Part 10: Samarkand by Bukhara by train
Train 762 'Afrosiyob' – price 30 EUR for 'VIP' class
STD 9:48am - STA 11:19am (travel time 1h31m)

The day started with a lovely breakfast at my guest house. It is served on a long communal table laden with organic local produce, which makes socialising with fellow travellers easy, although none were awake this early in the morning.





It was a short taxi ride to Samarkand's station, which just looked like every other station in the country. As I already took my tickets in Tashkent it was a simple check of tickets and bags and I was in the station waiting room. This time, I didn't forget to stamp my ticket having learned this lesson the hard way on my previous journey.









Soon my train arrived at the station, having departed earlier in the day from Tashkent. The train is called the 'Afrosiyob' and is the Uzbek equivalent of a high speed train. Railway fans will easily spot that it is in fact a Spanish-fabricated Talgo high speed train adapted to the Uzbek rail network. These trains are quite popular here, as also the Kazakhs use train sets like these for some of their Astana-Almaty runs.





Even though the cheapest economy tickets are just a few euros (and should be perfectly acceptable given it's just a journey of one-and-a-half hour) I decided to 'splurge' on a VIP class ticket for around 30 EUR just for the fun of it. Seats here are aligned 1+2, while in economy (2nd) and business (1st) class the seats are all aligned 2+2. When you book trains online you can choose your seat.



Again copious amounts of free tea is provided on the train by the friendly hostesses.



As the railway line between Samarkand and Bukhara runs through dry, near desert-like scenery and the line is straight with about no curves whatsoever, it can speed up to about 230kph (143mph). The ride was perfectly smooth and not dissimilar to a ride on a high speed train in France, Germany or Spain.



As for the scenery, it was quite boring – although I still think that riding a train gives you a better view of the geography and conditions of a country than taking a flight.







As the train was getting nearer to Bukhara, the landscape got even dryer and made way for proper desert scenery.





Arrival in Bukhara – built on an oasis spot in the desert – was on time. Even though the modern station again looked like every other railway building in the country, it this time had a band playing on our arrival and boys and girls in traditional costumes. No idea for whom it was – but it seemed like there were some honoured guest or official delegation or official event going on.





Next up: the silk road oasis town of Bukhara