Been in Tashkent, Uzbekistan for a few weeks now, will be here for another month or two. There’s a lot to see so I have taken a lot of photos to share here. Lots of random things that catch my eye and a few of the interesting experiences. Will build on this thread until I leave the country.
Arrived from Podgorica via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.
After getting my visa on arrival and collecting the luggage, met a driver from the rental car agency. There are no rental cars anywhere near the airport, so it was about a 20 minute drive to the pickup location. Got through the gate and they wanted to give me this Chevrolet Orlando. Somehow it seats seven but you probably wouldn’t guess it by looking.
Did the walk around of the car pointing out the dings and scratches for the rental agreement and noticed this on the front tire. What stood out at first was that this particular tire was a Kumho, and the others all were some Chinesium brand I didn’t recognize. You never know when something like this will blow out, so I told them I wanted them to replace the tire. They told me it would be no problem, let’s throw your bags in the car, drive to your place and drop you off. We will have the tire changed and bring the car back to your place and drop it off for you. I agreed and they dropped me off and left with the car.
They bring the car back and drop it off. I go out and do another walk around and see that same Kumho tire, this time it’s on the back. I reach into the fenderwell and sure as shit, you could feel that bulge in the sidewall. Apparently their definition of repair was to flip the tire around to put the bulge on the inside where I wouldn’t see it. I called them back and told them to take the car away and that I didn’t want to do business with them anymore. Nice first experience in the country outside of the airport…
Used Airbnb for the rental, it’s a big place with a pool and the landlord was filling it when I arrived.
Something I did shortly after I arrived was to get to an ATM. It’s still very much cash based here so you always need to drag a wallet around full of paper. The currency exchange is like 11,000 Uzbekistan Som to the dollar, so to keep a few hundred bucks on you more than fills a normal wallet. This is 10,000,000 Som
There’s a big cherry tree in the courtyard of my place and I found a big ladder down in the basement. Picked a bunch of them and ate them until I was nearly sick.
Always seems to be a lot of interesting things to see when out and about here.
Arrived from Podgorica via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.
After getting my visa on arrival and collecting the luggage, met a driver from the rental car agency. There are no rental cars anywhere near the airport, so it was about a 20 minute drive to the pickup location. Got through the gate and they wanted to give me this Chevrolet Orlando. Somehow it seats seven but you probably wouldn’t guess it by looking.
Did the walk around of the car pointing out the dings and scratches for the rental agreement and noticed this on the front tire. What stood out at first was that this particular tire was a Kumho, and the others all were some Chinesium brand I didn’t recognize. You never know when something like this will blow out, so I told them I wanted them to replace the tire. They told me it would be no problem, let’s throw your bags in the car, drive to your place and drop you off. We will have the tire changed and bring the car back to your place and drop it off for you. I agreed and they dropped me off and left with the car.
They bring the car back and drop it off. I go out and do another walk around and see that same Kumho tire, this time it’s on the back. I reach into the fenderwell and sure as shit, you could feel that bulge in the sidewall. Apparently their definition of repair was to flip the tire around to put the bulge on the inside where I wouldn’t see it. I called them back and told them to take the car away and that I didn’t want to do business with them anymore. Nice first experience in the country outside of the airport…
Used Airbnb for the rental, it’s a big place with a pool and the landlord was filling it when I arrived.
Something I did shortly after I arrived was to get to an ATM. It’s still very much cash based here so you always need to drag a wallet around full of paper. The currency exchange is like 11,000 Uzbekistan Som to the dollar, so to keep a few hundred bucks on you more than fills a normal wallet. This is 10,000,000 Som
There’s a big cherry tree in the courtyard of my place and I found a big ladder down in the basement. Picked a bunch of them and ate them until I was nearly sick.
Always seems to be a lot of interesting things to see when out and about here.
Okay I'll stop.
