After the last year’s self-guided hike to Arkhyz, we wanted to try ourselves higher in the mountains. Of all available and safe options, in terms of comfortable temperatures and easy mountain passes (that are possible to pass without additional equipment), we chose the Fann Mountains. According to the descriptions, these are very warm mountains for such heights, insanely beautiful, and it is quite easy to reach them. We had a flight from Moscow to Samarkand (4 hours). And straight from the airport we took taxis that took us to the starting point (another 4 hours).
Active preparations for the trip, not counting planning, took 3 days before the flight to Samarkand. During this time, it was necessary to make a meal planning, purchase products (some things were ordered in advance so that they could arrive before the trip, for example, stew, dried and freeze-dried meat, dried vegetables), compile and fill a first aid kit, stock up on batteries for GPS and flashlights, buy a sun cream. A water bottle with a filter was ordered from Decathlon in February in reserve, expecting that the store will close in the Russian Federation soon. I successfully bought a white long-sleeved T-shirt from the SportMaster to escape the strong mountain sun.
All food was successfully purchased and neatly packaged in small plastic bags. And then everything was laid out in packages with a zip lock.
We contacted the tourist center Artuch in advance to check whether it is possible to buy gas cylinders. As of August 2022, 230gr bottles cost $12 or 120 somoni. We ordered 4 cylinders, and bought a fifth one on the spot, there were no problems with this.
Transfer (taxi) from the border of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to the Artuch camp site was also ordered in advance for a specified time, the cost was 5000 rubles per car (~$85).
Chapters
- Day 0. 2022-08-02 Tuesday
- Day 1. 2022-08-03 Wednesday
- Day 2. 2022-08-04 Thursday
- Day 3. 2022-08-05 Friday
- Day 4. 2022-08-06 Saturday
- Day 5. 2022-08-07 Sunday
- Day 6. 2022-08-08 Monday
- Day 7. 2022-08-09 Tuesday
- Day 8. 2022-08-10 Wednesday
Day 0. 2022-08-02 Tuesday
Departure at 01:15 from Domodedovo. The flight is only 4 hours, but it is difficult because it is a night flight. We were woken up, fed with beef with buckwheat, which reminded of itself all the way to Artuch. We should be thanking Uzbekistan Airways for this.
Samarkand airport is brand new, passports were stamped quickly, but we waited for some time for luggage. We were worried that during the customs inspection they could take away our dried meat and basturma, but in the green corridor nobody was interested in our huge tourist backpacks. In front of us was a man with luggage, he was asked to go through the security check. There is WiFi at the airport and there is Yandex Taxi in Uzbekistan, so it only remains to exchange some local money and drive to the border with Tajikistan. There is only one money exchanger at the airport with a wild exchange rate of 120 soʻm for 1 ruble. While the official exchange rate is 170 soʻm for 1 ruble. We decided that it is still more profitable than if a dashing taxi driver comes across and takes us according to the taximeter. Yandex Taxi estimated a trip to the border at 90,000 soʻm, which comes out to 750 rubles (~$13) with this rate. I changed 5,000 rubles for 600,000 soʻm, bought a liter bottle of water for 4,000 soʻm (~$0.5) in a stall at the airport and, pleasantly surprised by the price, jumped into a Daewoo Nexia to the border with Tajikistan. When we were getting into a taxi, some man ran up, looking like a drunkard, who asked to buy soʻm from him for rubles, well, to exchange them. He offered at the rate of 150. When I mentioned that we had already bought soʻm inside, he recoiled in shock, “but they sell soʻm for 120 in there …”.
At 07:30 the plane landed, at 08:50 we already were driving in taxi.