Does anyone have any information about how best to travel to and from the Ayaz Kala yurt camp? I'm planning to stay there in mid-October, and am hoping to find a cheaper option than the 100 USD each way quoted to me by Advantour.
Thanks!
1
grazboutchev
To reach Ayaz Kala, it is likely you hire a driver since the yurt camp is basically in the middle of nowhere.
I spent a night in the camp, and to get there my friends and I hired a driver from Khiva (through the tourist office). He drove us to the camp (with stops to some of the fortresses located in the area) and picked us up the next day. I think we paid a price close to 100 USD but we were 5 people.
If you don't want to pay that kind of price on your own, you should look for other travellers to share the price.
Or you can try to use the public transports to reach Boston (closest city to the yurt camp) and from there ask a driver to take you to the camp. However, you'll still need to figure out how to leave the camp.
Bear in mind that this yurt camp is a tourist-only camp. So you get tourist prices to get there, to sleep there, to eat there, etc.
2
i_d_
There is indeed no bus, but you can get a taxi from Boston, or from Biruni (a town you pass anyway when you are travelling between Khiva and Bukhara). Either arrange a pickup with the driver for your return trip, or get his mobile number (getting a local SIM card requires a little time but is possible).
Alternatively, you could switch to the similar, but somewhat smaller Jambaskala Yurt camp (near equally impressive Jambas Qala). There is a bus from Tortkol (also on the way between Khiva and Bukhara) several times a day, which passes not far from the camp.
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