Beshariq border crossing (Uzbekistan to Tajikistan, Fergana Valley)

[malty]

Crossed over the border this month (Kokand to Khujand). Uzbek side: Took a taxi (via Yango app) for 140k.
It was supposed to be 88k according to the app, but he claimed it would be extra for the methane (which is in scarce supply at the moment, with long queues at filling stations). Immigration asked for registration documents, he only checked the paper ones (I had three other slips sent via Telegram, which he didn’t care to see). They scanned my bags twice, as they were looking for a piece of metal (never found it). No idea what it was (or maybe they were just testing me — I’m not sure I’d initially trust a shabby-looking foreigner in the middle of nowhere either). Friendly guys though.

Tajik side: Fast going through. Quite a few taxi drivers, but there were no shared rides going to Khujand, as far as I could tell. So I paid 250k UZS (haggled down from 300k) for a private ride. Considering it’s 80+km to Khujand, it didn’t seem too bad to me. Money changers are at the border too. Near Arka (on the road to Khujand) there were quite a few bombed-out buildings, a burnt casino, and an obliterated petrol station from the recent fighting—I wish thy land and people peace and prosperity.

[Patchy]

Crossed this morning from Kokand to Khujand. Will share my experience to hopefully help others as there is not so much info on this border crossing, particularly from UZ>TJ.

Leaving Kokand: I struggled to find online the shared taxi/marshrutka station in Kokand that could take me to the border. The hotel (Rohat Hotel - decent and cheap) called a taxi who took me to a roundabout a bit southwest of the city (https://goo.gl/maps/wF6q8xJBxoz2YWxV8 - QO`QON DARVOZA AVTOSHOX BEKATI). From there, there are marshrutkas going to the towns further west towards the border, particularly Beshariq. While you could try and wait to fill a marshrutka to Andarkhan (the last town) or the border, I just paid 80,000 som for a driver to take me straight there. I left at around 9am and arrived at the border at 9:50am. Didn't seem like a popular crossing so I'm not sure how long you would have to wait to fill a vehicle if you want a cheaper ride in shared transport.

Border: Things were very straightforward. The Uzbek border guard opened the pedestrian gate for me to go through. The Uzbek customs scanned my bags and gave a cursory glance at some of my electronics and over-the-counter medication. I was stamped out of Uzbekistan with no issues, nor questions about registration slips. Walked over to the Tajik side where the border guard asked if I needed a visa. Holding an Australian passport, I said 'Visa-free'. He seemed a bit confused until he located Australia on the list in front of him of visa-free countries. No more questions asked and I was stamped into the country and walked past the Tajik border gate. Whole process took 10 minutes max.

Getting to Khujand: A bunch of taxi drivers mobbed me at the Tajik border gate but all were polite and reasonably helpful, not too overwhelming. After some miscommunication and some offline google translating, I ended up taking a shared taxi to Khujand with a few Uzbek ladies. We paid 50,000 Uzbek som each (or at least they said they also paid that). Seems that the taxi drivers will take either Uzbek som or Tajik somoni - the exchange rate is roughly 1 TJS to 1000 UZS which made things easier. A couple of guys also offered to change money but I didn't bother so can't advise on the rate they give. The ride took a little under 2 hours and was pretty scenic with the turquoise lake and mountains nearby, although the road was pretty rough and pothole-ridden. You may be able to do the trip cheaper by taking a marshrutka to Konibodom and then other shared transport from there to Khujand - there were two marshrutkas waiting at the border (around 10am) when I made it through.

[cle]

Crossed this morning from Kokand to Khujand. Will share my experience to hopefully help others as there is not so much info on this border crossing, particularly from UZ>TJ.

Leaving Kokand: I struggled to find online the shared taxi/marshrutka station in Kokand that could take me to the border. The hotel (Rohat Hotel - decent and cheap) called a taxi who took me to a roundabout a bit southwest of the city (https://goo.gl/maps/wF6q8xJBxoz2YWxV8 - QO`QON DARVOZA AVTOSHOX BEKATI). From there, there are marshrutkas going to the towns further west towards the border, particularly Beshariq. While you could try and wait to fill a marshrutka to Andarkhan (the last town) or the border, I just paid 80,000 som for a driver to take me straight there. I left at around 9am and arrived at the border at 9:50am. Didn't seem like a popular crossing so I'm not sure how long you would have to wait to fill a vehicle if you want a cheaper ride in shared transport.

Border: Things were very straightforward. The Uzbek border guard opened the pedestrian gate for me to go through. The Uzbek customs scanned my bags and gave a cursory glance at some of my electronics and over-the-counter medication. I was stamped out of Uzbekistan with no issues, nor questions about registration slips. Walked over to the Tajik side where the border guard asked if I needed a visa. Holding an Australian passport, I said 'Visa-free'. He seemed a bit confused until he located Australia on the list in front of him of visa-free countries. No more questions asked and I was stamped into the country and walked past the Tajik border gate. Whole process took 10 minutes max.

Getting to Khujand: A bunch of taxi drivers mobbed me at the Tajik border gate but all were polite and reasonably helpful, not too overwhelming. After some miscommunication and some offline google translating, I ended up taking a shared taxi to Khujand with a few Uzbek ladies. We paid 50,000 Uzbek som each (or at least they said they also paid that). Seems that the taxi drivers will take either Uzbek som or Tajik somoni - the exchange rate is roughly 1 TJS to 1000 UZS which made things easier. A couple of guys also offered to change money but I didn't bother so can't advise on the rate they give. The ride took a little under 2 hours and was pretty scenic with the turquoise lake and mountains nearby, although the road was pretty rough and pothole-ridden. You may be able to do the trip cheaper by taking a marshrutka to Konibodom and then other shared transport from there to Khujand - there were two marshrutkas waiting at the border (around 10am) when I made it through.

Thanks for the report. Do you happen to know what time do these buses from Kokand to Beshariq leave? I plan to leave by around 11am or noon, but I am afraid that there would be no buses left.

[Patchy]

Thanks for the report. Do you happen to know what time do these buses from Kokand to Beshariq leave? I plan to leave by around 11am or noon, but I am afraid that there would be no buses left.

As far as I am aware, there is no scheduled transport. The taxis and marshrutkas usually go when full or possibly when nearly full to pick up other passengers along the way. You might have to rely on a bit of luck. My experience in Central Asia with shared transport is sometimes I've been able to go immediately, other times I've waited up to an hour and a half. If you're worried about no one going to the border, you can always fork out a bit extra for a private ride there, as I did, if your budget allows.

[Girardelli]

We just did a Visarun from Beshariq to Tajikistan and back the next day with our bikes. Very smooth border crossing in both ways, friendly staff, no waiting times.

The Usbek officiales asked for registration papers. We just had registration for about the half of time we stayed in Usbekistan but they did not check accurately so they where happy with what we had.

There are shared Taxis on both side of the border.

[alethialee]

We just did a Visarun from Beshariq to Tajikistan and back the next day with our bikes. Very smooth border crossing in both ways, friendly staff, no waiting times.

The Usbek officiales asked for registration papers. We just had registration for about the half of time we stayed in Usbekistan but they did not check accurately so they where happy with what we had.

There are shared Taxis on both side of the border.

Hello thanks you for the update, I’m wondering if I may ask you if you submitted any results of Covid-19 to Tajikistan border when you crossed the border? Because when I received email of my approval of visa( Tajikistan requires visa for Chinese citizens) and the email said "ATTENTION - All passengers travelling to Tajikistan from any point of origin must hold a negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate for a test taken no more than 72 hours before departure." I may cross the border in a week so if it’s true I really need to be prepared in advance. thank you

[Girardelli]

We did not have to show any test entering to Tajikistan (this was on the 13th of may).

It was still strange the next day going back to Usbekistan. Still on the Tajik side of the border crossing our body temperature got measured. Now idea what the purpose of this was, as we where going to Usbekistan and it was Tajik officials who did it

[rsdk]

I crossed the border yesterday from Uzbekistan to Tajikistan.

We hitchhiked from Qoqon (Kokhand) to the road towards the border, then found a marshrutka which took us to another marshrutka, to Beshariq. We didn't plan the transportation but the marshrutkas pass very regularly on the road. The driver who drove us to Beshariq told us he can bring us to the border for 70,000 sum, we agreed. At the border he said we had to pay 70,000 each, to which we didn't agree, I don't know if this was a genuine misunderstanding or not but we ended up paying 70k for 2 people.

The border crossing was smooth, we weren't asked for any hotel registration, but we also had only been in Uzbekistan for a few days (going overland from Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan through the Uzbek Fergana valley). Our bags were scanned while leaving Uzbekistan but not when entering Tajikistan. The border guard at the Tajik side was very friendly.

There are no exchange offices or shops around the border, but on both sides there are small towns nearby, and though it's not busy there were a few people crossing at the same time as us. There were a few taxi drivers on the Tajik side that offered to exchange money with us, which we declined.

From the Tajik border we took a marshrutka to Konibodom. We didn't have any Tajik Somoni yet but we could pay in Uzbek sum, in Konibodom we could also pay for water with sum, and we also paid the marshrutka from Konibodom to Khujand, our destination, in sum.

[sfymoises]

I just did it today, from kokand(UZ) to Khujand(TJ), all by public transportation.

Uz side: I took a taxi by yandex from kokand city center to the point as Patchy said, QO`QON DARVOZA AVTOSHOX BEKATI, 9000 som. After that took a local bus to Beshariq, only 3000 som I can't believe that. Well, it stopped many times, after 1 hour got off at Beshariq Dehqon Bozori, found a minibus(white mini van) to border, about half hour, 7000 som.

Crossing border: Chinese passport+Tajik E-visa. So smooth on the both sides, the guards were very nice, even no scanning my big backpack, just stamped on passport then let me go. The whole process takes no more than 5 mins.

Tj side: change money with taxi guy, rate was 1100 som: 1 somuni, well not bad. I changed the rest of my som. By the way, Taxi to Khujand for 1 people 40 somuni(after bargaining). Watch!! If you want to take bus to Khujand like me, walk to the place just 15m away from the border exit. You'll see a Iveco bus No.164, that took me to Konibodom(a small town in Tj side) bus station, 40 mins, 4 somuni. Then took No.328 in the same station, still it was iveco, to Khujand, 1 hour 20 mins, 15 somuni. But this bus just stops at suburb. The last step taking anyone city bus(iveco) to central, 2.5 somuni.

[Goteborg]

I crossed the border today from Khujand to Kokand with a Dutch passport.

Tajikistan: from my hotel in Khujand I took a taxi to the bus station mentioned in the main article towards the south of the city. Beware: when I arrived taxi drivers that were waiting there immediately opened the door before I even paid my current taxi and they said that there is no bus (avtobus) to Konibodom. I closed the door to pay and then when I exited I told them that I will first check for the bus and it was standing literally in front of the taxi. I took bus 328 to Konibodom and it seems to pass regularly. It was a smooth ride. The bus driver guessed that I needed to go to the border (tamoznya/granitsa) so somewhere in Konibodom he told me to get off there and he pointed to where the bus to the border is. I paid 15 somoni for this bus. Then I took bus 164 to the border and paid 3.5 somoni.

Border: At the border I could exchange my left over somoni for som on the Tajik side. Crossing the border went smoothly on both the Tajik side and the Uzbek side, no questions asked.

Uzbekistan: once over the border there were plenty of taxis and a few marshrutkas waiting. I took a shared taxi to Beshariq with 2 others and someone else paid for me but it was 5000 som per person I think. The person that helped me walked with me through the bazar in Beshariq and that way we found the marshrutka to Kokand. These were the coordinates of where the marshrutkas to Kokand were waiting: 40.44134, 70.606103. I would not have found it without his help. The marshrutka was also paid for so I don't know how much it costs. We arrived at a bus station south west of the city so I needed a bus to get to the centre. Bus 42 brought me to the centre and it cost me 1500 som.

Thanks to the kindness of Tajik and Uzbek people it was not hard to find everything:) and thanks to everyone who told their stories of crossing this border on this forum I knew most things, so thank you!