Uzbekistan trip - Som questions re money

Post date: 2020-02-24 12:53:33

I'm going on holiday to Uzbekistan soon. Looking into spending money, it seems that cards are very rarely accepted, working ATMs all but impossible to find and you can't buy Soms outside of the country. So, will need to take cash and change it there. But, FX shops in Uzbekistan will only take pristine cash - ie no marks, never been folded, no dog eared corners etc - and preferably USD, maybe also EUR or GBP. My questions are:

1. Any advice on this from anyone who has been to Uzbekistan?

2. I live in the UK - I'm planning on changing as much as I think I'll likely need (also a tricky calculation) in GBP to USD and taking those, plus an additional GBP stash. I'd hope that USD notes from an FX place will be ok, but I'm not sure if the normal GBP notes will be good enough. How do I make sure I get really pristine notes?

3. I need to carry the money - wads of it - on the flight and during the trip around the country, changing it as needed, without it being squished, folded, or otherwise rendered too damaged to change. All the money pouch / travel wallet type stuff I see on Amazon are designed to also carry passports / cards etc which isn't necessary. I can't see any that look like there is room for enough cash or will be stiff enough not to fold or bend while stuffed in a bag. Any ideas?

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