tashkent to ferghana
Over the past three weeks, getting back to Ferghana from Tashkent has been no simple task. Every Sunday I have been hiring a car to take me back home and have had some interesting events take place along the way.
3 weeks ago:
It was about 9pm and had just arrived at the place where you get a car that goes Tashkent to Ferghana (next to the Northern Vokzal). I didn't feel like paying for a whole car so I only bought a seat. I had the front seat and a girl in her 20s got one of the back seats. She was dressed in a typical western style. The driver wanted to have a full car so we waited about 45 minutes. Then I got an important phone call as they were trying to get me to pay more so we could just leave. While I am on the phone, I stop paying attention and we leave with just the three of us. I am still on the phone when the car stops about 5 minutes down the road. A woman in traditional middle eastern (not Uzbek) clothing gets into the car and the driver loads her oversized bag into the trunk. I get off the phone about when we make it to the first checkpoint on the outskirts of Tashkent.
My passport gets checked and handed back... no problems. The first girl's passport is ok, but they hold onto it. Then the woman hands them a photo copy of a passport that doesn't look like her. This is where things start to get interesting. The police start to scrutinize their documents. It is clear there is going to be a problem. They have the woman get out of the car to show them her giant bag. When she is out of the car the girl tells me that this woman is incredibly nervous and that she wouldn't tell the driver what was in the bag when she got in the car. So the police take her bag out and carry it over to the police station to inspect its contents. All four of us get in the car and the driver turns the car around and pulls in from of the militsya station across the street. (yes... I have to admit I thought either the bag was going to go boom or it was full of drugs) As the driver turns the car around the woman hands him several $50 bills and a small white package wrapped in a bag and he hides them under his seat. I'm thinking to myself... what the f%$#!? I don't want to be involved in this mule's problems.
So they all go into the police station while I sit in the car. Unfortunately, the driver decides to move the little envelope of god knows what to the open dashboard in front of me before he gets out. Then my mom calls me... something that rarely happens (I think this was the third time since I left the United States). We talk for a little while, but I was obviously preoccupied with the situation that was unfolding around me. I keep most of the details to myself so she doesn't freak out... but had to tell her something to get off the phone.
This was only the first checkpoint on the trip to Ferghana. I knew there would be many more along the way. Even if the woman wasn't doing anything illegal, we were sure to face this problem at every checkpoint along the way. Being only on the outskirts of Tashkent City, I was ready to go back to the station and find another ride to Ferghana.
20 minutes into our pitstop, the girl leaves the station and comes back to the car. She tells me that for some reason that they thought she was with the other woman (and the other woman didn't help matters by just standing there silently). I tell her I am going to leave and ask if she wants to get a taxi back to the station to get another car. She agrees. There is one problem... we can't get the trunk open to get my bag out. The driver sees we are trying to leave so he comes out to try to get us back in the car. As this happens, the sketch woman tells the cops she gave the driver money so the militsya come down to check things out. Without hesitation, the driver quickly hands them her 'goods' (minus the cash).
At this point, I am fully convinced that we are all going to end up in an Uzbek prison. To my surprise the driver just gets in the car with us and we appear to be leaving without the woman. He turns the car around and everything seems ok. Just when I think we are back on our way, he stops the car on the side of the road next to where we initially had our passports checked. He gets out and runs back across the street. This time, though, he left the keys in the ignition so I grab them and jump out of the car to try to force the trunk open. No luck. Then I see them bringing the woman's giant bag down the stairs and toward us. There was no way she was getting back into the car with us after this 45 minute delay. We tell the driver hell no. So what happens? He and the militsya guy leave the bag on the side of the road and we take off.
Back on our way, we start to relax. Of course we want to know, what was in the little package and the big bag? The driver tells us that the little package only had a few dollars and some gold jewelry in it. In my mind, this is really nothing to get so worked up over, so I wonder if we got the true story. And in the big bag... just some old clothes. Something didn't add up... why would she be so nervous? At this point I was just happy to not be in prison so I shrugged it off, thinking to myself "Oh well... not my problem." But why did they let the driver go after he hid her 'goods'? Simply because he told them his brother worked for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They let him go rather than risk having problems if he was telling the truth.
The rest of the journey passed without incident... until we were in front of my apartment. The reason I couldn't open the trunk earlier was because the trunk was broken. The militsya had dented in the trunk when they closed it after taking out the woman's bag in Tashkent. The driver had take apart the whole back of his car at 1:30 am in the dark. After 10 minutes of fumbling in the dark, I finally had my bag and could call the adventure complete.
2 weeks ago:
It was late when I finally went to get a car. It was a little after midnight by the time I was finally on the road to Ferghana. I was tired and didn't feel like waiting for other passengers so I paid for a whole car. I figured I would just lay down in the back and sleep. As we took the long, straight road from Tashkent it started getting foggy. We were still moving at a good pace so I decided to try to get some sleep. I dozed off for a while.
About an hour later I sat up. We were ascending the mountain and moving at a snails pace. The fog was so thick we had little choice but to follow inches from the center divider. The driver, seeing I was awake, attempted to have a conversation with me in Russian. I wasn't really in the mood, but I humored him. This night was going to be a long one.
Heading down the other side of the mountain, the fog would let up sporadically and our pace would increase accordingly. I figured I had kept the driver entertained long enough so I decided to try to catch some more shuteye.
When I wake up from my light sleep, I instantly notice something is not right. The car isn't moving. So I sit up and realize my driver has reclined his seat and pulled his cap over his eyes. It is now 4am and we are stopped on the side of the road in an unidentifiable city. I am a bit pissed at this point. I just want to get home and get and hour or two of sleep in my bed. I didn't want to pay this guy to sit on the side of the road while he took a nap. So I start making a lot of noise putting my jacket on. Being the middle of the night, there aren't any other cars around to take me the rest of the way. I figure maybe I will get out of the car to stretch my legs and make a bit of noise to show my displeasure with the situation.
The driver wakes up, takes the keys from the ignition, turns to me and says, "Mozhno?" Figuring that driving the rest of the way myself is preferable to sitting on the side of the road... I snatch the keys from his hand and we trade places.
It turned out that we were in Kokand; about 100km from Ferghana. So while the 'driver' slept in the back, I drove the last leg at about 160km/h. I was home a little over 40 minutes later (and not the usual hour plus). The only strange thing along the way was a (presumably drunk) man in all black doing the central asian squat in the middle of the road at 4:30am. He came very close to becoming road kill.
I was hesitant to pay the full fare once we arrived, seeing as how I drove a third of the way. Being 5am, though, I preferred sleep to arguing and paid the agreed upon fare. Plus, it was kind of nice to be driving again so I wasn't too upset.
1 weeks ago:
This weeks driver set new land speed records for the journey back from Tashkent. The guy was a great driver... we made it to my apartment in less than 3 1/2 hours! This was no small feat considering the roads were still in desperate need of repair after the winter rain and snow took there toll. He pretty much followed the logic that if you go fast enough, you will glide right over the potholes. This worked really well except on one oversized hole that actually did a bit of damage. Nevertheless, he kept going at breakneck speed. On top of that, his car smelled clean and he didn't blast the music. He even asked before he stopped to buy some water! Definitely one of the most hassle free rides home to date.
3 weeks ago:
It was about 9pm and had just arrived at the place where you get a car that goes Tashkent to Ferghana (next to the Northern Vokzal). I didn't feel like paying for a whole car so I only bought a seat. I had the front seat and a girl in her 20s got one of the back seats. She was dressed in a typical western style. The driver wanted to have a full car so we waited about 45 minutes. Then I got an important phone call as they were trying to get me to pay more so we could just leave. While I am on the phone, I stop paying attention and we leave with just the three of us. I am still on the phone when the car stops about 5 minutes down the road. A woman in traditional middle eastern (not Uzbek) clothing gets into the car and the driver loads her oversized bag into the trunk. I get off the phone about when we make it to the first checkpoint on the outskirts of Tashkent.
My passport gets checked and handed back... no problems. The first girl's passport is ok, but they hold onto it. Then the woman hands them a photo copy of a passport that doesn't look like her. This is where things start to get interesting. The police start to scrutinize their documents. It is clear there is going to be a problem. They have the woman get out of the car to show them her giant bag. When she is out of the car the girl tells me that this woman is incredibly nervous and that she wouldn't tell the driver what was in the bag when she got in the car. So the police take her bag out and carry it over to the police station to inspect its contents. All four of us get in the car and the driver turns the car around and pulls in from of the militsya station across the street. (yes... I have to admit I thought either the bag was going to go boom or it was full of drugs) As the driver turns the car around the woman hands him several $50 bills and a small white package wrapped in a bag and he hides them under his seat. I'm thinking to myself... what the f%$#!? I don't want to be involved in this mule's problems.
So they all go into the police station while I sit in the car. Unfortunately, the driver decides to move the little envelope of god knows what to the open dashboard in front of me before he gets out. Then my mom calls me... something that rarely happens (I think this was the third time since I left the United States). We talk for a little while, but I was obviously preoccupied with the situation that was unfolding around me. I keep most of the details to myself so she doesn't freak out... but had to tell her something to get off the phone.
This was only the first checkpoint on the trip to Ferghana. I knew there would be many more along the way. Even if the woman wasn't doing anything illegal, we were sure to face this problem at every checkpoint along the way. Being only on the outskirts of Tashkent City, I was ready to go back to the station and find another ride to Ferghana.
20 minutes into our pitstop, the girl leaves the station and comes back to the car. She tells me that for some reason that they thought she was with the other woman (and the other woman didn't help matters by just standing there silently). I tell her I am going to leave and ask if she wants to get a taxi back to the station to get another car. She agrees. There is one problem... we can't get the trunk open to get my bag out. The driver sees we are trying to leave so he comes out to try to get us back in the car. As this happens, the sketch woman tells the cops she gave the driver money so the militsya come down to check things out. Without hesitation, the driver quickly hands them her 'goods' (minus the cash).
At this point, I am fully convinced that we are all going to end up in an Uzbek prison. To my surprise the driver just gets in the car with us and we appear to be leaving without the woman. He turns the car around and everything seems ok. Just when I think we are back on our way, he stops the car on the side of the road next to where we initially had our passports checked. He gets out and runs back across the street. This time, though, he left the keys in the ignition so I grab them and jump out of the car to try to force the trunk open. No luck. Then I see them bringing the woman's giant bag down the stairs and toward us. There was no way she was getting back into the car with us after this 45 minute delay. We tell the driver hell no. So what happens? He and the militsya guy leave the bag on the side of the road and we take off.
Back on our way, we start to relax. Of course we want to know, what was in the little package and the big bag? The driver tells us that the little package only had a few dollars and some gold jewelry in it. In my mind, this is really nothing to get so worked up over, so I wonder if we got the true story. And in the big bag... just some old clothes. Something didn't add up... why would she be so nervous? At this point I was just happy to not be in prison so I shrugged it off, thinking to myself "Oh well... not my problem." But why did they let the driver go after he hid her 'goods'? Simply because he told them his brother worked for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They let him go rather than risk having problems if he was telling the truth.
The rest of the journey passed without incident... until we were in front of my apartment. The reason I couldn't open the trunk earlier was because the trunk was broken. The militsya had dented in the trunk when they closed it after taking out the woman's bag in Tashkent. The driver had take apart the whole back of his car at 1:30 am in the dark. After 10 minutes of fumbling in the dark, I finally had my bag and could call the adventure complete.
2 weeks ago:
It was late when I finally went to get a car. It was a little after midnight by the time I was finally on the road to Ferghana. I was tired and didn't feel like waiting for other passengers so I paid for a whole car. I figured I would just lay down in the back and sleep. As we took the long, straight road from Tashkent it started getting foggy. We were still moving at a good pace so I decided to try to get some sleep. I dozed off for a while.
About an hour later I sat up. We were ascending the mountain and moving at a snails pace. The fog was so thick we had little choice but to follow inches from the center divider. The driver, seeing I was awake, attempted to have a conversation with me in Russian. I wasn't really in the mood, but I humored him. This night was going to be a long one.
Heading down the other side of the mountain, the fog would let up sporadically and our pace would increase accordingly. I figured I had kept the driver entertained long enough so I decided to try to catch some more shuteye.
When I wake up from my light sleep, I instantly notice something is not right. The car isn't moving. So I sit up and realize my driver has reclined his seat and pulled his cap over his eyes. It is now 4am and we are stopped on the side of the road in an unidentifiable city. I am a bit pissed at this point. I just want to get home and get and hour or two of sleep in my bed. I didn't want to pay this guy to sit on the side of the road while he took a nap. So I start making a lot of noise putting my jacket on. Being the middle of the night, there aren't any other cars around to take me the rest of the way. I figure maybe I will get out of the car to stretch my legs and make a bit of noise to show my displeasure with the situation.
The driver wakes up, takes the keys from the ignition, turns to me and says, "Mozhno?" Figuring that driving the rest of the way myself is preferable to sitting on the side of the road... I snatch the keys from his hand and we trade places.
It turned out that we were in Kokand; about 100km from Ferghana. So while the 'driver' slept in the back, I drove the last leg at about 160km/h. I was home a little over 40 minutes later (and not the usual hour plus). The only strange thing along the way was a (presumably drunk) man in all black doing the central asian squat in the middle of the road at 4:30am. He came very close to becoming road kill.
I was hesitant to pay the full fare once we arrived, seeing as how I drove a third of the way. Being 5am, though, I preferred sleep to arguing and paid the agreed upon fare. Plus, it was kind of nice to be driving again so I wasn't too upset.
1 weeks ago:
This weeks driver set new land speed records for the journey back from Tashkent. The guy was a great driver... we made it to my apartment in less than 3 1/2 hours! This was no small feat considering the roads were still in desperate need of repair after the winter rain and snow took there toll. He pretty much followed the logic that if you go fast enough, you will glide right over the potholes. This worked really well except on one oversized hole that actually did a bit of damage. Nevertheless, he kept going at breakneck speed. On top of that, his car smelled clean and he didn't blast the music. He even asked before he stopped to buy some water! Definitely one of the most hassle free rides home to date.
posted by jeff re: at 3:42 AM
1 Comments:
Gotta love these stories, i want more :)
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