UZBEKISTAN - FIRST STOP TASHKENT (CAPITAL CITY)

Uzbekistan - The Journey

It's been long travels with some added delays.  At 03:30 am and 36 hours since we left home we are glad to see the Uzbek sign on the airport and even happier to get into a taxi to whisk us to the hotel.

The Uzbekistan flag also greets us.

The internet tells us that the blue colour on the flag is a symbol of the sky and of clear water.  Azure is also the colour of the Turkic peoples.  White is the traditional Uzbek symbol of peace and good luck, while green is a symbol of nature, new life, and good harvest.

We both notice that the journey from the airport to the hotel seems kind of weird, twisting through what appears to be back alleys with little to no light.  It's feeling a bit sketchy, but all is well and we are dropped off at the hotel.

There are more delays, and we finally crawl into bed at 9 a.m. after the hotel has fed us breakfast, and we sleep until 4 p.m. Walking about the next day, we see that what we thought were alleys are indeed neighbourhood streets, with no street signs and no sidewalks. We actually come to enjoy walking them, but we need to remain alert in order to hear the electric cars coming from behind, always too fast, so that we can scurry away in time.

Our little hotel has 14 rooms, and there are several like it in the neighbourhood.  The hotel is basic, but clean and comfortable, and breakfast keeps us full until dinner time.  Every morning, our breakfast includes pieces of round flatbread (made in a tandoor).  This delicious bread has many meanings and some rules about how to eat it, and there are many types and styles of the round flatbread throughout the country.  Below is the common one in Tashkent.

The staff patiently help us to download (and learn) new apps that replace Google Maps, which works poorly here and another that can be used to call a taxi.

Jet lag persists, and we sleep in until 10 am the next day, so we decide the only activity we will do is to ride the underground subway lines. We figure that the underground will get us in and out of the 37-degree heat that we are not yet used to.  The metro stations also provide an excellent history of Uzbekistan, and they really are beautiful to see.  Much has been written about them elsewhere, so will just share a few photos.

We are 'rural folk', not 'city folk', but even we found the metro station very easy to follow.  Going from one line to another is easy and much of the city is covered.

Before seeing the stations, we needed a little synopsis of history to the present day.  In the 14th and 15th centuries, Amir Timur was a courageous and fierce warrior who brought people and lands together.  His love of the arts, science and education created a period of enlightenment, and he is celebrated still today.

One metro station, a plaza and a museum are dedicated to this beloved hero.  He was also instrumental in forming the trade routes of the Silk Road.

Uzbekistan came under Russian control in the 19th century and gained its independence in 1991.

Despite not being a democracy and despite 5% of the population living below the poverty line, in 2024, it was ranked as the happiest nation in Central Asia.

Today, Tashkent is a modern city in Uzbekistan with 3 million people, and it’s quite lovely.  In all the walking we did, there were only two pieces of garbage anywhere around.  

Three hundred thousand people were left homeless by the 1966 earthquake, but the government, since then, has been involved in identifying and providing shelter for citizens and thus, homeless people were not visible anywhere, camping on sidewalks and streets or needing to beg for survival.  

Tashkent is full of many relaxing and beautiful large parks.  Tashkent City park is new, modern, and so large that there are little electric vehicles that people can hop into to circumnavigate the park.  We hope to see this park at night when we return in a week for a quick visit, as there are many interesting lights throughout it.  The photo on the bottom right is a fountain that moves to music played in the background.  You can see fountain heads and lights submerged.  Many of the parks here have spectacular pools and fountains.

Pretty little mosque at the entrance to Tashkent Park

On the way to Tashkent City Park, we pass an enormous, very modern mall.  Outside the mall, two artists are busy painting.  They are pleased that we admire their work.

Speaking of malls and shopping, some stores here have fashions to rival those in Milan.  

The park pictured below was undergoing some kind of transformation - maybe for a wedding?  The camel installation has become so popular that it's been decided that they will stay.

Even some of the sidewalks look like a park.

On the way to the nearest tram station, we cannot resist a stop at the Mirobod Market.  The produce is so clean it sparkles, and everything from vegetables to eggs is artfully stacked.  The scent of spices fills the air, and we are offered bits of dried fruit. Dried fruit and nuts are the favourite snacks here.  Around the perimeter of the market are stores selling clothes, items from silk and the unique ceramics that the country is known for.

 For just 6,000 UZS, we both could have ridden the trams all day, but every time we left a station, a new ticket was required.  I think we did this five times, so 6,000 x 5 = 30,000 UZD (or ~ CAD 3.21), pretty inexpensive sightseeing.  What we thought would be an easy day turned out to be 28,000+ steps thanks to the many beautiful parks and squares located above the metro stations that got us out and about. We saw just a few of the 48 stations and their above-ground surfaces.

 The Soviet Union had an extensive space program and was the first country to launch a woman into space.  One station is dedicated solely to their cosmonauts.

 

Alisher Navoy is celebrated as the man who created the Uzbek language and who brought literature to the people.

Uzbekistan is sometimes called "the land of white gold" for its cotton growing and exporting.  A couple of stations are dedicated to cotton.  The downside of irrigation of the cotton crop is seen in one of the greatest environmental disasters ever, which resulted in the complete disappearance of the Aral Sea.  Today, people go there to see huge ships stranded on the seabed.

In this station, the lighting looks like big balls of cotton fluff waiting to be picked.

While in another station, the flowering cotton plant is celebrated with representation in mosaic tiles.

This tile work was on the walls leading down to a metro station.

Even the entrances and exits are decorated.

One of the grandest stations is the one below Independence Square.  The marble was mined nearby.

The grand entrance, grounds and park of Independence Square are spectacular.  The photo on the left is of the Sorrowful Mother and the eternal flame.  She is at the end of the Alley of Fame and Memory in the collage below this one.

In the Alley of Fame and Memory, the arched niches in the walls below are the memory books with the names of Uzbekistan soldiers fallen in WWII from each of the 14 regions of the country.

We are surprised and sometimes embarrassed when every single time we step on a metro car, someone hops up to give us a seat, often a young person.  The last time we rode a bus in Vancouver, it seemed that most people had their hoodies pulled up, were plugged into their smartphones and oblivious to the world.  People have cell phones here too, but they seem to serve a more utilitarian purpose and sitting peacefully or talking to one another seems to be the norm.  Anyone who had even a few words of English wanted to greet us and have a brief chat.  More than once, we heard a sentiment like: Canada good, Trump bad.

On the next day, Botis, the assistant manager at our hotel who is learning English, offered to show us around to practice his English … as long as he could bring his partner along.  It was a delightful day.  Botis's partner is a graduate from an art university, so we went to a gallery and workshop attached to the art gallery, and we learned much from her.  The art gallery, draped in the flag of Uzbekistan, was closed.

A special stop was the Museum of Applied Arts.  All the other major museums were closed on this day.  There are over seven thousand samples of applied arts.  Some are in photos, and others, like furniture and jewellery, were too difficult to photograph.  In general, there are 3 groupings: ancient traditions; those created since the 2nd half of the 19th century.  and works of modern art.

The gold thread in the masterpieces below still shines brightly many decades after being made.

The frame on the photo on the right is an art piece on its own.

The intricate, tiny inlay on these musical instruments was simply perfection.

After going through the museum, we enjoyed a unique lemonade that contained both lemon slices and muddled mint leaves ... so refreshing.

The Japanese gardens were lovely, where we saw our first black swans and really beautiful storks.

Stork showing a little booty.

Black Swans standing in water and their reflections

As we walked through neighbourhoods with Botus, we just had to ask about these pipes that are everywhere, wondering if they were bringing water to homes.  No, they are bringing gas for heating.  This startled us as many seem to be in precarious places where they could be hit by a car, or some other misadventure.  As we travelled through Uzbekistan, they were throughout the country.

Our last night in Tashkent is dinner at a Turkish restaurant.  It's an amazing cavernous space with lovely brick architecture, beautifully decorated with preserves and all kinds of fruit, nuts and even aromatics hanging to dry; big gourds in baskets of straw; clothes and crafts from Turkey; and bright, flamboyant fish in tanks.  If we had come about 9 pm, some Turkish dancers would do a show, then later invite the audience up to dance.  The servers are all in traditional clothes.  The last photo is of a table reserved for a big crowd on which the servers had just placed appetizers and bread.

Next stop is the Fergana Valley, then we will be back into Tashkent for a couple of days before flying north to Nukus.

MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOS

                                                              

                                                    Bye from Tashkent