If you're travelling with a friend, staying in modest hotels, eating in budget restaurants and travelling by bus or train, you can get around Uzbekistan for US$30-40 per day. Unfortunately, you'll often have trouble finding a cheap place to stay and will have to settle for a pricey tourist hotel, so a more realistic budget is around US$50-60 a day. Hiring cars and doing excursions will add significantly to your expenses. You should also take into account that foreigners pretty much always pay more than locals.

ATMs are widespread and banks change cash, although changing travellers cheques involves paying higher commission rates. US dollars are the easiest currency to exchange, followed by Euros. Make sure any bills you try to change is crisp and new or no one will touch them. Bigger hotels and airline offices accept payment by credit card.

There are a few top-end restaurants where a service charge of 5-10% is added to your bill, but tipping is not common in Uzbekistan, and runs contrary to Islamic ideals of hospitality. Bribery, on the other hand, is very popular, but if you choose to use it remember you are pushing up prices for those who follow you. Bargaining is expected in markets - the asking price for food will be pretty close to the selling price, but for handicrafts expect a more substantial reduction.

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