I have traveled well over 1000 km across Uzbekistan now all via random vehicles we've hired along the way. Our alternatives were trains or buses but the former either weren't running at all or already booked up and the latter would have taken way too long and would have been quite uncomfortable.
Getting the right car and driver: this is much more difficult than one would think. However, at least in our case they've all gotten us to our destination. Traveling from Khiva to Bukhara by far was the longest journey to date on this trip totaling nearly 9 hours of battling the broken roads across the Karakum desert. We started off with a free ride from a coworker of Said. He picked us up at our hotel in Khiva and drove us to the larger city and transportation hub of Urgench where we switched to a 'share taxi' to Bukhara. This share taxi will wait for a full vehicle before setting out on the journey. A full vehicle is four passengers plus driver. We are three in our party so we needed a fourth otherwise we could pay for the fourth seat if we desired.
In this case the driver already had a fourth who happened to be his friend. We didn't realize that this friend of his was well over 7 feet tall until my friend Said told him that he wanted me to get the front seat so I could be more comfortable. I argued with Said saying it was not necessary I sit in the front since this man was much larger than me. Said's response was that since he is taller but not wider that he should sit in the back so that the front seat can be put up a little farther. And to sweeten the deal he told me that I should be up front since I am shorter for reason already stated but that also because I am much wider than this man so I will have more arm room. I wasn't in the mood to argue any more so I took the front seat.
Another tip in getting a share taxi is to get a driver who is a little older but not too old who might all asleep at the wheel. The younger drivers have little respect for life as Said put it. A perfect example of this was our driver from Urgench to Bukhara. He was probably no older than 20. And as many 20 year olds anywhere sent most of his time behind the wheel doing everything BUT driving - texting, talking to his friends, eating sunflower seeds, etc.
More later!
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