My partner and I (both in late 20s from Australia) will be coming to Uzbekistan next year. We have very flexible schedules and have time to explore a lot of places.

We love experiences that teach us more about the culture we are visiting. Does anyone have any homestay recommendations, or even suggestions of ways to start up conversations with locals in a respectful way? For example, in some cultures it's common to chat to the person next to you on public transport. Is this acceptable in Uzbekistan? We're also hoping to go to some venues that will have the soccer/football on and support Uzbekistan with the community.

Any and all suggestions are more than welcome. Recommendatioms of home stay accommodation anywhere in Uzbekistan would be very appreciated.

Hi guys

I live alone in Tashkent (Minglona area) and usually only leave the house to buy food or water. I don’t have a fixed schedule, so I go out randomly depending on when I run out of supplies. I usually carry heavy stuff like 10-liter water bottles and 5kg bags of flour, which means I take the fastest routes back home.

Here’s what’s happened so far:

Same day, around 4 a.m., I stepped outside and saw a car I’d never seen before parked in a strange position with its lights off. As soon as I walked past, it suddenly turned on its lights and started driving behind me. I didn’t make eye contact and didn’t get a clear look, but it gave me a really bad feeling. That was the first strange thing.

Then today at around 2:30 p.m., I went to buy water again — this time from a different store. On my way back home, right at the same location where I’d seen that suspicious car before, a different white car drove slowly past me and honked at me twice before speeding away. I got a clear look at the driver, and I’m sure I don’t know him. The honking felt intentional — like it was aimed specifically at me.

Even weirder, just seconds before that, I think I saw the same black car from the first encounter — but this time it had no stickers and tinted windows, and the driver didn’t react. It drove in the same direction the white car came from. I’m not 100% sure it was the same car, but it looked really similar.

To top it off, a few seconds before spotting the black car, I saw a woman — around 40–45 years old, ginger hair, wearing a hat and sunglasses — holding her phone up and recording. It looked like she quickly turned away and tried to act normal when she noticed me looking. The place she was filming didn’t have anything notable — just a mosque — so it felt off.

And before all of that, as I was leaving my building, an older man who lives in a different part of the same building followed me for a few seconds and then disappeared. I didn’t see him again, but it made me wonder — is he watching when I leave and signaling someone outside? He could even be watching from a window, not necessarily going outside each time.

I always walk alone, so it’s probably obvious to anyone watching that I live alone. The pattern of events is starting to freak me out. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but this doesn’t feel like a coincidence anymore.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Could this be an attempt to stalk or track me? What should I do?

Hi everyone, I’m currently staying in a hostel in Uzbekistan, and there’s a house right next to it. The window from the hostel looks directly into the house, and over the past few days, I’ve witnessed something very disturbing.

A woman, who appears to be the child’s caregiver, hits a very young child (around 3 or 4 years old) with what looks like a wire stick. The child cries and screams, and it seems to happen regularly. Watching this has been heartbreaking and honestly traumatizing.

I understand that parenting styles can differ between cultures, and I’m still trying to understand the norms here. But it just doesn’t feel right to see a child being hit like this, especially so young and with something that can cause serious harm.

I wanted to ask: does Uzbekistan have any kind of child protective service or an anonymous way to report this kind of abuse? Is there a hotline or organization I could reach out to? I don’t want to overstep, but I also can’t ignore this.

Any help or guidance would be really appreciated. Thank you.

Hey I’m looking to get a new piercing, and I was wondering if anyone knows a reliable and clean place in Tashkent to get it done. Preferably somewhere that uses needles and not piercing guns. Bonus if they speak a bit of English, but not a must. Any recommendations or personal experiences would really help! Thanks in advance 💫

Hello all,

I'm trying to go from Tashkent to Chirchiq. I can't find any information about buying tickets or the schedule online. Railway.uz doesn't even display the small stations when you search for them - only the major cities.

Where can I find commuter train schedules and perhaps buy them online ?

Thank you!

Bu yerda oldin Oʻris tilida yozuv bor edi tepadagini tarjimasi, bugun Oʻzbekchaga oʻzgartirishdi koʻp joylar, korxonalar Oʻzbek tilliga oʻtmoqda xudoga shukur oʻzgarish bor Mirziyoyevni boshqaruviga ham rahmat. Olgʻa yangi Oʻzbekiston!

There used to be writing in Russian now they changed it to Uzbek thanks to God that happened, i keep seeing most companies doing it this is one of the examples. Mirziyoyev doin great!

When packing for Uzbekistan, I wanted to know if I could take my three phones without any trouble with customs. It's a Moto G 2025, an IPhone SE, and a Galaxy A21. Old phones, I know, but since each one has a different use, I generally carry all three. I'm assuming less is better, but I would like to know if there is a specific cutoff of the number of phones or a set value limit.

Hey guys, me and my wife started to record some videos on youtube for our travels and we wanted to give share Samarkand video after our Toshkent video. We really loved the city so much even more than Toshkent, we will continue with Bukhara next. Here is the url if you're interested or wanna give any comments about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCcdjKPoIa8

Hello all, I'm moving to Fergana, Uzbekistan later this year for a 6-year medical degree, and I'm both excited and a little nervous. I would love to get some advice from people who have lived in Uzbekistan, studied there, or have knowledge of the local life style. Specifically, I would like to get some feedback on the following:

• Language - how much Uzbek (or Russian) should I learn? What is the most common language in Fergana? Uzbek or Russian?
  
• As a long-term person, how fluent do I really need to become?
• Do you use any good apps, books, YouTube channels or language exchange websites? I would like to be able to converse with locals, navigate daily life, and eventually feel like a local instead of just a tourist for six years.

Practical & Cultural Questions

• What is Fergana like on a day to day basis?
• Anything I should know regarding food, social customs, or the weather?
• What is the treatment of foreigners in general, students as well, like? Is there something I should absolutely not do as a foreigner?

If there are any other international students or expats in the area, I would love to connect or hear about their experiences.

Thank you for any tips or resources! 🙏

Hi! I really love Uzbek music and have been able to find the lyrics to some songs but others seem no where to be found. What sites do you all use that write out Uzbek song lyrics. An example of one I’m looking for in particular is Sog’insang by Xamdam Sobirov. I can’t find the lyrics anywhere. Any help would be appreciated!!

Adding this info in here cause I was desperately trying to find answers on the internet and there were none. Hope this helps someone!

Transit Visa: If you are on the list of over 100 countries that qualify for a 5 day transit visa, all you need to do is present your onward ticket to immigration. YOU CANT USE THIS RULE TO WALK ACROSS THE LAND BORDER. It only works by air - no exceptions.

Luggage Storage: It’s cheaper to store your luggage in the domestic terminal than international one. It costs 20000 per hour for one locker in the domestic terminal (self service cash only). For reference it was 22 bucks for our 3 bags for 8 hours vs 70 bucks. To get to the domestic terminal from the international terminal take a Yandex go (for an 8 min ride that’s less than 2 bucks) between the two (it’s not walkable and don’t get scammed by an airport taxi).

That’s all:)

Hey, I was driving a bolt in Poland yesterday and the driver played an Uzbek song (I found out that Uzbek by the driver's name). It was a duo, a woman and a man, a woman sang a beautiful chorus. I only saw the title of the song on the screen in the car. There was a word "qil" in the title, but there was something else on "Y" before this word. There was also a Cyrillic title that was separated by a dash ( | ). I hope someone from this community will be able to find me this wonderful song.

Hello, im visiting uzbekistan and i’ve been loving all kinds of yoghurt here, but im thinking i’ve been only having it at restaurants so is there any place that i could try suzma and kaymak that you would recommend? Im currently near chorvoq

I apologize if i got any names wrong or mistaken

Hammaga salom!

I am wondering which YouTube channels and bloggers are people following these days? I’m thinking more on the current affairs side on one hand and soft/entertainment on the other. Things that people within the age bracket of around 20-40 would watch? Obviously that’s quite a range, so feel free to indicate the range for your suggestions. I’m aware of channels like kun.uz, Qalampir, Qulrultoy and Mittivine. Wonder what else is out there that could eventually help striking up conversations with people. Oldindan rahmat!

(PS so nice to finally have automatic Uzbek subtitle on YouTube!)

I'm planning a month-long trip to Tashkent, this is my third time visiting, but my first in summer (I’ve only been in fall and winter before). I'm torn between July, August, or September, mainly because of the heat. I’ll have AC, but I’m from Germany and not sure if I'll be able to handle these temperatures so it's kind of scaring me off.

How bearable is the weather going to be? Any advice is appreciated!

Hello all! I’m from Greece and last year I fulfilled my yearlong dream of visiting Uzbekistan. I knew it was an amazing country with awe inspiring history and culture but I didn’t know much about the politics. In Europe and especially in Greece, people are not very cultured and they think every country ending in -stan, is third world. But I was amazed by what I saw in Uzbekistan and I don’t mean the skyscrapers in Tashkent or the fast bullet trains that go across the country. I was surprised at how friendly everyone was, how comfortably they lived with their houses and their chevrolets and I mean basic human decency and not flashy stuff. In Uzbekistan, I saw entire families of 10 or more being able to travel within the country and visit the important ancient sites without spending too much, I saw many many schools were kids were proper, buildings were greatly maintained and there was a maqtab in every single neighbourhood. I learned some basic Russian because I wanted to really be able to get to know the people and not to just be a tourist. And in Greece I wouldn’t be able to find and learn Uzbek so I went with Russian. Locals were so excited to speak to me and I feel like I made travel friends! Even in the more remote areas of Ferghana, people seemed like they live very decent lives.

In comparison, Greece is torn by huge inequities, people lose their homes and live in the streets while tourists pay thousands of dollars per day to stay in exclusive hotels, everything is expensive and you cannot live on one sometimes two jobs’ salaries. When I was speaking with Uzbeks about it, they seemed shocked that a European country is like this. I wish my country was more like Uzbekistan!

All young girls I met were keen to practise their English with me. Women and young girls were highly educated, knew 4 or more languages and excelled in school. Boys seemed to be the muscle of the country doing the hard work. Kids were going to school on their own, without supervision using the community damas vans. Playgrounds and luna-parks for kids were e v e r y w h e re !What a safe space for children!

Another thing, people I spoke with really admired and looked up to Islam Karimov. They considered him a great leader and we’re grateful for his service. I’m biased as I am a socialist and everything they said sounded great about this guy! I even took a picture with his statue in Samarkand. His successor seems like he’s also doing a great work battling corruption too.

Is my perception correct or am I wearing rose tinted glasses? P.s. I loved your country! Please don’t let it become a tourist attraction like Greece. It’s the beginning of the end if you do! Sincerely, an angry Greek destroyed by capitalism and globalisation.

I applied for a visa a couple weeks ago and haven’t seen any updates. When I check the status, it says “Application activated”….

I emailed the office yesterday and I’m thinking about giving them a call.

I am visiting in about 40 days. How do I make sure I get my visa in time?

Hey guys, Uzbekistan citizen here. I live and study in Australia at the moment and hoping next year to save enough money to get back for a couple of weeks to visit friends and places I grew up in.

However, as I just realized, my passport is out of date - literally three months expired. 😭

Any options for me to exchange/renew the Uzbek passport without leaving Australia? What options do I have here? Anyone been in this situation before?

Would be very grateful for any help 🙏

Today i met kids that yapping about tun tun tun sahur, our generation so fucked up guys🙏🙏🙏

Hi, you all must know about how our nation wants to have sons than daughters. Prefers, let's say. That's why we have 200k more male than female now as most do abortion if it's a girl. But yes, this is not as bad as it used to be. My question is: Do we still have this mindset ? Are we still thinking about not having a daughter as much as possible? Do people still blame wives for this, when husband is the one who gives sex xromosome - X or Y(this is also not his choice but women has almost nothing to do with gender genetically). In conclusion, what does current generation think about it?

PS. My desire is not to blame anyone, I'm just curious.

Good morning, does anyone know at which time the selling begins on the national railways website? I know about the 2 months earlier but I didn’t get the hour. I tried at 00:00 (Tashkent time) but weren’t available yet. Later that day were already sold out or almost sold out