Caravanistan

Hello Luxury Asia. Thank you for the offer. Air tickets cannot be cancelled as Uzbek Travel Company who accepted order and then failed to purchase our train tickets in timescale agreed have partly funded the alternative travel by plane. So we will be holding our breath for safe flight, and not 'rock...

I also understand that is the case. Due to a Tourism/Travel Event taking place in Tashkent on I believe the 3rd to 5th October, the tickets for the Fast Train from Bukhara to Tashkent (the Afrosiyob) were all classed as 'Sold Out' waiting for Event Delegates to purchase them before they would then s...

Hi Folks, Currently we are in Tashkent and the Hotel Manager has confirmed what 'robert' has said. The ruling about paying for your accommodation in USD has been REVERSED so now you can only pay in UZBEK SOM. So if you brought a load of USD with you, then it's off to the Bank to change it! Having sa...

Glad you got the full rate! We were advised to take USD with us to pay for the accommodation due to the Government Requirements while asking some of the places we will be staying they also told us that they accept Visa or MasterCard. You might like to get yourself a MasterCard Credit Card that if yo...

At 40,000 Som/8 USD it seems like the ATM's have not been 'updated' to provide the now Bank Rate of 8000 Som for 1 USD. So if you have USD then it would make sense to use the Bank and forget about the ATM? BUT make sure what the rate is in the Bank before you take the plunge, or you might find the w...

Not sure where you are based but some Credit/Debit Cards have a limit imposed by their banks when using an ATM for a Cash Advance, so you might find that this will limit you........... But if you are, then you can always go back the following day and get the same amount again. I have used that in th...

Antonio wrote:Wow, 50000 soms notes. I only saw a few 10000 notes, did not even knew these existed.

I guess it might make it easier to carry than a fistful of notes, but then it depends if the place you want to buy an ice cream is able to change it!

Hi okwell,

Thanks for the confirmation, appreciate your getting back to us with the information.

Cheers

Just looked at and read the article in the link from olmo and saw this: " Islam Karimov, the ex-Soviet republic’s first ruler under independence, had pinned the value of the som to the dollar. But the policy has led to a flourishing illegal market as the difference between the official exchange rate...

Thanks for the information okwell. I find it unbelievable that an exchange organisation in Europe is quoting a rate of exchange on the USD that is less than 50% of the rate being offered by the central bank in Uzbekistan. Guess I need a 'Few Dollars More' before we set off and leave the plastic at h...