I’m wrapping up a tour in Ashgabat on the last day of my 5-day transit visa, and my next stop is Bukhara. I assumed this would be straightforward, but it's proving tricky. Here’s what I’ve encountered:
I asked my tour company for help, but they couldn’t provide any useful advice. Does anyone have experience with this or suggestions?
There is a potential route from Ashgabat to Bukhara via Turkmenabat, but it requires some preplanning. Here's what you can do: There’s a train leaving Ashgabat at 20:00 that arrives in Turkmenabat at 08:52 the following day. From Turkmenabat, you can take a car to the Farap border crossing, whic is about a 25-30 minute drive.
The tricky part is purchasing train tickets in advance. They’re not always easy to secure unless you’re already in Turkmenistan or working through a local agency. It’s not the simplest option, but it’s doable with some preparation.
That’s exactly what I’m planning to do! My tour company is arranging our flight to Turkmenabat and organizing a transfer to the Farap border as part of the package. You might want to check if your operator can include this for you too—it simplifies the process a lot.
@mirehiko Das habe ich auch gebucht. Waren dann nach der Einreise Taxis an der Grenze oder wie bist du weiter nach Buchara gekommen?
@torbenn Yes, as far as I remember taxis are availalble on the other side, though we had a transfer organised by Uzbek travel agency so can't say exactly how much it could cost. Should not be a problem to get from there to Bukhara that's for sure. Everything is much easier in Uzbekistan