Busses, trains, and automobiles

I decided to pay a surprise visit to my host family in Chirchik. Intent on keeping the travel costs to a minimum I decided to go by a new form of transportation; coach bus.

1 Have the money ready!

For 2,500 cym (or a little less than USD $2.50) I got a front seat on a Mercedes bus for the eight hour trip from Navoi to the capitol of Tashkent.

On the way there they played a crudely translated version of "Rush Hour 2" with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. I laughed pretty hard in the opening scene where Chan and Tucker are swaying and singing in his car... to traditional Uzbek music (instead of rap or hip-hop which is in the original version). All references to "Los Angelis" mysteriously changed to Toshkent. And even when the movie moved to LA, and it clearly said "Los Angeles" on the screen under a towering office building, the Uzbek translator said "Toshkent." And when the white guy from the US Embassy appeared in the movie, he first spoke Russian until Chan said "in Uzbek please." Then, on his second appearance he only spoke German! But as a general rule of thumb, white guys spoke Russian, Asians spoke Uzbek, and LA is Tashkent.

All the grapes that I cut

After passing over 10 militsia roadblocks (each one requiring a bribe to prevent our bus from being stopped and searched) we arrived in Tashkent. Though there is a law against bribing police officers, it is often the only way for them to make ends meet with their exceptionally low salary, and it is expected of such vehicles at checkpoints. There is one story of a militsia guard at a power plant writing a formal letter to his superior officer. He explained that he has problems at home and asks to be moved to a road post so that he can get more money and take care of his sick mother. The story concludes with the militsia guard receiving a transfer from the power plant to a roadblock... but only after a small bribe to his boss.

Josh with my old host family

I then took the metro to a kiosk where I caught a van to Chirchik. My family was very surprised to see me. Apparently a rumor was circulating around the Chirchik families and Tashkent that I had gotten sick and therefore was sent back to America. Needless to say, they could barely believe that I was in Uzbekistan, let alone in their living room... with a beard!

We then took a mini-bus to Tavaksie to assist the grandmother at her winery, which she runs by herself since her husband died. As well as grapes, she also has many animals and vegetables that she tends to.

After promising to return in early October to help with the grape harvest, I caught a car to Chirchik and then a van back to Tashkent. After picking up some supplies from Peace Corps Uzbekistan headquarters I stopped by Tashkent's electronics district. And after an extensive search, found a reasonably priced coffee maker! One more brief stop and I was on my way back to Navoi. But only after paying the driver 2,500 cym, so that he can prepare the piles of money across his dashboard in preparation for the militsia checkpoints.

Mother Jenya

Tashkent Land

The pigs