03.06.97 - 22.06.97 Torugart-Naryn-Bishkek-Toktogul 1080 Km 22.06.97 - 09.07.97 Andizan-Tashkent-Samarkand-Bukhara 1010 Km 09.07.97 - 17.07.97 Cardzou-Mary-Ashkhabad 750 Km Visa
It was much easier than expected. First I got the kyrgys visa in less than a week for about 45 U$. Then the usbek visa. It took more than 2 weeks and costed 90 U$, but from the informations I had before I thought it would be impossible to get a visa. That was in New Delhi. Both were 1 month visa. The kyrgys one had fixed entry and exit days (like Russia), while the the usbek visa was valid one month from the date of entry. I got the turkmen visa in Tashkent in 1 day. It was a 10 days transit visa. The bordercrossings were very different. Into Kyrgistan from China they wanted Bakshish. To enter Usbekistan was very easy, we didn't even get an entry stamp. The exit was no problem as well. To leave Turkmenistan was a bit more complicated. The exit date on my visa wasn't written very clearly (check that when you get a visa), so they only let me go after I gave them all my turkmen money (only 1 U$).
Money
K: 1 U$ =18 Sum
U: 1 U$ = 130 Som
T: 1 U$ = 5000 Manat
I'm not sure if traveller cheques and creditcard are accepted. Probably if their not already they will be soon. Cash money should be "fresh", that means nothing written on the banknotes and emitted after 1990.
Roads
K: It's a very mountainous country, not all the roads are paved. Specially if it's steep, near the top of the passes the road isn't paved, but always in good conditions.
U: Good
T: Good, the road up to the Iranian Border is very good.
Traffic
There isn't much traffic in all three countries. The most (but still not much) in Usbekistan.
Accomodation
K: We camped a lot.
U: Here we mostly stayed in Hotels, along the road there were a lot of villages.
T: We stayed in a Hotel only in Ashkhabad.
Food
K: There aren't too many villages, so we had to carry a lot of food with us. In Bishkek it was possible to buy lot's of things.
U: It was never a problem to find shops, but the stock was much smaller, except in Tashkent and in Samarkand
T: There weren't many shops and the stock was small. Between Cardzou and Mary we had to carry a lot of water.
The food in the 3 countries was a mix of russian and pakistani/iranian food.
People
There are still many russians living there. Specially in the cities. Here too before we went there people told us that it would be dangerous, but once again we had no problem at all. Everybody, the kyrgyz, the usbeks, the turkmens and the russians invited us, mostly to drink tea.
Language
Kyrgyz, Usbek, and Turkmen are all turkish languages, but everybody still speaks russian as well. English or any other foreign language is not widely spoken.
Prices
Not too expensive, but not as cheap as India and Pakistan. We thought the hotels would be expensive, but that was the case only in Tashkent.
Bicycle parts
I bought a 28'' rim in Tashkent on the market. It's possible to find tyres at well but the're very large (40mm) and didn't fit on my bike. Cycling is quit popular in Usbekistan. For the first time since Russia I saw racing bikes again.
Dangers
Never had any problems.
28.2.98/chs - picture by Christoph Sauser
