The roads are much better now that we’re in the plains of Uzbekistan. As in India, taxis are plentiful and cheap, and we sometimes hire a driver for a whole day.

Every car is a potential taxi. Many drivers carry a cheap “taxi” sign that they place on their roof when they want to pick up passengers.

Safety is some concern, though most taxi drivers are very professional. If we’re lucky, there is a seatbelt for the front passenger. Drivers reassure us that we aren’t required to use it, and they carefully avoid using their own outside police checkpoints.

We did have one bad experience with a taxi driver who took us on but then drove unsafely in the opposite direction to drop off some papers to a friend. When this began to take more than five minutes, I objected and we got out of the car to find another cab. Not wanting to lose a fare, the driver threatened the new taxi driver and tried to cut us off when we drove away. I showed my fangs in a way Marcia has never seen, using one of my few words of Russian to tell the driver I would call the police if he didn’t back off.

“Shared taxis” are the best way to move from place to place. One can buy a seat in a car that shuttles between cities for a very reasonable price, since the driver finds other passengers to pay for the return trip. Four passengers plus the driver is considered a full car. For comfort, we often buy all four seats in the car.

Most towns are too small to have regular buses. There are cheap minibus “marshutkas,” but they are very slow because they stop everywhere to let on overweight matrons. Only Tashkent has a subway.

Fuel is expensive and scarce right now. Drivers rarely keep their tank full, preferring to add just enough liters to reach their destination. Although there are some modern filling stations, smaller outfits dispense gas using a bucket and funnel.

There are of course interesting loads. Central Asian people like to sit and drink tea on huge benches. This one is moving to a new home.