RVing in Uzbekistan

The Pinders, the Robertson's, and Crofty met us in Osh (Kyrgyzstan) where we had a short drive to the border crossing to enter at Dustlyk to head into Uzbekistan. It was a breeze, with no searches – things are improving. We had the Uzbekistan customs in a flap over our vehicle's paperwork; they were shuffling papers around like a pack of cards, trying to figure out what to do. By the time the Robertson's and the Pinders came through after us, they had it all sorted.

We had an interesting drive through some disinfectant, which didn't even hit the wheels or under the chassis, and parted with a 2000 sum (Uzbekistan currency), which was just under US$2, for the privilege. Medical personnel asked to see our medical certificates, the first time that had happened.

Uzbekistan is in central Asia, north of Afghanistan and is one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world and is the world's second largest cotton exporter. The country is 447,400 sq km, which is larger than California, and shares a 420km shoreline with the Aral Sea. Eighty percent of the country is Uzbeks with over 85 percent of those Muslim. Gaining its independence from Russia has come with a legacy of water pollution from industrial waste, along with soil contamination, from buried nuclear processing.

We decided to bite the bullet and head straight for Tashkent, the capitol city some 280km away. We had our visas for Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to organise, and were unsure how long it would take to have them issued. Our current concern was the Fergano Valley. We had to pass through this area, which is plagued by unrest due to terrorism by Islamic militants. A heavy army presence was noticeable, guards with guns and checkpoints strategically placed throughout the Fergana Valley, particularly where there had been recent troubles along the narrow stretch of road by Tajikistan.

Each new country has its own individuality, and straightaway we noticed people smiling, waving and whistling as we drove by. The roads were better due to the long awaited return of the white line painted down the middle of the road.

The police presence was high and the police checks continuous. I lost count of these – with the police jumping out from the shade of the trees beside the road furiously waving a baton at you and blowing a whistle to get you to stop. This usually occurred on the outskirts of the towns. So far our luck had continued and we haven't had to part with any money.

Tashkent was an interesting city, wide streets with many impressive buildings. We had fun coming to grips with the money, US$1 is worth 1120 sum, which is fine, but the biggest note here is 1000. Needing more local currency, I changed US$200 and I was given bundles of money all in 100 sum denomination notes. My pile of notes was so huge that I had to stuff it into a plastic shopping bag. Coming from the building I fooled Lawrie completely, he thought I had been shopping. I had to enlighten him, as I felt at any minute someone was going to rip the bag off me. Getting our money changed presented a problem too. We had been to three banks prior to changing it at a moneychanger, only to be told that none of the banks have any to sell us.

We and our five travelling companions enjoyed watching the sun set at Uzbek's equivalent of New Zealand's Sky Tower and its revolving restaurant. Although it could only managed to do a quarter rotation, which it repeated all night, going backwards and forwards. We stayed at the Raddus-Jss Hotel another great spot with a swimming pool and enclosed courtyard. Just around the corner was the Turkmenistan Embassy – with the high temperatures, the pool was a real luxury.

Securing our Turkmenistan visas was a relief as Stan Tours was unable to guarantee that we would get them, and the embassy could decline people for no reason whatsoever. The cost for the visas varied considerably, depending which country you came from, our two visas cost US$142 and the Crofty's visas cost US$110 just for one.

The next morning saw us queuing at the Azerbaijan Embassy with no problems this time. Visas in hand, we said goodbye to Tashkent and headed towards Samarkand. Once we left Tashkent we had problems finding a gas station that had diesel, we tried five before we found one that had some. Finding which pump is the diesel pump was challenging, in China it was 0# and Kazakhstan it was AT.

The gas station we eventually filled up at had watermelons growing between the pumps. So it wasn't only gas that we got but watermelon as well. It was a welcome treat as the drive wasn't very interesting, very flat, hot and dusty.

Samarkand, a Silk Road city over 25 centuries old, is called "The Gem of the East" and has a population of over 400,000. A majestic and beautiful city, the skyline is dotted with turquoise domes and minarets. The most magnificent landmark in this old city is the architectural gem being Registan Square. The square is lined on three sides by stunning turquoise tiled, glazed brick and marble buildings. The buzzing local bazaar was great to stroll around and mingle with the locals. We also stocked up on some fresh fruit and veges.

Heading towards Bukhara, diesel pumps still seemed to be in short supply so we filled up whenever we could as we didn't want to get caught short. Bukhara is a delightful city, rich in history and dramatic architecture. The most famous landmark is the Kalyan Minaret dating back to 1127. The city is a fairy land of minarets, madrasahs, mausoleums and mosques, and it's a shopper's delight; all the local handcrafts are on display such as wood carvings, paintings, costumes, clothing, gold embroidery, carpets galore, and the usual knick knacks. We had some local culture and visited a puppet show.

The morning saw the four vehicles, the Pinders, Robertson's, Crofty and us heading towards the border crossing to enter Turkmenistan. We crossed our fingers and hoped for an easy crossing!

Words and photos by Carol and Lawrie Chandler

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