After two unforgettable visits to Samarkand and Bukhara, Uzbekistan’s Silk Road-era historical gems, we found ourselves in the remote Zaamin Mountains. Following a pleasant hike the previous day, it was now time to continue our journey through Central Asia to Tashkent.
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The taxi driver who had brought us from Samarkand two days earlier had given us his number, offering to drive us to Tashkent whenever we wanted. Borrowing our host’s phone, we called him, and he explained that he was in Samarkand but could send a friend to drive us. After a few minutes, during which he made the arrangements, we called him back. He assured us that his friend was on the way and would arrive in five minutes. We quickly got our bags ready and waited… for an hour.
We called him to check, and only then did he show the courtesy of informing us that he had filled his car in the village and left without giving much of a shit about letting us know.
The rudimentary mountain hamlet where we stayed was 32 km from the main town of Zaamin, where we could look for alternative transport to the Uzbek capital. We headed to the road and soon flagged down a car that took us there for 20 som per person. We were dropped off at the town’s taxi station, where a car was ready to depart for Tashkent—once two more passengers joined us.
The wait was long. We had plenty of time to grab a burger from the food place across the street and read about 50 pages. When our co-passengers finally materialized, we paid 80 som each and hit the road.
The driver was a very nice and talkative chap. He enjoyed sharing stories about his Greek schoolmate, one of the many sons of Communist refugees who had fled to the Soviet Union during the Greek Civil War. Unlike many of his peers in this country, he was also a sensible driver. The trip lasted about three hours. We got off at a metro station and made our way to the hotel, where an unexpected and nerve-racking adventure involving bureaucracy and outdated laws awaited us.
Accommodation and activities in Uzbekistan
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