VZCZCXRO2195
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHSK
RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNT #0375/01 0850852
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261237Z MAR 09 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0658
INFO ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
CIS COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0159
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000375 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (FORMATTING, CAPTION) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON SOCI MARR PINR UZ
SUBJECT: Uzbekistan:  Spring Road Woes Further Isolate Ferghana 
Valley 
 
TASHKENT 00000375  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  Poloff made an overland trip to the 
Ferghana Valley on March 20-22 and encountered poor road conditions 
on the only link between Tashkent Province and the three populous 
provinces on the other side of a high mountain range.  The poor 
conditions may be a temporary result of heavy winter snows, but the 
tough travel conditions underscore the isolation that many Ferghana 
residents feel from the rest of the country.  While limited linkages 
keeps Ferghana off the major tourist routes and limits economic 
development, residents were in a relaxed mood on the Navruz holiday 
as they celebrated the end of a mild winter.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Poloff traveled overland to the Ferghana Valley on March 20 
- 22 on a personal trip.  The 330-kilometer journey from Tashkent to 
Fergana City takes about five hours, but the vast majority of the 
distance is quickly traversed on good or excellent roads.  A stretch 
of about 30 kilometers through the Kamchik mountain pass is in 
terrible condition following winter snow falls and slows the journey 
substantially.  Poloff had the benefit of an American-made light SUV 
with which to navigate potholes, gravel surfaces, and deteriorating 
asphalt, but most Uzbeks make the journey in the ubiquitous UzDaewoo 
vehicles in varying states of repair, giving the busy Kamchik road 
the feel of a rally race as drivers maneuver wherever they think the 
bumps will be the least damaging.  A sedan which convoyed with poloff 
required tire repairs in Kokand, the first major city in the Ferghana 
Valley side of the pass. 
 
¶3. (U) Interestingly, the road seemed to be in decent condition 
last summer and in autumn 2007 when poloff covered the same 
ground, which suggests that the mountain snows regularly 
wreak havoc on the highway during winter.  There were 
sporadic repair crews working even on a holiday weekend, but they 
were only half-heartedly shoveling blacktop into gaping holes as a 
stopgap measure rather than undertaking serious road improvement 
projects.  There were far more police and soldiers manning various 
checkpoints and guarding key infrastructure than there were 
construction workers, which underlies the strategic importance of the 
road linking the populous Ferghana Valley with the capital and the 
majority of the country's territory to the west.  Thus, one-third of 
the population depends on this single thoroughfare to access Tashkent 
province.  For perspective, there are more Uzbek citizens living in 
the Ferghana Valley than the entire populations of Kyrgyzstan, 
Turkmenistan, or Tajikistan. 
 
¶4. (SBU) It is not just mountains that restrict access to the 
valley, as the jagged borders of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and 
Tajikistan all limit commerce and transportation; hence, this 
stretch of route A-373 takes on even more importance for 
Uzbeks.  In both directions, poloff observed convoys of gas 
and oil trucks with police escorts in front and behind snaking 
their way through the Kamchik pass.  Border guards with machine guns 
stand at attention in front of and inside two key tunnels which form 
the pass, and prominent signs admonish motorists not to snap 
photographs along the route, which includes scenic 10,000-foot 
snowcapped peaks.  Traffic checkpoints, which are omnipresent 
throughout Uzbekistan at township and provincial borders, are more 
thorough here, with Border Guards checking passports and opening car 
trunks for inspection, which causes further delays and hassles for 
the average Uzbek but just polite salutes for passing diplomats (but 
poloff overheard authorities sending radio reports noting his 
diplomatic plate number and the time of crossing).  The layers of 
security as well as the dramatic geography give a traveler the 
feeling of crossing into a different country. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Inside the valley at the Yodgorlik (Souvenir) Silk Factory in 
Margilon -- one of the few bona fide tourist attractions in the 
Ferghana Valley -- staff proudly explained to poloff that the 
workshop helps keep original craft techniques alive and provides 
employment for 460 people -- a majority women -- involved in 
harvesting cocoons, making bright fabrics, and weaving carpets and 
scarves.  The entrepreneurial spirit was alive and well, as staff -- 
alerted by the calls of helpful soccer-playing youths on the street 
-- rushed to meet the visiting vehicles despite the fact it was an 
important holiday weekend at closing time.  Yet the director, who 
also traveled from Tashkent the same day, commisserated with poloff 
about the poor road conditions on the pass and lamented how hard it 
is for tourists to reach key points within the Ferghana Valley.  He 
said the poor road conditions are typical despite frequent 
reconstruction efforts, which he attributed to poor quality and 
misguided repair efforts. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Further south near Rishtan -- famous in Uzbekistan 
for its distinctive ceramics -- poloff visited another 
tourist attraction at the Rishtan Ceramic Museum and 
Workshop.  Local icon and master Rustam Usmanov was happy 
to receive visitors on the Navruz holiday and in fact had work crews 
busily working on a renovation project to upgrade appearances.  He 
noted that only five to ten percent of his business came from direct 
visits, and he relies instead on displaying his products on 
consignment with third parties on the more accessible and 
 
TASHKENT 00000375  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
well-traveled tourist route between Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and 
-- to a lesser extent -- Khiva.  He, too, noted how difficult the 
journey is over the pass and acknowledged that the limited transport 
links isolate the entire Valley.  As with the silk workshop, a large 
portion of ceramic sales are for the Uzbek domestic market, which 
many producers in Rishtan cater to.  The number of skilled craftsmen 
in the area is high because there was a Soviet-era factory that 
closed in the perestroika era, when Usmanov and others lost their 
jobs but got into the business for themselves. 
 
¶7. (U) Navruz is an important holiday in Uzbekistan and considered the 
official kickoff to spring, when Central Asians breathe a sigh of 
relief that they made it through the winter, in this case a mild one. 
 Poloff passed through numerous towns and cities in Ferghana 
province, and the mood was festive as locals packed bazaars, attended 
carnivals, and wore glittering national costumes.  In many ways the 
Ferghana Valley feels more like China and South Asia than other parts 
of Uzbekistan -- bicycles are much more prevalent, dress among men 
and women tends to be more conservative (many more men in the valley 
still wear the traditional black Uzbek "doppa" hat and blue "chappon" 
robes than elsewhere), and even "tuk-tuk" motorcycles with enclosed 
compartments are a common sight (but almost unseen in the rest of 
Uzbekistan).  Rural people were also working hard tending to fields 
and livestock, even on a holiday, evidence that life is hard for 
many. 
 
Comment: 
--------------- 
 
¶8. (U) It is surprising that there is an excellent four-lane divided 
highway leading from Tashkent to the mountains as well as an 
extensive network of decent highways criss-crossing the populous 
Ferghana Valley, yet a short stretch of poor quality road on the 
mountain pass reinforces a sense of isolation.  The most likely 
explanation is that repairs are done on the cheap and need consistent 
preventative maintenance that authorities just do not have the budget 
or willpower to complete.  For tourists, the Ferghana Valley remains 
off the beaten path due to the arduous journey, limited support 
infrastructure, and relative lack of marquee attractions compared to 
other destinations in the country.  The countryside was in a relaxed, 
festive mood -- at least for the Navruz holiday -- and there seemed 
to be no signs of any restlessness or discontent.  While the Ferghana 
Valley is known to be more fervently Islamic than other parts of 
Uzbekistan, there likewise were no visible indications of religious 
upheaval. 
NORLAND