Paying the bill in a restaurant, we laid out stacks of money on the table: a review of a vacation in Uzbekistan

“I have always dreamed of visiting Uzbekistan. Now the agencies offer a lot of tours in this direction, and we decided to fly. We didn’t build any expectations, we just went for impressions, because most disappointments happen when you come up with some kind of scenario for yourself or present a certain picture. Uzbekistan is a very promising destination for tourists from Russia. Just take a passport and a plane ticket, no problems with visas. The people here are very kind, bright and hospitable. They understand Russian, they smile, they try to treat you to something, remembering stories about their connection with Russia.”

What was the rest in Uzbekistan-2022 – in the review of the reader of “Subtleties” Olga Matyukhina. Did you enjoy reading The Subtleties of Tourism? You know what to do 😉

Entry conditions for today

Before departure, you must pass a PCR test or provide a certificate of vaccination. We don’t have certificates, and we remembered the tests the day before departure – the whole story with covid was somehow quickly forgotten after the mask regime was canceled in Moscow.1/1

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What about the money

Now it is more convenient to take a tour, rather than fly on your own due to problems with payments, or rather, with cash. We still had a few dollars in cash, and we took our supplies on the trip. But paying with them is not easy here: by exchanging 100 USD, you get a large bundle of Uzbek UZS – feel like a millionaire :) Tourists leave the exchangers with whole bags of money. They will not fit in a wallet, stock up on a bag. When we paid a bill in a restaurant for a company, it was more like a game of monopoly: we laid out bundles of money on the table and constantly counted, as we lost count.

Having exchanged 100 USD, you get a large bundle of Uzbek UZS – feel like a millionaire :) Tourists leave the exchangers with whole bags of money.

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For how long to go and what to do

We took the tour for only a week, but here it’s quite possible to find something to do for 2-3 weeks: you won’t get bored for sure. The program included a visit to Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand. With the flight we paid 50 thousand per person. All transfers, train tickets, breakfasts and several themed lunches and dinners were included in the tour price.

On the first day, we checked into a hotel, had lunch and went on a sightseeing evening tour of the city with dinner at the Tashkent TV tower (by the way, it rotates!). Tashkent is a very cozy city, calm. We did not visit museums, but I think it was necessary to do this.

The next day, early in the morning, we went to Bukhara on the Spanish high-speed train Afrosiab. Bukhara is an amazingly beautiful city! Ancient palaces, colorful markets, for lunch we ate Bukhara pilaf sofi-osh. We dined in an amazing restaurant, sat on a beautiful sofa, dressed in chapans. I will not list all the sights, you can look at the tour programs on the Internet. But, believe me, it will not be boring, you will not get bored with a tour of the mausoleums, necropolises and mosques. Each of them has its own history and zest.1/1

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Samarkand and Tashkent

The next day we took the same beautiful train to Samarkand. We had breakfast and dinner at the famous Karimbek restaurant. Upon returning to Tashkent, we still managed to visit the Chorsu market, but this was just before the flight home. For the famous pilaf on the “Chorsu” it is better to go early – by noon it was gone.

I advise you to definitely visit the Tashkent metro: it is very beautiful, and even cheap (about 9 rubles). In my opinion, the most beautiful metro station that I managed to see was Alisher Navoi.

I think if you get used to handling local cash or you get the opportunity to pay with Mir cards, then it’s better to go to Uzbekistan on your own. No problems with transport and quite affordable prices.

What else to read on the topic

• 14 interesting facts about Uzbekistan and Uzbeks
• What do Uzbeks think about Russians? 8 unexpected facts
• Uzbek lives from wedding to wedding: 6 features of the wedding ceremony in Uzbekistan

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