Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
¨
In Turkmenistan 'cultural
artefacts' seems to embrace
almost all handicrafts and
traditional-style clothing, no
matter how mundane.
¨
To export a carpet from
Turkmenistan you'll need to
get the carpet certified (for
a fee) at Ashgabat's Carpet
Museum or buy it from one
of the state carpet shops.
Get a receipt for anything of
value that you buy, showing
where you got it and how
much you paid.
FLOOR-LADIES
On every loor of a Soviet-tyle hotel a
dezhurnaya
(loor-lady) is in charge of handing out keys, getting
hot water for washing, or
kipitok
(boiled water) for hot
drinks, sometimes for a small fee. Even the mot god-
awful hotel can be redeemed by a big-hearted loor-lady
who can ind someone to do your laundry, ind a light
bulb or tash your bags while you're of on an excursion.
For more advice on trav-
elling with children, pick up
Lonely Planet's
Travel with
Children
.
We're Riding on a Cara-
van: An Adventure on the
Silk Road
by Laurie Krebs
is a children's picture book
aimed at four- to eight-
year-olds that describes a
trader's life on the Chinese
section of the Silk Road.
Stories from the Silk
Road
by Cherry Gilchrist is a
story book aimed at a simi-
lar age group.
¨
There are no significant
limits on items brought into
Central Asia for personal
use, except on guns and
drugs.
Documents
Besides your passport and
visa, there are a number of
other documents you may
need to keep track of:
¨
Currency exchange and
hard currency purchase
receipts - you may need to
show these when you sell
back local money in a bank
(not needed for money-
changers or in Kazakhstan).
¨
The customs form or
entry form that you were
given on entering the
country.
¨
Vouchers - if you prepaid
accommodation, excursions
or transport, these are the
only proof that you did so.
¨
Hotel registration chits -
in Uzbekistan you may need
to show these little bits of
paper (showing when you
stayed at each hotel) to
OVIR officials.
¨
Letters of Invitation and
any supporting documents/
receipts for visa and permit
support.
¨
Student and youth cards
are of little use, except as a
decoy if someone wants to
keep your passport.
It's wise to have at least
one photocopy or scan of
your passport (front and
visa pages) and your travel-
insurance policy on your
person. It's also a good idea
to have a scan of your pass-
port and travel insurance
on a flash drive or stored in
the cloud.
¨
Heading out, the main
prohibitions are 'antiques'
and local currency.
¨
You may well be asked
for the customs declaration
you filled out when you
first entered the country,
so save all official-looking
documents.
¨
In Kazakhstan customs
forms don't need to be filled
in unless you are carrying
goods above normal duty-
free limits or cash worth
more than US$3000.
Exporting Antiques
From the former Soviet
republics, you cannot ex-
port antiques or anything
of 'historical or cultural
value' - including art,
furnishings, manuscripts,
musical instruments,
coins, clothing and jewel-
lery - without an export
licence and payment of a
stiff export duty.
If your purchase looks
like it has historical value,
you should get a letter
saying that it has no such
value or that you have
permission to take it out
anyway. Get this from the
vendor, from the Ministry
of Culture in the capital,
or from a curator at one
of the state art museums.
Without it, your goods
could be seized on depar-
ture.
Customs
Regulations
Barring the occasional
greedy official at a remote
posting, few Western tour-
ists have major customs
problems in Central Asia.
When they do, it's usually
over the export of 'cultural
artefacts'.
Declaring money on entry
to a former Soviet republic
is an awkward matter. In Uz-
bekistan you should declare
everything (cash and travel-
lers cheques) to the penny;
officials at Tashkent airport
will likely ask you to pull out
your money, and will seize
and fine you for the differ-
ence between what you
have and what you declared.
Count up your money pri-
vately before you arrive. You
won't have a problem unless
you are trying to leave with
more money than you ar-
rived with, so don't withdraw
hundreds of dollars from
ATMs in Uzbekistan that you
intend to spend elsewhere
in Central Asia.
¨
In Uzbekistan any book or
artwork more than 50 years
old is considered antique.
