Farap - Alat (TM - UZ) border crossing updates

[Huojin]

Thank you , that is very useful. Can I ask, what address did you specifically put in the Yandex ride request

For anyone still wondering about the answer to this question, you can find address(es) with some variation of "Alat border", "Olot border", etc. in the name, which can be selected on Yandex!

[Red]

Can anyone please tell me about the process going the other direction? TM->UZ ?

I'm trying to figure out how long I need to get to Bukhara... if I can get a train to Tashkent the same day.

Thanks!

[Susiegirl7]

I crossed this morning. What a fun look at bureaucracy. It took an hour+ on the Turkmen side and my guide said they were much slower than usual.

Wanted to share some info on getting to the border.

In Bukhara, I asked my train station to town Yandex driver if he ever did border rides. He said no and that others don’t like to since there is no guarantee of finding a customer for the return. Supposedly some drivers will accept your ride request and then ask for more money. Conversation was in Russian so I suspect he was being truthful.

He said that marshrutkas to the border leave from the parking lot near the Chor Minor Madrasah. A guy working at my hostel said the same. I walked by a few times and didn’t see any marshrutkas. Maybe it’s only early morning or I was in the wrong spot but there were taxi drivers there and they weren’t offering rides which is odd.

Anyway, I overheard a guy at my hostel say he was going to the border and I asked about his ride sitch. He was using Stan Treasures. Apparently, some tour companies hook up travelers with them. Contact info: +998 99 999 46 12. I reached out and got an immediate response. A car is $19. You can share with 2 others. They were happy to pick up whenever and have you ride with others going to the border even if a different tour group. I went with this option since it was easier than finding a Yandex at 6 am. Highly recommend. FYI that your change from $20 will be in Uzbek.

Border “shuttle” update: 5k Uzbek + 5k Uzbek + $1 to where tour company van or cars park.

[Susiegirl7]

I crossed about a week ago. What a fun look at bureaucracy. It took an hour+ on the Turkmen side and my guide said they were much slower than usual.

Wanted to share some info on getting to the border.

In Bukhara, I asked my train station to town Yandex driver if he ever did border rides. He said no and that others don’t like to since there is no guarantee of finding a customer for the return. Supposedly some drivers will accept your ride request and then ask for more money. Conversation was in Russian so I suspect he was being truthful.

He said that marshrutkas to the border leave from the parking lot near the Chor Minor Madrasah. A guy working at my hostel said the same. I walked by a few times and didn’t see any marshrutkas. Maybe it’s only early morning or I was in the wrong spot but there were taxi drivers there and they weren’t offering rides which is odd.

Anyway, I overheard a guy at my hostel say he was going to the border and I asked about his ride sitch. He was using Stan Treasures. Apparently, some tour companies hook up travelers with them. Contact info: +998 99 999 46 12. I reached out and got an immediate response. A car is $19. You can share with 2 others. They were happy to pick up whenever and have you ride with others going to the border even if a different tour group. I went with this option since it was easier than finding a Yandex at 6 am. Highly recommend. FYI that your change from $20 will be in Uzbek.

Border “shuttle” update: 5k Uzbek + 5k Uzbek + $1 to where tour company van or cars park.

[Stoertebekker]

Did the crossing TM --> UZ yesterday. Arrived at 08:35 by train in Turkmenabat. Had a driver waiting for us and taking us to the border. About 30min. His "sister" was picked up along the way. Then the process began: pre-control of passports (Turkmen side), Minivan (cost 5 Manat or 1 USD); then Turkmen customs: declaration required, someone handed us the forms, all in Turkmen, a lorry driver filled ours in; very helpful folks; then Turkmen passport control; next Minivan to final Turkmen control and Uzbek pre control (5k UZS or 1 USD); then next Minivan to Uzbek passport control and customs (5k UZS or 1 USD); another 100m walk and done.

It took a while, but was easy. Now the stress began. We were immediately "attacked" by taxi drivers. Suddenly the "sister" of our Turkmen driver on the other side of the border called us and offered two seats (all in Russian). We got to the car and were immediately surrounded by taxi drivers. They shouted at the "sister", blocked the car. The "sister" shouted back, pushed the guys and we almost ended up in a punch-up. Really rough. After 30min we could go.

About an hour to Buchara left, the driver asked what we will give him. He started at 100 USD (The taxi guys would ask for 200, they told us). Back and forth we ended up at 20 USD. They drove us somewhere near our hotel (had no clue how to get there). We got out of the car, took our backpacks. Then I handed them 12 USD (12 and 20 are phonetically not far away in Russian). Some discussion. At 15 USD I stopped, handed them the money and left. THANKS to this thread I had a rough idea about fair prices.

PS Not everone who appears to be your friend is your friend.

(www.alwayseast.de)

[Aftertwoam]

For people who have cross recently from Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan here - what time does the border crossing close? I've gotten conflicting information and am trying to figure out how late I can arrive and still be allowed to cross into Uzbekistan

[sheilap]

Crossing UZ -> TM Oct 2024

We hired a car service for $39 from Bukhara to the border. We'd read reports that taxi drivers are hesitant to take these fares and as we needed to be at TM immigration at 9:00 it was easiest to hire a service.

They advised departure at 6:30. The drive only took 1hr15, I'd push this to later. UZ immigration did not ask for registration papers as some other sources indicated. The only people were us and two gentlemen, the bus left immediately to take us to the border. Cost $1 each. They accepted less than pristine bills.

At the TM border, we gave the guard our passports and LOI and were told to wait for the bus. The only other foreigners were a European couple. I did not realize that the immigration building is in the middle of a military zone - there is no option to walk to it from the border or upon exiting, to the gate between the zone and the rest of Turkmenistan. We also paid a less than pristine $1 each for this bus.

The government is constructing a new building, our guide was not sure when it would be open. I'm detailing our process as the locals were friendly but not knowledgeable about what we should do.

You'll walk through a room (note a small room on the left) into the main room. There are two windows on the left and next to them, in a half-walled area, another window. Locals may tell you to go to the half-walled room window, this is incorrect. Your guide will need to meet you in this room, per the other couple's guide, you are not permitted to exit it unescorted. They may not even start your paperwork. The other guide helped us, he spoke to the immigration officials and we were sent to the small room off the first room for our covid test. No paperwork is needed, they logged info for locals but not for foreigners. The test is a quick swab of your tongue (barely touched it), no nose swab. Cost $29. At this point, the other guide told us you normally cannot be processed without your guide present. The immigration agent asked for our guide's phone number and after talking to him, started our paperwork*. They took our passports and LOI and asked if we had an itinerary so I gave them our copy. We were given a few papers and directed to the payment window inside the half-walled area. I don't have the details but we paid $198 for two US citizens which included the covid test. All newer bills. The lower denominations were not brand new but were in very good condition. I heard the other guide explaining to his guests that they had different fees as they were of different nationalities. We were instructed to take our receipts to the covid doctor and were then logged and given customs declaration forms. This is the only way to get the form. Our guide arrived as we were filling it out - he listed 10kg of personal belongings. We walked through the metal detector & our bags were x-rayed. We were asked if we had a camera or drone (no). No mention of prescription medication. We were also asked if we had a gun or bullets (no) and I said I guessed the question was because we are from the US. Our guide translated & they all laughed. The officers at the x-ray machine took our declaration form. We left the building and waited for a bus to take us to the gate at the edge of the military zone. I did not see our guide pay for the bus. Keep your passport out, another guard at the gate will check for your visa. Our process took 1.5-2 hrs, had our guide been there it may have been 1-1.5hrs.

*guides call the immigration officers at the border gate to see if their clients have passed through because the guides are not permitted inside the military zone until their clients have arrived. When our guide called he was told no Americans, only Australians (came 30 min after us). No idea if the border agent screwed up or isn't fond of Americans - he was definitely the bottleneck and why our guide was not there to meet us. The agents started processing us after calling our guide and finding out he'd been repeatedly told we had not crossed. Our guide instructed them to start our paperwork immediately instead of waiting for him to arrive. He did this because the bus between the building and the gate was taking 20-30 minutes between each trip.

Tips:
-keep your guide's phone number handy
-if you have cell data, contact your guide when you arrive at the border. FYI, we lost signal about 10 minutes away from the UZ side of the border. At Dashoguz/Shavat, we sat on the TM bus between the TM office and the border and had signal
-if your guide hasn't arrived, ask the immigration agents in the building to contact them
-try to arrive early, our guide said tour buses arrive around 9:30-10
-our guide winced when I told him we gave the agents our itinerary. After seeing the declaration form, I should have only said where we would be each night
-if you get carsick, have medication or ginger/mints handy. The road to Mary is full of potholes and the driver will be swerving like crazy. Same for the road outside of Ashgabat to the crater and the first part from the crater to Kunya-Urgench

We left at Dashoguz and like others, our guide walked us to the front of the line to be processed. We then had to wait in the bus for it to fill up to be taken to the border. The cost was 5 manat each - same price locals & foreigners. When we got off the bus, we stopped at a building on the right where a guard quickly checked for our exit stamp. We then walked a short piece to UZ immigration. We were held up by UZ customs checks - not us but by a line forming checking the locals. An agent pulled us out of line and told us we did not need to be checked. I think the entire process took 45 minutes with half of that waiting at customs & for the bus to fill up.

We had arranged for a pickup but were, unfortunately, an hour early. Our driver was on the road so we couldn't change the time but the Co said to try asking a taxi. They said $24 was a fair rate. The drivers started with $40, I countered $25 - then $35 (me $25), $30 (me $25 and said I knew it was a fair rate). Finally, one guy took it but a few miles down the road he said he wanted $30 because he had to go to old town. Dude, I'm a tourist, you knew you were going near the old town and we had already said to drop us off outside the wall. I said I'd give him $27 which I was going to anyway. He wasn't happy but got tired of trying to bargain with a language difference.