Eurasia Trip 2026: Part IV

Friday, 5 June 2026

We landed at Ürümqi International Airport and I went through the passport control. We could key in our landing details to machines before passport control (I was trying to download the website). I was a bit disoriented with the time because the clocks at the airport showed that the local time was the same as the rest of China whereas the world clock on my phone showed the city was three hours behind. So I performed prayers before resting. My tummy had decided to act up and I had to go to the bathroom a few times.

Finally I felt slightly better and well enough to travel. So I took the MRT to the metro station (it was a bit confusing. I mean, why didn’t they just have a metro station at the airport instead of making us change trains?) and then the metro to Nanmen Station. Ürümqi only has one metro line.

Now, I couldn’t connect to the Ürümqi airport WiFi either so I couldn’t install my eSIMs. My hotel bears an odd number so I walked down from Nanmen station ro Zhongshan Road and saw that one side of the road is even-numbered and the other side is odd-numbered. So naturally I crossed over and started walking down. I even turned into lanes off the main road but couldn’t find my hotel. After one frustrating hour of walking up and down the road and trying to ask people who didn’t understand me and vice versa, I finally managed to get help from a staff working at China Mobile shop. She helped me until I found my hotel and guess what, my odd-numbered hotel is located in a lane off the even-numbered buildings. Well, that explained why I couldn’t find the hotel! I was so exhausted from all the walking and frustrating exercise of trying to get help from the locals by then and I was only thankful that my tummy didn’t decide to start purging again.

I checked in and was able to enter my room at 11:10. I laundered my clothes, had a shower, had a light meal and rested. 

I went down to the lobby at 17:00 and tried to instal eSIMs on my devices and finally managed to get it done an hour later, no thanks to the weak/unstable WiFi. Only then did I venture out to the People’s Square. It may be after 18:00 but the sun was still intense. I went into Tianshan Department Store nearby and was impressed with the items on sale.

After a while, I walked out towards the Grand Bazaar. I passed Shaanxi Grand Mosque but the man at the entrance didn’t allow me in. I told him I was a Muslim but he didn’t relent. I think he was trying to say it wasn’t prayer time yet. Well, I don’t think you’re supposed to ban people from entering God’s house anytime they want to.

I walked on along Jiefang South Road until I reached the Grand Bazaar. There is also a metro station there called Erdaoqiao. There were a lot of people there, visitors and locals. And the locals were an exotic lot. I didn’t buy anything and was just content to browse. Dinner was had at a small eatery on Heping South Road. Sunset was at 21:15 then and it was only starting to get dark when I returned to the hotel.

Saturday, 6 June 2026

I woke up for morning prayers. After breakfast, I left and made my way to the metro station. It was only then when I realised that the trains only run every 15 minutes. I reached Balou station at 08:00 and was given conflicting directions to Kunlun Hotel that I missed the bus for the Tianshan Tianchi trip that I booked the day before. Strewth! Fortunately the organiser agreed to refund me.  I tried to find public buses that could bring me to Tianshan and took the metro to Santunbei. I asked for directions to the bus station and a local man tried to help me and eventually he called the police to help me. I was starting to feel uncomfortable then. The policemen were friendly and tried to help but what I concluded was there was just no public bus that I could take. I was already feeling hot, tired and annoyed by this stage. So I thanked the police and took the metro back to Nanmen and back to my hotel. I stayed in for the rest of the day because I just couldn’t be bothered anymore.

I ventured out after 19:00 and had dinner at an eatery. That was the best lamian I’ve ever had in China and it cost only ¥10! I then went down to an underground mall to check it out before buying two pieces of beef bread from a friendly elderly Muslim couple at a kiosk near my hotel. 

Sunday, 7 June 2026

No plans for this morning so I stayed in and finished packing. I asked for a check-out at 14:30 as I wanted to perform prayers first. I checked out at 14:25 and sat in the lobby before checking out the underground mall again.  I made my way to the airport at 16:30. I couldn’t check in online so went to the counter to do that. Then I went to the viewing deck before resting.  I boarded at 21:10 and briefly dozed off after take-off. The flight was scheduled to take 3.5 hours and we experienced turbulence a few times. Spring Airlines is a low cost carrier and did it show. The seats were cramped just like AirAsia and the AC was almost non-existent.

To be continued

Eurasia Trip 2026: Part III

Monday, 1 June 2026

I woke up to perform morning prayers then had a short kip. We landed at 05:55 and I was shocked to find the impatient passengers already standing up to get their bags the moment the plane touched down. Such uncultured people!

I went to freshen up and my bag was out by the time I was done. I changed USD25 for 300k Som and walked out of the airport. Actually, I tried to change some AUD but the moneychanger wouldn’t even look at it. From the airport, I rode bus no. 94 to Mirzo Ulugbek metro station and then rode the metro to Qo’yliq station. The two metro lines were not connected which meant I had to exit the metro at Chinor, walk a few metres and up the stairs to enter the metro at Qipchoq station - and pay additional fare. At Qo’yliq station, a private taxi driver approached me and agreed to bring me to Oybek for 200k Som. he wouldn’t budge from this price.

It took 75 minutes to reach Oybek and the passport control on both sides including the walk across the border took less than an hour. I saw one bloke who I recognised was in my flight from London and it turned out that he could speak English. He helped me get a shared taxi to Iskanderkul, changing at Soydar. I ended up sitting in the sweltering car for minutes while the driver waited for it to fill up. Strewth!

I left the taxi, retrieved my bag and walked away in a puff. That’s 90 minutes of my life wasted right there. I walked on and a bloke who spoke English helped translate for me and I got a ride after five minutes. We agreed on 250 Somoni including the ride to Iskanderkul and that I wouldn’t have to pay extra even after changing taxis in Sarvoda. 

I finally managed to get a taxi and agreed for the cabbie to bring me to Sary-tag Village. I ended up staying at his place for additional cost. In all, it cost me 240 Somoni. I argued that I was told I needn’t pay any extra to get to Iskanderkul but my argument fell on deaf ears plus there was the language barrier, of course. The cabbie stopped to get some bread and then to get some provisions before we continued on to Sary-tag. We turned right from the main road after a while and crossed a bridge and the ‘road’ turned bumpy and gravelly after this. We stopped across from the President’s dacha and I performed prayers at a resting place. We then continued on the journey and it took about twenty more bumpy minutes before we reached Sary-tag.

There was a resting place which is where meals are served and then the main room. The bathroom is in the main house while the WC is at another building and is just a space with a hole dug in. Whoa.  I had a quick shower, performed prayers and had my dinner at 21:00. I finished my book before turning in for the night. It was cold at first but gradually got warm under the blanket.

Tuesday, 2 June 2026

I woke up at 04:15 for morning prayers then had a kip. I set the alarm at 06:00 but got up at 07:00. After freshening up, I was ready for a walk around the village; however, it started raining so I had breakfast instead. The rain cleared quickly and I was off after 20 minutes. I walked up to the beginning of the village and enquired at a guesthouse. I was told there were guests there who’d left at 08:00 for Sarvoda at 08:00. The fare should be 20:Somoni and there is a money changer in Sarvoda.

I returned to the guesthouse and got my bags and set off for Guesthouse Shahboz. I waited 50 minutes before I got a shared taxi to Sardova. It took us at 100 minutes including traffic jam at Sarvoda and cost me 50 Somoni. I took out 20 Somoni but the driver insisted on more. Strewth.

After securing a ride to Dushanbe for 100 Somoni, I changed USD30 for the ride to Dushanbe and then waited 15 minutes in the car. Again, the moneychanger didn’t even want to look at AUD. They only wanted USD or GBP or Euro. We left at 12:05 and picked a few passengers along (and out of) the way. We passed a few tunnels - the country is mountainous - and I dozed off after a while. We reached Dushanbe Terminal at 14:15 and it was apparently my last stop, although none of the other passengers alighted there. 

I didn’t want to take a taxi so I went to find someone who could advise me whether to take a bus or marshrutka. Alhamdulillah, after struggling against the blustery winds, I found someone who told me to take bus number 3A. The fare was 2.5 Somoni. The ride took 45 minutes. I stopped at a pharmacy to ask for directions then hurried to the hotel as it was threatening to rain. I reached Soro Hotel just as it was starting to rain. There was a power outage shortly after I arrived and another one at 18:15. I stayed in and didn’t venture out after checking in.

Wednesday, 3 June 2026

I woke up for morning prayers and then waited for breakfast which was served from 08:00. After breakfast and enquiring at the lobby, I walked to Ayni Street to a bus stop and waited for bus number 8 to Zarnisor Bazaar. The ride took about 45 minutes and the bus was getting warmer with each km we travelled. I finally got a seat and the girl next to me happened to be a Dutch and also heading for Hisor.  

We got down at Zarnisor Bazaar (the name remains although the bazaar no longer existed) and waited for marshrutka number 270 to Hisor. The Dutch girl went down a stop before the terminal in Hisor, saying she was going to a tea house. I continued on and at Hisor, asked around where I could get a shared taxi to Hisor Fort. I finally got one. The ride took less than 15 minutes.  It was getting very hot by then. I went to see the two madrasahs first before returning to the fort. The ticket is now 20 Somoni and no longer 10 Somoni as I’d read on a few sites. There was a group of Chinese visitors arriving then too.

Well, I must say I found it underwhelming. There hardly remained anything in the fort, only new buildings of souvenir shops lining the street inside the fort. I decided to follow a footpath leading away from the street and shops and pretty soon, I was away from the crowd and enjoying a bird’s eyeview of the surrounding areas.

I left about 70 minutes after arriving and took a shared taxi back to Hisor. From there, I boarded marshrutka number 270 to Zarnisor Bazaar and we arrived just in time for me to board bus number 8 back to the city centre.

Back in the city, I walked past the Parliament building to the Monument of Ismail Somoni, down to the National Library and Independence Monument. Then I turned and walked to the Flagpole. There was a police car so I surmised the area around the Flagpole was out of bounds. I continued to the National Museum but it was undergoing renovation so I turned back.

I walked on to Victory Monument and decided to have late lunch at a nearby restaurant. I had olive and tomato salad, oyster mushroom salad, dumpling soup and hot black tea. It was a hot day today. I walked back to the hotel, passing the National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan and Ayni Opera House on the way.  Back at the hotel, I started feeling unwell. It could be the hot weather (an electronic board in Hisor displayed 40C as the temperature when I was there and I would believe it). I decided to have an early night and had some paracetamol.  

Thursday, 4 June 2026

I woke up feeling less feverish but still not 100%. I forced myself to have something for breakfast because I didn’t want to get gastritis - my tummy was already very windy. After breakfast, I brought my bags down and checked out. I left my bags in the lobby and walked to the National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan. The ticket cost 50 Somoni for foreigners and visitors must put on covering on their shoes (although I didn’t see the museum staff doing the same). I spent about 70 minutes in the museum before returning to the hotel. https://ombt.tj/en  I finished my current book and performed prayers. The owner called for a taxi at 14:05 and it took less than ten minutes to reach the airport. It took a while to check in my bag though. And guess what, there’s no WiFi at the airport.

We took off on time and landed at Almaty Airport. I went through the transfer process and having completed that, went to the prayer room to perform evening prayers. There was WiFi supposedly but I couldn’t seem to connect.

We had to board a bus to the plane. Again, I was lucky that the two seats next to me were vacant so I managed to stretch out a bit. The cabin crew were not the most friendly though.

To be continued