Arrival in Uzbekistan

While waiting at the station, I interacted with some Kazakh people—though “interacted” might not be the right word. Using gestures, body language, and of course Google Translate, we managed some kind of communication. However, I also noticed that the translations sometimes produced completely random sentences that made no sense and didn’t fit the context at all.

Shortly before 3 a.m., I was finally able to board the train. I thought I could finally get some rest, but I had forgotten about the exit procedures. A whole squad of police, military personnel, dogs, and train staff handled the process. I had booked bed number 2 in the first compartment, but I had to vacate it because that very compartment was turned into a mobile exit checkpoint. I could only return once the formalities for the entire carriage were completed.

There wasn’t much space in the bed either, and despite being very tired, I couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. Click-clack… click-clack… Just as I was about to drift off, I was abruptly woken up—I had arrived in Uzbekistan, not in dreamland. So the same border procedure happened again, even more thoroughly this time. I had to unpack many of my bags—they were searching for drones, which are banned in Uzbekistan.

After that, I managed to sleep for a few hours. Whenever I looked out the window, the scenery looked roughly like this:

It all felt very familiar from the past few days.

When I arrived in Kungrad, two young German backpackers got off from the carriage behind me—I heard them speaking German. I chatted briefly with them before heading to my hotel. Once I finally arrived, I took another nap—it felt like jet lag all over again.

In the evening, I met Audrey from Canada and Joss from France. It was really nice to walk through the bazaar together and chat. As like-minded travelers, we had plenty to talk about. They told me that they had faced strong headwinds in Karakalpakia and eventually gave in to the temptation to accept a lift from a truck driver. They also mentioned that they were probably traveling slower than me, so for now I would continue on my own.

After dinner, and after a small misunderstanding, I also managed to exchange some cash before cycling back to my hotel. Thanks a lot for the lovely meeting, and all the best to both of you on your journey!