Transport - Central Asia - page 472

Transport

GETTING THERE
& AWAY
Getting to Central Asia is
half the fun, whether its part
of an overland Silk Road
trip or crossing formerly
forbidden border posts. Air
connections are improv-
ing steadily throughout
the region, with Tashkent
(Uzbekistan) and Almaty
(Kazakhstan) the main hubs,
though discounted fares can
be hard to track down.
The long-distance rail
connections are mostly with
Mother Russia - from Mos-
cow or the Trans-Siberian
Railway to Tashkent, Almaty,
Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and
Astana (Kazakhstan). The
only other external rail link is
the Silk Road train between
Astana/Almaty and Ürümqi
in China, with onward rail
connections from there.
The other main overland
links are three roads from
China - one accessible year-
round via Ürümqi to Almaty,

and two warm-weather
routes from Kashgar to Kyr-
gyzstan, over the Torugart
or Irkeshtam passes.
Finally there are the
offbeat and somewhat
unreliable journeys from
Baku (Azerbaijan), across
the Caspian Sea by ferry
to Turkmenbashi (Turk-
menistan) or alternatively to
Aktau in Kazakhstan.
This section deals with
travel in and out of Central
Asia, including advice for
getting around the region.
For general advice on border
crossings see p35, and for
specific border crossings
see the Getting There &
Away section of the relevant
country chapte

Air
The region's main air links
to the 'outside' are through
the main cities of Almaty
(Kazakhstan), Bishkek
(Kyrgyzstan), Tashkent
(Uzbekistan), Ashgabat
(Turkmenistan) and, to a
lesser extent, Dushanbe
(Tajikistan) and Astana
(Kazakhstan). Tiny Osh
(Kyrgyzstan) even has a
couple of interesting inter-
national connections.
A few cities in Kazakhstan
have international links to
Europe, and cities in all re-
publics have connections to
Commonwealth of Independ-
ent States (CIS) countries,
especially Russia.
Of the many routes in,
two handy corridors are
via Turkey (thanks to the
geopolitics of the future)
and via Russia (thanks to
the geopolitics of the past).
Turkish Airlines has the best
connections and in-flight
service but is at the higher
end of the fare scale, while
Russian and Central Asian
carriers have the most
connections. Turkey also
has the advantage of a full
house of Central Asian em-
bassies and airline offices.
Moscow has four airports
and connections can be
inconvenient.
Airports
Almaty International
Airport ( % 727-270 33 33;
www.almatyairport.com) A

Entering Central
Asia
Entering Central Asia can
be a bit daunting. Many
flights arrive in the middle
of the night, officials can
be unhelpful and you may
have to battle a scrum of
taxi drivers once you exit
the terminal. That said, im-
migration formalities are
increasingly streamlined and
you shouldn't face any major
issues as long as your docu-
ments are in order.
In Uzbekistan its particu-
larly important to make sure
you fill out your customs
form accurately, claiming all
cash and travellers cheques
that you are bringing into the
country.

DEPARTURE TAX
Departure taxes are
igured into your air
ticket so you won't face
any extra charges when
you ly out of Central
Asia. Turkmenitan is
odd as usual, with an
arrival tax of around
US$14.