After breakfast, I relaxed a little before checking out at 0900. The boy who was attending reception gave me indicative rates for the taxi to the station (UZS5000) and the shared taxi to Fergana (UZS15000).
I got a taxi outside the hotel promptly but agreed on UZS7000 (it was USD0.26 more than recommended) as I couldn’t be bothered. At the station, the driver wanted UZS20000 but this time I stood firm. The other passengers wanted to go and pressured the driver and he agreed to the correct price.
The ride took only 1h15 and I was dropped off near my hotel, the Toj Mahal, around 1030. I swanned into the lobby apologising for being too early. The receptionist said my room was vacant but hadn’t been cleaned yet but I could put my luggage in there. As he led me to my room the cleaner had just left. It was my lucky day and it wasn’t even 1100 yet!
I headed out for a walk to the markets and to check out the transport to Margilon tomorrow. Fergana has a much bigger city feel than Kokand. The markets were colourful and the people were quite good natured as I took photos of various items I hadn’t seen before.
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- Fergana’s Bazaar.
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- Fergana’s Bazaar.
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- Fergana’s Bazaar.
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- Fergana’s Bazaar.
I had only booked one night at the Toj Mahal through an Uzbek travel agent and paid USD30 by credit card (using a form with scanned photos of the card etc). It was an OK price but the true price was only USD20 (but it’s also the same when one uses Booking.com or Hotels.com the website takes a huge cut).
When I was doing my research months before, there were no hotels in Fergana on popular websites and I had to resort to a real travel agent. I only booked one night so I could decide whether to return to Kokand (closer to the border) or stay another night in Fergana. Since arriving in Uzbekistan, another traveller had recommended Sakura Inn which was now available on Booking.com. It was much cheaper than any place I had stayed in the country so I booked it.
I decided to go locate the property as some reviewers had complained that it was hard to find, despite being perfect in every respect. It wasn’t easy to spot upstairs in a block of shophouses but I did eventually find it. Walking back, it only took 10 minutes but it was much more than that to find!
I grabbed lunch near the hotel before returning to do some travel admin. I tried to find the price for getting to the border and WhatsApped Sakura Inn. They recommended a shared taxi for peanuts which meant that I’d end up with too much UZS at the end. While I had seen money changers displaying rates in both directions in Khiva, the hotel here told me that it wasn’t possible to change UZS back to USD and it can only be loaded onto a Visa card.
Oh dear! I expect to have about USD20 leftover. I had thought of changing only USD20 the last time but I ended up changing USD40 in the end. Bloody hell! I racked my brain as to how I could use it up but in the end Sakura Inn told me they would take UZS for payment even though their page on Booking.com said “No” (must have been written in the days of blackmarket rates).
I also used to time to complete my customs declaration for leaving the country which I had taken from Urgench airport. I had pre-counted all my currencies in Kazakhstan before entering Uzbekistan and none would have changed except for the USD. I carefully counted my dollars and set aside a round figure separately from a smaller amount for any upcoming incidentals. That way I wouldn’t have to count the whole lot on the last day.
I had an early dinner at restaurant nearby. It was a little more than a takeaway style kebab platter with salad, chips and rice. I needed a top-up later in the evening and went to cakeshop for dessert and tea. It was UZS4500 (USD0.56) for the cake and UZS1000 (USD0.12) for the tea!