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Uzbekistan
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Posted by: SCOTT

Does anybody know anything about Uzbekistan? Is it safe to travel there, has anyone gone there?
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Scott

Posted by: rtking

Uzbekistan is a largely Muslim country. The Uzbek people make-up most of the population, but about 5-10% of the population is Russian. (Most live in Tashkent, but there are a few in Samarkand, Bukhara, Ferghana Valley, etc.) There's actually a surprising number of Korean people in Uzbekistan also. I think the story is that these Korean people lived in Russia, but during the communist rule, the communists wanted to send the Korean people back to Korea. North Korea (having a shortage of food, etc.) declined to take them back, so the communists sent the Korean people to Uzbekistan.

Since this is a largely Muslim country, kissing in public is not generally accepted and cars will honk their horns at you in disapproval. Any suggestive signs of affection (including hugging) doesn't seem to be widely accepted either. Hand holding seems like it is OK... but I found that I didn't go much beyond this in the public eye. Also, it is not traditionally accepted for an unmarried man and unmarried women to stay in the same room together. Some inn keepers (esp. in cities outside of Tashkent) will not allow unmarried guests of the opposite sex to stay in the same room.

Uzbekistan is very safe. It's very easy to walk at night... even as late as 2:00 or 3:00 AM. There are police and soldiers present most of the time, so you should be safe.

I have stayed at the Sheraton Tashkent (a very nice hotel) but for $10 a day, you can stay in a flat that your lady friend can help find and rent for you. During the summer, I'd highly recommend the Sheraton since it can be quite hot. You WILL be drinking a lot of water!

Tashkent is a good size city and fairly interesting. The Bizarre are fun to walk through (see my pictures in the photo section of this forum.) There are a fancy restaurants in the major hotel (like the Intercontinental Hotel) but I found that they were incredibly expensive (even by US standards) and not very tasty. Instead, go eat at the more traditional restaurants. The Uzbek cuisine is very tasty and Sashlik and Uzbek bread can be found everywhere. Make sure you try the Plov (long grain rice with very thinly sliced carrots and lamb combined with lamb fat). It's very tasty and not at all "gamey" like American lamb.

You will need to apply for a visa before going. Once you fly into the airport in Tashkent, you'll see that it's not a very big airport at all. You'll walk through the airport and will find about 8 kiosks with customs declaration forms. You will want to hunt around for the ones written in English. Fill out one form for EACH of your bags. So if you have two pieces of luggage, fill out two forms. Yes, the forms are identical, but I found that the customs people wanted me to fill-out a form for each piece of luggage.

You'll stand in line (it was one line when I was in Tashkent) to see the customs person Expect the whole process of getting off the airplane to making it through customs to take you between 1.5 hours and 2 hours.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other specific questions!

Bob K.

Posted by: SCOTT

Thanks for the info. Sounds like an interesting place to visit. I need to do a little more research though.

Scott

Posted by: SCOTT

Hey Sean,

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure about making the trip. Depends on a how things turn out with the woman I am corresponding with.
How far in advance should I be planning this trip. Getting visa, travel arrangements. etc. ? I'm sure I will have a lot more questions for you in the future.

Scott