The travel to Uzbekistan - The caravan moves on - Uzbekistan 2026 - 1
Tashkent and the journey to Khiva
Khiva
Buchara
Samarkand
Shakhrisabz and the drive to Tashkent
To the Fergana Valley and back to Germany
The travel to Uzbekistan
The trip starts once again in Frankfurt. This time, I'm flying with Turkish Airlines to Istanbul and then on to Tashkent. We're scheduled to arrive there at 1 a.m.
The formalities are taking their time, as usual, but I'm here early and still have a good hour until boarding officially begins.
The plane, an A321neo [↗], is relatively modern, especially for this relatively short medium-haul flight. It has a real business class section with wide seats in a 2+2 configuration (even though I’m not using it this time) and a decent entertainment system even in economy.
Although boarding is completed 15 minutes before the official departure time, we end up with a delay of a good half hour. After a little over 2.5 hours, we nevertheless land in Istanbul on time.
This is my first time at the “new” Istanbul airport [↗] - it’s large and has nice architecture. Even a few birds have found their way into the terminal. Unfortunately, the airport follows the bad habit of not displaying flight gates early on. So I stay in Area A for now, at the risk of having to rush all the way to the other end later. At least they have comfortable seats with power outlets here.
I don’t actually have to go all the way to the other end, but it’s still about a 20-minute walk to gate D7. The dining options I pass along the way are endless. There are shops, of course, but - at least it feels that way - they’re clearly outnumbered.
Boarding starts relatively quickly and is completed here, too, at least 20 minutes before the official takeoff time. Still, we depart with a significant delay this time as well.
Tashkent [↗] greets us at 1 a.m. local time with light rain. I’m lucky at immigration. The second bus I’m on gets its own line, and since I’m now relatively far up front, it goes by in a flash. Of course, that means I have to wait longer at the baggage carousel. But even that isn’t too bad.
My eSIM is working now, so I send a quick WhatsApp message home while I wait. Since I’m reasonably early, I exchange 100 USD in the lobby.
We were actually supposed to be met in front of the building, but I already spot the tour operator’s sign among the people waiting. To my surprise, I’m the only guest. I had actually expected to meet almost, if not all, of the other participants here. But okay, this way we can get started right away.
By the time I finally get into bed, it’s already 3 a.m. It’s midnight back home now, and I’m not really that tired either. Let’s see if I can at least get a few hours of sleep.
