Qarshi Transportation

Traveling to Qarshi or any other city, you can choose to ride the dangerous roads of this former Soviet country or you can fly in Uzbek Airline's Yak 40 fleet.

This is a rundown Russian jet with three engines on the back that can seat 35 to 40 people. You carry your own bags from the terminal and load them up the rear stairs into the racks at the back of the passenger compartment. The seats are padded plywood and the seat belts look like they came out of an old Studebaker.

The interior walls are hand painted sheet steel in battleship grey. After seeing the bald tires and the oil dripping from the engines and smelling the jet fuel leaks, you are primed for a real flying adventure. Luckily, the pilot seems to really know his job and the plane flies beautifully.