Uzbekistan?

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Uzbekistan?

Postby bearanddragon » Sun Jun 09, 2013 2:31 am

Thinking of pulling this off mid-September. Just want to see Samarkand. Anyone been or know a good point of contact?
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby Athena » Sun Jun 09, 2013 12:12 pm

I was considering it, too. A friend of a friend is there, and isn't keen on the place though. If you don't get any first hand leads, I will follow up for you.
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby bearanddragon » Mon Jun 10, 2013 4:15 am

cool. i'm not getting starry eyed about the place. but i've been wanting to see samarkand for awhile and it may be a decade before i get a chance again
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby ReptilianKittenEater » Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:34 pm

I hope to get to that part of the world, maybe tag on an Uzbek experience after a peakbagging in Kyrgzstan or Tajikistan. I've heard Bukhara is nicer than Samarkand. The freaky part of Uzbekistan would be up near Aral Sea or what remains of it. Love to hear about your travels if you make it.

I think M-A has been to that neck of the woods.
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby marie-angelique » Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:48 pm

go! i heard these guys are good at helping with visas.
http://www.stantours.com/

what are you planning to climb?
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby ReptilianKittenEater » Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:37 am

I'm not sure if Bearanddragon is climbing anything. I'd like to go there one day but it will be a while.

I'm doing Stok Kangri in Ladakh, India in September if the knee is good to go. Have you bagged any peaks as of late?
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby marie-angelique » Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:46 am

Looks like a fun trip. I haven't climbed anything big since my last trip climbing Elbrus and Peak Lenin. After that I realized I was spending a boatload of time with people who were good climbers, but weren't the people I wanted to spend my life with.

So no more high altitude mountaineering for now. Maybe after the next big trip I'll hit South America and do some of those lovely short technical peaks you can do in a week or so.
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby ReptilianKittenEater » Wed Jun 19, 2013 2:53 am

Elbrus is one I want to do. Ecuador is good for a 1 week climbing jaunt but you will not find much solitude there unless you want to dodge the lava on Sangay.
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby bearanddragon » Thu Jul 25, 2013 5:29 am

naw, probably not climbing. just walking around and taking the odd photo. pure tourism :)
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby rickshaw92 » Thu Jul 25, 2013 12:13 pm

Anyone ever been in Jan?
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby ReptilianKittenEater » Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:10 pm

rickshaw92 wrote:Anyone ever been in Jan?


No, but it may be a tad chilly. Which way are you headed down to Pakistan?
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby rickshaw92 » Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:25 pm

ReptilianKittenEater wrote:
rickshaw92 wrote:Anyone ever been in Jan?


No, but it may be a tad chilly. Which way are you headed down to Pakistan?


Thashkent to old stuff to Mazr in AStan, bus to Kabul, flight to Peshawar.
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby bearanddragon » Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:19 am

Well, going to have to postpone this trip for some months. Work commitments. consolation will be a trip to Thailand :)
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby ReptilianKittenEater » Fri Aug 09, 2013 2:22 am

rickshaw92 wrote:
ReptilianKittenEater wrote:
rickshaw92 wrote:Anyone ever been in Jan?


No, but it may be a tad chilly. Which way are you headed down to Pakistan?


Thashkent to old stuff to Mazr in AStan, bus to Kabul, flight to Peshawar.


You won't need the huskies and the sled then. Have fun and please post pics
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Re: Uzbekistan?

Postby Omega » Sun Jun 01, 2014 10:37 pm

Hi,
I am originally from Kyrgyz Republic, I have a friend from Uzbekistan (ethnically Ukrainian) who tells me how things are there. Well, it is good place if you have money, you can get a lot for your dollars and euros. Perhaps not as cheap as SEA, but still going to be exotic for most people.
Samarkand is about 180 miles from Tashkent and there are even one-day tours. Buhara is also fantastic place.
Terrorists - mainly Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan - has been quiet for a while now.
I don't think anyone will have problems with obtaining visas to get there, especially because the government tries to raise its international reputation after "incidentally" shooting hundreds of demonstrators (apparently, they were IMU, this is usually how it works there - any person shot there without good explanation is from IMU) and burying them under some road (now how will you find the bodies?).
Religion - again, it varies significantly. Some people are devoted Muslims, some are not, some belong to other religions. There is an old Jewish community in Buhara, to my knowledge they were there before Arabic conquests and islamisation of the region.
Food - fantastic and cheap. Alcohol is sold everywhere. You can find pork, locals eat horse meat too, plus Koreans eat dogs there, it is quite normal though dog meat cannot be purchased on the market, only in Korean restaurants.
In general people are very friendly, particularly to foreigners, in non-touristic places. However, women are usually stay separately from men - this is not because of discrimination, but culturally, and interests of men are different from those of women. Women can travel safely, but need to respect local culture - avoid bathing without bra (ok is few places, but it is not really acceptable in most of the former USSR)
Respect elderly, particularly WW2 and Afghan war veterans - give up your seat in public transport or even in a queue.
Language - I would say there are more English language speakers than in some Central European countries. Russian is widely spoken, many people speak only Russian. Uzbek - it is Turk language, so you may try using Turkish vocabulary to try to get around. You can run across some Germans though Germans are more widespread in Kyrgyz Republic.
And no bad reference to the Glorious, the Most Illustrious, the Smartest and the Greatest President! And it is better not to mention Borat ;)
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