The TRAIN (OMG) from Bukhara to Khiva

First a clarification.. In the previous email I said something about 20% of salaries being above the median… What I meant to say was that 20% of professionals earn considerably more than the median amount. Hope that’s clearer.

Just a very short note to let you know we made it to Khiva….. but what a trip.

First of all, we had to leave the hotel at 2:30 am to get to the station – which turns out to be quite a distance from the old city. The taxi took about 25 minutes. And while it seemed as if our luggage was compact and easy to trolley in typical airport settings, it’s actually been challenging on the very uneven, cobblestone streets with very frequent potholes, mud, and other obstructions. And add to that the fact that the stairs from the second floor of any of these old hotels with dark, unlit exterior stairs (with very uneven and often high risers) would be difficult and challenging at any time, but my bum ankle made it extraordinarily challenging. Anyway we taxied to the station which was expectedly barren. No one spoke any English, but we kept showing our tickets and guards and train personnel pointed to where we needed to go.

After leaving the waiting area, we trekked along the tracks and then had to cross over the closest track to get to the farther track… which meant going down a very deep step to cross over some wooden slats that covered the tracks temporarily and then climbing up a very high “step” to get to the “back” platform. Then we could see our train… a rather old and dusty train – 1950s vintage, I’d say. We could see a crude sheet of paper taped to the window of one car that said “4” which was what our ticket said – for our first class cabin!!  I’ve taken pretty bleak trains in Romania and in Tibet… but this one took the prize.  We managed to find our “cabin” which had two beds – more like covered pieces of plywood. Our baggage filled most of the cabin. Unlike the Tibet train, where there were four beds (bunk beds) where we could put the luggage on the upper beds… this just had the two beds so we had to put luggage between these beds. There were several switches on the wall.. but only one worked – turning the overhead light on and off. There appeared to be night lights, but they didn’t work.

While we didn’t sleep, we did lie down keeping our coats on the whole time. There might have been a dining car, but no one told us that  (In Tibet they shoved a piece of paper under our door with pictures of food so we figured out there was a dining car). Anyway, it was “only” a 7-hour ride. The train only made about four stops… and the view out the window (which wasn’t too clean) was pretty bleak. I don’t think there were any other foreigners on the train. Most tourists get to Khiva by either flying from Tashkent or by renting a driver.. or else they must be part of tour groups that have vans or buses.

It was an experience.. We were happy to arrive in Khiva which from what we can see is a beautiful small city … and a UNESCO Heritage Site. We found a taxi at the station and it took a bit of maneuvering for him to find our hotel. There are two Malika hotels in Khiva.. One is called Malika Khiva and the other Malika Kheiviat. We are at the latter and the taxi driver seemed to only know the other one. But I was able to find the right one on my phone and the driver called the hotel for directions. Complicated since we are staying inside the Ichan Kala… right in the center of the old city.

Tomorrow I’ll post about Khiva… For now, the experience of the train was sufficient.

Best –

Fern

PLUS

Several people asked for a photo of the inside of the “cabin” on the train. Thought I had included it, but here it is…