OrlandoMagic
11-22-2000, 02:06 PM
Warnings & Scams
Be aware of policemen in Uzbekistan. Due to an average salary of around US$25 p/mth, policemen in Uzbekistan try to take money from travellers traveling alone. One policeman stopped me near the Hotel Uzbekistan in the Amur Timur park. It was 11:30pm and they asked for my passport. After handing my passport over to the police, he wanted to know what I had in my right pocket and left pocket etc. After the control I recognized that they took US$140 from my pocket.
Rainer Summersberger, Austria (Sept 00)
Kalon Mosque: It (now) seems legal to also ascend the Kalon Minaret, when visiting the mosque. Don't fall for any of the young men outside the mosque who propose to take you up the minaret: their fee is of course higher than the entry to the mosque, and their service adds nothing to what you can do anyway.
Pierre Flener & Esra Bayoglu (Sept 00)
If you use the metro in Tashkent, beware of the police. We asked them the way and they took us to a little room where they intimidated us and we had to show them all our money. Back in our hotel we noticed they'd taken $100. So don't go into separate rooms with them (the second time I refused and that seemed to work), and if you do, watch them carefully. We met other travellers and they'd had similar experiences.
Marjolijn Zegers, Netherlands (Sept 00)
I lunched at a local hotel, and was charged about two and a half times that rate. They refused to bill my Visa card in the local currency and charged me in US$ at the inflated rate. So live and learn I guess and carry bundles of the local currency which isn't so bad with the newly introduced 500 som note. I expect this scam is wide spread what with ailing economic conditions for plummeting occupancy rates.
David Ormandy (Aug 00)
Be aware of policemen in Uzbekistan. Due to an average salary of around US$25 p/mth, policemen in Uzbekistan try to take money from travellers traveling alone. One policeman stopped me near the Hotel Uzbekistan in the Amur Timur park. It was 11:30pm and they asked for my passport. After handing my passport over to the police, he wanted to know what I had in my right pocket and left pocket etc. After the control I recognized that they took US$140 from my pocket.
Rainer Summersberger, Austria (Sept 00)
Kalon Mosque: It (now) seems legal to also ascend the Kalon Minaret, when visiting the mosque. Don't fall for any of the young men outside the mosque who propose to take you up the minaret: their fee is of course higher than the entry to the mosque, and their service adds nothing to what you can do anyway.
Pierre Flener & Esra Bayoglu (Sept 00)
If you use the metro in Tashkent, beware of the police. We asked them the way and they took us to a little room where they intimidated us and we had to show them all our money. Back in our hotel we noticed they'd taken $100. So don't go into separate rooms with them (the second time I refused and that seemed to work), and if you do, watch them carefully. We met other travellers and they'd had similar experiences.
Marjolijn Zegers, Netherlands (Sept 00)
I lunched at a local hotel, and was charged about two and a half times that rate. They refused to bill my Visa card in the local currency and charged me in US$ at the inflated rate. So live and learn I guess and carry bundles of the local currency which isn't so bad with the newly introduced 500 som note. I expect this scam is wide spread what with ailing economic conditions for plummeting occupancy rates.
David Ormandy (Aug 00)