Baku to Urgench options - via Aktau or Tashkent?

[jennifer]

Hi. I am flying to Baku on Sunday (June 26) and was just denied my Turkmen transit visa, for a flight that was on Wednesday next week (June 29). My plan was to go from Turkmenistan to Urgench (Khiva) and I'd still like to start my Uzbek adventure there, as I will be moving east towards Almaty and already have my other visas in place for Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The problem is that I now need to find a way to get to Urgench that does not take too too much time (I know, I know). Even worse, I have to get a new flight home as that flight will be canceled since I cannot take the first flight to Ashgabat. It seems I should be able to get the money back, but it is still a lot of last minute planning I did not count on.

I have found a flight from Baku to Aktau that works well, but I wanted to ask if you know how hard it will be to get a train ticket to Urgench once I am in Aktau. I have tried to work with the Kazak railway system, but it keeps saying the train does not go on any day I try. That doesn't seem right, but it is hard to be sure what I am doing wrong. I have also found a more time-consuming, more expensive flight to Tashkent, but this puts me so out of the way, and then I'll need another ticket to get back west. I'm not sure if it will be easy to find one once I get to Uzbekistan.

This is all so last minute (the Turkmen consulate had my passport for 5 weeks before denying it, and I'm still hoping it arrives back today) and I'd like to arrange this part before I leave on Sunday. Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[jennifer]

Update - Nukus seems to be a better option from Aktau by train. Not as looong, and would be happy to see it. Found the train on bahn.de, but still wondering if it will be available when I try to buy the tickets one day in advance? Or should I detour through Tashkent?

[Provodnik]

As far as I know, there is no direct train service from Aktau (station name: Mangyshlak) to Urgench. You need to change trains at Bejneu and buy seperate tickets. Thats probably why the Kazakh railways website wont give you any results from Aktau to Urgench.

[Crazydre]

Mangystau-Beyneu tickets cost 882 tenge (dirt cheap), don't know about Beyneu-Urgench

[jennifer]

Thanks Crazydre

[Provodnik]

Beyneu - Urgench in platskartny usually costs 2800 RUB according to the website of Russian Railways. Thats about 40 EUR, and the price in Tenge will be similar. A direct train is available 4 times weekly, leaving at 00:36 on mon, thu, sat and sun.
There is also a daily Bejneu - Nukus train at 03:05, just in case the direct train is sold out (it comes from Volgograd or Saratov) or the dates of operation don't suit. From Nukus it's probably easier to organize alternative onward transportation to Urgench.

[jennifer]

Thanks for the updates everyone. I decided to go with a flight that lands in Tashkent. I'd like to get a flight the same day to Urgench, but it arrives at 9pm. Do you know if it would be possible to get a lift to Khiva that night?