Entering Uzbekistan

As long as your papers are in order, entering Uzbekistan should be no sweat. You will be asked to fill out two identical customs declarations forms, one to turn in and one to keep (which will be handed in upon departure). The customs form is necessary for changing traveler’s checks and will smooth your departure, so don’t lose it. Be sure to declare every cent of every type of money you bring in; travelers have reported being hassled for the most minor discrepancies, especially at land border crossings.

Air
If arriving by air, your grand entrance into Uzbekistan will most likely occur at Tashkent International Airport (37-40 28 01, VIP 37-54 86 48). A few flights from Russia arrive in regional hubs such as Samarkand, Bukhara and Urgench.

The numerous aviakassa (private ticket kiosks) scattered around major cities can help book international tickets on Uzbekistan Airways and other airlines.

Uzbekistan Airways has convenient booking offices in Tashkent and all regional hubs. A second international booking office in Tashkent is located on the ground floor of the international terminal.

Car
Driving your own car is possible, provided you have insurance from your home country and a valid international driving license. Be prepared for the same kind of hassles you’ll experience anywhere in the former Soviet Union: lots of random stops and traffic cops fishing for bribes. There are no car-rental agencies. In Uzbekistan, motorists drive on the right and seat belts are not at all required.

Bus & tram
Clapped-out state buses are fast disappearing from Uzbek roads, undercut by a boom in private buses that do not keep schedules and leave when full. They are newer and more comfortable, but can be slow as drivers and touts are preoccupied with over-selling seats and transporting cargo and contraband.

Marshrutkas take the form of 11- to 14-seat vans, or seven-seat Daewoo Damas minivans.

Train
Trains are perhaps the most comfortable and safest, if hardly the fastest, method of intercity transport. That said, the new ‘high-speed’ commuter trains between Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, with airplane-style seating, are not much slower than a shared taxi and a lot more comfortable. Book them a couple days in advance, as they are popular.

Other long-haul trains are of the deliberate but comfortable Soviet variety, with platskartny (hard sleeper), kupeyny (soft sleeper) and sometimes dirt-cheap obshy (general) compartments available.

Air
Most routes along the tourist trail are well-served by domestic flights to/from Tashkent, if not to each other. If you book fewer than three days in advance, Uzbekistan Airways will usually say the plane is full. In that case, paying a ‘finder’s fee’ (to the ticket agent or touts on the street) of US$5 to US$20 should free up a blocked seat. Buying a ticket for a later date and flying stand-by often works too.

History
The culture of the nations found in the territory of Uzbekistan has a very rich history. In the 8th century the armies of an Arab caliph invaded Mawarannahr (“The Land Beyond River”), the territory between the Amudarya river, the Syrdarya river and the land of Khorasan lying to the south of the Amudarya river. This conquest brought a new religion that had risen in Saudi Arabia called Islam. At the same time, there was fire-worship and other religions such as Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity. Since then Islam has dominated far beyond this region and became an extremely important part of its culture.

Mawarannahr was one of the most advanced caliphate regions playing a significant role in social and cultural life. The Great Silk Road linked the West with the Orient and people from southern and northern countries passed through this land. The Mawarannahr towns of Bukhara, Samarkand and Kunya-Urgench were the crossroads of caravan routes from India, China, Egypt, Byzantium, Slavic countries and Arabia.

The House of Wisdom called “Bite ul-Khikma” founded by an order of the caliphate ruler Makhmud engaged in the great task to translate the books of Aristotle, Plato, Archimedes and other ancient Greek scientists and philosophers from classical Greek into Arabic. The Mawarannahr’s brilliant young scientists, Musa Al-Khorezmi, Akhmad Al-Fergani, Al-Marvazi, Javkhari, Marvarudi and others, performed with distinction. Baghdad became one of the world’s scientific and cultural centers.