Caravanistan

Geez, +22 hours? Are the passengers pushing it?

It goes the long way around the mountains and through Uzbekistan (meaning 4 border checks; forget it if you need a visa for Tajikistan or Uzbekistan).

Ok, I now looked up Bekobod and have to admit I underestimated the place (did not assume that there are any hotels/guesthouses)

No idea if they'll let you off the train there, but the elektrishka to Tashkent leaves Bekobod in the early morning only (6:19), while the Tajik train crosses the border in the afternoon...

So we are talking about technical issues with their app (which may be due to incompetence), but still no scam...

Wait, am I missing something or are you making such an argument about 10 cent? This is not a scam. They do this to check your card is legit. It's negligence by them to not automatically refund it, but considering the minimal amount of money it looks like you were actively searching for something to ...

No. This train has no electronic registration so you need a paper ticket to board.

You can buy tickets at the ticket counter in Tashkent (or at any railway ticket counter in Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan). You can check available berths at pass.rw.by if you understand basic Russian (but do not book there as you'd get a voucher which you need to ...

No problem (unlike a few "developed" European countries, public transport works on every day in Central Asia, including any given holiday).

Interesting - the Belarusian train booking page currently lists a connection between Khujand and Dushanbe - running daily up until 23/11/23 (i.e. tomorrow): https://pass.rw.by/ru/route/?from=Худжанд&from_esr=0&from_exp=6600910&to=Душанбе&to_esr=0&to_exp=6600001&date=everyday This is now back in the...

You can only get a legit IDP issued by the authorities of your country (so it depends on them whether you can apply online at all). There are a number of websites by private companies claiming to issue you an IDP. Some of them are faking documents, others are selling you a mere translation of your n...