Arriving in the city of Urgench in Uzbekistan at 11:30 am I need to get to the far west city of Nukus, the capitol of the province of Karakalpakstan. Try saying that after a couple of vodkas! Soit is the usualbackpacker argy bargy at the bus and shared taxi stand. None of the drivers speaks English and at first I am tempted to jump on a bus, but the lack of local currency and my need for speed to get me out there has me back with the jostling cabbies I write down $20 US on a bit of paper. There is some argy bargy but I know it is well over the odds and eventually I get my cab and for a 2 hour trip across the open roads it is actually good value and gets me here in good time. The guide book’s preferred hotel, Jipek Joli now sports a Tripadvisor logo on the door and wifi! The basic room is $40 US and it looks great! There is free internet on a home computer and large courtyard for dining. The vibe is comfortable backpacker. The satff even speak passable English. I hate to say it but it is a pleasant change from Turkmenistan where any independent travel is extremely difficult.
Over lunch I note that they do tours here and I scamper back to the desk to ask about Aral Sea tours. The answer is yes and they already have 2 people going tomorrow. What a stroke of luck as the cost is $450 per vehicle and is holds 3 people! I have scored myself the trip at $150, bargain. It is a real bonus as I had only intended a day trip to Moynaq 2 hours drive up from here figuring that I would not get onto an Aral sea tour which goes a further 3 hours along and has us camping by the shrinking Aral sea.
I finish my lunch, its my first dose of the Uzbek national dish called plov. Surprisingly it is actually quite tasty a large plate of lightly fried rice and carrot strips with some roasted mutton chunks on the top. It is better than it sounds!
My last task for the day is to get some local currency. The Uzbek currency is the som and the official exchange rate is $1US is 1400 som. Now the black market rate is 2600 som and everyone uses the black market it is standard here so I head off as instructed by the receptionist to the local bazaar. I wander through for about 10 minutes and try to look like a tourist who wants to change money illegally. Unlike anywhere else in the world noone approaches me at all. I wander into a slightly seedy little shop with 3 guys in it and say change dollars? No response. Standing well away for a quick getaway I wave a US dollar note at them and they say “Oh money change, one minute”. One of them races off and brings back the money changer. It is now I discover that the maximum note is 1000 som and my $100 gets me 265 bills! I am handed a brick that is 200 notes and he quickly counts 65 more and he is gone. Bewildered I figure that I had better just stuff my “stash” into my camera bag and then move on.
Unfortunately my luck changes as the Malaysian couple who were to be my companions for the 2 day trip to the Aral Sea pay me a visit to tell me they have decided not to do it. As that adds $300 to the cost of the trip I decided to just share transport with them to Moynaq which was my original travel plan anyway. Such is life!