This article will be useful for people who don’t travel on their own transport. It also includes links to Google maps.
Taxi
This is the most affordable and well-known option to get to Tashkent. Tajik taxi drivers will take you from Khujand to the customs clearance office Aibek. After that, Uzbek drivers meet you at the border and take you to Kuyluk bazar. Private taxi drivers gather groups of 6 people and earn from it. This is a common job, but it has a big rivalry.
First of all :
You need to get to ”Taksistkho Maschokh” (Link in google map). Taxi drivers will welcome you here with open arms. They will find you with loud shouts of ”Aibek” and ”Tashkent”. Then you have to wait for the car to fill up with passengers and go on.
Attention! If you don’t have a Tajik or Uzbek passport, you need the Aibek International Terminal. There are other checkpoints, but some of them aren’t international so you won’t get through.
The usual cost of trip from Khujand to Aibek terminal is 50 somoni.
You can easily exchange currency at the Sanduk exchange office (Link in google map). It would be better to arrive at this place by car and walk to the taxi rank on foot.
There are people who go around offering currency exchange, but on average their rate is 2% higher. Regardless, Uzbek and Tajik taxis take both somoni and sums and dollars.
The currency exchanger is located right in front of the Tajik checkpoint.
At the exit of the checkpoint, after passing Tajik and Uzbek control, taxi drivers will be waiting for you. You will easily recognize them as they will loudly say ”Tashkent” and invite you into the car.
You”ll be able to leave in a shared taxi for 100 000 sum (there will be other people with you), and you”ll be offered a private taxi for 300 000 sum. Uzbeks are quite enterprising and they can inflate prices. A taxi will take you to Kuyluk bazar, and you’re in Tashkent now!
By bus
Sometimes buses don’t run and it’s quite complicated to find out the schedule online. For instance, buses of Tajik company Asian Express stopped running on this route. Seemingly, a company based in Uzbekistan has recently started offering this service. If you’re interested in using it, it’s advisable to go to the bus station in advance to find out when the next bus is leaving.
By train
Samarkand will take a whole day and you need to buy tickets in advance at a train station in a neighboring town. Not the best choice.
By plane
There are no direct flights, land transport is faster and easier.
Have a good trip to Tashkent!
