After hectic Bangkok we arrived in Tashkent 3 days ago, on June 5th. Opposite to my expectations the arrival and going through the passport control and getting our luggage out went very smooth. Neither of us had any delays or problems. In fact our luggage came out amongst the first bags, so we were out fairly quickly. But what an idiotic time of departure and arrival; we departed from Bangkok at half past 10 at night and arrived in Tashkent at 3:05. Maybe it’s because the Uzbek airlines is not prestigious and well known airline, so the time of departure allocated to it in the very busy Bangkok new airport was that weird time. By the time our luggage came out it was 4 something and by the time my cousin, brother and cousin’s son met us at the airport it was something past five in the morning. We came home, had tea, talked a little bit, and it was almost 6am before we went to sleep.
As I said last time, this time Bangkok was kind to us and we didn’t have major piss-offs with all sorts of idiots you can find anywhere. But on our way to the airport there was an incident, which frightened Katy and pissed me off. You see, the way Thai people drive is crazy. Despite the crazy traffic they manage to weave between the cars like a mongoose trying to kill a snake, and they do it at a speed of over 120 km/h. I admit it is very unsettling to watch especially in the front windshield, but you just get used to the idea that this is the way they drive. At least we’ve experienced it many times. So, we had this one Dutch guy, who turned out to be a real psycho, although understandably. He had some altercations with the local guys who were loading our bags into the car in the beginning saying nonsense I won’t you bother with here, and then I thought “oh, god.. who’s this guy? Looks normal and acts like a defensive ballerina”… whatever the last two words mean. Then as we drive to the airport on the highway and we drive very fast, all of a sudden he gets up from his seat leans over from behind us and slapping the driver on his shoulder as he is driving a freaking minivan full of us and our bags on the highway at 130~140 km/h. And then yelling starts from all over, driver in Thai telling something like f*** off to him, I’m sure, the Dutch guy yelling are you crazy? Go slowly.. you want to kill us, and us yelling at both the Dutch guy and a driver to calm down. It was good that the driver didn’t flinch much and didn’t turn the steering wheel as a knee jerk reaction one way or the other, otherwise you could’ve read a news about a minivan full of foreigners and a crazy Dutch man crushing off the elevated highway in Bangkok. Then the driver started calling someone and complain in Thai and the Dutch started complaining to us and generally asking if everyone was okay with that and so on. One Israeli guy calmly explained to him to relax and not to cause any more trouble than he already had. Anyways, this incident in a cramped little minivan frightened Katy, so, she couldn’t quite relax until we arrived at the airport.
Now that we’ve been here for 3 days, we actually didn’t waste our time and did a lot. We registered the car to our name, actually we rather got the sort of permission to drive, we registered Katy, applied for a driver’s license, got cell phones and have seen all major relatives. The only ones left are my grandparents who we will see later today.
Driving our car is so nice, because it is so nice.. haha~ It’s a little bit flashy here though.. so, we will sell it within a year probably and buy a smaller one.
I also thought what to do with my blog, since our travels have come to an end, but since it is so popular and I have a little base of the fans who read it, I decided I will keep it and update you on our life here in Uzbekistan. Hahaha~
It is very hot here by the way, about 40 celcius... It becomes hot already at 9am, so hot that you don’t want to do anything. And finally we can eat nice cherries and apricots and other fruits without making a big dent in our wallet.
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