This is the second time that I am writing this post. The first one was lost in the ether of the ‘stans. Internet connections tend to be slow and unstable here (Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan). I would recommend downloading WhatsApp before leave. You will likely end up buying a sim card, possibly two and having WhatsApp makes calling home easier. I bought a Beeline card in Astana, Kazakhstan for abou $8, then added roaming for Uzbekistan which cost about another $8.
First, most of what I had read about Uzbekistan in preparing for this trip was wrong to one degree to another. About two years ago, Uzbekistan began liberalizing their tourism policies, dropping the Visa fee from $160 to $20 ($60 for multi-entry), put in place an e-Visa and made other reforms. When I entered the country, I was not asked to provide a list of medications and all customs workers were very nice and welcomed me to their country.
I found the Uzbek people to be unfailingly friendly. Several Uzbeks have pictures of me as souvenirs. Many know some English, even if it’s just ‘Hello’. The only time you will find Uzbeks to be anything other than friendly is when standing in line. Uzbeks don’t stand in line, they don’t allow for personal space, the form a crowd around the person at the front and lay siege to become the next one served. By the time I bought my fourth train ticket, I learned to play the game Uzbek-style. First, allow no space between you and the person is front of you — even (especially, Uzbeks don’t bother with cutting in line a few places back) if that person is the one at the counter transacting business. Stay on them. You need to be close enough to dry hump their leg. Second, guard your flanks. Uzbeks will come at you from either side. A favorite trick is to use the ledge at the counter to get their money and documents ready and then slide in. And finally, be ready as whenever the person at the window is done, you have to move. Get right in as close as you can and start talking. Act like you belong there — any display of weakness and you can take a step back.
The official language is Uzbek but Russian is also prevalent. Signage is often in Uzbek, Russian and/or English. Sometimes figuring out the language that something is written in is half the battle. The further you get from Tashkent, the less Russian is spoken. It seems like more and more English is entering the lexicon. Before I left, I spent six months and more than 200 hours with the Pimsleur Russian courses. I was far from fluent and it definitely helped, but I think it is possible to travel in Uzbekistan speaking only English. Of course, the more you know of a local language, the more enriching your experience will be.In all, I visited five Uzbek cities (Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Nukus), and took four trains and two cars plus some taxis and subways. I stayed in family-run guesthouses in Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. In Tashkent, I stayed in an AirBnB which was essentially a family-run hostel. In Nukus, I stayed in a hotel. All of these places provided breakfast served at about 8a. The costs were typically about $20/night.
Transportation
Uzbekistan has invested in mass transit. They have spent less on roads. Thus, the roads are bumpy, full of holes and generally not a great way of getting around. Take the train where possible.
High speed rail is available on some routes. The Afrosiyob runs from Tashkent to Samarkand and Bukhara and continue to Urgench. I took it as far as Bukhara and the top speed was about 230 km/h. It is everything it was supposed to be — fast, clean, spacious. A step down from that was the train I took from Bukhara to Khiva. The cars were similar to the Afrosiyob, but the travel was slower. Overall, faster than driving and not a bad way to go.
I took Kazakh rail from Nukus to Beyneu, Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has not invested in rail — and it shows. I had read about this train and dreaded it. It was a 14 hour journey across a mostly desert landscape. The car was not well maintained. It was dirty, noisy, chaotic and overcrowded. The cars were old Soviet sleeper cars with top and bottom bunks. The bunks are not in private compartments, but kind of arranged into pods where six bunks are in one pod and the aisle goes through. The cars are typically oversold, so only the top bunks can be used for sleeping. The bottom bunks become seating. We had eight or nine people in our pod.
When I got on the train, and I was one of the first ones on the train, I noticed that a significant number of melons had already been loaded on the train and stored under seats and in luggage storage compartments. Melon is popular here and I guess they grow it in Uzbekistan and have a deal to transport melons to Kazakhstan by passenger rail. I also noticed that all of the concessions on the train were handled by normal people, unlike Uzbek rail where only uniformed people were selling things on the train. This little bit of capitalism greatly increased the offerings. The train was a bit of a rolling bazaar with smoked fish, soup, manti (dumplings), bread, samsa, chai in old vodka bottles, some yogurt drink in old water bottles, water, soda pop, children’s clothing, womens clothing, socks, sim cards, money exchange (you need to do this BEFORE you cross the border, the money changers don’t cross and your Uzbek money is nearly impossible to exchange outside of Uzbekistan.)
As far as I could tell, I was the only non-Uzbek/Kazakh person on the train. Therefore, I was a novelty. All of the people in my pod, had made this trip many times in the past, their passports were full of stamps. When the Soviets divided these nomadic lands into countries,the lines often had little regard for the people living their. As a result, family members were cut off from one another and this trip was necessitated. Nowhere else have I seen border guard as meticulous at placing a stamp. The stamps are arranged eight to page to maximize space. My passport got passed around among the other passengers who had never seen an American Passport. My iPhone was also passed around. It seems like Samsung and older Nokias have a lock on the market — iPhones were not even sold in the Beeline store.
As the sun came up after our 4a departure, things got a bit more lively. I had packed bread , candy and water for the trip and figured that would get me by. After a while one of the men in my pod offered me some chai from the vodka bottle and poured me a Donald Duck coffee mug full. He also gave me two samsas and two extremely hard boiled eggs. By mid-morning people were setting around talking like old friends. The conversation was entirely in Uzbek and I didn’t understand a word. I was offered Gat (multiple spellings, a legal substance chewed by men throughout the region. From what I’ve read it has effects similar to caffeine and marijuana). I turned this down as I had no idea how it would effect my and didn’t want to find out halfway through a 14 hour train ride.
After a while a cup of the ubiquitous yogurt drink was placed before me. I didn’t want it, but would much rather be polite and drink something I don’t like than risk offending the wonderful hospitality I have been afforded. I drank it and it wasn’t as bad as I expected. I wondered what it was called and didn’t know how to ask, so I got out my phone and used Google Translate. I had previously had problems with GT when trying to translate a dinner menu. The place I was eating had various types of kebabs. I was fine with any except the liver. Using GT, it translated from Uzbek the first two to be ‘Molotov’ and ‘Bomb’. I was pretty sure both it was wrong in both cases.
Anyway, I typed my question and handed my phone to Gulchera, a 40 year old, Uzbek, divorced mother of 2, who was quite competent in all things. She filled out the customs forms for everyone in our pod. So, Gulchera responded back, it was called ‘Coska’ (phonetic spelling in English alphabet). It further translated it to mean ‘nipple’. At this point, I considered my options was (a) Gulchera messing with me, (b) was GT really bad at Uzbek, or, (c) is this supposed to mean something like mother’s milk. I saw no way forward, so I let it drop. She used GT to ask me a few questions that I don’t remember and showed me pictures of her children and her work and some selfies. She takes a lot of selfies and she was sitting right beside me. Soon she took my phone and typed her name and number into. The old man sitting across from us started pantoming that I could put a ring on her finger and take her to America. As flattering as it is to be an overweight 52 year old and be hit on by the 40 year old Gulchera, I had about 4 hours left and no place to go.
I went to the bathroom — on this train that is not some place you want to spend much time. If it were clean it would have been disgusting. It was not clean. From the shoe treads on the seat, it appears that people squat on the seat to do their business — on a moving train, I just can’t even imagine. Maybe with regular yoga classes I could get there, but damn, where’s the nearest hospital? So, while I am standing in the thankfully long line, another woman gets in line behind. An Uzbek with died blond hair in a tight Paris T shirt. She strikes up a conversation in what little common tongue we have. She tells me her name and asked mine. I honestly don’t remember her name (though later that night I ended up on a five hour minibus ride to Aktau with her.
Border crossings took over an hour on both the Uzbek and Kazakh sides and we eventually rolled into Beyneu.
I took a private car from Khiva to Nukus. I arranged this through the hotel in Khiva and paid $40 (I actually don’t think it would be that hard to travel throughout Uzbekistan using only USD, certainly the further you get from Tashkent, the more people prefer dollars to som.). The roads are rough, two lane and not particularly well maintained. The Hotel Alibek in Khiva is run by the son in the family who is probably in his mid 30s? His parents and wife and children also live and work on the property. The son arranged for my car. On the day I was supposed to leave, the son was gone. I was supposed to leave at noon, but at 10a was packed and ready and sitting outside reading. His mother asked if I was ready to go, I said I was. She summoned her husband to drive me to Nukus in the family car. I don’t think this is what the son had intended, but I doubt he will cross her.
The Cities
Tashkent: The only reason to visit Tashkent is that you must visit Tashkent. If you fly in to Uzbekistan, you will fly into Tashkent. If you take rail, you will most likely pass through Tashkent. It is big (2.5 million people), dirty and and chaotic. While you’re there you might as well visit the Chorsu bazaar and ride the subway. I stayed in an AirBnB that was essentially a hostel. From the outside, the building was an old Soviet-era brutalist apartment building with all the appeal of hammered dogshit. It frankly looked like The Wire may have been filmed there. Inside, it was lovely and modern.
Samarkand: The crown jewel of Uzbekistan and its second largest city. The must-see sights are the Registan, The Shah-i-Zinda mausoleum complex and the Ulug Beg Observatory. There are a number of other interesting and beautiful sites to see, but these were the ones that I found particularly interesting. In my opinion, all were walkable, though the observatory was about three miles away. Shah-i-Zinda and the Afrosiyob archaeological site are on the way, so you can break the walk up. I stayed at the Furkat Guesthouse, a funky family-run place that had been around since the beginning of time. They serve a wonderful breakfast on their rooftop terrace. It is about two blocks from the Registan.
Samarkand is changing. There are commercial strips on two sides of the Registan and as you move away from the old town, new construction is going up at a rapid pace. I didn’t really make it out to the new part of town, but you pass through it on the way to the train station.
Bukhara: There appears to be something akin to a historic preservation commission in Bukhara. Many of the buildings had gold plaques identifying them as having protected status. As such, Bukhara was the best preserved of the three historic cities I visited. Among the must-see sights are the Ark, the mosque behind the Ark, the Judicial museum, Lyab Hauz and Chor Minor. There are many other things to see in Bukhara and nearly all are close together, so if you stay near the historic part of town, you could knock out a bunch. For example, the Ark, the mosque, and the judicial museum (home of the bug pit) are essentially next to each other. The Lyab Hauz is a 16th Century oasis and is the center of activity in the town. In the evenings, there’s music and dancing and several restaurant line the area. Chor Minor requires that you find it. It is small and tucked down an alleyway. And that is probably the best thing to do in Bukhara — wander the alleyways. People will approach you and start a conversation and you should take the time to exhaust your common vocabulary. It is also worth the time to walk out past the bazaar to what remains of the city walls.
Like Samarkand, quite a bit of development is going on outside the old city. I am not sure where any of that will lead, but I think it is indicative that Uzbekistan is beginning to realize the treasures and the potential revenue stream of exploiting them.
Khiva: Khiva is the smallest of the three and also well preserved. Most of its walls are intact and some can be walked on by buying the VIP pass (150,000 som/$16). The pass also allows you to climb the minaret, which is worthwhile if you are in shape. There are a number of museums in Khiva and the pass allows you access to all of them. I will say that most of the museums provide little context and are mostly just a collection of items. That said it is remarkable to see. I stayed at the Hotel Alibek which is across the street from the entrance.
Nukus: It has an art museum that is impressive. After that, the second and third attractions that pop up on Lonely Planet, TripAdvisor and others are the bazaar and walking along the river. The bazaar is large and worth seeing if you are there. It you’ve seen the bazaars elsewhere, it’s not worth a special trip. Walking along the river is like…walking along the river. There’s nothing wrong with Nukus, but it is a one trick pony.
The Food
So, my impressions of Uzbek cuisine are that they may eat less plov than they get credit for. When I was reading about Uzbekistan prior to my trip, that was all I heard about Uzbek culinary traditions was the national dish was plov. I have had plov twice. Granted, a rice dish seems like a strange choice for a country located almost entirely in a desert. It also seems like an odd choice for what was mostly a nomadic culture. So what did I see most of? Round bread call Naan or Non. It’s thick on the outside and thin toward the center. And meat on a stick (kebabs) of all shapes and sizes. They also eat a lot of fruit. There are a few other prepared dishes such as lagman, a noodle dish. I had a couple of variations on this, The first was kind of a beef and noodle stew, the second as almost like spaghetti and meat sauce. When ordering off the menu, lagman was always lagman followed by a second word. Ithink this means that lagman describes the thick,long, doughy noodles and the second word tells you how its prepared. And that’s where knowing the Uzbek language comes in. Good luck.
Ashlyamfu, which the internet gives credit to Kyrgyzstan for has its roots in China can also be found.
I subsisted primarily on bread and kebabs. I resisted for a while as everything I had read had not mentioned these and I assumed that they were just brought in for tourist, which is possible. After a while, it was apparent that kebabs were everywhere and being enjoyed by Uzbeks and tourists alike. It seems like a natural fit for the region. The people and language are afterall Turkic. So, I think plov is probably something like roast beef in the US. It’s comfort food. We’ve all eaten it, we all like it, but we don’t eat it everyday.
The tourism industry seems to be modernizing rapidly. Bukhara has double-decker, hop-on, hop-off buses. Hot dogs and soft serve ice cream are available everywhere. Something that I have only seen in Uzbekistan are little stands selling “Gas Voda” (phonetic from the cyrillic). These stands will have an upside down glass cylinder or vial with a tap at the bottom. When you order, they fill a glass with carbonated water and add a squirt of syrup from the cylinder. When I first saw this, I didn’t know what to think. One of the stands had a diagram of a pregnant woman drinking one with various text and arrows which appeared to be health claims. So, I thought, “oh great, this is essentially Uzbek Kombucha, no thanks.” I assumed it would taste bad and emit bad smells from my pores. I eventually broke down and tried one. It is quite good. It is kind of carmelly, kind of gingery, kind of a cross between cream soda and ginger ale. A small costs about 5 cents and well worth it.
I spent a total of about 10 days in Uzbekistan. It has some things that you are simply not going to see anywhere else. If you’re into history, get your geek on. If you’re a foodie, it’s probably not a good fit.