Hitchhiking in Uzbekistan: Kokand, crazy moments and lovely family

Walking towards outside of Besharik is not a problem. A man in his car stops. He is going to Kokand. I was expecting that: getting a lift to Kokand and from there carry on to Samarkand. Ahmed is nice and gives me some warm bread. Yummy!

I don’t think he is a taxi because he passes by some people standing by the road, but for some reason, which only the universe can tell, he decides to stop and pick up this lady.

At the beginning she is really quiet and not talking with me or with him much. And we get out in Kokand, the driver tells me I should follow her because she will show me the way towards outside Kokand, in the direction of Samarkand. Great!

She cannot speak English and we get in a bus. People in the bus and the bus driver are really nice. When we get out of the bus, Charnoza invites me to come over her house and spend the night with her and tomorrow I can continue towards Samarkand. When I look into her wyes, something is telling me to refuse, but because I have so many extra days and no further plans, I decide to accept.

From now on nothing makes much sense. We stop in a restaurant and she gets some pizza to go. We get into three different taxis, and travel a long distance, to another small town after Kokand. She takes the pizza and go somewhere while I wait in the car. Lots of time has passed and we finally are coming back to Kokand. Kokand, right? No. The next taxi we take drives us all the way to Besharik! What a hell! And also, now she has changed her behaviour, and is all talkative with the taxi driver, playing loud music and singing.

I try to keep calm and think that tomorrow I carry on my journey from Besharik, again. But once in there, we get into another car, this time I recognize the man: she was talking with him in her phone, and by her behaviour, I think he is her sugar daddy. Which is fine if it works for her but not when she invents of bringing me into the loop.

We keep driving towards somewhere. At some point, we stop in a village called Tomosha. The whole trip to here, the man seems uncomfortable with this situation. He is doubtful and confused. Suddenly, she gets out of the car and tells me I can keep going with him. What? Laugh. Bullshit! That’s enough for me so I get out of the car, get my backpack and tell her she is crazy. I was about to leave but then I get not only mad but curiously mad and try to ask her what a hell was she thinking. At this point, she is already back inside the car, but of course she doesn’t understand what am I trying to say, so they just leave. Bizarre!

I ask in a shop which direction is Kokand and walk towards there. An elderly man tries to help me, and by that time a young man also joins us. I jut keep walking, trying to explain to them that I just need a lift to Kokand. The elderly man understands and leave but the young man keeps trying to help. He insists on paying a taxi all the way to Kokand, and even stop one and starts talking with the driver. I tell him, very directly, that I will not get in a taxi if he pays for it. U. is 18 years old and we take a photo together. Right after that, a nice man with a woman in the car offers to take me to Kokand.

Jurabek and Musafar are very nice people and take me to a place slightly outside Kokand. But I still have to keep walking for a while until reaching a good hitchhiking spot. I am really tired by now.

After a little while without nobody stopping, two men in a car tell me this is not the right way to Samarkand. What? I clearly ask if they are sure and explain that I am just trying to get a lift, and they say they are correct. After driving in the opposite direction for a while, they start saying something about a taxi to Samarkand. I make them to stop the car and using the translate from their phones, I explain everything again. They are very nice people, who just want to help, but they want to do that with money, so I keep refusing the taxi and the hotel room they also offered. I convince them to drive me back, to a mosque which was just a bit before the spot where they took me from.

At the mosque, I talk with a very elderly man and ask for a shelter for tonight. A group of men are just passing by, and two of them tell me I can come with them to a house. It is the home of one of them, and we arrive there in about 5 minutes driving. I am introduced to his beautiful wife, Ioktuhan, and his three boys: Behruz (10), Mustafah (8) and Youssef (1). Unfortunately I didn’t get the name of the husband right.

They leave in a huge house, which is still to be finished in the outside but it looks fancy and beautiful inside. I am given some coffee and chocolates! Yummy!

Behruz and Mustafah are very sweet boys and try to talk with me and ask some questions. They make me a big drawing of a Brazilian and Uzbek flags. I also meet Ioktuhan’s mother-in-law, who is also lovely.

Later on, other members of the family come over with their children, and we are a big group of people. I start chatting with Dilnosa, who is the sister of Ioktuhan’s husband, and we go through some English sentences from a course book. After eating dinner, delicious candies, chocolates and a cake, and drinking lots of tea, everybody leaves and I go to get changed and wash up.

I sleep in a room upstairs all by myself.

Next morning, the lovely Iokuthan gives me two new pair of socks. How sweet! We have breakfast and the husband buys us some samsa. It is the first traditional samsa have, but I cannot eat the meat from inside because it is too much and too heavy. I eat all the dough though, because it is delicious! And also, some more cake and coffee!

Before I leave the house, everybody is very sweet on their goodbyes, and they tell me to come back! They also give me a bag full of chocolates and candies!

The husband and Mustafah walk with me to the main road. He try to give me some money but I kindly refuse.

Samarkand, come to mama!