From Uzbekistan With Plov: A Central Asia Trip Report

This travel report details a trip to Uzbekistan as well as a short visit to Moldova and Kazakhstan on my way to the Central Asian country.

A trip to Central Asia

In the autumn of 2018 I had a week off from work and some itchy feet wanting to travel again.

The logical destination seemed to be one of the Central Asian countries, as I had always wanted to explore this highly interesting region but never had the chance so far.

There is just something intriguing about Central Asia, whether it’s the region’s remote location being so far away from the world’s oceans, or its diverse natural scenery ranging from mountains to deserts.

Then there is the history the Silk Road and all the ancient emperors from Alexander the Great to Tamerlane who once ruled over these vast swathes of land.

Perhaps even more intriguing is the more modern history of the region such as the Great Game, the Soviet Occupation and the post-independence struggles of the Central Asian countries.

It’s a relatively unknown but highly fascinating part of the world and I was impatient to finally start discovering these countries.

Uzbekistan travel

When it came to choosing my exact travel destination, it quickly became clear that Uzbekistan would be the best option of all Central Asian countries.

Although I would have loved to explore Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan, I didn’t think that late autumn was the best time of the year to travel in these mountainous countries.

As I knew that it would be challenging to get a visa, I decided on Uzbekistan as the main destination of my trip as the country had always attracted me more than neighbouring Kazakhstan.

Besides, Uzbekistan is arguably the best destination in Central Asia when it comes to Silk Road history and seeing the region’s cultural sights.

Booking my flights

Although it seemed easy on paper, it was somewhat of a challenge to find cheap enough flight tickets to Uzbekistan.

Complicating the matter was that I was in the middle of a so-called status match with Turkish Airlines and needed at least one more flight on the airline to earn Star Alliance gold status for the next two years.

Even though Turkish Airlines is one of the few carriers that actually has great flight connections to multiple cities in Uzbekistan such as Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, their ticket prices to the country were sky high at the time.

With one-way economy class tickets from my home town of Bucharest starting at $800, I decided to get a bit more creative with my flight bookings.

When looking for cheap fares from surrounding airports, I found a cheap-enough one-way ticket ($300) from the nearby city of Chisinau in Moldova (IATA Code: KIV) to Uzbekistan’s capital of Tashkent (TAS).

Positioning myself to Chisinau would be simple as it’s just an overnight train ride away and the savings certainly made up for the slight inconvenience of a longer travel time.

Having my outbound journey booked and my Turkish Airlines flight requirement fulfilled, I had much more flexibility to look around for the flight back home.

Unfortunately, all flights from Uzbekistan back to Europe again seemed to be ridiculously expensive.

However, I managed to find a cheap connecting flight on Aeroflot for $228 from the city of Shymkent (IATA Code: CIF) in neighbouring Kazakhstan to Bucharest (OTP) via Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO).

As this would also allow me a quick visit to Kazakhstan, I certainly didn’t mind the small side trip from Uzbekistan.

On a map, the flights look like this:

Uzbekistan itinerary

With my flights to Uzbekistan booked, I could now focus on planning my full itinerary and deciding which places I wanted to visit in the country.

I would arrive on a Saturday morning in Tashkent after a brutal red-eye flight.

Giving the capital of Uzbekistan a full day, I would then head to Samarkand by train and stay two full days there to visit the sights in what is the best-known city on the old Silk Road.

From Samarkand, I would continue to travel deeper into Uzbekistan by train towards Bukhara, another old Silk Road city where I would stay two nights as well.

After Bukhara, I would head via Urgench to Khiva where I would stay one night before taking the overnight train back to Tashkent.

Once in Tashkent, I would immediately travel out of Uzbekistan and somehow cross the border into Kazakhstan and head towards Shymkent, where I would spend a full day before flying back home.

I will detail all the flights, train rides and other travel segments in the individual chapters of this Uzbekistan trip report.

On a map, my Uzbekistan trip would look like this:

Uzbekistan visa

In the past, one of the downsides of travelling to Central Asia was all the bureaucracy you had to face just to get a visa for one of the countries.

Getting a visa for one of the Central Asian Stans (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan) often meant arranging a Letter Of Invitation (LOI) first before you could apply at an embassy.

With the exception of Turkmenistan, travelling to Central Asia has fortunately become a lot easier in the last couple of years.

Just before the start of my trip in 2018, Uzbekistan had started an e-visa pilot.

As the e-visa website was in its infancy I faced quite a few issues with my application.

Uploading my passport picture was extremely difficult due to some weird maximum DPI requirements as well as the software checking the picture pose and background colours, which resulted in many uploads being rejected by the system.

When I did finally manage to upload a passport picture, there were payment issues as the system had problems processing western bank cards, forcing you to start over from start.

After half a day trying to get the passport picture upload and payment working I finally succeeded in sending my e-visa application and two days later I did receive my e-visa by mail in PDF form.

Nowadays, Uzbekistan is fortunately completely visa-free for many Western nationalities, so all of this shouldn’t be a big issue.

Highlights

Highlights to look forward to in this Uzbekistan trip report include:

– A short stopover in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau before my flight to Uzbekistan.
– Uzbekistan’s modern capital of Tashkent with its colourful and bustling Chorsu Bazaar.
– A visit to the awe-inspiring city of Samarkand with its fabulous Registan and stunning mausoleums.
– Exploring the intriguing history and ancient madrassas of Bukhara.
– A visit to the fully walled desert city of Khiva in a remote pocket of Uzbekistan.
– Some journeys by train across Uzbekistan, including high-speed and sleeper trains.
– A side trip from Uzbekistan’s capital of Tashkent to Shymkent in Kazakhstan.
– Eating some excellent Uzbek food, ranging from mouth-watering shashliks to copious amounts of plov.

Trip report index

This ‘From Uzbekistan With Plov’ trip report consists of the following chapters:

1. Review: Prietenia Night Train Bucharest to Chisinau
2. Chisinau Guide: A Visit to Moldova’s Capital
3. Istanbul Ataturk Airport and the Turkish Airlines Lounge
4. Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class Airbus A330
5. Tashkent Travels: A Day in the Capital of Uzbekistan
6. Tashkent to Samarkand by Uzbekistan Railways ‘Shark’ Train
7. Samarkand Visit Guide: Travelling Through Silk Road Splendour
8. Review: Afrosiyob High-Speed Train Samarkand to Bukhara
9. Bukhara: Exploring Unique Historic Sights and Timeless Charm
10. Bukhara to Khiva by Train: My Travel Experience
11. Khiva: Uzbekistan’s Unique Desert Oasis City
12. On a Night Train Across Uzbekistan: From Urgench to Tashkent
13. Guide: How to Travel From Tashkent to Shymkent
14. Shymkent: The Gateway to Southern Kazakhstan
15. Sukhoi Superjet: Flying Russia’s Homemade Plane