Budget Travel Notes » Destinations

5 Tips on Buying a Used Car or Campervan in New Zealand

budgettravelnotes — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 05:07:52 +0000

Believe it or not, buying a used car or campervan in New Zealand is a very popular method of transport. Although it may seem crazy for a lot of countries, many long term budget travellers and backpackers in New Zealand buy their own transport to travel the country in the manner it deserves. Your own transport allows you a great deal of freedom to get off the beaten track more than you could ever do with an organised tour, or hop on, hop off bus. There’s a huge choice of cars and vans imported from Japan, and a good selection between auto and manual, diesel and petrol, and cars and vans. Optional (but recommended) insurance is cheap and it opens up a lot of unique places to stay on route.

Here’s the lowdown to help get the banger of your dreams.

Arrive just before the end of season, or the start of summer

Many travellers are dumping cars in their droves at the end of summer or winter and hostel noticeboards are overflowing with motors. If you arrive at this time you’ve a good chance of grabbing a bargain and relieving a traveller of their temporary home before they fly out the following day.

Buy the Brand : Skoda or Subaru?

You could pick up a car here from a few hundred dollars, and a van from around $1500 up. If you’re lucky it will be well used, but not abused. If you can afford to splash out a bit more then get more picky, avoid shabby conversions consisting of a sheet of plywood and……well, some screws. Consider buying a brand respected locally : for cars that’s Subaru, and vans Toyota or Nissan. It may cost you slightly more on purchase, but you should make that back when you can resell to the local market as well as travellers when you’re leaving. Do what I did on my first visit : Choose wisely, buy from a backpacker and sell to a local, and you too could be flying around in a Subaru 4×4 for $2000, using it for 10 weeks, and selling for only $300 less like I did on my first trip. That’s like renting a car for $30 a week! The second time I went upmarket and bought a fully converted low mileage Toyota HiAce campervan as my trip was longer, but I know I’ll sell it easily t travellers or locals. Of course if you want to you could buy a banger then end up hanging around Auckland for weeks trying to sell it if that’s what you want.

Buy Wisely : Cart Mart or Online?

Auckland and Christchurch both have well established backpacker car marts. Although they are well established, there are very mixed reports from them often at the extreme viewpoints in both directions. If you buy from them, buy as though you were buying privately with the same checks and don’t be naive.

There are also loads of car markets aimed at locals such as Ellerslie Car Fair in Auckland, or Turners Car Auctions car auctions nationwide. Online there’s Sella and every Kiwi’s favourite site : Trade Me. Both these sites will allow you to set up alerts.

WOF, Regos and RUCs

A WOF is a 6 monthly ‘warrant of fitness’ and Rego a 6 or 12 monthly registration fee which varies for petrol and diesel. RUCs are ‘Road User Charges’ applicable to diesel vehicles only. The RUC is around $41 per 1000km over and above the pump prices, almost eliminating the cost saving of diesel (although currently it’s still around 10% cheaper). Buy a vehicle with a long WOF, Rego and RUCs in credit and it’ll save you splashing out over the first few months. Some sellers will try to sell you a vehicle privately with a short WOF if you’re a traveller but they are legally obliged to have it warranted within a month of selling it.

Location

Many travellers arrive in Auckland and finish their road trip in Christchurch. Travellers tales say that backpacker cars and vans are generally cheaper in Christchurch, although an Auckland garage owner will of course tell you otherwise. If you arrive in Christchurch just before the end of winter you’re increasing your chances of grabbing that bargain banger. If you can do your trip in reverse then you may save yourself a lot of money. If you want a selection of travellers cars, these are the big places to be looking in. You may get a bargain if you stumble on something elsewhere, but if you try and buy in Wellington you’ll be restricting your choice a great deal.

Bonus Van Tip

Ok, I said 5 tips but here’s a bonus one. If you’ve decided to get a van have a think in advance of what you’d like it for and how you’d like to use it. A very common mode of transport is something like a converted Toyota Estima which has the seats taken out, and a wooden platform put in the back. Many travellers love getting around like this but decide whether this is for you or not. If you’re stuck in the rain in the middle of nowhere, do you really want to be sitting in the back with your legs straight out, scrunched up trying to cook on top of your bed, or would you prefer a larger van where you can have a half decent seat to admire the storms from? A lovely painted van with flowers and butterflies may be your version of cool, but if you park it up when trekking it will also be so obvious that yours is a tourists van. Make your checklist and decide what you’ll compromise on.

Summary

In summary, if you are on a longer trip buying your own vehicle in New Zealand can prove to be a very cost effective method of transport whether you are travelling solo or in a group. If you have the time, don’t rush into a decision just to get on the road. At many of the public car marts you’ll find independent inspections available (at a cost), or you could call up the AA to get one done quickly. Although you have to weigh up the pros and cons of the purchase price, don’t buy something you wouldn’t buy at home just to get you on the road as you may well be left stranded. Before you seriously start to buy something make a list and know what you can compromise on – I almost bought a big van without power steering as I was keen to get on the road but it would have been a decision I would have regretted for the rest of my trip.

Have you had any experiences in the land of the long white cloud buying your transport? Please share them through the comments for others to benefit from.

5 Tips on Buying a Used Car or Campervan in New Zealand is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

Christchurch, New Zealand – Earthquake and the aftershocks

budgettravelnotes — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:19:53 +0000

I’d like to pass on my best wishes and hopes for everyone in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The main earthquake measured 7.1 on the Richter Scale at 4.35am local time on Saturday 4th September, and there have been many aftershocks since. This quake was around the same level the Haiti quake but luckily Christchurch was spared any loss of live, although there is terrible destruction there. The quake was felt as far up as New Plymouth in the North Island and throughout Wellington. This is the first quake I’ve actually been around but I never felt it in Wellington, although my housemates did.

The aftershocks have been occurring on a regular basis since the 4th September causing a lot of stress and worry to local residents. Only while writing this did I discover how many quakes actually hit New Zealand – the GeoNet website shows 30 earthquakes have hit the region between 5.17am on Thursday 7th until 8.15am Wednesday 8th September! There’s also a Google Map of the aftershocks on the NZ Weather site.

I tried to source a couple of images for this post but they are all copyrighted so please have a look over at this quickly erected site, Crash Bang (it always amazes me how quickly people can jump on the bandwagon!) which has a collection of images from various sources.

If you would like to make a donation to help out, please visit the Red Cross New Zealand donation page – be patient as it must be getting hit hard just now. If you want something to wear and donate at the same time, hop on over to Mr Vintage Christchurch Earthquake tshirt to buy a tshirt with the seismograph display on a charity tshirt. If you think they’re cashing in, then read the comments on Mr Vintage blog.

If you want to keep up with the news, check out Google News.

Christchurch, our thoughts are with you.

Christchurch, New Zealand – Earthquake and the aftershocks is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

5 Good Reasons to Visit New Zealand off season

budgettravelnotes — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:57:22 +0000

Although my blog posts of recent places visited is way behind, I’ve just recently landed in New Zealand for up to 12 months. This is the second time I’ve arrived here in low season, or just after the peak season has finished. Obviously the best time to visit is summer, with the peak months being December and January, but that’s also when everyone else is here The schools and universities are off, the kiwis are travelling and everywhere is busy, so here’s a few reasons why off season is also a good time to visit, and there’s a lot of financial advantages for budget travellers.

1. Campervan Rentals Are CHEAP

Ok so you’ve landed in Auckland and the hostels are empty. You get a bit down, but then you realise you can hire campervans from $30 a day! Yes – $30 a day! If you think that’s good, when you convert it at today’s rate it gets even better – that’s the equivalent of only £21 USD per day, and remember that’s not per person!! Get yourself down to the tourist information, gather up the numerous leaflets then go calling around, or stroll along Customs Street West, Beach Road and Fort Street where outlets such as Spaceships are located and start to chat to them. You’ll end up walking away with the keys to a van or converted MPV for less around the same as a bed in a shared dorm. Note you don’t have to arrive in mid winter to get good deals on campervans – the last time I was here I sold a car and hired a van in the first week of the off season in May and got a superb deal.

2. Ski and Snowboard Season

NZ may not be the same as the European Alps in size, but the terrain is superb and there’s a very healthy winter scene in the North Island around Mt Ruapehu, and much more so around the winter hubs of Queenstown and Wanaka. It will be cold around there but there’s plenty sunny days as well. Many of the rental companies may offer 2 for 1 deals as well – Spaceships do 2 for 1 deals on both day pass tickets to some resorts and even offer free stays at a campsite ideally located by the slops on the North Island. If you took up a lot of these deals, it could mean you’re effectively being paid for taking one of their cars if this is your thing. You can also get similar deals for other activities like kayaking etc.

3. You Won’t Have to Book The Great Walks in Advance

One thing many people don’t appreciate is how popular some of the great walks in New Zealand such as the Abel Tasman Coast Track or Milford Track are. To book these in peak season you may need to book many months ahead and you must stick to that date, or have the spare days to hang around waiting for last minute spots. In winter there’s a good chance that some of these tracks may involve more risk and skill than you desire, such as winter mountaineering on the Tongariro Northern Circuit. If it’s not mid winter you’ll get the same walk, in cooler conditions, less sandflies nibbling on you, and not have to book months in advance.

4. Ferries are Cheap

If you come to New Zealand and have the time, there’s a good chance you’ll be taking the ferry over from the North to the South Islands. These can be pretty extortionate in peak season around December and January.

5. Cheaper Hostels

Many travellers arriving from Asia may get a shock at the hostel prices in New Zealand where it can be $20 NZD for a dorm bed, or over $60 NZD for a private room with shared facilities. Whilst this usually offers good value with decent facilities, it still eats into your budget.

There are ways you can reduce these costs by purchasing a BBH Backpackers Card for hostels in that scheme but that’s an extra $45 so you need to stay around 13 nights to get your cash back (although you do get some phone calls included for that price). If you travel off season you may get the BBH member prices without having the card, especially if you stay for 5 nights or more.

This is just a sample of some of the reasons you should consider travelling in New Zealand off season. The weather will be colder and a bit less predictable but at least there won’t be so many people queuing up behind you as you snake up the hills in your heavily discounted campervan!

Have you got any stories about how you saved a lot by travelling off season? Let us know via the comments below.

5 Good Reasons to Visit New Zealand off season is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

Osh, Kyrgyzstan

budgettravelnotes — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:04:41 +0000

We were lucky to arrive in Osh just after the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office lifted their ‘all but essential travel ban’ to Kyrgyzstan.

We never spent much time here as there was a limited amount for us to do in the city, and we had a rough plan on where we wanted to head in Kyrgyzstan :

The day we arrived we thought we’d treat ourselves to a ‘slap up’ meal after being on the road a few days, so it was off to Rich Man’s for dinner. It was a bizarre experience as we mistakenly ended up in a private room, but there was the fullest menu we had seen so far during our trip. The food was ok and we stuffed ourselves.

In Osh the market is reputed to be the largest in the area outside of Kashkar. Whilst travelling I’m much more of a market person than museums as I think it makes you appreciate the locals and their daily life a lot more. The Osh market covers an area almost 2km long and is generally divided into different sections. The market was great selling everything under the sun. If you arrived here to prepare for a trekking trip you’d be able to pick up many different types of food from here. For some reason, the UK supermarket Morrison’s seemed to dominate as the plastic bag of choice – they were even being sold in batches for $1 on one stall. I can only assume that they have slipped out some factory in China as opposed to Morrison’s having some business tie up in the region!

The fruit and the herbs are always the areas I find most interesting in the markets in this part of the world as there so many items not available back home, and in the supermarkets it always seems overpackaged and marketed, and you’re forced to buy quantities you may not need, which only leads to waste.

The only other sites we visited in Osh were Solomon’s Throne which is an unmissable ridge shaped mountain in the centre of town. The view from above is shown as the top picture of this post. It’s a brief walk (and 3 Som to enter) to get to the top giving you views over the city centre. We could just see the snow peaked mountains in the distance due to the haze.

We spent time nailing down our plans in Kyrgyzstan which ended up being :

Arslanbob, a last minute addition to go to Sarey Chelek, BIshkek to visit a friend, then Cholpon Ata for Lake Issy Kul, Karakol for some trekking and back to Bishkek, maybe stopping on the south shore depending what happened That’s a pretty bog standard trip to Kyrgyzstan but we had discovered that it was not possible to visit Lake Song Kul yet as the mountain pass was still closed in May – we would need to be a month later to access there, especially to see the best of it.

Although we were offered a car organised by Osh Guesthouse for $290 for 5 days to take us to Bishkek, we decided to go it alone to save cash and have the experiences, so it was off to the bus station in the morning which is at the end of the market, near the centre of town.

Osh, Kyrgyzstan is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

Directions to Osh Guesthouse, Osh, Kyrgyzstan

budgettravelnotes — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:27:57 +0000

One thing that seems to get mentioned a lot on the Lonely Planet forums is how hard it is to get to Osh Guesthouse. Now we found it really easy, but then we got picked up from the border

When I imagined Osh after reading the forum entries I imagined it to be one dusty town in the back of beyond – I don’t know why I still thought like that as I’m pretty well travelled, but when I got there I didn’t think it should be so hard to find the place. The one thing that puts people off when hunting it down is that it’s not like your average backpackers and it’s basically an apartment being used as a guesthouse. It could also appear as thought it’s in a run down area, but that’s just because its in an old soviet style apartment block, so here’s the lowdown.

I assume you’re carrying a Lonely Planet Central Asia book or similar (we weren’t). I won’t reproduce the map here for obvious reasons, but basically if you’re on the main road ‘Kyrgyzstan’ then it shouldn’t be too difficult. If you land in town from the border, you’ll probably pass an area on ‘Kyrgyzstan’ that’s got a small square with quite a few people sitting around, or follow round to the general area from the bus station.

You’ll probably have an idea when you’re in the right area on the main road so here’s what you want to look out for :

If you’re heading away from the market, look for a large building with ‘Megacom’ signs on it. This is next to a small lane – you want to go down this small lane. At the end of the lane, turn left, and you’ll see a view like this :

You then want to head over to the right, past the silver shed, and walk up the tree covered lane :

When you get on this lane you take the third door on the left, and walk right up to the top of the stairs. The door is normally left open and you’ll be greeted with the small lettering of Osh Guesthouse as below :

You may not like the look of what you’ve seen here but it is what it is – a budget backpackers guesthouse in Osh. Although it’s not your average western hostel you can get a wealth of information from the owner. You can contact them in advance to get picked up, arrange long distance taxis, or see if he knows of anyone else wanting to follow the same route as yourself. The last bit alone could save you a small fortune if you want to cross over to China and can share the costs with someone.

Of course he’ll hire you cars, drivers and guides for your entire stay if you want. At the time we were there (May 2010) I think a car for 5 days was around $290 to Bishkek (taking in sights on the way), and $500+ for a sightseeing week with packed itinery and guide.

Directions to Osh Guesthouse, Osh, Kyrgyzstan is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

Kyrgyzstan – Entry through the Osh Border

budgettravelnotes — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 06:53:38 +0000

We crossed the border at Osh into Kyrgyzstan on 18th May, by which point Kyrgyzstan had been taken off the British Foreign Office ‘don’t travel’ list. This wasn’t a huge concern apart from the insurance aspect of it – if something did happen and the insurance had to be used it would effectively invalidate the policy. For situations like this I think the Foreign Office can be a bit heavy handed as I reckon the risks to foreigners were very low and only likely to be a potential issue around Osh, Jalal-Abad and Bishkek anyway.

The border crossing was very straightforward for us – a quick ‘salam ailekum’ to the soldier, shake of his hand and we were through to the checkpoint. For some bizarre reason which I don’t understand we had to swap cars just before this point, even though our driver wasn’t coming through the border with us. We had been in the same car all the way from Tashkent.

Unlike what most people report, our registrations for out nightly accommodation weren’t checked which was a bit of a surprise to us as the border guards had little else to do – the border was still closed to locals apart from exceptional circumstances. After about twenty repeated pronunciations of our names, and finding out that we weren’t married we had passed out of Uzbekistan.

After walking the 50m through no mans land the Kyrgyz border guard had to be shouted over from his game of chess – that’s how busy the crossing was when we were there!

We were met at the other side by Daniar from Osh Guesthouse who took us to his apartment (the guesthouse), which was in a soviet style apartment block.

Kyrgyzstan – Entry through the Osh Border is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

Yogdorlik Silk Factory, Margilan

budgettravelnotes — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 06:50:56 +0000

As we were travelling along the Silk Route we felt obliged to go and see the Yogdorlik Silk Factory in Margilan. This was once one of the major producers, but is now dwarfed by the state factories outside town. The big difference is that in Yogdorlik, the entire process is still manual.

Unfortunately when we arrived there was not an English guide around for the free tour, so we tagged along with a French tour group and picked up the odd bit of information. If my guidebook was correct, the silkworms are grown in people’s houses after being bought for cheap from the state. The owners then feed them with mulberry leaves until they reach the right size (by which point they are munching away at an incredible amount of leaves!) then they sell them back to the factory.

The tour started with the silk being extracted from the cocoons and the thread being created. The threads are then dyed, and various garments made from this. When we walked into the machine room where small looms were used the sound was deafening.

There is a small shop on the site where there are various silk products for sale from scarfs to jackets. Like most tempting purchases so far we had to skip it due to the lack of space in our backpacks.

I’m sure I could have given a better description of the process if I was on a tour in my native language, which is usually offered. Despite it being a bit of a hassle to get there for us, and relatively expensive, if you are in this area the Silk Factory is worth a visit. Avoid a Sunday though as we arrived then when trying to find accommodation and I think that is the workers day off so there’s little to see.

As for the rest of the Fergana Valley it is reported in the guidebooks as very green a beautiful but we never found it particularly stunning and glad we never spent more time there. This may be different if you go off the beaten track, but we had far more impressive scenery coming up in our trip so never went looking for it here.

I’ll put some pictures up here when I get some more internet time.

Yogdorlik Silk Factory, Margilan is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

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Tashkent to Osh using Osh Guesthouse

budgettravelnotes — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 06:18:54 +0000

To get us from Tashkent to Osh we hired a car from Osh Guesthouse to take us from Tashkent through Fergana valley. Despite this not being a total budget option, we took it as we still had it in our head that we were pushed for time in Kyrgyzstan as we were aiming for an early June flight from Almaty, Kazakhstan to Olgii, Mongolia. We also wanted to stop off at Margilan overnight so we could see the silk factory in the morning before heading for the border.

In hindsight, this isn’t the best option if you are tight for cash and have the time available, but it is a lot less hassle. Normally this route would probably involve :

Tashkent metro to shared taxi point for Fergana, shared taxi to Fergana, shared taxi to Margilan, shared taxi to border (which may mean going back to Fergana which isn’t far). If you avoided the Margilan bit I think this should cost around $30 each in total if you get lucky with the prices. Our taxi for 2 cost $130, but it was faster and had less sitting around time – it would probably have been the same cost for 4 people though.

The major downside about this trip for us though is that we expected to get some help getting accommodation and it didn’t quite materialise. We spent about an hour circling Margilan trying to find the silk factory and unfortunately the silk factory owners weren’t letting us stay in their homestay that night due to some issues with the toilet or something. The driver got some information about another hostel from a very helpful guide at the factory and he told us it was about $25 a room and central so we could walk to the bazaar and get some food. After asking directions several times, the driver ended up taking us to some hotel in a housing scheme on the outskirts of Margilan where we couldn’t eat, and were too far out to walk to any other places, even thought we think the hotel should only have been minutes away. After some confusion we said we wanted to be closer to the centre, spoke to some owner on the phone, the price was misunderstood, and we got dropped in the fairly central ‘Hotel Aslan’ which ended up costing us a whopping $50 per night! By this point we had been circling Margilan for around 3 hours and we hadn’t done anything so we weren’t really in the mood to try and discuss any alternatives as the driver spoke no English, and us no Russian. We don’t know where the driver stayed that night but we’re convinced his car never moved, and convinced he never paid $50 a night…..but maybe we’re just being paranoid.

In the hotel we were told there was a restaurant, but it ended up only being used for breakfast, and we were walked 50 yards along the road to the manager’s restaurant and ate there. He has said a meal was 8000 each, yet the menu price which we paid directly was about half of that. When we checked out and tried to pay in dollars (as the room rate was displayed in dollars) he tried to use an inflated exchange rate (it was even inflated at black market rates!) so we had to punch another exchange rate into his calculator and offered that instead. On the plus side, the room was massive, but the TV never offered any foreign channels so it really wasn’t worth it for us – a $6 a night room would have been fine.

We visited the silk factory (see other post) in the morning and crossed the border into Kyrgyzstan soon after.

All in all, it was a very easy taxi ride for us between Tashkent and Osh, and it got us our night in Margilan and to see the silk factory. The major downside for us is the way the accommodation worked out which is partially due to us not just booking somewhere ourselves, and because the homestay wasn’t available which Osh Guesthouse did try to give the driver details of. In hindsight it would have been better just to stay in Fergana for the night (despite it pretty much being the anniversary of the Andijon massacre, which is when there can be occasional incidents).

Tashkent to Osh using Osh Guesthouse is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

Bukhara, Uzbekistan

budgettravelnotes — Sat, 29 May 2010 08:48:04 +0000

I’m playing a bit of a catch up on my blog for this post but I recently spent a couple of days in Bukhara as part of a week in Uzbekistan. I was lucky that a friend based in Tashkent organised train tickets and a small hotel to stay in so it was very easy trip.
Catching a train from Tashkent to Bukhara is no problem at all as there will probably only be one in the station when you go and catch it (unless of course you are there really early and it’s the train before yours!). Look out for ‘Vagon’ on your ticket with the coach number – this is displayed on the train on a bit of paper stuck onto the window next to the door. The seat numbers are displayed in the coach, but an inspector will check your ticket before boarding anyway. Depending on what train and class you get you may have loads of space for your luggage. I had loads of space in front of me as there were only our two seats for our table on the way down, but not so much on the way back although there’s always the overhead storage which has plenty space for oversize rucksacks.
Anyway, we were luckily booked into Lyabi House Hotel ($50 for a double inc breakfast) which is slap bang in the centre of old Bukhara town. You can probably guess by it’s name but it’s literally only 50m from Lyabi Hauz square which is the central area of old Bukhara. The hotel is based around an ancient courtyard where breakfast is served, and there’s WiFi too. Older reviews mention getting some great food here but they never served meals when I was there. It’s a good location to relax around as well if you want to sit back for a while in some outdoors space.
When deciding how to make the most of my limited time in Uzbekistan an ex-pat resident said if we were to visit only one other location to see Bukhara and I’m glad of the decision. I never had enough time to do the typical Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand and Fergana Valley route – I was limited to Tashkent, Bukhara and Fergana Valley only.
Bukhara was a lovely setting which was very relaxing to wonder around for a couple of days. If you’re really into your history you may want to spend a few days here, but if you’re in a real rush I’ve been told it’s possible to do it at a push with a same day return flight from Tashkent, but that would be zooming through it!
Compared to Samarkand everything is within easy walking distance (30-45 minutes) and it can be interesting to get lost in the back streets as well. Although I’m not a big hisorical fan normally you can’t fail to be impressed by the ancient buildings such as the Ark fortress. Buildings have been here since the year 713, with the present form of building dating from the 16th century. The Kalon Minaret has existed in various forms since 919. In the past criminals have been dropped the 155 feet to a certain death below.
Walking around the streets is quite relaxing although I can imagine in high season it’s thronged with tour groups. There’s some great souvenirs from hats to carpets, jewellery and knives. There’s also a lot of impressive ceramics lined along the streets. There are many open craftshops ranging from a UNESCO backed carpet factory and school to men forging historic knives just off the main street. If you look for the UNESCO factory keep your eyes peeled for a discreet wooden door down some steps – I’m sure I walked past it several times in the backstreets walking round in circles before I noticed it.
There’s a variety of eating places, especially focussed around Lyabi Hauz square. I never noticed any English menus whilst there so usually I was offered the usual ‘shashlik’ kebabs.
It worth visiting the Silk Road Tea House where you’ll be able to sample a whole host of teas along with a platter to traditonal snacks (and you can get some really strong coffee too!).

The notes above have just skimmed the surface of Bukhara. Have you got any additional tips to add? If so, please leave a comment below.

Bukhara, Uzbekistan is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan Travel Tips

budgettravelnotes — Sun, 23 May 2010 16:12:54 +0000

Whilst spending 4 nights around Tashkent and having the benefit from a local’s introduction, here’s some tips on travel in Tashkent and the rest of Uzbekistan. There’s also some information on changing money.

Every Car’s a Taxi

The majority of cars act as taxi’s in Tashkent. There are some official taxi’s but I never ended up using them. The unofficial ones could teach efficiency to taxi companies around the world as they see to read your mind and always pull up the minute you think of getting one. Of course you have to remember these are unlicensed but going by the friendliness of most people we met I would imagine the problems encountered are few and far between.

When you walk along the street next to the road and hear on horn honking or see flashing lights there’s a good chance the driver’s asking if you want a lift. Then the negotiations begin…..to be honest they’re pretty easy – usually they’ll ask for about 5000 Sum but most lifts around town could be haggled down to 3-4000 Sum – and that would be for going from the centre out to Chorsu Bazaar. Maybe this is more than it should be but it’s $2-3 depending on the exchange rate you got.

Tashkent Metro

The Uzbek’s are rightly proud of their Metro system – it was Central Asia’s first and started running in 1977. The stations are all different and quite ‘Soviet’ in style. It’s worth taking a trip around a few of the stations, even if you just pop your head out of the doors to catch a glimpse. As an example Kosmonavtlar has big ceramic discs with Cosmonauts on them.

The fare is a flat 500 Sum regardless of journey and it’s very easy. There’s no machines like London or Tokyo and it’s not very busy. Head into a station (denoted by a small M or newer red Metro signs) and hand money to the desk and you’ll get a blue plastic disc to pop into the machines are you pass – don’t look for a ticket as you won’t get anything back and you just walk out the other side (don’t pass through the turnstiles again when exiting – just head out).

Some guidebooks may say you could get hassle from the police but I think this is outdated now – but don’t take photos in the stations.

If you arrive in Tashkent by train you can enter the metro from directly outside the station and move around the city.

Tram, Bus and Shared Taxi

As well as the Metro, Tashkent also has trams (although some I saw looked like you’d be quicker jogging ;-> ), buses and minibuses (referred to as “marshrutka”). Marshrutka’s and shared taxi’s operate further afield as well. Marshrutka’s are like Ford Transit sized minibuses and operate for a fixed fare e.g. 1200 Sum (around 80 cents officially) for a 40 minute trip to Chirchik whereas shared taxi’s may be more negotiable. Both tend to leave when full or you pay the price for remaining seats. I never used the buses or trams so can’t comment but some of the buses are very modern.

Marshrutka’s heading towards Chimgan in the mountains leave from outside the Maxim Gorky metro station at the end of the blue line.

Trains

Trains are a comfy way of visiting Sarmarkand and Bukhara taking 3-7 hours. A normal 7 hours train to Bukhara is around $40 return. It’s easy to buy a ticket and easy to find your train – there’s probably only going to be one in or your departure time. Look for the coach corresponding to the ‘Vagon’ number on your ticket – it’ll be displayed in the windows of each car by the door. The inspectors will check as you board your coach anyway.

If you get trains to other countries ensure you have the relevant transit visas – e.g. Bukhara to Fergana Valley will cross through Tajikistan.

Internal Flights

Bukhara could be done in a day if you were flash with cash and short of time. It’s about $50 each way I think. You could fly in one direction and take the train back via Samarkand.

Changing Money / ATM’s

Whatever you change you’re going to get a lot of money to carry around and if you’ve seen the China Lonely Planet, everyone thinks it’s big. This is $45 USD worth of Uzbek Sum. I can’t remember seeing any ATMs in Tashkent. For this reason I never entered any banks as I took all the expected cash in dollars. I’ve heard reports of there being some in upmarket hotels such as Hotel Uzbekistan but I’m not sure.

When I was there in May 2010 there was a very active black market where you could get 30-40% more. This varies a great deal and you’re obviously taking some risks as there’s a heavy police presence around the city. Ask other travellers, your guesthouse or listen closely as you walk around bazaars etc, but of course I wouldn’t condone this behaviour…..(!)

Expect to get a lot of cash to walk around with so don’t change too much at once. For $50 allegedly I’d get over 100,000 Sum on the black market. The largest note is 1000 sum (around 50 cents US) so it’s a big pile!

I hope that helps a bit. If there’s anything else you want to know, drop me a note and I’ll see if I can answer.

I’ll be putting a summary page for Uzbekistan in the Country Guides section when I can which will have better indication about how to read your train ticket, some sample prices for shared taxis’s etc.

Have you recently visited Tashkent? Do you have experiences of the buses, or did you exchange money, or use ATM’s there? If so, please leave a comment so the notes above can be more accurate.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan Travel Tips is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.