Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
an entry stamp into the country and become easy victims for controls in-
side Kazakhstan.
Internal checks are another problem faced by Central Asian tourism.
Because of the low pay of local officials, corruption and attempts to earn
money off of foreign tourists are routinely practiced by police units in
practically all Central Asian countries. These practices include demand-
ing proof of identity from foreign tourists in the Tashkent Metro, at GAI
posts (transport inspections), in trains (particularly in Kazakhstan) and
other locations. Normally this is just a formality and militiamen are satis-
fied with checking documents and visas, but the reaction of militiamen
is not always completely predictable. Document checks are, of course,
not a bad thing but during the 1990s and later, for example, tourists were
selectively targeted by militiamen and, under the ruse of control checks,
taken to closed-off locations where their luggage, finances, etc. were gone
through.
27
Although Uzbekistan, for example, has forgotten its militiamen
to aggravate tourists in this fashion and demand bribes, problems of this
type are eliminated only very slowly, and travelers' forums like Thorn
Tree Lonely Planet are full of similar stories.
In some places the requirements imposed by police reach the point of
absurdity. One example would be the permission required to photograph
some modern memorials (which are in no way connected to the govern-
ment or in any way sensitive). In the past, foreigners have traditionally
been stopped at the Ismoil Somoni monument in Dushanbe (where even
most locals have photographs taken). After photographing the monument,
foreigners were asked to prove their identity and a demand was made for a
permit allowing the monument to be photographed (which, of course, did
not exist) and to be produced.
28
As a continuation of Soviet propaganda,
tourists from countries lying outside the CIS could be considered spies,
particularly if they know at least a little Russian or a little of the local
language.
But even in this there has been significant apparent progress. There are
fewer and fewer complaints on websites about police demanding bribes
27
Especially famous for this was Bishkek, where the author and others encountered this detailed “con-
trol check.”
28
It was at this location that the author encountered one of the most absurd interpretations of the law.
When we did not wish to divulge the address at which we were staying (in spite of being registered
with the local travel agency which was theoretically the guarantor of our stay), we were informed that
not knowing the address at which we were staying was subject to a significant fine, which might be
reduced by making a payment on the side.
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