Easy entry into Uzbekistan

Departing Almaty

I woke at 0500 after about 9h sleep and dozed another couple before going down for breakfast after 0800. There was some panic as I had an email saying that my flight had been pre-poned (opposite to post-pone in Indian English) by 2h.

I checked on the airline’s website and it seemed to be on schedule. Then I realised that there was another email showing it had reverted. Someone must have been playing with the system and made a mistake! It was busy in the restaurant and I shared a table. It was a sumptuous buffet of Russian, Western and Chinese food. Very impressive.

Time went quickly and I hurried back up to pack for my 0930 pickup. I got to the airport and was airside through immigration and security in no time for my continuing flight to Tashkent at 1215. The Brazilian made Embraer E190 left on time. The seats were wider than on many longhaul jets but it could have been slightly quieter. A sandwich, box juice and a drink from the trolley was offered.

Arriving in Tashkent

We descended and arrived into Tashkent landing about 10 minutes late. Immigration was swift and customs required a form that was supplied only in Russian (I think they’ve run out of English ones and posted laminated filled-in translation examples instead). I was first to the customs scanner but was turned back as two copies of the forms were required.

The customs declaration involves a declaration of all currencies held and valuables. Upon exiting Uzbekistan you can only have less money, not more! I got my stamped copy to keep carefully. I was out within 30 minutes of landing. So much for the warnings on the internet and in guide books saying it can take up to three hours. I guess I was lucky, seated in front of the plane and also didn’t have to wait for luggage.

Upon exiting, I tried looking for the departures level so I could double check my Uzbekistan Airways domestic flight. It seemed that my building was purely for international arrivals so I gave up on that idea.

The Sunrise Caravan Guesthouse suggested that I take a taxi and let them pay (and I reimburse them). This would save hassles with changing money at the airport (in fact no exchange counter was open). The advice was more geared for a month ago when the official rate was worse than the blackmarket but this has been brought into alignment in time for my visit. However, I misunderstood their instructions and didn’t agree on a price with the driver (they had also given a price range). The ride took about 15 minutes and at the hotel, the receptionist paid the driver a slightly inflated amount due to my mistake.

After a brief rest, I wandered out to a big hotel nearby to change money. I decided to change USD100 to cover meals, transport and incidentals. While illegal, it appeared that hotels will accept USD so there was no point changing too much USD. Nowadays, changing USD-KZS is easy since no blackmarket exists anymore; bank rates have shifted to match blackmarket rates  –  but any leftover UZS is hard to change back (as it always has been).

That’s USD100 in UZS5000 (USD0.62) note, which is a common denomination. Larger notes exist but are less common.

Chorsu Bazaar

From there, I took the metro from Oybek to Chorsu Bazaar. All entrances to the metro are guarded and there’s a check of bags and in the case of foreigners like me, the passport and visa. The grand round building at Chorsu housed the meat market while the fruit, vege and other stuff were in the surrounding buildings. It was interesting enough but the lighting didn’t make it conducive for photography. However, the quality of the fruit and veges were good. The tomatoes were beautiful and some were huge.

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Khast Imom

From the bazaar, I found my way to Khast Imom after a few wrong turns. This is the seat of the religious organisation of Uzbekistan. This is one of few beautiful and culturally significant spots in Tashkent. An earthquake levelled much of the city and it was rebuilt in Soviet style.

I grabbed dinner of chicken kebab near the hotel before returning to retire.

Observations for the last couple of days:

• Kazakhs look more Mongolian whereas Uzbeks are darker and more Turkish looking (not the European Turkish but the more Middle Eastern Turkish). However, it is hard to generalise as there are lots of variations.
• In Tashkent, there were more people in traditional garb than in Almaty. There were more people in Tashkent who were conservative and wore headgear (both men and women).
• Tashkent is a huge sprawling city whereas Almaty seems quite low rise and laid back. Almaty certainly seems more Soviet with its buildings and also the guards in dark bluish-green uniforms everywhere and their constant checks at the metro.
• Kazakhs drive flash nice Hyundais and Kias while Uzbeks drive cheaper Daewoos rebadged as Chevrolet (some very old models still in production locally).
• Roofs on houses in Almaty were much steeper perhaps due to higher snow fall in view of its higher latittude.  Not so steep in Tashkent.