independence): they are now called sth like "Uzbek Tourist",
but the modus operandi is still the same: "let's rip off
our foreign guests".]
From: Edward Hasbrouck (ehasbrouck@igc.apc.org)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Re: Uzbekistan: travel-info/advice sought
Date: December 1993
Whittell (Cadogan Guides) recommends (as do I) that those without
contacts, and who can't find them, to arrange an invitation directly to
one of the Central Asian republics enter via Russia. There are still
few controls on either air or land border crossings between Russia and
other republics, and once in any of the other republics it is usually
possible to find a way to arrange a visa (if it is even necessary).
Russian visas (other than tourist visas for those who have pre-paid all
their accommodations through Intourist, which is presumably just what
you are trying to avoid) also require a Russian sponsor. But since so
many more private firms in Russia than in Central Asia have been
licensed for foreign economic activity, it is far easier to find a
Russian firm that will, for a price, sponsor you for a business visa.
You need never meet your sponsor; our agency, several listed in
Whittell's book, and many others can arrange one for you for a fee.
(Since the consulates frown on the practice, it can't be openly
advertised. Look for euphemistic references to "visa support".) We
don't really make any money selling invitations, but it enables people
to go (and to buy air tickets from us) who wouldn't otherwise be able
to do so.
The pace of privatization in Uzbekistan has been so much slower than in
Russia that you are unlikely to find a commercial sponsor. On the
other hand, the most likely places to find one would be either in
Turkey (where all the ex-Soviet Central Asian republics have embassies,
direct flights, and expanding commercial and other ties) or in New
Delhi (which for most of the Soviet period was the sole place outside
the USSR with direct flights and commercial and tourism exchange with
Uzbekistan). I have heard a rumor that some travel agents for
Uzbekistan Airways in New Delhi also sell business invitations, but I
haven't yet been able to track down any such. If anyone finds one,
please post with name and fax or Telex number!
Edward Hasbrouck
Travel Time
1 Hallidie Plaza, Suite 406, San Francisco, CA 94102, U.S.A.
1-415-677-0799, fax 1-415-391-1856
1-800-956-9327 (1-800-9-LOW-FARE) toll-free in the U.S.A.
---
From: pf@bilkent.edu.tr (Pierre Flener)
To: ehasbrouck@igc.apc.org (Edward Hasbrouck)
Subject: Uzbekistan visas
Date: July 1994
Visas to Uzbekistan can be obtained through a "visa support" agency in
Istanbul. Proceed as follows:
(1) Send $15 cash (by registered [air]mail, if you prefer) to:
Sumpak
Recet PaSa Sokak 3, Kat 3
Taksim MeydanI
80090 istanbul
Turkey
+90/212/235-0211 (voice)
together with a xerox of the front pages of your passport, and the
expected length of your stay in Uzbekistan. Only one person there
seems to speak English (and very awkwardly so), so you can also call
her first for some other information: speak slooowly and simply to her,
and refrain from conditional sentences, and from sentences referring to
the future.
[Editor's note: in February 1996, somebody reported to me that this agency
now charges $150, and that you must be in istanbul for the
procedure.]
What she will do is get in touch with Sumpak in Tashkent, and ask them
to Telex an invitation ("davetiye" in Turkish) for you to the Uzbek
embassy/consulate of your choice (I think it helps to find out that
Telex number yourself, and tell it to her, so that she can tell
Sumpak/Tashkent).
Alternatively, send her $110 and your passport (hmmm?), and she will do
the whole "business" for you, via the Uzbek consulate in istanbul.
She also sells flight-tickets from istanbul to Tashkent, with
Uzbekistan Airlines (about $600 RT, $400 OW).
(2) About 10 days after she has received your money and xerox, start
calling the chosen Uzbek embassy/consulate to enquire whether your
invitation has arrived. If yes, you'll get a tourist visa ($40 for 7
days, $50 for 15 days, $60 for 1 month) on the spot (no questions
asked, bring one recent photo, and you'll have to fill out a standard
form) from the chosen Uzbek embassy/consulate. You won't get a
business-visa this way (because Sumpak invitees get tourist-visas), but
it doesn't matter. Just make sure that all the cities that you want to
visit are mentioned in your visa, and not just Tashkent. The visa is
single entry and will bear the exact range of validity (so make sure
you know your date of arrival when going to the consul).
The 10-day processing period is of course awkward, and one doesn't
necessarily live near an Uzbek embassy/consulate, but you can always
set things up such that you can pick up the visa on your way to
Uzbekistan (say on a transit through istanbul).
Just a few addresses for your information:
Embassy of Uzbekistan
Ahmet Rasim Sokak 14
Cankaya, Ankara, Turkey
+90/312/439-2740 (voice)
+90/312/440-9222 (fax)
46028 (Telex) (they pretend there are no letters!?)
open for visa matters: Mon/Wed/Fri, 09:00-12:00
Consulate of Uzbekistan
Istanbul
+90/212/237-1993 (voice)
---
From: pf@bilkent.edu.tr (Pierre Flener)
To: ehasbrouck@igc.apc.org (Edward Hasbrouck)
Subject: Uzbekistan accommodation and visas
Date: August 1994
In Uzbekistan, absolutely contact Raisa Gareeva in Bukhara: she is an
Intourist renegade who is just starting her own company (currently
called Salom) aiming at business & tourism assistance services.
She can help you on visa matters (including delegating somebody to the
Tashkent airport in case you will arrive w/o a visa), and has a small
grassroots chain of B&B's ($5-$20/night, plus ~$4 extra for home-
cooking dinners). This isn't exactly cheap either (compared to the
buying power of the $), but at least the money goes to the locals.
I ran into her by mere chance, and she set me up with wonderful people
in Bukhara ($10, very central) and Urgench ($10, near the airport, but
they will chauffeur you around in their car). She also has places in
Tashkent/Samarkand/etc.
Careful with add-on services: they are all payable.
But in case you make clear that you are on a shoestring budget, she
will not register you with whomever she has to register you (police?,
OVIR?), which will save you a chunk of money. Make sure, though, that
you don't run into OVIR representatives and/or talk about your bargain:
I nearly got arrested in Khiva and had to bullshit my way out of a
conversation with a nosy OVIR "policeman" who hadn't yet woken up to
the fact that not all foreigners can blow $50+ a night in Intourist
hotels...
You may contact Raisa Gareeva (fluent English, Russian) directly as
follows:
voice: +7/36522/37.277
fax: +7/3712/68.94.27 [preferred way of communication]
or indirectly via:
attn. Raisa Gareeva
TACIS Business Communication Center
P.O. Box 515
Navoi 18, 1st floor
Tashkent, Uzbekistan 700011
voice: +7/3712/41.01.40 or 41.03.90
fax: +7/3712/41.09.30
email: bcctash@tacis.silk.glas.apc.org
I found her rates unbeatable (unless you have friends there, or plan on
sleeping in the parks), as even the decrepit Sputnik/etc joints started
charging foreigners in cash-dollars, at outrageously inflated prices.
I promised Raisa to circulate her address to travel agents and friends,
so here we go. Don't hesitate to further circulate this. I only have
a small favor to ask in return: tell Raisa that _I_ sent you to her
(just say "the guy from Luxembourg", that will suffice).
Similarly with those who want to go directly to:
Mubinjon
Ichoni Pir 4
Bukhara, Uzbekistan
voice: +7/36522/42.005 (only Tadjik, Uzbek/Turkish, Russian)
[walk 200m perpendicularly from the _dead_ tree at the
Lyab-i-Khauz pool towards the Hotel Bukhara; their house
is an absolute gem, none of my friends believes that I slept
there when I show them my photos]
or to:
Vakhat/Gula/Svetlana
Urgench, Uzbekistan (near the airport; difficult to describe where)
voice: +7/?????/64-658 or 40-526 (only Uzbek and Russian; Gula
speaks some English)
[they can pick you up with their car]
---
From: irce@urc.tue.nl (Guy)
To: pf@bilkent.edu.tr (Pierre Flener)
Subject: Uzbekistan
Date: January 1996
The two-weeks trip I did with my brother was in October 1995. Thru
"your" Raisa we wanted to arrange a visa but this turned out to be a
total hassle. One day we spent in Bishkek (a day before leaving to
Tashkent by train) trying to receive the invitation at the post office
fax service. This turned out to be impossible since the whole day
there was no electricity in Bukhara from which the fax had to be sent.
So better to do the whole thing in Tashkent. There we spent two days
trying to obtain the invitation and the visas. The nightmare will be
described later in my travel report but I can already give some
statistical results:
- 3 visits to the Tashkent central post office
(total time spent there: 5 hours)
- 2 visits to the consular section of the Ministry of Foreign affaires
at the airport
- 3 visits to the Ministry of Foreign affaires in the centre
- 1 visit to hotel Uzbekistan to find the french embassy
- 1 visit to the (moved) french embassy (in order to verify the
invitation which later appeared to be useless)
- 1 visit to the OVIR in the northern Railwaystation
- 1 visit to the OVIR in the busstation
- 1 visit to the (at that time closed) OVIR in the southern Railway
station.
Updates of the Cadogan Guide
From: piercy@mprgate.mpr.ca (Don Piercy)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.asia
Subject: Central Asia (ex-USSR) Trip Report Part 1 - Uzbekistan
Date: March 1995
These notes are corrections or additions to "Central Asia - The
Practical Handbook" by Giles Whittell, published by Cadogan Guides.
This is the most current and complete guide for independent travel in
Central Asia and was carried by most (of the very few) travelers I
met. My route was from Beijing west through China to Urumqi; this is a
well traveled route, and Lonely Planet's "China" and the hundreds of
other independent travelers make this easy. Once you cross into the
CIS everything changes. Thus the following notes.
I only speak English and am learning a few Russian words as I go along.
English is rarely spoken in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, and
Uzbekistan are all I have visited and can speak to). I have figured
out the Cyrillic alphabet and this makes writing questions and short
statements easier and assists with finding buildings. About 1/2 the
other travelers have fair Russian, if they are not around a small
Russian-English dictionary, and handwaving can often get you by. These
countries are very poor and have inexperienced government (much was
previously supplied by Moscow). The people in the tourism departments
try hard and have some good ideas, but tourism is a low priority,
independent travelers lower still. The ones who are fluent in English
are few and far between - please encourage these underpaid people.
UZBEKISTAN
Visas: Available from embassy in Almaty (Alma-Ata) and Bishkek
(I believe). Also in Moscow and Turkey through travel agents with
contacts.
[Editor's note: also see "How to avoid Intourist" above.]
1 week tourist visa US$40, 2 weeks US$50, 1 month US$70. Visa will
take 8-10 days, no hotel or transport booking necessary. The Almaty
consul advised me that it would be faster if I got one at Tashkent
airport. If you have a valid tourist visa from one country, the others
will respect it as a 3 day "transit" visa (in Uzbekistan transit allows
stopping in Tashkent only). So after obtaining a 1 month tourist visa
in Kirghizstan, I went up on Saturday to Tashkent and the airport. On
the 3rd floor, west end of the international terminal, is the consular
section of the foreign ministry. They asked me for my vouchers (hotel,
transport). Off with the airport Intourist to book hotels (public bus
didn't require a voucher from them). I didn't have enough cash to
pre-pay, so I took advantage of the 3 day "transit" and on Monday went
to Intourist at the Hotel Uzbekistan, which has a bank that takes
travelers' cheques. Their week-day staff were most helpful and set me
up with vouchers so that I could get my tourist visa. Your visa must
list all cities you will stay in and it is checked at _all_ hotels.
About 1/2 of the people who visited Uzbekistan had been harassed by
immigration police and $100 fines and expulsions were common for any
violations. At the bus station immigration officials must OK all
foreigners purchasing tickets out of Uzbekistan.
[Editor's note: Exception: from Urgench to Tashauz (Turkmenistan).]
Staying in private homes is forbidden and will result in fines and
expulsion.
The Russian embassy in Beijing will still issue Uzbekistan visas but
only with Intourist vouchers. I would expect a separate Uzbek embassy
in the next year or so, phone Russian embassy to get current status.
Money: In all Central Asia you need unmarked, crisp, unworn 1990 or
later (anti-counterfeiting strip) US bills. 5, 10, and 20s are most
useful. I've had nearly new 1990 bills with just a few marks on them
rejected. Often persistence helps getting your money changed. Also
hotel banks are usually the least picky. Travelers' cheques are now
fairly usable. The bank in the Intourist hotels in Tashkent,
Samarkand, Bukhara, and Urgench (generally open 9-12 Mon-Sat) will
change US$ TC (and some other currencies) to Cym at the same rate as
US$ cash. Oct 94 1US$ -> 20-21 Cym; at the hard to find "National
Bank, Foreign Economic Activities" branches in Tashkent and Samarkand
you can get US$ TC -> US$ cash for a 3% commission (in China, at the
Bank of China, the commission is about 1.4%). In Samarkand, on Ul.
Engelsa between Ul. Frunze and Ul. Uzbekistanskaya, Mon-Fri 9-12 (real
banker's hours). Lots of people want to change US$ in Central Asia,
but this black market usually has almost the same rate as the banks and
hotels.
TASHKENT
Bus: Station is at end of Blue subway line, Bishkek ~8h at night, 122
Cym. Almaty 14.5h at night, 171 Cym.
Train: Subway station "Tashkent" on Red line. Foreigners advance
tickets purchase at south end of the advance ticket building
(co-located with an exchange bank) which is 1 block east and then 1/2
block north of the station and booking office, 8:30-17:00.
Metro: Bus station is at end of Blue line, 6 stations in is the
Red/Blue line exchange and Hotel Yoshlik, 2 more on Blue line is Hotel
Uzbekistan. 4 stations south of exchange on Red line is the railway
station. 2 south of the exchange on Red is the Cosmonatov station.
0.3 Cym for a metro token.
Embassies: China - tel 33-39-45, 33-13-96. Visas MWF 9-12. Flying to
China - easy to get visa, overland - good luck (Almaty is much
easier). UK - tel 53-49-34, 53-36-85.
Old bazaar: typical of most Central Asia, more goods and sellers than
buyers.
Museums: Antiques, Art and History closed except for tours, see
Intourist to join one.
Where to stay: Hotel Uzbekistan, $69/night single, on Blue metro line.
Hotel Russia, $15+/night. Hotel Yoshlik $10-15/room and $5 for
mandatory breakfast (claim to leave before 8am, or stomach illness to
get out of it), 5th floor cafe has kafir (yogurt) 5 cym/half liter
(good deal), soup 25 Cym. If you can speak Russian, Sabha (in book)
will provide meals, accommodation and sightseeing for $20/day.
Restaurants aren't so cheap anymore, try Ul. Karla Marka near Zerafshan
restaurant or outdoor cafe just 1 block south of Hotel Uzbekistan.
SAMARKAND
Bus: Only one bus to Urgench, mini-bus 31 & 19 go between bus station
and Sarakany Hotel.
Hotels: The new India-Uzbek Hotel, like the one in Bukhara, is still
not open (guess the impact of a huge modern western hotel on the
existing Intourist ones!). Hotel Zerafshan, US$4/182 Cym is now
cheapest (hot shower in morning and late evenings only) and reception
was OK.
Eating: Ul. Lenina between Ul. Uzbesistanskaya and Ul. Frunze is now a
bazaar with lots of food stalls (plov 5-6 Cym & shashlyk). Breakfast
at Hotel Zerafshan's restaurant is good, but dinner is relatively
expensive.
Sights: The Registan, Shah-y-Zinda ensemble and Gur Emir absolutely
must be seen (take lots of film -- fast speed for low light interiors, a
lot of high contrast sun and shade also). Khodja Nisbator mosque and
the Ulug Bek observatory and Bibi-Khanym mosque were also good. I
didn't hire a guide, but it might be worth it. For both Bibi-Khanym
Mosque and Khazret Khyzr, the best views (pictures) are from outside (I
would recommend just viewing the Khazaret Khyzr ceiling from the
sidewalk below). Ulug Bek observatory is at the end of marshrutnoe
taxi #17, Afrasiab museum should be on the map, just where the road to
Chai-Khana Siab (restaurant) tees off. Admission to sights 5-10 Cym,
+10 Cym for camera at some.
BUKHARA
Bus: Only one bus to Urgench, arrives at 23:00, so I got a ride in an
Intourist minivan for 200 Cym to driver. 8h by bus from Tashkent at
night (I arrived at 2:00 because I believed a schedule at Tashkent bus
station which I thought said 6:00), 4+h by bus to Samarkand.
Hotels: I stayed at Hotel Zerafshan, 128 Cym though bargaining may
lower this (160 / 2 nights), at 2 am I didn't. Cold water only,
shower, fridge, and TV (note this hotel was bought by a western firm
and may close for upgrading). But a cheaper alternative is a guest
house, on a street south of Lyab-i-Khauz, look for the 5 Olympic rings
and a bear, $5 incl. breakfast and shower (2nd hand info, did not
confirm)
[Editor's note: I was at Mobinjon's in August 1994, and paid $10/night.
See "How to avoid Intourist" above.]
or contact Kasim (ex-Intourist, some English) in shop to right of Art
Museum where Ul. Lenina and Ul. Oktyabrskaya meet (guide, accommodation,
transport).
Banks: There may be a branch for foreign economic affairs, ask at
Intourist.
Sights: To get your money's worth from Bukhara I would recommend hiring
a guide for a day. I was very happy with Noila (mentioned on page 30,
miles from the Bukhara section) who works for the museums and can be
found at the Ark. Others recommended Risa of Intourist (ask at Hotel
Bukhoro - alternate spelling of Bukhara).
[Editor's note: Maybe that's the Raisa of "How to avoid Intourist"? If
yes, she's no longer with Intourist, but freelancing now.]
When touring visit the Merchant's House, a rare restored rich person's
house from the 1910s; it's great, have tea and dress up in era's
costumes. Your guide should take you to all the local sights (each is
just a short walk apart) and to the outlying Sitorai-Mokhi-Khusa (OK)
and Bakhautdin (I wish I had visited it, from others' descriptions). I
cannot comment on Chor-Bakr. Lunch at Lyab-i-Khauz is pleasant, but
dinner choice seemed to be shashlyk where you could find it!
URGENCH
Bus: Tashkent 107 Cym, Samarkand 80 Cym (18:00-6:00), Bokhara 50 Cym
(18:00-2:00). This was my bus ride-from-hell, the first 8h to Bukhara
I was one of 27 people standing in the aisle. The bus seats 50 or so,
if I shuffled wrong I would end up with only room for one foot on the
floor, all stuff in the aisle was sat & stood upon, fortunately I have
a small pack & jammed it safely into the meager luggage rack. At
Bukhara 15 people got off so I could sit, amongst the debris in the
aisle. Another traveler got a seat the day before, just before it
left. I think I ran into a wedding or something. They would not sell
me an advance ticket on my way into Khiva, but I advise you to try!
Make sure your visa says Khiva and don't stay in Urgench. Mini-bus to
Khiva leaves when full from in front of Urgench bus station & Khiva
east gate, 5 Cym.
KHIVA
Hotels: You only want to see the old part (inside the walls) so stay
there! You can stay at the Madrasa just inside the west gate ($15-10 a
night, bargain) or just behind it (south-east corner) is Hotel Orkench
(for $10-6, including 3 good meals, cold showers and very pleasant
rooms).
Sights: You can wander about all the sights in 1+ day, you can also get
food at the bazaar just outside the east gate. Many sights charge
around 5 Cym, on your way out! Ask on your way in. If you have time,
this is a place to just hang out & rest for an extra day or so.
Inside the walls are maintained the old architecture and a mellow
style.
CONCLUSION
I spent 9 days in Uzbekistan but 2 weeks would allow a less brutal pace
& time in Shakhrisabz and the Fergana valley, but make sure they are on
your visa. I found the cost of accommodation and transportation
(crowded, packed aisles & odd arrival times) the biggest problems. If
you have time, day buses (not much to see, deserts) Tashkent-Samarkand-
Bukhara-Khiva & fly back (if you can afford it) would be much preferable
to my T-B-K-S-T routine (max. night buses).
---
From: mseltzer@interlog.com (Mark Seltzer)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.asia
Subject: Re: Uzbekistan
Date: March 1995
VISAS: as noted, we received visas at the airport with accommodation
pre-paid. It appears easy to get a visa for the duration of one's
intended visit if you have pre-paid accommodation for the first and
last nights. We met a number of people who had entered Uzbekistan by
land from other CIS states without visas. Their stories were wildly
different, from some Australians who had almost been arrested, and
spent 9 days in Tashkent trying desperately to sort our their
situation, to some Americans who got a visas in a morning. Generally
the visa situation is more strict and difficult than implied by the
Cadogan guide, although some people still seem to get away with
anything. An important note for UK passport holders: there is some
agreement between the UK and Uzbek governments that UK citizens can
move freely about in Uzbekistan without having every city that they
want to visit written in their visa. We met a chap from the UK who had
a copy of this agreement (in Russian) and showed it whenever necessary,
I rather doubt that you could get by if you did not have a copy of the
agreement.
MONEY: during our visit the som went from 22 to 23 to the U.S. dollar.
It is impossible to use Traveller's Cheques or Credit Cards except at
the Hotel Uzbekistan in Tashkent. Even the official Intourist hotels in
Bokhara and Samarkand do not take Traveller's Cheques much less credit
cards. You MUST have cash. The Cadogan guide recommends lots of small
bills, but I found that wherever I had to pay in US$, I was able to get
change in US$. You certainly do not need to bring a huge stack of 1
and 5 dollar bills, as I did. Don't change too much money into som, for
anything that you can pay with som is inexpensive, and it is hard to go
through a lot of som! Some typical prices: taxi rides within
Bokhara/Samarkand 10 to 20 som depending on distance, entrance fees to
museums/historical sites 5 to 15 som, meal at a street stall 5 som,
meal at a hotel restaurant with vodka 10 to 20 som.
GUIDEBOOKS: the Cadogan guide is essential, but already quite out of
date. Here are some corrections & additions to the book (in addition
to what I have already mentioned) [square brackets indicate page
numbers]:
GETTING TO CENTRAL ASIA: [7] PIA have one flight per week, currently on
Monday, from Peshawar to Tashkent. [10] Regent Holidays will arrange
Uzbek tours & accommodation but NOT the Almaty-Urumqi train [14] PIA do
demand to see evidence that you have an Uzbek visa before you board
your flight though I suspect that you can avoid this by claiming that
you are in transit to somewhere else. [16] China Xinjiang Airlines now
have weekly flights between Islamabad and Urumqi
PRACTICAL: Electricity [24] the plug size (the diameter of the 2 round
pins) is larger in Uzbekistan than in Pakistan & China. I found it
useful to have an adapter that ended in two bare wires which I could
stick into any outlet. Guides [30] here (and in several places later)
the book claims that you can join an Intourist group to visit Uzbek
museums, etc. I tried this many times, and the conversation always
went: 'Do you have tours to the museum?' 'Yes' 'Is there a tour today?'
'No' 'When is the next tour?' 'I don't know'. Police [39] For 'never
offer a policeman a bribe', read 'never offer a policeman a bribe
yourself, always get someone else to do it'. Tourist Information [42]:
there is no Intourist office at the Hotel Uzbekistan anymore, only an
Uzbektour office that sells air tickets.
TASHKENT: Getting To and From [94] The desk in the Hotel Uzbekistan
charges US$8 service charge to get a domestic ticket, and an additional
4% if you pay with a credit card. Tourist Information [98] there is no
Tourist Information in the Hotel Uzbekistan. On the 3rd floor there is
a Business Center where you might get someone to tell you something if
they are not busy with businessmen sending faxes. Museums [101] The
Aybek museum is closed. All museums: in my limited experience there are
no Intourist tours to any museum. Eating Out [106] the restaurant on
the ground floor of the Hotel Uzbekistan is also 'hard currency',
prices are very high (US$15 per person and up). All rooms include a
breakfast buffet. Entertainment [107]: The Hotel Uzbekistan does not
sell tickets to the Opera. From the box office the tickets range from
10 cents to $1.75.
SAMARKAND: Getting Around [115] Delete the paragraph about bus 10. In 3
days I never saw a bus 10 near any of the locations mentioned in that
paragraph. Tourist Information [116]: to hire an Intourist car and
driver to Shakhrisabz is US$72 not US$20. We hired a taxi for US$20, I
very much doubt you could get one 'much more cheaply'. [128] The Khodja
Akrar madrasa is in roughly the same direction as indicated on the map,
but very much further away (it would be off the bottom of the page).
Where to Stay [128]: The Zerafshan was US$8 double, with hot water from
0700-0900 and 2000-2300 most days. Eating Out [129]: The Chinese
restaurant has closed and is now a shashlyk restaurant. The restaurants
in the Zerafshan were quite OK (they actually had beef shashlyk for
those who tire of mutton fat).
BOKHARA: The Zindan [145]: we were told that it often closes early and
when we went there at 4pm it was already closed. Where to Stay [156]
Hotel Bukhoro is US$60 double with no meals. The AT&T satellite credit
card phone does not work. The Varakhsha has gone up from $2 to $30.
KHIVA: Getting to and From [163]: It took a lot of negotiation to get
the taxi fare from Urgench to Khiva down to 200 som. There is no
Aeroflot/Uzbekistan Airways office in the Amin Khan madrasa. Where to
Stay [169] The Hotel Orkanchi is US$10 per person full board, and is
located just south of the Amin Khan madrasa.
OTHER BOOKS: For historical background on Tashkent, Samarkand, Bokhara
and Khiva, I recommend the appropriate chapters of Kathleen Hopkirk's A
Traveller's Companion to Central Asia (John Murray, London, 1993). This
book concentrates on recent (18th century and later) history; and if
you get hooked, her husband Peter Hopkirk's The Great Game (John
Murray, London, 1990) is over 500 pages of similar excitement and
adventure. Hopkirk's Setting the East Ablaze (John Murray, London,
1984) is an entertaining (and often shocking) account of the Bolshevik
battle for Central Asia from WW I to WW II.
For information on the current social and political situation in
Uzbekistan and the other Central Asian CIS countries, 'The Resurgence
of Central Asia: Islam or Nationalism?' by Ahmed Rashid (Oxford
University Press / Zed Books 1994 is excellent.
---
From: robins@vsopve.cern.ch (Simon Robins)
To: pf@cs.bilkent.edu.tr (Pierre Flener)
Subject: Uzbekistan
Date: August 1995
I was in Uzbekistan last summer for two weeks.
o Visa
I arrived overland in Uzbekistan from Kazakhstan, with a Kazakh visa
that was still valid for a few days. This was very easy to get (in
Islamabad - I then went from Pakistan thru western China and into
Kazakhstan) and I should have got it for much longer than I did because
Uzbeki authorities (and some hotels) were quite happy that I had this
visa even though I had nothing for Uzbekistan. In principle I suspect
that I could have simply kept telling officials that I had just arrived
from Kazakhstan! This subterfuge did involve getting locals to buy my
bus ticket out of Tashkent to avoid the immigration officials. Once in
Uzbekistan I tried to get a visa in various towns but avoided Tashkent
since I had been told that you were most likely to be ripped off and/or
charged for obligatory accommodation when you bought a visa there. In
most places (police stations/Intourist hotels) where I tried to get a
visa I was simply told to go back to Tashkent. After about a week an
OVIR official in Bukhara fined me $20 and ordered me to go back to
Tashkent to get a visa. I made my way leisurely back to the capital
and paid $20 for a one day transit visa at the airport the day before I
left after two weeks in the country! The only problems travelling
without a visa gave were that many hotels either refused to accept me
or attempted to make expensive under the table deals. (The Hotel
Rossiya in Tashkent even tried this AFTER I had my visa by saying that
it was illegal for my girlfriend and I to stay in one room since we
were unmarried!)
o Accommodation
Like many people the cost of accommodation was my other major
headache. What I did most of the time was simply approach young people
in cafes and ask them if they knew anywhere I could stay. I had to do
this mostly in English - my Russian is barely existent - and usually
succeeded in finding somewhere. Many people were very interested in
having me to stay and the few dollars I gave them seemed to be much
appreciated. I was usually treated as an honoured guest and given
great food - which was a nice break from all the shahslik! I would say
this is a much more interesting option than staying in the terrible
Intourist hotels - as well as being far cheaper. I also made quite a
few friends this way.
o Getting there
Uzbekistan Arlines now has flights from London to Bangkok, Karachi &
Beijing via Tashkent at very competitive prices - eg: UK$270 to
Karachi. Unfortunately no stop over in Tashkent is officially allowed,
and the return flight London to Tashkent is ~UK$500! However when I
was in transit in Tashkent a junior immigration official said it would
be no problem to change my ticket and spend a week in Uzbekistan. I
suspect at the very least this would have required some dollars. I
simply threw away the Karachi-Tashkent leg of my ticket, entered
Uzbekistan overland and then turned up at the airport for the
Tashkent-London leg. This caused confusion but no problems.
---
From: irce@urc.tue.nl (Guy)
To: pf@bilkent.edu.tr (Pierre Flener)
Subject: Uzbekistan
Date: January 1996
About the Cadogan Guide: It's better to replace "simply excellent" by
"no better available". Maps contain many mistakes (probably due to
using Soviet-made maps containing errors made on purpose) and there is
information that has already been out of date by the time of writing.
Nevertheless, the guide book was most useful and interesting for
Uzbekistan. What's written about the other Central Asian states seemed
to me like a necessary add-on to make the book "complete for Central
Asia". Of course, also since summer 1995, prices had grown (e.g. 3 sum
for a pot of chai). Taxi between aiport and centre: 60 sum. $25 for a
double in Hotel Zarafshan in Samarkand (two Norwegians paid $30 because
they arrived at 1 am), $20 per person in Orkanchi Guest house in Khiva
(including excellent meals and free entrance to musuems), $10 for a
double in Hotel Turon (former Hotel Leningrad) in Tashkent (we paid
$20, because we arrived at 21.00, "no place", but finally there was if
not being registered, leaving at 8.00 am and paying double price).
The crown of risen prices is probably the ferry from Krasnovodsk
(renamed to "Turkmenbashi", referring to dictator Nyazov who calls
himself "head of the Turkmens") to Baku, Azerbaijan. Mentioned in the
Cadogan guide as costing "$2 in rubles" the ticket seems to be a real
hassle to obtain ("no place") and, according to several independent
rumours, now costing something like $200 cash dollars. This knowledge
had changed my whole travel plan (not going "back" to Moscow across the
Caspic see thru Baku).
---
From: ehasbrouck@igc.apc.org (Edward Hasbrouck)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.asia
Subject: Re: Flying to Kazakhstan etc
Date: June 1995
Other airlines from outside the ex-USSR serving Central Asia:
XO (Xinjiang Airlines): ALA (from URC)
PK (Pakistan Intl.): TAS and ALA (from ISB and PEW)
FG (Ariane Afghan): TAS (from KBL)
Impressions from Foreign Visitors
From: pf@bilkent.edu.tr (Pierre Flener)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Uzbekistan: travel-info/advice sought
Date: December 1993
The article a few weeks ago in "Time International" inspired me to
consider Uzbekistan (an ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia) as my
travel-destination for the next summer. Uzbekistan seems to have a
fairly stable economy and political climate, and could potentially be
one of the last truly untouristed areas in the world. Hence a good
reason to go there; moreover, the fabled cities of Samarkand and
Bukhara are in Uzbekistan!
So my questions basically are: has anyone been in Uzbekistan? has
anyone seen travel-books that include info on Uzbekistan? any
feedback/info/advice?
I haven't found anything on Uzbekistan in the rec.travel ftp-archives.
Though I'm not a US-citizen, I have downloaded the US State Dept travel
advisory on Uzbekistan, and taken it with a grain of salt, as usual. ;-)
However, the following passage seems kind of discouraging:
>STATE DEPARTMENT TRAVEL INFORMATION - Uzbekistan
>============================================================
>Uzbekistan - Consular Information Sheet
> April 29, 1993
>[...]
>Entry Requirements: A passport and visa are required. Private
>travel must be arranged through a travel agency (package tour) which
>has a relationship with the official tourist board of Uzbekistan, or
>via an invitation from a private Uzbek citizen. Visitors planning
>travel outside Tashkent must arrange for an additional visa good for
>that location.
Any comments from those who've been there? Anybody's got updated info
on these issues?
---
[Editor's note: The answers are by increasing dates at which the authors
were there. This is important, as things change so fast.]
From: rkimm@ameris.center.il.ameritech.com (Robert L. Kimmel)
To: pf@bilkent.edu.tr (Pierre Flener)
Subject: Re: Uzbekistan: travel-info/advice sought
Date: December 1993
I was there in 1985, and I don't know that I would call it truly
untouristed. Most people going there were going as an "add on" to a
Russian trip; with the break up, traffic in Uzbekistan might be down a
bit now. I liked both Samarkand and Bukhara quite a bit. I didn't
care much for Tashkent.
Lots of several hundred year old buildings in the two cities you
mentioned; the old Moslem architecture was very interesting and novel
to my eyes at least. Some very large buildings were covered with tiny
little tiles, which greatly impressed the group I was with, until
someone found large prefabricated sheets of tiles stacked in the corner
somewhere. Many of the buildings have stories associated with them,
especially those in Samarkand; the Soviet guides at the time liked to
talk about the cruelty of the old local rulers and contrasted it with
the much better treatment the inhabitants received from the Soviet
regime. I think you are doing the right thing by making it a trip of
its own, rather than a Moscow/Leningrad add on, as I did; I felt very
rushed and didn't get to see as much as I wanted.
Transportation was dreadful, and I suspect it has gotten worse rather
than better since I was there. I spent over 12 hours waiting for a
flight that was delayed for no apparent reason; this time took a pretty
significant chunk out of my trip.
Seemed safer than most U.S. cities when I was there, but I guess the
years haven't been kind to the X-Soviet Union.
---
From: Edward Hasbrouck (ehasbrouck@igc.apc.org)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Re: Uzbekistan: travel-info/advice sought
Date: December 1993
I spent three weeks in Uzbekistan in the summer of 1992, and found it
wonderful: interesting, exciting, different, untouristed, and
incredibly cheap. The biggest drawbacks are that (1) extremely few
people speak any languages other than their own and Russian (if you are
from Turkey you will have an easier time, as the Turkic Central Asian
languages are, I am told, largely mutually intelligible with Turkish
despite being written in Cyrillic) and (2) it is difficult to get a
visa (or get any accurate information about independent travel, as
virtually all guidebooks are written for people on package tours and
thus presume that logistical information is irrelevant to the tourist
for whom all has been prearranged).
---
From: beutler@elgc.epfl.ch (Roland Beutler)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Re: Uzbekistan: travel-info/advice sought
Date: December 1993
I have been myself in Uzbekistan this summer. Since you are in Turkey
it won't be so difficult to go to Uzbekistan. There are direct flights
from Istanbul with Uzbekistan Airlines and Turkish Airlines. The
flight ticket cost about 600 US$ (mid-August 1993). In order to get
the visa to go there, you must have an invitation of someone in
Uzbekistan. As I did not have such invitation, I had to book 3 nights
in a quite expensive hotel in Tashkent. I had to go to Intourist in
Istanbul to get this arrangement. I stayed about ten days in
Uzbekistan. Except for these 3 nights I had to pay for in Istanbul, I
could choose myself the hotels where I stayed. Hotels are nevertheless
not so cheap; you are expected to pay in US Dollars, at a far worse
rate than people from the former USSR.
---
From: beutler@elgc.epfl.ch (Roland Beutler)
To: pf@cs.bilkent.edu.tr (Pierre Flener)
Subject: Uzbekistan
Date: January 1994
At Intourist (Istanbul) I had to book 3 nights at 85 US$/night (single
room) at Hotel Uzbekistan (Tashkent's best hotel). Other tourist
hotels cost about 35-60 US$ (single room). A double room is not twice
the price of a single room but about 20% more than a single. You had
better try to find hotels for Uzbek people. They are very cheap (maybe
10-20 times less than tourist hotels) but most of the time they won't
accept foreigners.
---
From: beutler@elgc.epfl.ch (Roland Beutler)
To: pf@cs.bilkent.edu.tr (Pierre Flener)
Subject: Uzbekistan (in French, sorry)
Date: January 1994
>Hors de l'imposition de qques hotels, as-tu pu circuler librement, que
>ce soit a Tashkent, ou ailleurs dans le pays ?
A l'interieur des villes, il n'y a aucun probleme pour se deplacer.
Entre les villes non plus d'ailleurs, mais il faut prendre garde a une
chose, c'est que ces villes soient mentionnees sur ton visa, sinon il
faut faire des demarches administratives pour faire un ajout sur le
visa. Il y a un bureau a l'aeroport de Tashkent qui s'occupe de cela,
mais il faut compter environ 25$ pour ajouter une ville. J'avais
obtenu pour ma part un visa pour Tashkent, Samarkand et Bukhara. Si
j'avais voulu aller a Khiva par exemple, j'aurais eu besoin de passer
par le bureau a l'aeroport. Entre les villes, il y a des bus bon
marches (pour nous, chers pour les Ouzbeks, Tashkent - Samarkand (400km
-> 5$), 10$ pour Tashkent - Bukhara. En partant d'une ville par bus,
on est sense passer au bureau de l'emigration qui se trouve a la gare
de bus meme. Mais on peut fort bien se renseigner sur l'horaire du
bus, et monter directement dans le bus sans acheter de billets avant et
payer dans le bus, sans avoir a passer a l'emigration. Les
fonctionnaires de l'emigration se font un malin plaisir d'acheter le
billet pour toi tout en prenant une commission au passage. Donc a
eviter.
[Editor's note: I was there in August 1994, and didn't have any such
problems. Nobody cared what I was doing.]
Tashkent est bien desservi en moyens de transport, metro, bus, tram,
taxi.
---
From: ufe@indigo6.dl.ac.uk (Mark Enderby)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Re: Uzbekistan: travel-info/advice sought
Date: December 1993
Just spent a week there at the end of November. Went on an organized
trip. Charter to Samarkand from Gatwick and internal tours were
Intourist with UK reps. Visited Samarkand and Bukhara.
Main problem was the virtual collapse of the economy. While
independent, the bosses are Soviet old guard -- saying how everything
is wonderful as the economy collapses all around. Before independence
it was part of the planned Russian economy which made the area
concentrate on cotton -- there being no problem getting other supplies
from the other states. Now, of course, they have difficulty trading
cotton for oil, etc.
The ruble was being progressively withdrawn and went totally while we
were there! People were being paid in worthless notes. It has been
replaced by coupons -- but not enough had been printed!
[Editor's note: The Sum coupon was withdrawn on 1 August 1994, and
replaced by a regular Sum currency (the days before,
1000 Sum coupons could be exchanged for 1 Sum). The
Sum started (officially) at 11 to the US$, and was at
22 in October 1994. At the black market, you get up
to 50% more than at banks.]
Anyway, the standard currency was $ -- it was very difficult to spend
the coupons. Without a command of the language it is very difficult to
bargain things down to sensible prices and most prices were pitched at
UK/US equivalents, e.g. $2 for a can of beer, 0.5$ for a coffee. At
the market it was "how much you could bargain for a $".
[Editor's note: Such prices only hold at Intourist joints. I had no
trouble spending my Sum at sensible prices, even for
Western goods.]
With this sort of chaos, we were fairly glad not to be free-lance. We
met a couple of Germans who worked in Kurdistan and hence knew the
language --
[Editor's note: Hmmm, let's be politically correct: Kurds speak Kurdish,
a language related to Farsi, Afghan, and Tadjik, whether
they live in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, or wherever.
I assume you refer to the Kurdish part of Turkey, and
that these Germans knew Turkish, which is a Turkic
language, just like Uzbek, Turkmen, Azeri, and Kirgiz.
(For the Kurds in Turkey, Turkish is the language of
communication with the "authorities", to put it mildly.)
Turkish is to a large extent mutually intelligible with
Uzbek, but beware of words for "modern" concepts (such as
trains, banks, ...), where Turkish is francophile and
Uzbek is russophile. Moreover, in some parts of Uzbekistan
(especially Samarkand), Turkish or Uzbek won't get you
anywhere, because the population is mostly Tajik, in
which case either Russian or some Farsi language will
come in handy.]
but even they were having difficulties with cash. $60 for the standard
hotels and problems getting petrol, which is mainly sold on the black
market. There are cheaper (Russian) hotels where you are supposed to
be able to get cheap accommodation -- however, I suspect most of them
will ask for large amounts of $$!
[Editor's note: Precisely! I was there in August 1994, and hotel-prices
simply were through the roof for foreigners, even for
Western standards. *Every* hotel I went to had a double-
tiered price-list: CIS citizens vs. non-CIS citizens,
the multiplier being around 70, and the latter *obliged*
to pay in cash US$. This is all official, and you can't
really fight it, nor haggle, as the old-guard receptionists
don't understand market economy concepts such as buyer's
market and seller's market. Compared to the buying power
of the $ (the average monthly salary seems to be ~$18),
this is a huge ripoff, and I even strongly suspect some
receptionists not to declare foreigners to the police
(well, at least during off-season) and to keep the $$.
The cheapest hotel I could find (a Sputnik joint) was $15,
and it was $14.90 away from delivering on such a price.
*** SEE "How to Avoid Intourist" FOR A DECENT SOLUTION!!! ***
The same official ripoff holds for museums and for domestic
and int'l flights, but not for restaurants or other public
transportation.]
The whole country seemed rather bewildered, trying to manage with no
money and nothing to buy anyway. Rampant inflation was also hitting
food supplies badly. They were strangely apathetic about the whole
thing. The few "entrepreneurs" seemed to be pricing themselves out of
the tourist market. There was some outside aid -- mainly from Turkey.
Hopefully things will change for the better, but pressures from Islam
and nationalism were threatening to cause problems in, what is, a
multi-cultural state. Already, the Uzbek language is being made a
requirement of working for the government and many skilled people are
being thrown out of work.
Anyway, enough of the problems... The country and its people are
wonderful... and the buildings!!! A fascinating mix of Russian/Far and
Middle East.
[Editor's note: I couldn't agree more: it's all fabulous indeed!!!]
--- New thread ---
From: bonacker@geo.io-warnemuende.d400.de (Patrick Bonacker)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.asia
Subject: Re: Uzbekistan
Date: April 1994
I visited Tashkent and the northern parts of Tadzhikistan in fall 1989
and again, all the places Mark Seltzer has been to, in 1990. As more
than 4 years have gone by I have no actual information to add, but
everything in the mentioned above article sounds true.
Soviet Union or not - it seems nothing much has changed since 1990!
Only the prices (for foreigners?) have grown... The cost for
Samarkand-Shahrisabz was 140 Roubles ($5 or so in 1990), now $72...
But don't worry, if you have the money, go there: ADVENTURE.
BTW, we made the tour in 1990 by a somewhat unorthodox route. The only
things we had were air tickets for Moscow-Samarkand, and for Urgench -
Moscow 14 days later. No hotel reservations at all (it was still USSR /
there was no Uzbekistan visas yet). Due to some difficulties with
tickets inside Uzbekistan our route was Samarkand -> Bukhara (by bus)
-> Tashkent (by hard sleeper train, overcrowded, that was FUN :-) thank
God it was November - not very hot) -> Urgench/Khiva (by train again,
soft sleeper). The friend of mine I travelled with in 1990 is married
with a girl from Uzbekistan now (but this has nothing to do with our
trip ;-) She's from the town of Navoi halfways between Samarkand and
Bukhara, and he's been there for several more times and told me about
the slow changes in Uzbekistan life (slower than in Russia!) since the
decline of Soviet Union.
As already told at rec.travel FTP, once again, real important: if
possible avoid everything that has to do something with (former or
renamed) INTOURIST i.e. hotels, bookings, guided tours etc. They'll
rip you off!
Try to organize everything by yourself.
Requirement for the above: the better you speek Russian the better for
you.
--- New thread ---
From: finnboy@netcom.com (Peter Hartikka)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.asia
Subject: Re: Need info on Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Date: April 1995
Bob Corbett (bcorbett@crl.com) wrote:
>I've been reading about Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and I'm interested in
>going there next summer. Can anyone help me?
Why Tashkent? If you're interested in Uzbek/Islamic history, you won't
find much of great value there. The whole city was destroyed by an
earthquake in 1966 and rebuilt in classic Soviet style. When I visited
there ten years ago, by far my favorite architectural monument was the
Metro. For a real (though somewhat touristy) glimpse into Central Asian
history, you'd be better off going to Samarkand, Bukhara, and/or Khiva.
Especially Khiva.
>can one get by with English and maybe a second European
>language (German or French)?
I'd say you'd be much better off with Turkish and/or Russian.
[Editor's note: ...and Farsi, because of the large Tadjik minority!]
>can one get there by train from Vienna?
Via Moscow, certainly. But be prepared for massive ticket-buying
hassles. Then again, you could always fly Aeroflop...
---
From: bresler@bart.chem-eng.nwu.edu (Leo Bresler)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.asia
Subject: Re: Need info on Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Date: April 1995
I went there 7 years ago (honeymoon, you know). Tashkent really does
not have much of historic sites. For this you should go to Samarkand,
Bukhara, Khiva. I would not expect people to understand English,
German, or French. Russian used to be the second common language, but
w/ rise of nationalism at least officially, it is used less
frequently. Even Tashkent subway -Metro- now has announcements in
Uzbek language *only*.
All of the cities I mentioned are accessible by train and air, although
I would not recommend train ride, especially now. I took a train from
Tashkent to Moscow. It takes 60+ hours. From other cities it's about
the same. So, from Vienna you'd go to Moscow (about 30hrs), likely
spend a day in Moscow, transfer to a different train station for
Tashkent. The total will be close to 5 days... You'll get to see most
of the European part of Russia from the train, cross Volga, etc. I'd
recommend flying there. As far as I know Lufthansa and either SAS or
Finnair fly directly to Tashkent from their respective hubs, other
cities have service from Moscow.
There are certainly lots of things to see out there. Samarkand has a
historic and modern (sort of) parts more or less separated. In Bukhara
they are quite intermixed. Khiva is mainly historic (more contemporary
city of Urgench w/ train station and airport is nearby).
---
From: nalipson@stoat.riga.lv (Nathan Alexander Lipson)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.asia
Subject: Re: Need info on Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Date: April 1995
Bob Corbett (bcorbett@crl.com) wrote:
>It seems like one of the few places left on Earth that is relatively
>cheap. I know it is a police state, but it seems relatively at
>peace, and my experience of totalitarian states is that they do
>have a great deal of civil order.
I haven't been there, the other side of the ex-USSR, but I've heard
plenty of travelers anecdotes. It's not a democratic state,
totalitarian isn't a useful catagory in 1995. Unless you're a
missionary. I don't believe there's been a great deal of civic unrest
(unlike Tajikistan), but there's every reason to believe there could be
in the future. See it now!
>are foreigners, especially from the U.S. welcome there?
I haven't heard about anti-American sentiment.
>can one get by with English and maybe a second European
>language (German or French)?
Russian; English a distant second.
>can one get there by train from Vienna?
An extremely arduous, dangerous five-day journey, requiring expensive
transit visas.
---
From: selina@cdc.hp.com (Selina Fong)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.asia
Subject: Re: Need info on Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Date: April 1995
Bob Corbett (bcorbett@crl.com) wrote:
>It seems like one of the few places left on Earth that is relatively
>cheap. I know it is a police state, but it seems relatively at
>peace, and my experience of totalitarian states is that they do
>have a great deal of civil order.
Well, to start, the US dollar does go far once inside, but it looks
like the country runs on the US dollar. No traveler checks or charge
cards accepted. Bring cash. The county is very expensive to fly
into. The easiest way to fly in or out is from Istanbul or Moscow.
>are foreigners, especially from the U.S., welcome there?
I get the impression from my readings that anyone with US dollars
is welcomed.
>can one get by with English and maybe a second European
>language (German or French)?
I heard Russia and a form of Turkic are the most common foreign
languages.
>where does one get a visa?
Uzbekistan Embassy in Washington. You must have all of the cities you
will be visiting on visa. Major hassles there if you don't and it
doesn't look like you can get your visa changed easily once you are in
Uzbekistan.
--- New thread ---
From: irce@urc.tue.nl (Guy)
To: pf@bilkent.edu.tr (Pierre Flener)
Subject: Uzbekistan
Date: January 1996
I just came back from 4 months travelling in Central Asia, of which I
spent two weeks in "Uzbekiston" and two times one day in Tashkent as
part of transit between Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan).
I was lucky to have quite a reasonable knowledge of Russian, enough to
help myself. [...]
Thru the local mafia we "bought" our places on the train to Bukhara.
(To get a ticket legally every foreigner has to get a permit from OVIR
which was already closed at that time, 18.00.) The only problems in the
train were a police check
(- Show your passports and tickets.
- Ticket, conducter.
- OK.)
and an extra money wanting conductor ("the guys at the railway station
told me that, besides the 800 sum (1$ = 40 sum on the bazar), you
should pay 100 sum to me"). These problems were solved by knowing as
less Russian as possible (the poor conductor give up finally).
Together with a (not too young) Swiss whom we had "saved" at the
Bukhara busstation from a crowd of pen-wanting children we went by bus
to Urgench. After 1 1/2 hours delay at departure, bus full of tins of
paint stocked up 1m high in the pathway on which another 12 passengers
sit, 45 min. delay at the first flat tyre in the Karakum desert, 3
hours delay after again a flat tyre (trying to glue the already used
spare wheel), 1/2 hour delay unloading the tins near Urgench, and again
1 hour delay due to a flat tyre (finally not repaired, we drove further
with all the passengers sitting on the right side in the bus) we
arrived early in the morning in Urgench, 7 hours behind schedule. From
there we went by marshroutnoe taxi to Khiva.
Next day me and my brother went from Urgench to Samarkand by train.
Problems, according to the conductors my visas were only valid for
Tashkent. Bullshit!! Persistance helped, so they got tired. But then
they wanted to "keep" the passports during the trip. Also bullshit and
after a long insisting (ours!) we got them immediately back.
Arriving at 2am in Samarkand we were lucky that somebody referred us to
the "station hotel" with beds for 30 sum.
Being sick of Tashkent we wanted to go back to Kyrgyzstan thru
Leninabad (the northern and quite part of Tajikistan). Getting tickets
was a hassle (waiting for opening of OVIR for registration, KGB wanting
adresses where we stayed, two hours convincing the ticket selling lady
that foreigners don't have to pay a commisionary).
Finally in the train, the conductor "ordered" that we rented sheets
(which is not obligatory) and wanted 100 sum for it (usually 15 sum).
Also he give finally up after my persistance.
[...]
People in Uzbekistan are afraid of the KGB which is still/again very
active. Trains are a mess (inside much is broken), there are many
sellers of food and clothes roaming the trains, overbooked by people
let in by a conductor for a little bribe, increasing crime, conductors/
police wanting money from foreigners.
Despite the bad news there is some good news: You no longer need to
have your whole itinerary written onto your visa. It's valid for whole
Uzbekistan now. (I wonder about the Aral Sea, probably still a permit
is needed to visit it.)
And of course it's very beautiful. Well, so far a first impression.
I'll try to write the whole trip down.
--- New thread ---
From: irce@urc.tue.nl (Guy)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.asia
Subject: Re: Uzbekistan info, please
Date: January 1996
>Quality of health care: any English-speaking doctors, any higher-
>quality medical care for paying patient [...]?
The quality of health care seems getting worse and worse in the CIS.
In Bishkek, Kyrghyzstan (and probably the same procedure will be in
Tashkent), a foreigner has to pay $10 for the same simple examination
for which a local pays less then 1 dollar in local currency. Don't
expect to meet English speaking doctors. (Maybe there's a special
medical health centre for foreigners as in Moscow?)
>I assume that anything fancy (such as 3M's Post-It pads or muesli
>bars) is not normally available.
Many fancy things are available. Doing "biznes" is in their blood so
if there's need then can get it from anywhere.
>I assume credit cards are useless apart from the most expensive hotel
>in the capital.
It seems to be possible to change Traveler's Cheques at Hotel
Uzbekistan into local currency. It must be possible to use visa card
in the national bank, paying 4.5% commission, and a whole morning's
patience.
>Would there be a branch or representation of a Western bank, and/or
>what is the means of holding a foreign-currency account and changing
>money?
IMPORTANT: dollar bills older then 1993 are almost never accepted in
whole Central Asia. In Uzbekistan changing money on the streets/bazars
is strictly illegal but necessary if you want to get a good rate. In
November'95 the black market rate was 42 sum for 1 dollar (inflation
about 5% since exactly one month before).
>What is the law-and-order situation like: petty thieving, break-ins,
>holdups within towns and on highways, need to bribe police, etc.?
"When there was the Soviet Union nothing happened, now you can't walk
on the streets anymore in the evenings." This you will hear many times
in the CIS. True, 5 years ago really nothing happened (at least no
reports about it in the news). But I think much is exaggerated.
Need to bribe the police?? My God! Please don't make it more
difficult for other foreigners than necessary. My experience is that,
as long as you're really right, persistance is enough to make the
police tired within a few minutes. Locals usually pay a 2-3 dollars
bribe to avoid a fine e.g. for overloading a bus with all kinds of
stuff (what often happens!!). The same holds for train conductors who
are even worse. On the one hand it's easy to get - let's say 70% -
"reduction", by paying money to the conductor instead of buying a
ticket. On the other hand, they often make problems with foreigners if
they don't pay some extra money.
>Quality of public transport in Tashkent and beyond, quality of roads,
>traffic hazards (unlit cyclists or horse-drawn carriages at night,
>unaccompanied camels, etc.).
The metro works well. Even the busses are less full as e.g. in
Bishkek. Trains are usually crowded (conductor lets more people in
then places), dirty, many things are broken. Children throw stones so
many windows are secured (and make the train a prison). Long-distance
buses can be overloaded with people and/or goods (because a biznesman
paid the driver some money for his extra "baggage", "there are no laws"
according to locals.)
>Telecommunications: What is the phone system like (direct dialling
>overseas, low-enough noise to use a fax machine), is there any internet
>access in Taskent?
Yes there is internet, but I haven't found (or looked for) an
Uzbekistan homepage so far. Direct dialling is possible and fax can be
used. In postoffices phoning means queueing and waiting for your turn.
>How reliable is the postal system? Could I expect to receive packets,
>magazines (Economist, PC Magazine) or they just evaporate?
From an Uzbek who has foreign correspondents I heard that about 90%
disappears. I don't know about letters only between foreigners.
>Language: I speak some Russian and expect to be able to pick up some
>basic Uzbek for everyday life. Is Uzbek close enough to Turkish to be
>worth starting with Turkish before departure? Is Cyrillic to stay or
>are they switching to Latin script?
Russian is very useful but uzbek is getting more and more necessary.
Especially on the countryside there are many Uzbeks who don't speak
Russian at all. In the history museum in Tashkent everything is only
in Uzbek. Everything is (and will be) in Cyrillic.
>Are there any expatriates? Do the local intellectuals speak English?
Knowledge of English is very poor. I heard about English speaking
guides who cheat.
>What is the cultural life like (museums, exhibitions, foreign movies
>beyond Hollywood rubbish, classical/folk/jazz concerts)?
Enjoy the great muslim architecture, also in Samarkand, Bukhoro and
Khiva!
>Local customs: I know about taking shoes off before going into homes,
>presenting the sheep's eyes to the prized visitor, the general rules of
>behaving in a moderate Muslim country and heard about the hospitality
>of Central Asians. Are there any booboos that Westernerns commonly
>commit against local sensitivity?
If people help you they often want money for it (although real
hospitality can be found).
Additional: Uzbekistan is a police state in which the KGB works as in
the former USSR. Corruption is a big problem. OVIR (immigration
offices) can be a nightmare as well as obtaining/extending visas.