MORE BERRIES THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A SALAMI AT - Samarkand and Tashkent, Uzbekistan

......previously, our first few weeks in Uzbekistan in the deepest southern town of Termez.........

As a large portion of the Uzbek population were visiting relatives during the end of Ramadan, we reluctantly had to change our travel plans. The train we were hoping to take from Termez to the Fergana Valley was full, so we chose to go as far as Samarkand, and spend a few days there before returning to Tashkent. 

The magnificent Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Samarkand

We normally travel in platzkart class on Russian-style trains. As it's the cheapest class, and for us, perfectly comfortable, we never had need to think about upgrading. However, this time, due to the busy time of year, we could only book kupe class, the next step up. It was a good opportunity to try something new. But as it turned out, kupe lacked the open and social feeling of platzkart that we enjoy, with only 4 beds in a compartment instead of 6 or 8, and a door that closed. There was no AC, only a tiny window in the top, next to our heads, and we were glad for the fresh air when we boarded as it was baking hot. As the journey went on, though, and the night cooled considerably, fresh air tuned cold, and Sal in particular, had no sleep due to a chilly wind coming in the window all night. 

Kupe class on Uzbek train (we were up top)

It was our third visit to the important Silk Road city, and although we were not as awe-struck as the first time, the magnificence of Samarkand never fails to impress. We arrived early at our favourite guesthouse in Uzbekistan, a homely, leafy family place set around a central courtyard. We were immediately welcomed with a huge breakfast, after which we thankfully collapsed into a comfortable bed to recover from the trip. 

Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

We spent three relaxing days, wandering around a few of the lesser visited sights we missed on our other visits- it is difficult to see past the mammoth and sparkling big sites in Samarkand, such as our favourite, Shar-i-Zinda. 

A few remaining tiles, Ishratkhana, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

A quiet spot, Ishratkhana, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

A beautifully calm morning was spent visiting the mausoleum of famed Islamic jurist Abdu Durum. It was a quiet complex, with few people around - the couple of men that were praying there gave us some pastries and water. The ancient setting around the fish pond and the surrounding four huge plane trees was pleasing and cool and we sat there for quite some time.

Quiet place to pray, Abdu Durum Mausoleum, Samarkand

Handsome minaret, Abdu Durum Mausoleum, Samarkand

Peeking in the entrance,  Abdu Durum Mausoleum, Samarkand

Wooden carving on ceiling, Abdu Durum Mausoleum, Samarkand

Lovely setting around a pond, Abdu Durum Mausoleum, Samarkand

Stunning colours, Abdu Durum Mausoleum, Samarkand

We wandered up the hill to see the stunning view from the ex-president Islam Karimov's mausoleum (he was born and grew up around here). It was interesting to see so many local pilgrims here, praying and visiting the tomb. A thought-provoking comment about Karimov from the legendary Central Asian planning website Caravanistan:

"Karimov stole billions from his people and stymied the economy, forcing millions to find work in Russia as badly treated migrant workers.

He also closed the borders, restricted religious freedoms, forced children to pick cotton (while draining the Aral Sea to water that cotton), had thousands of opponents murdered and tortured, and thousands more jailed. Yet, you will find his mausoleum thronged with pilgrims searching for a blessing from the revered forefather. In Central Asia, ancestors have a presence in daily life after they passed away; they spread their spiritual energy and mediate individual relationships with God. Even if they ruthlessly oppressed you."

What a view from Karimov's tomb complex, Samarkand

Locals praying at the tomb

Highly decorated and popular place to visit, Islam Karimov's mausoleum, Samarkand

Samarkand bazaar was a wonderful mixture of produce, handicrafts, gourmet treats and practical items. The touristy spice stall vendors were hell bent on selling tourists saffron, ladies in scarves sold diary products from buckets on the ground, nougats and halva were piled up in tempting piles, and the aroma of fresh bread came from the bakery section as famous Samarkand-style round loaves were baked and raced around in delivery carts. The fresh fruit was what we were eying, and we ended up with bag loads of gorgeous strawberries. Apricots and cherries were also coming onto the market, and boys juicing strangely pallid pomegranates stood on every corner. Around the edge of the outdoor market were the shops selling a huge array of cheeses and salamis - they really love their salami here. 

Paying for her strawberries, Samarkand bazaar

Gorgeous ceramic section, Samarkand bazaar

'Ere, try this one on for size

Yummy array of early spring fruit, Samarkand bazaar

The train back to Tashkent from Samarkand was aboard the very civilized and touristy highspeed Afrosiyob train, complete with AC, airplane-style seats, and a snack and coffee included in the fare. The only interesting activity was trying to board alongside a large group of enormous Indian tourists, causing complete chaos and noise as only Indians can. Half of them ended up to be in the wrong carriage, and had to back themselves and their considerable amounts of luggage out while everyone else was trying to board. Soon we all settled down and enjoyed the short trip in comfort. 

Back in Tashkent, we continued our casual sightseeing- an impressive graveyard full of Soviet-era busts of Russian officials, a madrassa converted into a traditional crafts workshop, and a palace which design was based on industry. A fantastic find was Mirabad Bazaar, much closer to us than than huge and famous Chorsu Bazaar. This charming market with friendly vendors had everything we needed all contained under an attractive round flat roof. We actually discovered a new, slightly more expensive strawberry variety that was so unbelievable delicious there's almost no words to describe. 

Imposing busts and graves, Chigatay Cemetery

Crafty Abdulkasym madrassa, Tashkent

Brutalist architecture, Friendship Palace, Tashkent

Friendship Palace, complete with bolts falling from the roof, Tashkent (spot the cap)

Mirabad Bazaar, Tashkent

Delicatessen shop selling all sorts of meats and cheeses, Mirabad Bazaar, Tashkent

All of a sudden a month had passed since our arrival in Uzbekistan, and it was time for us to leave the country. We had, by now, formulated some sort of plan, and decided to make a few stops in Kazakhstan on our way to Kyrgyzstan. We could hardly wait!! Please stay tuned, and we promise the next blog post won't be so long in arriving. We were a bit overwhelmed when we first arrived, and took a little while to get ourselves into gear. 

Giant plov pot, Tashkent

Moody under the city, Tashkent

Rush hour, Tashkent metro

More beautiful metro art, we are fascinated by it!

A few general notes about travel in Uzbekistan:

Having arriving into Uzbekistan from Penang in full hot season in April, where the energy was drained out of us, and the feeling of lethargy was difficult to shake, we absolutely revelled in the cooler spring weather of Central Asia. Days were sunny and warm, and nights just the right temperature for sleeping soundly.  

Unusual statue on a grave, Tashkent

As previously stated, accommodation costs had risen in the three years since we last visited in 2019. We stayed at a mixture of hostels and guesthouses, and the were all clean and friendly. Most accommodation offered a substantial breakfast, sometimes included and sometimes for a few dollars extra. We paid between £16- £22 a night for a double room, usually with our own bathroom.

Our comfy, homey room in Samarkand, Uzbekistan

I'm sure we've mentioned it before, but we absolutely love the ease of the public transport in Central Asia. In all the places we visited in Uzbekistan, local buses were one price for a single trip, no matter how far one went. In Tashkent, this was the same for the metro. 1,400-1500 som (£0.09-£0.10) was paid to the driver as one exited the bus. So easy. The long distance trains seemed somewhat pricey, but it's all relative. Our longest train trip, which was 14 hours, cost 170,000 som each, about £12.

Ready for boarding, Uzbekistan trains

Samarkand train station, Uzbekistan

It's probably pretty clear that we adore the fresh produce in Uzbekistan. Everywhere we went, seasonal fruit and veggies and freshly baked bread were available. Dairy products were delish and always full fat- none of this diet crap in Central Asia! Smetana (a cross between Greek yoghurt and sour cream) is our favourite, and this time we discovered Central Asian-style kaymak. We had tried kaymak in Serbia, but unlike it's Balkan cousin, the variety here isn't salty, more like a clotted cream. We tended not to eat out a lot, preferring to make ourselves picnics with salad, local pickles, eggs and smoky cheese, traditional round bread, and fruits and smetana. When we ate out, we enjoyed meat. Lamb, beef and chicken are usual here - on skewers (shashlik) and from a spit (doner) are the two most common types.

Yum chill and garlic

A takeaway meal, rotisserie chicken and Uzbek wine!

Interesting flavour juice (we didn't try)

National obsession, plov

Messy looking, but delicious beefshtek and goulash

Perfectly presented cherries and berries

Beautiful produce in Uzbek market

A fine discovery was Uzbek wine- the different brands we tried varied from delicious to headache inducing, but at less than £2 a bottle, generally very enjoyable indeed! Beer was also available with mixed results. We have been so spoilt having spent a long time in the Balkans during the past few years - you really can't beat that area for premium alcoholic drinks at rock bottom prices. Ditto for the cafe culture- there isn't one in Central Asia. Tea, or choy, is king here. We got our pathetic coffee fix in the mornings with the local instant variety. 

Uzbek wine

Most streets and parks in the cities we visited were lined with mulberry trees - both red and white varieties. No-one seemed too fussed about collecting them, but we scoffed as many as we could whenever we saw easy to reach fruit.

An idea of our stops within Uzbekistan

 

Lovely Uzbek girls

Hilarious Uzbek picnic set- what more do you need besides shashliks, vodka and a machete?!

.....we're off to Kazakhstan for a short time- keep in touch!.......

MEATY MANIA AND BOUNTIFUL BAZAARS - Fergana Valley and Tashkent, Uzbekistan

.....previously in wonderfully walnut-y Arslanbob....

We literally breathed a sigh when we crossed the border back into Uzbekistan from Kyrgyzstan. Our favourite country on our last trip to Central Asia, we felt a connection with this place and it's lovely inhabitants. It was good to be back. (Rich was a bit put out, however, when a little old lady managed to sneakily push in front of him in the line at the border!)

A good example of Uzbek's welcoming culture was when we were a little stuck about where to change buses in the big city of Andijan near the border. A friendly young man who happened to be studying English at university approached us, and when we told him we were lost, he walked us to the correct bus station chatting away in near perfect English. He found us the bus we were after, put us on, and after having a word with the beaming driver, said his goodbyes. If this were India, we would have been suspiciously waiting for the scam!!

Shiny-eyed young man, Uzbekistan

Pots, Margilan

Again, we had quite a long journey to move between the border towns, with many changes of transport, but it was made easy and pleasant by the helpful people. Scenery of the fertile and flat valley was mainly cotton- the biggest crop here, as well as corn and orchards of apples and peaches. The majority of the food for Central Asia is grown in the Fergana Valley, and explains why we have had such tasty fruit and veggies, being so close to the region on this trip.

We reached Fergana town, and not knowing which marshrutka to jump on, found a taxi to take us to our guesthouse. Another example of the honesty and kindness (and low costs) of Uzbekistan was when Sal thought she had bargained the taxi down to 20,000 som (about US$2), only to be told when we reached the destination it was only 5,000 som (about US$0.50)!!
Our accommodation was spotless, quiet and comfortable, and were happy to see the conveniences in the immediate area. Although we were half an hour walk from the center of Fergana, we had a supermarket, shashlik joint, grog shop, and a couple of other marts and dining options within a five minute walk.
We were to become addicted to the shashlik place, and ate there as often as we could. Our reasoning was we were not going to get red meat this cheap, delicious and readily available anywhere else, so we should make the most of it during our last couple of weeks! At the end of our first meal there, we both had a guess what we thought the bill would come to, based on similar meals, and the fact that is was the best shashlik we'd ever had. Rich thought US$7 and Sal went for US$8. This was for three huge skewers of top quality lamb fillet, three salads, bread and two beers. When the bill came we were surprised at the actual cost of 40,000 som, about US$4, and the fact that we had to press a 5,000 som (US$0.50) tip very forcefully on the waitress in order for her to take it!

Our obsession- THE best shashlik, Fergana, Uzbekistan

The Fergana Valley is generally not a big draw card for tourists visiting Uzbekistan, stuck out on it's own in a weird jumble of borders, and not having any of the big, popular Silk Road sights. But as we spent a long time following the big Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva on our last trip, we wanted to make some time for the Fergana Valley on our way back to Tashkent.

Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan, marked on the Central Asian map

Our route in green from Osh, Kyrgyzstan to Tashkent, Uzbekistan

The main draw of the area was the bazaars. You would think after nearly four months, we would be fed up looking around markets. But, amazingly, the Fergana Valley markets offered such a diverse range of different goods and we were happy to spend hours wandering. The biggest was the weekend bazaar at Kumtepa, but we found the main Fergana and Margilan bazaars nearly as interesting. The best thing was the open, welcoming and sometimes outgoing stall holders. We loved strolling slowly, stopping constantly for little "chats" and laughs, and feeling as though people were genuinely happy to see us. They only ever wanted to ask questions, or tell us something about the market, never to sell us anything. Sometimes people were shy and we could just hear "Tourists, tourists" whispered as we walked past. If we stopped to look or buy something, or to have a chai in a chaikhana (cafe), people were often very smiley and seemed proud to have us patronage their business.

Men chatting in bazaar, Margilan

Rich making new friends, Fergana Bazaar

What a poser, Fergana Bazaar

Happy man in Kumtepa Bazaar

Waiting for a sale, Kumtepa Bazaar

He was so happy to have his picture taken, Kumtepa Bazaar

Stall holder, Kumtepa Bazaar

It was all an interesting contrast to Osh, and we wondered why the locals there were less friendly, when they are mostly Uzbek people, and put it down to too much exposure to tourists.

Uzbek lady

The produce on offer had completely changed from when we arrived in Central Asia at the start of July. Everything is grown seasonally here, mostly without pesticides, so it's super fresh and doesn't last long. Pomegranates, grapes, winter melons and apples were the main stays of autumn, but we always looked around the outskirts where the raspberry and strawberry growers often lurked with buckets full of the succulent berries.

Apple season, Fergana Bazaar, Uzbekistan

Beautiful pumpkins all piled together, Fergana Bazaar, Uzbekistan

Weird shaped onions, Margilan Bazaar, Uzbekistan

Other items of interest included the traditional silk materials and garments made in nearby Margilan, the third largest silk making centre in the world (hence it's historical importance on "The Silk Road"). The old-style winter boots, cloaks and hats areas were also attractive. An unexpected highlight was the all-things-mechanical section of Kumtepa Bazaar, where it seemed literally everything second hand was on offer for anything with a motor.

Boots galore, Kumtepa Bazaar, Uzbekistan

Margilan ladies, bazaar, Margilan, Uzbekistan

Bits and bobs, Kumtepa Bazaar, Uzbekistan

Old Russian stuff, Kumtepa Bazaar, Uzbekistan

Scene at Kumtepa Bazaar

Old bike for sale (US$150 - first price!)

More junk, Kumtepa Bazaar

Our experiences with the local ATM were hilarious. Happy to find a bank that actually took our card, we lined up with everyone else. No-one had any qualms about looking openly over each other shoulders to look what was been done on the screen, and no thought was given to hiding their PIN numbers. On one visit, a representative of the bank was actually standing at the ATM taking people's card's, asking for their PIN numbers and performing their transactions for them- and they were happy for him to do so! We were equally horrified and amused! When it came to our turn, we politely nudged him out of the way to do it ourselves, although we still had about 20 people looking over our shoulders to sticky beak! It further illustrates the innocent attitudes and apparent safety of this country.

The train trip back to the capital, Tashkent, was slightly disappointing, as most of it was after dark. But we were still just happy to be on a train again! We were impressed at the beginning of the journey, with the huge number of small scale vineyards everywhere- some taking up entire large backyards with grape vines as far as the eye could see.

Our Tashkent stay felt rushed, as we had many last minute jobs to do in order to prepare for the next part of our travels. The highlight was a trip to the opera. All the Central Asian capitals have large and ornate opera houses left over from Soviet times, when the arts were an important cultural inclusion in life. Fortunately, the tradition has carried on, and the season starts when the weather cools down.
When we visited Almaty a couple of years ago, we had a funny experience attending the ballet, when most of the audience were dressed to the nines in ball gowns and tuxedos, and we most definitely stood out in our less than elegant attire. This time, thankfully, it was a more casual affair, and our daggy travellers clothes were not too conspicuous. As the US$2 and US$3 tickets were already sold out, we splashed out (!!) on the US$4 tickets for Tchaikovsky's Iolanda, and got ourselves fabulous seats in the stalls. Richard thought it brilliant apart from all the singing!

We met up with our mates who we had befriended when we were in Tashkent in July, the lovely, young English-practising lads who were seriously studious and motivated for their futures. We had a fun afternoon with them at the new Tashkent City, a posh redevelopment site with overpriced restaurants and topiary giraffes (don't ask). We all got soaking wet when the wind unexpectedly blew the huge fountains all over the boardwalk we were on, and then had fun mucking around for a while in the "Celebrity Museum".

Opera house, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Just after being soaked by the water fountains, Tashkent City, Uzbekistan

Inside the "Celebrity Museum"- surprisingly realistic!

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A few notes to end with:

When we reached Penjikent in Tajikistan early on on this trip, we mentioned how surprised we were to see a working mosque packed with men praying. This, we were to learn, was the norm in most regions of Central Asia we travelled in this time, and we saw it in many places. We happened to be in the most religious and conservative area of Central Asia- in and around the Fergana Valley region, spreading between Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. It really was a huge contrast to our last trip. Everywhere else in Uzbekistan, all of Kazakhstan and in the eastern part of Kyrgyzstan, there's hardly a mosque to be heard and women rarely wear "Islamic" clothes. People are still Muslim, there's just less of an outward show of faith. As we mentioned, people mix their religious beliefs with traditionally non-Muslim traits such as drinking alcohol, and many don't attend mosque often (or at all). But in our view Central Asian people practice what should be the most important part of a religion, or indeed simply life- kindness and tolerance towards each other.

There seems to still be a strong connection to Russia in Central Asian countries. All students in school learn Russian as their second language, university courses are taught in Russian, most families have a member studying or working there, and many of the old reminders of the days of being under the USSR, such as memorials and statues in parks still remain. We always found it amusing to see products with USSR incorporated into the name, although it's not really, considering there are so many Russian products on the shelves here. It's an interesting contrast to such ex-Soviet countries as Georgia, where the break with all things Russian is very obvious.

USSR drink

Having said that, there is also a very definite national pride in each of the Central Asian countries we visited. Since independence in 1991, they have slowly developed their individual traditions and cultures, and have begun to embrace them. It was lovely to see such pride and respect for their countries. National flags and statues of beloved historic heroes and poets, along with variations in clothes, food and architecture were all symbols of a patriotic spirit.

So, that was our second, fantastic four month trip to Central Asia- a part of the world we love for it's kind and courteous citizens, the colourful bazaars, wonderful tiled Silk Road architecture, stunning mountains scenes and tiny rustic villages. Add to that the feeling of safety, the ease of getting around (apart from Tajikistan!), the low prices and the lack of tourists, and so many other positive factors. We will return again- there are still so many places to explore in this remarkable part of Asia.

Next we return to Ko Fruitopia for some R and R, so no blogs for a wee while. But stay tune for more adventures in 2020!

....some funny signs from our travels.....