Our train ticket between Bukhara and Samarkand on the fast train. The cashier literally cuts around the numbers in order to create the receipt: 6950 sum. You'd think that a train ticket would have a set price, but each tourist we talked to paid something different (between 4,000 - 9,000 sum) for the exact same ticket. Ticket office officials, in bouts of creativity, throw in additional "insurance fees" and other random fees. An accurate representation of how things work in Uzbekistan. For more reading on Uzbekistan: www.uncorneredmarket.com/2007/11/a-real-peek-at-uzbekista... www.uncorneredmarket.com/2007/11/uzbekistan-overchargistan/
We stayed at the same guest house as the three guys driving the Ice Cream Van to Mongolia (in the Mongol Rally). They kept everyone entertained with their many stories of border crossings, road woes, and run-ins with the police. For more reading on Uzbekistan: www.uncorneredmarket.com/2007/11/a-real-peek-at-uzbekista...
Shakhrisabz, outside of Samarkand, is the hometown of Amir Timur (Tamerlane). Once a majestic city in the 14th and 15th century, it was destroyed by the Emir of Bukhara in the 16th century. Although not quite as ruthless as Jenghiz Khan, Timur was also pretty sadistic. Today's ironies: he's now considered an Uzbek hero, though he wasn't ethnically Uzbek. Read more about Uzbekistan's Silk Road Cities.
