No fuel no problem

Uzbekistan has no problem with fuel. At least that seems to be the official version. First we were just wondering why so many gas stations looked totally deserted. We have seen quite a lot of them on our way to Tashkent, but for 10 stations 9 were closed and the one that seemed open was surrounded by dozens of cars. We got a bit suspicious... Fortunately our cars were full, so we got to the capital without problems. The problems begun when we wanted to leave the city, trying to buy some fuel first. We have been sent from one gas station to another for nearly an hour before we found one, that actually still had some 91 octane fuel left (the other ones didn't even have 80). Seeing how hard it is to get fuel in the capital, we didn't want to risk getting stuck without it somewhere in the middle of the desert, so we planed to fill our jerrycans as well. But we soon found out that (as usual in a land that has absolutely no problem with fuel) such practices were strictly forbidden. We asked if we will be able to get some gas on a way, but the station workers only shook their heads and advised us to drive to the next parking place, fill the cans by sucking the fuel out of the car and then get back to buy some fuel again. First I though they were joking, as I can't remember seeing anyone doing things like that since I was a kid. But they were deadly serious. And the guys who borrowed us the right tube to do the job didn't really seemed surprised neither. And there we were, sucking fuel out of our cars, like I heard people used to do in old communistic times. And David can confirm that neither the leftover cooling fluid in the tube nor the gas itself is anywhere close to tasty. First we thought we may be overreacting and acting stupid, but the further we drove the happier we were that we filled those cans in the first place!