Uzbekistan is a landlocked country, in central Asia and the former Soviet Republic. Uzbekistan is surrounded by 5 countries: Tajikistan from the southeast, Afghanistan is in the south, Kazakhstan is in the north, Turkmenistan is in the southeast. The capital of Uzbekistan is Tashkent.
Uzbekistan is mostly known for the mosques and mausoleums and there are other sites on the silk road, which was the ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean. On the route there is a major city in the name of “Samarkand ”, which has landmarks from the Islamic architecture like the Registan, there is a mosaic-covered religious school.
The currency used in Uzbekistan is “Uzbekistani som” which equals 1 Uzbekistani som equals 0.000094 united states dollars.
Train travel in Uzbekistan
Traveling by train is an inexpensive and stress-free way to move around in the country. All the major cities like Ferghana valley, Termez, Nukus, Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand, and many other cities, have high-speed connections.
As Uzbekistan is a country which has famous Islamic architecture and it is the ancient silk road cities, they have huge mountains like Chimgan Mountains and Nuratau mountains. If you fly over the country then you will miss all this view. This is the main reason people in Uzbekistan loves to travel by train to enjoy the scenic view. Traveling by train is a lot cheaper and it more comfortable.
READ ALSO: Uzbekistan Travel tips
With the development of the train network, Uzbekistan has a developed new soviet region railway. These trains run between Tashkent, Khiva, Samarkand, and Bukhara. This has reduced traveling time like you can reach from Tashkent to Samarkand within 2 hours.
the government of Uzbekistan recommends their travelers get insurance before traveling to Uzbekistan. This will cover the cancellation fees, theft, or if loss of cash.
Tickets Booking
There are 2 ways of booking tickets:-
Online ticket bookings
The website for booking online tickets has a lot of bugs. Various issues are reported while booking online tickets.
|
If you try to book the train tickets online then, there will be issues like, money transferred but not got the tickets, not received the activation e-mail. |
Offline Ticket Bookings
This is a much better way of booking the tickets, but you book the tickets in advance as there are very limited seats available.
|
To book the tickets hassle-free you just need to book the tickets from the VIP lounge area, usually, they have fewer people. |
Train experience in Uzbekistan
trains in Uzbekistan are an open wagon train, 4 berth wagon, or 2 berth wagon. The security measure in the train they usually take around half an hour but there are times where it can take more than that. These trains are not immune to being late or delayed they can be delayed for 1 hour or 2 hours.
These trains have including a restaurant wagon. There are trains where you can recharge your mobile phones. You can chat with other people.
|
Don’t plan your trips on a tight schedule. As these trains can be late. |
READ ALSO: Best way to travel in Uzbekistan
There are 2 types of train in Uzbekistan:
Fast trains
As the name tells, these are fast trains and are relatively new and spacious. These trains are equipped with air conditioning. These trains provide an atmosphere similar to that of the airplane. For entertainment on the go, there are pop-out televisions that show Turkish soap operas.
Traveling time when traveling through fast trains.
- Tashkent to Bukhara, traveling time will be 4 hours
- Tashkent to Samarkand, traveling time will be 2 hours
- Samarkand to Bukhara, traveling time will be 1.5 hours
|
The 2nd class trains have the best quality of the room with the best pricing option. |
Slow trains
These trains are very old and over the year they have collected dust over them. There are some parts of the country in which these trains are relatively cleaner than trains in other parts of the country.
There are food services also available in these trains, you can order the food services from the train conductor. Some drinks are available at the end of the hallway. There you can chat with your fellow passengers, drinking is still allowed in the trains. But a serving of alcohol is not available.
The food that is available in the slow trains is eggs and sausages, which are most commonly available in these trains.
|
Slow trains are relatively slower than 1.5 or 2 times slower. |
READ ALSO: Why you should travel to Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan has a facility of luggage room
There is the facility of luggage room at all the major stations. they are open 24/7 but the tourist just has to pay a small number of luggage fees.
