After we scanned our luggage and enter the Samarkand train station, it begins. Cleo has to go to the toilet. The first visit of many to come, but we did not know this yet. We buy some dinner at a doubtful snackbar and find the right track where the night train to Nukus is waiting for us. We reserved the whole compartment of 4 beds to avoid having to consider the needs of another passenger throughout the night. The train leaves on time at 18.37.
Cleo and Zeno start to network with passengers of other compartments and gather some extra sweets, bars and snacks. The blond couple already know exactly how to get to their daily sugar tax.
When it’s getting dark, we put on our pyjama’s, brush our teeth and try to sleep. But it’s extremely hot in our cabin, the only windows that can open are in the corridor, so we want to leave our cabin door open. The train is an obvious leftover from the Soviet Union, and everything is very basic. Moreover the toilet saga continues, unfortunately. Cleo has to go 6 times. Olga and Tim take turns to assist her.
Around 21, we fall a sleep and it’s a relatively quiet night while the train takes us to Nukus. At 6, the conductor wakes us up by shining a flashlight in our faces and we get dressed, pack our bags and enjoy the desert like surroundings we pass by.
At 7.09, we arrive in Nukus, just two minutes late. Like always, the taxi drivers approach us like bees approach honey. But the apartment is next to the station. We “just” have to bridge 3 hours as we can only check-in at 10. Luckily, the restaurant next door is open and we order eggs, bread, soup and samosas to ensure there is something the children like too. Of course, we end up eating most of it ourselves. Zeno does an extra nap and Cleo gets more cookies and sweets from the restaurant owner before we get a message from the airbnb host that the apartment is ready.
Leave a Reply