Another country in Central Asia in which you can of course do hitchhiking as well. Doing hitchhiking in Uzbekistan isn’t the easiest, find out why.
Where is Uzbekistan located?
Uzbekistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, it is sharing a border with Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan und Tajikistan.
Tashkent is the capital and in the country itself you are mainly going to travel to Samarkand and Buxoro, as most people do. Also the hitchhiking experience will be mentioning these places.
What is good to know about the country itself?
Most people will stop going to speak Russian, but English is not that common. In the cities you will be able to find English speakers, just on the road it is looking different.
Hitchhiking isn’t common, it is mainly a way for people to get from a to b, instead of public transportation. Most people who stop will be like a taxi, so they will be expecting money. It is necessary to mention it before, that you will hitchhiking and will not pay money, and also show the translation of it in Russian and Uzbek to be sure, it can avoid some huge trouble later on.
The number plates are very simple to understand, the first two numbers of it represent the region. Everything with a one in the front is Tashkent and surrounding. Everything with a three infront is Samarkand and surrounding and everything with a eight infront is the Buxoro region.
In general there could always be someone from a different region driving to where you want to go, that’s why it’s maybe not the most necessary information to have.
How is my experience with hitchhiking in Uzbekistan?
In general I must say that hitchhiking in Uzbekistan wasn’t the best so far. I was getting into a lot of discussions and some people threatened me with violence.
There were nice people who stopped, but mainly it wasn’t as nice. The hitchhiking trip went around 2,5 weeks and we went from Kyrgyzstan to Tashkent, over to Samarkand and the border of Tajikistan, down to Termez at the border of Afghanistan. After Termez it went to Buxoro and from there all the way to Tashkent. Each of the trips were made in one day, so you will reach your destination, it’s just not as much fun as in most of the other countries.
Hitchhiking also worked in the city center of Tashkent, but like I mentioned, it wasn’t fun and people were really aggressive.
When is the best time to visit?
This of course is depending on what type of person you are. In summer Uzbekistan can be really hot and easily reach temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius and finding shadows on the main road isn’t that enjoyable.
I was recently there in March and during that time it was enough with a t-shirt outside. In winter it could be quite cold, so I would say travel to Uzbekistan outside of summer. Before May and after September.
Summary
Hitchhiking in Uzbekistan is working, same as in every other country. The waiting time isn’t that long, but in general you won’t be able to enjoy it as much due to the temper of the people and the different understanding of hitchhiking.
The locals will expect you to pay, so good communication that’s most important! Tell that you don’t have money and be clear about it. Make sure they really understand what you say and pray that it will end up being good.
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