Khiva to Bukhara (Uzbekistan) for solo traveller

For travellers who might want to take this route – the road is now in awful condition (worse than the Pamir Highway!), and takes around 8 hours. I travelled it in July 2012, and had a good, quick driver: we 'only' needed 7.5 hours of accelerating/decelerating/bumping/hitting the ground... We saw mini-buses and a few buses on the road; they took something like 14 hours, and were in very bad condition. We negotiated to around US$80 for 4 passengers at the bazaar in Bukhara. That's probably the lowest you could possibly get here. Check the cars and drivers as only the oldest and propane-powered cars make the trip – it's hard on the mechanics so they save by using already worn-out cars. And beware that there are no cities between Bukhara and Urgench, and very very few petrol stations, most of them empty. So pack food and water (it's the Kyzylkum desert after all!), leave early and check your gas level!