I took Uzbekistan's longest sleeper train, and it was STRANGE!
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
- Time to head to a new country, and try out train travel in Uzbekistan! I'll be riding the mysterious sleeper train you've never heard of. I'll be spending 22 hours on this old Soviet train, running through the arid mountains and desert of this Central Asian country, including the highly secretive Qamchik Tunnel.
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Journey Details:
Origin: Andijon-1
Destination: Xiva
Company: Oʻzbekiston Temir Yoʻllari (UTI)
Train: UTI O'Z-Y / UTI 2O'ZUY + Ammendorf
Accommodation: Kupe Sleeping Carriage (C4)
Distance: 1,438 kiloemtres / 894 miles
Price: 266,780 som (£18.20 / €21.30 / $23.20)
Time: 21 hours 26 minutes, arrived 3 minutes late
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I loved how the dust flew out of the pillow when you smacked it! I guess the attendant wasn’t cleaning while you waited!
You aren't allowed to fiilm the Qamchiq Tunnel for the same reason you can't film The Chorvoq Dam: It's really important strategic infrastructure and they are terrified of terror attacks. The tunnel is one of the only means of connecting the Fergana valley (which produces most of the countries food) to the rest of the country. The Dam also has really high security because if it had a hole put in it Tashkent would be flooded in 10 minutes.
Who are they afraid of ? I didn't know there was terrorism in uzbekistan
@@loljk1991there is terrorism everywhere, some countries may not publish that it’s happened though
@@loljk1991 Islamic militants from Afghanistan, judging by Google Maps.
@@joelthorstensson2772 oh man. And I thought Islamic majority central asian countries like Uzbekistan are safe
@@loljk1991 Not exactly, Afghan - Uzbek, (as well as to a lesser extent Kyrgyz) relations are particularly tense even to this day because not only did the Soviets use these regions for staging during the 79-89 Soviet Afghan war, the US did the exact same thing in 2001. Though they are more upset about the instance in 2001 because of a reasonable degree of recency bias but also because these countries were independent and considered complicit in the invasion.
The dust coming out of that pillow ...😵💫
Pooooofffffff😂😂😂😂😂
Yes please. Love to see the regional Talgo
I'd also ask you to review the Talgo, but from your previous reports I learned that you hate Talgo.
@@maxart3392He likes Talgo but just high speed talgo, not Central Asian Talgo as it goes too slow
Once again: Thank you for a great video! I'm 64, but if I was your age, you'd inspire me to do what you're doing. 🙂
Take care! cheers, Per, Denmark
I'm 64 Per and currently training it round S India. If you're fortunate enough to have good health- get up and do it!
I went to Uzbekistan in October '23 and I was amazed at how clean and well-maintained the train system was! Even though some of the trains were dated, they were in very good condition.
I rode Uzbek trains from Khiva all the way back to Tashkent on 3 different days last year. It was an amazing experience! I will never forget the views over the desert as the sun started to set, seeing no signs of civilization from the window in any direction. The train was packed to the brim and some locals sang beautifully and played the guitar. The only thing I regret was taking an upper bed in the cheapest class: I thought I was about to pass out from the heat before the train finally started moving and I could breathe some fresh air.
The station facades have nice consistent looks, I like that bit of apparent solid masonry framing the glass panels, leaves a better impression than simple concrete glass and metal "international style" boxes
I had 2 trips on the Afrosiyob in April 2024 from Bukhara to Samarkand and from Samarkand to Tashkent. The train is nice with lots of legroom even in economy class and an overall comfortable experience.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful travelogue. Uzbekistan looks like such a beautiful country.
This video deserves more views ❤
Thanks pal, I find myself to agree! 🙏
Always nice to see some youtubers backscratching going on 😂
@@SuperalbsTravels no, your videos need less. Why is it ''strange''? because it doesn't conform to your unrealistic expectations and Western privilege and entitlement? Damn you have some serious audacity issues.
I had a trip to Uzbekistan in 2012 so things may have changed, but we took the Talgo from Samarkand to Tashkent which was splendid, peculiarly like a European train although the landscape through the windows was very foreign - a shepherd on horseback looking after a flock, for instance. We also went from Tashkent to Ferghana and back by road, saw much of your desert landscapes on desert/mountain roads, and often overlooked the timur yol (iron road) as we drove along. I was very struck by the amount of commercial traffic, trucks going one way with Belgian plates, the other way with Chinese plates. It's a truly strange part of the world for us western Europeans. Thanks for the video!
What shocks me is about how unique trains can be in ex-USSR countries! Great video!
World is so big and diverse. May all countries get the prosperity for a better quality of life :)
missed your commentary about trains man. I always look forward to your videos
I was pretty surprised on how good the tracks seemed to be maintained (espacially comparing to other centrail eastern countrys)
Thanks for sharing, I’ve always been curious about that part of the world. This is a wonderful video. I must say one thing, the train stations and the platforms and sidewalks looked very clean, I didn’t see any litter, which is awesome
I really like the look of those stations. A nice balance between traditional and modern architecture.
Very nice pronouciation of Zhuzhou! 9/10 from a Chinese!
Been to Uzbekistan. Went to Tashkent, Buhara, Samarkand, and Xiva. Really enjoyed it.
Love the video.
Yes, it's a great place to visit. I did it by road and air.
Old soviet trains same as ours, except these look mint. The Uzbekistanis love their trains I guess.
Amazing video as always mate! You should do "sleepers train reviews more often!❤
I'd love to see a video on the Talgo train. Superb video. It's great to see these remote places way off the beaten track. I was surprised on how modern looking the railway infrastructure is.
What a great trip and great experience. This trip definitely full of surprises. Can't wait for you to taking Aforsyob Train
I am at abou 14 minutes in now and these stations look all incredible. absolutely clean with layouts like in a video game. almost surreal
was surprised to see that the man in front of you at the ticket check was carrying a Hema bag.
Hema is a Dutch retail chain.
The bag could come from Europe or one of their stores in Qatar or
United Arab Emirates?
Interesting, thank you for posting. Nothing would induce me to choose to make that journey willingly. To each his own.
15:47 These won't be there for much longer as the Uzbek Railways ordered 30 new units from Skoda with delivery starting next year.
Awesome stuff mate! I can't wait to get back to Uzbekistan and go to some far flung places.
Thank you so much Richard, hope you have a nice day in your Lada.
@@SuperalbsTravels I did thank you, thrashed it.
@@richardhagues3281 any clagg?
Just a little bit of correction: Namangan is actually the second largest city in Uzbekistan.
I went from Almaty to Tashkent and that was also pretty amazing. Give it a go! that's pretty good for an Uzbek toilet, which I found often to be disgusting.
Thank you for the video. Very nice.
Looks beautiful, although I think the heat would probably get to me, so I don't think I'll be able to do this type of journey in person. Oh well, this is why I like watching your videos.
Wow this looks incredible!
I'm reminded of my trip in an Uzbek sleeping-car on the Turksib from Barnaul to Almaty in 2008. The airconditioning was broken or nonexistent and the compartment window could not be opened. Absolutely brutal. And the attendant sometimes collected trash and threw it out of the only window that could be opened (corridor side).
I see they have more recent trains like the Talgo but the old ones still exist. Shouldn't travel there in the summer then. I hear the winter can be as cold as the summer is hot.
By the way I notice in this video that most of the station buildings look quite new, so it seems they do invest in the railways. And maybe at some point will have new night trains as well.
it is a place that gets nearly a hundred degree temperature range in some parts so yes
as cold as it is hot!!!
I took the Afriyob train this September. Very nice, very confortable and the staff very polite and friendly
Love the reference to the "venerable elektrichka". Brings back good memories (and a few not-so-good ones)
ruclips.net/user/shorts05yDbC90hag?si=gtDNuNrYDwS-R_Yh
Secrecy concerning tunnels seems to be a thing in countries with a 'less then stellar' reputation concerning democracy. I remember taking a bus in Egypt from Cairo to Sharm al-Shaykh: where (in order to pass through the Suez Canal road tunnel) everybody had to disembark, take their luggage from the baggage-hold and be subjected to a passport check and manual suitcase inspection. The bus then going through multiple security barriers manned with heavily armoured guards. Probably a case of overblown security-theatre and different security and police organisations trying to one-up eachother.
Lol, ever traveled with Eurolines or Flixbus through the channel tunnel wt night? Exactly the same experience 😄
more like a case of the countries having more probability towards terror attacks on national strategic interests
They don't need a dodgy rep for democracy - tunnels are a potential target anywhere in the world and, if you've got dissident groups active in your country who you can't easily suppress, you've got to protect transport related targets. As the other comment said, it's no different on the Channel Tunnel. I've travelled on buses up and down the Sinai too, and those roadblocks and checkpoints are there for a reason
Great journey and the train looked really nice to be honest
Thanks, it was a cool trip. :)
Awesome video. Planning a visit to Uzbekistan
Thanks! It's really a fascinating place. :)
Enjoy it, it's fascinating.
I would love to see a review of the Uzbek Talgo and I think @Noel Philips would like to do this trip across Uzbekistan
Just came back from Uzbekistan and took this same train from Tashkent to Khiva (though I bought a higher-class sleeper with just two beds in - not much of a difference tbh). This journey brought all the amazing and weird memories from my childhood train-journeys in Ukraine.
Also managed to take elektrichka from Tashkent to Charvak, and this was like going back 30-40 years, with wooden benches inside and super slow speed (but the views of the mountains - worth it). Then again at the same time they have the super-comfortable Afrosiyob trains - lots of leg-room, comfy seating and high speed hehe)
Love this country of contrasts.
Awesome stories, thanks for sharing! It's an amazing country, I need to go back again... :)
You are the consummate guide and historian. Thanks.👋
Excellent video and ver fair narrative. Thank you very much. I realized from the writings in the stations their official language is Turkish.
I have just came across your site, and I am really enjoying your videos.
Keep up the great work ✨
Thank you so much! 😁
In 18:59, the high speed train appears on stage. It's a Spanish Talgo (Afrosiyob service), up to 250 km/h.
Hello Superalbs Travels, please can you do a video on the journey of Uzbekistan's high speed Talgo units aka Afrosiyob?
They should really build level boarding platforms at this point since trains are good
Nicely made video and great commentary. I'll subscribe! PS The countryside is similar in some ways to the current train route between Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah, in the US.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. I can certainly see the similarities. 😃
Breathtaking scenery🤩🤩🤩🤩 and a satisfying trip
Such stations are called technical/operational stations in railways terminology and serve for necessary operational duties only for the maintenance of the railways service. No passenger trafic is routed througth such stations.
Absolutely, I would like to watch a vlog on the high speed train you mentioned
Did you wake up coughing because of the dust and mites in the pillow?
Taking that journey was certainly an interesting experience! Thanks for the video. 🙂👍
Fantastic video super albs your channel rocks
Thank you so much! :)
i traveled from tashkent to bukhara on a 200mph train that was amazing,, i am australian and we dont have anything like this.... i married an uzbek now Aussie.. uzbekistan ,,, make sure if you find a western type toilet USE it as you man not get another chance later on,,,
Oh these are great I wish I could ride them too😕😢
It certainly looked like an incredible trip across a part of the world I guess I will never see.
Quite impressive. Were the employees friendly or snarly?
Yes. Video on the high speed train, please.
Thank you.
a video on the talgo would be great
4:27 Woo-hoo! No bribe!
10:40 Since these are technical stations, there should be no new passengers on them, which means there is no one to sell tickets there, respectively, the train does not stop. In most cases, these stations are intended for freight trains
Somehow it's nicer to travel in those trains than in "all brand new" ones which are more or less similar everywhere. BTW you can find train toilets in the same poor condition in the most advanced civilizations of central Europe as well.
Good movie!👍
The stations are beautiful.
It's a shame you booked all 4 beds. I have good memories of these old soviet-style trains, and getting to know the other passengers and handing the vodka around to get to know them better!!
A great experience for sure, but not very convenient to film it! 😅
Totally right, comrade commentator !
These old Ammendorfer "Liefert" (delivers)!
I just took this train from Tashkent-Khiva and back to Bukhara this week.
My sleeping cars looked like the same East German design as yours but felt much newer and had air conditioning. The plaques on the cars’ exterior said something about a railway factory in Uzbekistan and were dated 2016 and 2022. Do you know anything about these cars being built or overhauled in Uzbekistan lately?
Also we had a dining car out of Tashkent but not out of Khiva
IMO the Kon station was simply a checkpoint for some freight trains. In my country there's also a station were trains climb a steep gradient up to some altitude and then stepping down again before that station so all the trains regardless the class & numerical order are require mandatory stop to check the train brakes as whole unit not the loco brake only
Ha ! I did not expect one of my comments to be one day featured in one of your videos... I indeed visited Uzbekistan by train in 2017, travelled there all the way by train from Belgium. Visited Taskent, Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand, Termez, and tbe Ferghana valley. The Khiva line and station did not exist yet, and the Angren-Pop line and tunnel just opened a few months before.
When Uzbekistan became an independent country, its rail network was broken in five different sectors that could only be joined together via border crossings. It took them 25 years to transform this mess into a united network. This tunnel was the last missing link.
Great to see you here! Wish it were still feasible to reach these countries by rail, it must have been an experience.
There's been a lot of progress in Uzbekistan, and even more investment on the way. One to watch.
You must make a video where you ride the flying scotsman in the uk!! That wound be awsome!!
I hope you had the chance to get some (well known) Uzbekistan pilaf while you were there! By the way, I rode a couple passenger trains in Romania, that were pulled by CSR machines.
I was actually on part of this route in 2016, only between Tashkent and Pop though as the day we were travelling the train to Namangan wasn't running. So we had a company car meet us there and drive us the rest of the way. Interestingly the blind was broken in the compartment on the way there so they couldn't actually close it all the way when we were going through the tunnel, despite their best efforts.
Hahaha wow, I bet they were terrified by the fact you might be able to look out. 😂
@@SuperalbsTravels The attendant didn't seem all that flustered by it, and as far as I remember no one else bothered to come and check. Though we didn't try to get too crazy by trying to film or take pictures.
In June this year I boarded that same train in Bukhara going to khiva at 3.55 am lol
Superalbs, how did you manage the language barrier? Do you speak any Russian?
Sounds better than Amtrak here in the US. 3mins late on a train trip of almost a day with 2 locomotive changes 😮 Amtrak would be a day late 🫠 People here have no idea that public transport across a country can be functional and cheap. Wouldn’t take much to make it accessible either.
ooh God! people that invite themselves into my space that would be a nightmare for me.
The coach interior looks like it could do with a wash and brush up although it is not up to the standard of wear and filth of many on Indian railways. 8000 then 12000 up front, yes I bet it does go. Good production, thanks for posting.
Wonderful!
Yay for Afrosiyob’s duckling branded tea!
\(^o^)/ 8:19
Hahaha it is so cool! :)
1:37 Boa tarde boa viagem ai trem cama
“Surprise picnic” 😂😂😂
Thank goodness for free, generic technomuzik!
No, you emerged INTO the other side.
4:04 "Made in Germany" as always XD
Would have loved to see restuarant car!!!
To be honest this route looks like sth selfmade in Transport Fever 2
How hard was it to get into Uzbekistan? I wouldn’t mind going there to see the scenery and film the trains there if I had a camera. I can’t find any videos of railfanning in Uzbekistan and if I could I would want to change that
Not difficult at all. You just need a passport and a visa issued by the Uzbek consulate in your country. I had mine in 2 weeks. Transit visa for Russia was much harder...
saw lots of Europeans there, many flights are opening recently. Italians, Germans, Poles - all have direct connections. Amazing country, please do visit)
Interesting
That fare though! How far do you get on the UK rail network for £18? Sure as heck not 900 miles!
And definitely not in a comfy bed! :)
I want a podstakannik.
It looks extremely tidy, no rubbish, no graffiti. That is so nice to see, I wish we in the "West" would be as careful with our surroundings.
wtf is with the scare quotes, buddy?
These days in the U.S., you can't buy lunch at the train station for less than $23.00!
Hey bro! I love your vids. Why don't you try the Vietnam sleeper train. It has reasonable price and also comfort that will make you happy. I'm a Vietnamese btw
Its been a while since the last upload, what happened?
He got married 😊
wait really?
@@SouthPeter98Are you sure?
@@SouthPeter98to himself
@@HSTHoward😂😂
The English name of the tunnel in question per Wikipedia is Kamchiq Tunnel
1:26 "To the Stationintroduction". LOL, the hell?
That was probably machine translated. The Uzbek word "Kirish" can mean entry but also introduction depending on the context.
I hope you didn't sweat and hat enough water :)
I would have brought my own pillow case and sheet, talk about dusty
them A/C units on that big ass building has me regretting this trip 2 min in...
What do you mean? 😅
@@SuperalbsTravels 😐😒
The founder of the Mogul empire, Emperor Babur, was from Andijan in the Ferghana Valley.