17 Things About Uzbekistan

I just returned from one of the most exotic countries I have ever been to. Uzbekistan. I knew that it was home to some of the most ancient cities in the world and to a sea that will soon disappear. That was it. I didn’t have a clue what to expect from it, from the people, from the food, etc. And even if I went without any expectations, Uzbekistan somehow managed to surprise me.

Here are a few things that I noticed during the trip and some practical information.

1. The efficiency at the airport – one of the moments I don’t look forward to when I travel is the queue at the immigration. Have you ever noticed how many counters usually there are vs how many of them are open? Well, in Tashkent it’s different. Most of them, if not all, were open and there was barely any waiting time.
2. The money exchange at the airport is not a rip-off. Their rate was very close to the official rate. If you bring dollars make sure to have new and immaculate notes. I guess this applies to all currencies actually. At the exchange they also gave us a receipt for the transaction that we were advised to keep until we leave the country. I read in some forums and blogs that until last year the authorities could randomly check if your cash corresponds to the amount in the receipt (you could be in trouble if it was more) but I don’t think this applies anymore.
3. The ATM at the airport gives you dollars. That was a surprise but at least it’s some cash that you can exchange. Dollars are also largely accepted across the country.
4. Sim Cards – it’s possible to buy a local sim card right after the passport control. They cost 5 usd and have 100 minutes and 5 GB icluded. I wouldn’t use the word “fast” to describe the internet. If you are planning to stream your favorite tv series, keep dreaming.
5. Taxis are easy to get from the airport or stations. In Tashkent though the situation was very strange. After waiting in vain for a cab at the exit of the metro station I approached the security and asked in my broken Russian “where taxi?”. The answer was “everything is a taxi”. So apparently every car can potentially be a taxi, depending of the mood of the driver. In Bukhara and Samarkand we saw way more regular taxis along with the “indipendent” ones. Neither of them has a meter but they generally don’t try to rip you off. Or maybe we were ripped off but we paid ridiculously small amounts for the journeys so we didn’t mind. Often the taxis already have other passengers on board, it’s up to you to decide if you want to join or no. I also downloaded the local Uber – Yandex Taxi but never tried it at the end.

   

6. Barely anyone speaks English. But most of them speak Russian, which is quite close to Bulgarian. With the remote Whatsapp help of my mum I was able to negotiate prices and ask for basic things.
7. I thought that I would totally love the food but the sad truth is that I returned skinnier. Right when I was about to hit my 50kgs target! Uzbekistan is not the right place for vegetable lovers, healthy eaters and coriander haters. The local cuisine is mainly focused on meat (read as beef and lamb) and  they put it everywhere, even in salads and in every soup available. My attempts to get a vegetable soup failed miserably. The closer I got to this was when the lady brought me plain lamb broth.

   

8. Uzbek people are curious towards the foreigners. Many were staring at us, some asked for photos, a few followed us as we were taking pictures. Just silently observing from a safe distance. I am glad that I was not alone otherwise I would have definitely thought that they were targeting me for the black market of internal organs. I mean, who doesn’t want to have the kidney of a Bulgarian girl?? Tourists are still not a common sight in Uzbekistan so my guess is that this is the reason behind this unusual attention.

   

9. Everything is really cheap. Maybe apart from the hotels, they have regular prices. We hardly ever spent more than 5 dollars per person per meal. Sometimes much less. The taxi rides usually cost around 1 usd. The entrance to the tourstic sights is variable but around 2-5 usd. The permission to use the camera is around 0,20 usd. The ticket for the metro is 15 cents. I bought some, hopefully good quality, honey for 5 usd. And the most expensive bottle of local wine for 7 usd.
10. We used the train twice. I expected them to be as in Bulgaria – nothing you would want to experience. But, on the contrary, they are clean, fast and on time. Ah yes, and cheap! But only if you buy the ticket by yourself and not through an agency. It’s easy and totally doable! We bought ours from the official website of the Uzbek Railwas . A little understanding of the cyrillic alphabet might be needed but some people mange to do it just with the in-browser translator.

    

11. Safety – considering that I don’t walk alone at 3 am I would say that Uzbekistan feels safe. Not like Dubai, but with a little bit of common sense there shouldn’t be any problems. One strange thing that happens when you are in a car with a driver is that you have to exit the vehicle before it enters the gas station. When this happens I strongly recommend to take all your valuables with you while waiting. Just because you never know.
12. It’s extremely clean. Everywhere. How is this even possible I don’t know. The level of tidiness can be compared to Dubai or Singapore.

    

13. Despite being a muslim country, alcohol is easily available in Uzbekistan and it’s part of the everyday life. It’s usually sold in small shops and not in the supermarket. The country even has its own wineries and we saw a few places offering wine tasting in Samarkand and Bukhara.
14. Globalization is not yet a thing  – there are hardly any international chains. There are not many places left without Zara, H&M, McDonalds or Starbucks but Uzbekistan is one of them.
15. The locals love being photographed. Even the women that wear hijab. Many times it was them asking for a photo and not viceversa. One old lady at the market in Tashkent wanted me to take a picture of her and her girlfirends and then gave me her Telegram number so that I can send her the photo. 
16. There is such thing as Tashkent lemons – when I first asked for a lemon for my tea I thought that it’s a local tradition to drink it with orange. Then I looked better at it and concluded it was a mandarin, then I just asked (after 5 days of trying to guess) what was it. Turns out it was a lemon but a special variety that was created by a Soviet citrus breeder. It actually tasted a bit like a sore orange but wih the texture of a lemon.
17. Gold teeth are still in fashion here – in Bulgaria we had this trend too in the past and I even remember that my grandmother had a few. But here I saw for the first time entire tooth rows made of gold. And to be honest I liked it. Maybe one day …