Uzbekistan - Central Asia - page 174

8 Information
INTERNET ACCESS
Wi-i can be found at most hotels and for free at
Platan restaurant, while it's available for a fee at
Cafe Magistr and No Name Cafe.
Foreign Language Institute (Bo'stonsaroy 23;
per hr 1200S; h 8am-8pm Mon-Sat) inside the
institute itself, go through the security gate on
Buston Saroy.
Paynet Internet (Bo'stonsaroy 30/45; per hour
1500S; h 8am-10pm) Wedged between Cafe
Magistr and No Name Cafe, Paynet's access
is fast.
International Telephone Office (Pochta 9; per
hr 1200S; h 8am-10pm) The best internet place
in town, housed in cool, bright and spacious
premises with booths for privacy and no gamers.
Internet Tim (Amir Timur 31; per hour 1200S;
h 8am-11pm) Another decent option.
MONEY
Black-market moneychangers hang out around
Siob Bazaar, although you'll ind it easier to get
a better rate at the Kryty Rynok in the new town,
where you'll be less mobbed as well. hotel Regis-
ton Plaza has an exchange oice that changes
money at the oicial rate, and an ATM, which is
rarely in use.
Asaka Bank (Mustaqillik maydoni; h 9am-5pm
Mon-Fri) Advances cash on MasterCard.
National Bank of Uzbekistan (cnr
Bo'stonsaroy & Ulugbek; h 9am-5pm Mon-Fri)
Cashes travellers cheques and handles Visa
card cash advances.
POST & COMMUNICATIONS
International Telephone Office (Pochta 9;
h 24hr) international calls, and also access to
skype via the internet cafe.
Main Post & Telegraph Office (Pochta 5;
h 8am-5pm)
REGISTRATION
OVIR ( % 233 69 34; cnr Mahmud Kashgari &
Ulugbek; h 9am-6pm Mon-Fri) Look for large
metal gate.
TRAVEL & TOUR AGENCIES
Most B&Bs double as travel agencies and/or can
organise cars, guides, camel trekking and yurt-
stays around Lake Aidarkul, and homestays in
the Nuratau-Kyzylkum Biosphere Reserve. Anti-
ca and hotel Légende are particularly resource-
ful. A new, privately run Tourist Information
Centre ( % [phone]; Cnr Toshkent &
Abu Laiz Samarkandi; h 8am-7pm), between the
Registan and the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, ofers a
full range of services, including arranging train
tickets, tours and booking hotels. Staf speak
english and there are good maps of the city on
sale as well.

Tour guides Denis Vikulov and Farruh
Bahronov are also good ixers. Denis has a car
and will travel, and is ixing up a 19th-century
Jewish Quarter building to serve meals to tour-
ists. Farruh runs Abask Travel ( % [phone]
0102; Toshkent 41; h 9am-6pm Mon-Fri) out
of his souvenir store - look for the store with
the woodworking workshop inside. Sogda Tour
( % 235 29 85, 235 36 09; www.sogda-tour.com;
Registan 38; h 9am-6pm Mon-Fri), located
behind Mojiza restaurant, has refreshing ideas
for touring the region, including excursions
to the caves and mountains around Darbent
and Boysun. Daulet Negmadjanov (p176) is an
english-speaking driver and guide to Samarkand
and the surrounding area. he has his own car,
and provides reliable and afordable services.

8 Getting¨There¨&¨Away
AIR
Uzbekistan Airways ( % 812 13 17; www.uzair
ways.com; Airport) lies between Samarkand
and Tashkent once or twice daily except on Mon-
days and Fridays for US$21. You can only buy
domestic tickets at the airport oice in US dol-
lars. A taxi from the centre of town will cost you
5000S. There are also direct lights to Moscow.
LAND
The main departure point to Tashkent for
private buses and shared taxis is the Ulug-
bek marshrutka stop, about 200m east of
the observatory (bus/shared taxi per seat
16,000/25,000S, six/3½ hours), although
there are approximately nine buses per day
from the Shahizinda bus station , leaving on
the hour from 6am.
Shared taxis to Termiz (40,000S, ive hours)
gather at 'grebnoy Kanal' on the city's outskirts
about 6km east of the Ulugbek stop.
Buses to Bukhara originate in Tashkent and
pass by the highway opposite the Ulugbek stop
(20,000S, 4½ hours). Buses pass at least every
hour, and traic is heaviest in the late afternoon.
Departures peter out around 5pm because of
the nationally imposed 10pm curfew on bus traf-
ic. There is one daily bus to Urgench (40,000S,
12 hours) every day at 8.50am, which continues
to Nukus (45,000S, 13½ hours).
Shared taxis to Bukhara involve a transfer
in Navoi. The main departure point to Navoi
(20,000S, two hours) is the Povorot marshrutka
stop about 2.5km west of the Crying Mother
monument on Ulugbek ko'chasi. Take any
marshrutkas signposted ' Поворот '. Shared
taxis from Navoi to Bukhara take an hour and
cost a further 20,000S.
For Shakhrisabz , shared taxis (25,000S, 1½
hours) congregate at the end of Suzangaran,
just of Registan.