Yozan Uesugi, a famous virtuous lord of Yonezawa in the mid-Edo Period, had said “To achieve, one must act. To not act is to not achieve; this is true in all things. The inability to achieve is the result of inaction.” This is similar to an English expression “Where there is a will, there is a way.”
While searching for travel destinations a long time ago, I came across a square where had three massive blue Islamic buildings. Upon further research, I found it was Registan Square in Samarkand, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Uzbekistan. Apparently, I would fly to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and then take a train from there.
It sounded simple. However, Uzbekistan was one of those “stan” countries, seemed like a difficult place to visit including all necessary pre-arrangements. The biggest problem was the schedule. Tashkent was not a place where can be easily reached using a red-eye flight from Tokyo. The travel in and out of Samarkand alone would likely take more than two days.
Back then, traveling via Seoul or Moscow seemed convenient. I kept in mind that Korea’s Asiana Airlines had 3-4 flights per week to Tashkent. Then COVID-19 travel restrictions enforced, and such memory sank deeper in my mind.
After all, it was like “where there is a way, there is no will.”
One day, a trigger that brought the memory back was the news of Asiana Airline and Korean Air would be merged. Asiana Airlines belongs to Star Alliance, so I can earn miles with All Nippon Airways (ANA). After the merger, Asiana’s mileage program will be a part of SkyTeam, which would be hard for me to manage. My motivation might be impure, but I started thinking it might be a time to go to Uzbekistan.
Around that time on a Friday, a gentleman sitting next to me at a bar raved about Uzbekistan. I probably listened more carefully than his drunk friend. We happened to leave the bar at the same time, so I struck up a conversation which I rarely did at that bar. He told me that while Uzbekistan is an Islamic country, being a part of former Soviet Union makes the country culture tolerant of alcohol consumption. He added that they produce not just beer, but also vodka and wine. Although he was not sure, but if grape producing country had distilleries, I might expect to find Uzbekistani brandy as well.
It was the time to have the “will” and believe that “there is a way.” I booked Asiana Airlines flights during the weekend.
I picked hotels using booking sites, but securing train tickets seemed like a hassle. Upon researching, I found Uzbekistan Railways tickets could be purchased online. It even allowed to select seats, so I aimed to reserve first-class car with single seating configuration.
However, while many sites suggested early advanced bookings were needed for trains, actual sale start date remained somewhat unclear. Many sites mentioned 45 days prior, but when I checked around 50 days ahead just in case, sales had already started. I needed to book three sectors, but availabilities were already limited: one sector with only one remaining first-class seat, one sector with a few remaining second-class seats but no first-class seats, and one sector available only for a train departing after midnight. I was completely late for securing train tickets. To make worse, I could not pay via the website. I hurriedly downloaded the app and managed to complete the payment.
After I purchased the tickets, I calmed down and re-checked trains via app. I saw that there were seats available on the days closer, so I started wondering if the release date might vary by train. I kept checking every few days, eventually tickets for lower-class trains had gone on sale. In the end, I never figured out the exact ticket sale start date, but I managed to connect all the segments almost on my desired schedule.
Preparation for this trip did not end with getting the train tickets. Just before departure, when I tried to print my reservation confirmation from the hotel booking site, something seemed off. Upon closer checks, I found that the booked hotel in Samarkand had vanished from the site. I e-mailed the hotel directly just in case but received no reply. This seemed highly suspicious, so I rebooked a different hotel. With departure only few days away, my options were limited.
This only bred suspicion. I contacted other booked hotels for minor reasons just to remind them of my booking existences. I planned to buy a SIM card at Tashkent Airport, but again, just to be safe, I purchased an eSIM in Japan before leaving.
I tend to be suspicious to others, but I do not learn much from my own mistakes. I drank too much the night before the departure. With almost no recollection, I flew to Seoul Incheon Airport from Tokyo Narita Airport. Next flight from Incheon reached Beijing airspace and headed west along the China-Mongolia border. It must have been a flight route steeped Silk Road.
Based on my research beforehand, the biggest obstacle was upon arriving at Tashkent Airport. There was an airport taxi counter inside the terminal, but its pricing was said to be too high. Once getting outside the airport building, touts for taxis were apparently relentless. It was recommended to use a ride-hailing app, but it seemed that these app drivers could not operate inside the airport. It was necessary to keep refusing the taxi offers until exiting the airport property on foot.
After clearing immigration and leaving the airport building, strangely, there were no touts of taxis. Indeed, no one approached me for any reason at all. I was thinking of charging through the swarm of middle-aged men and bolting straight to the road outside the airport premises, but there was no such chaos going on.
By then, my concern was the eSIM using LTE network, internet access was very slow. Still, the ride-hailing app worked, and I safely arrived the hotel near Tashkent Central Station.
I needed a nightcap before going to bed. While former Soviet Union culture made tolerance of alcohol consumption, I could buy alcohol drinks only at certain places. I asked where to buy beer nearby and went out for a liquor store.
The fatigue had not lifted by the next morning. This was definitely not due to the heavy drinking two days prior, but rather because I had COVID-19 two weeks before the departure and not fully recovered yet. Anxiety lingered for the journey ahead, but I mustered the willpower to get up and headed to Tashkent Central Station.
Since I was unable to secure a high-speed rail ticket, the train for the day was a regular express train with olden passenger cars. It was first class, but the seat was a bit worn. I had no time to blame such seat and fell asleep as soon as the train departed. After sleeping for about two hours, I woke up in the middle of a desolate wilderness. This must be the true scenery of the Silk Road. I drifted in and out of sleep as the train continued along the Silk Road.
The train arrived at Samarkand Station about 30 minutes late. I expected many touts for taxis here too, but there were only a handful. I quickly escaped from them and used a ride-hailing app to arrange a car to take me to the hotel.
It was before check-in time, but the hotel let me into my room. As soon as I left my luggage in the room, I decided to head straight to Registan Square.
Thanks to the dry season, it was a clear, sunny day. Under the blue sky, I explored magnificent Registan Square. The mosque inside the “Tilla-Kori Madrasah” was especially stunning. After seeing the main sights at the Registan Square, I went back to the hotel.
It took a day and a half just to get the Registan Square, my Silk Road journey was finally over. Although it was a long way to come, “where there is a will, there is a way.”
In Uzbekistan, I thought I got closer to what Yozan Uesugi had said.