Fergana Transportation

4 more images

When we were putting the itinerary for our Uzbek trip together, there was a Sunday morning flight from Fergana to Tashkent, which fitted in with our plans beautifully - we could fly back to Tashkent in time for lunch and be in Samarkand before sunset. (Following a bad accident last year tourist coaches are not permitted to drive after dark). Well - that was the plan .... until the flight schedules were changed, after all our other bookings were in place! There was nothing for it but to travel back to Tashkent by road, so, on the morning of our departure there they were, three shiny sedans and their drivers all ready to go at 7.00am. It's 420 kilometres to Tashkent from Fergana, allowing for a comfort stop or two and ditto for photos, the trip was set to take us 5 - 5 1/2 hours - still time for that Tashkent lunch stop and pre-dusk arrival in Samarkand.

That was until one of the cars broke down about halfway along the route! Things had been going beautifully until then - the cars were comfortable, with 8 of us spread out between 3 cars there was plenty of room for both passengers and luggage; we'd had a lovely encounter with an old Russian babushka at the first of those comfort stops and another with a woman who had picked a bag of walnuts for us when we stopped to photograph her donkeys; the scenery, from the cotton fields and orchards of the valley floor to the snow-capped mountains of the Chatkal Range and the wide braids of the Ankhangaran River, had been wonderful - now we found ourselves standing around outside a mechanic's yard, wondering what was going to happen next.

To cut a long story short, the car couldn't be fixed quickly, no other car was available in the village we were in, there was nothing for it but to pile everyone and all our bags into the two remaining cars. Not the most comfortable of rides and it was long past 3 before we arrived in Tashkent. Still, our bus and drivers were waiting for us, we got to Samarakand, way after the curfew but safely, and all was well.

Independent travellers who are making their own arrangements have 3 options if they decide to go by road
- a private car and driver, organised through a travel agent or your hotel and expensive.
- a shared taxi. These leave from the bus station near the main bazaar - expect to pay about $12-15.
- a minibus from the same place, the cheapest option.

There is a train but it takes 8 hours because it actually transits through Tajikistan and there are border formalities, not the least of which is that you will need a multiple entry Uzbekistan visa.