Uzbekistan, Unique

Uzbekistan, Unique

A lot of flights to Tashkent – the capital – depart from Istanbul, probably because Uzbekistan is part of the Turkic languages world. We spend a few hours at Istanbul airport before we board our
plane to Tashkent. We arrive in the middle of the night. After arrival the visa office is still closed. However  in half an hour an official shows up. The procedure is carried out strictly. First free visa, then Euro paid visa and finally Dollar paid visa. The luggage is thoroughly checked. For each piece of luggage we need to fill out two documents. Finally guide Vragie takes us to hotel Wyndham.

Next day we explore the area. There are many half-open markets close by. It’s fun to look around and see all the stuff they sell here. Fresh fruit, dolls for kids, drinks, clothes, everything is available. A small lunch in a terrace restaurant Bomsa. Nobody speaks English here – the staff nor the other guests. We manage by pointing what we like to eat and drink. We pay the bill with local currency, the language of money is universal. In the hotel the air conditioning doesn’t work. That’s a pity; temperature hits 31 degrees Celcius (87.8F). I drop in on the reception. They explain that although temperatures vary it’s now wintertime and during wintertime government wants air conditioning shut down! Probably a bureaucratic leftover from Soviet times…

In the lobby I meet a business man from Khartoum. He just withdraw some money, he now carries a huge stack of banknotes. He is laughing: ‘It looks like toy money’. Dinner on an outside terrace. Nobody speaking English again. Seated on a table next to us a guy from Teheran helps us out. Together we select some meat, some salad and a local wine. Wine in an Islamic country? Yes, because you can call the religion here a form of Islamic light.

After breakfast Vragie picks us up. He first takes us to the travel agency, owner Sharkat likes to meet us. Because we are from far away, plus booking your trip at a local agency is fairly uncommon. We drink a cup of coffee and talk about our travel plans. Today we look around in Tashkent. Next to driver Vragie, guide Vadim accompanies us. Vadim is well dressed, perfect haircut with every hair neatly in its place.

The Khast Imam complex has been the spiritual heart of Tashkent for centuries. There are a lot of madrassahs (koran schools), mausoleums and mosques. The Hazrat Imam mosque fronts the square. The primary attraction on Khast Imam stands in the center of the square: the small Muyi Mubarak Library holds the oldest Quran in the world. The Uthman Quran on display is stained with the blood of the third Caliph Uthman who was murdered while reading it in 655.

On we go to the Chorsu Bazaar. You can do all your shopping for hot bread, dried fruit and souvenirs in this impressive bazaar topped by a giant green dome. In the Tashkent metro, a precocious little boy wants to practice his English on us.

We walk to Independence Square, it’s big and impressive. Nice picture opportunity. A lot of trees and green; all well taken care of. In the middle of the square there’s a statue of Amir Timur, founder of a huge medieval empire. We drink coffee in a former library/bookshop. Vadim left us and vragie drops us at family restaurant ‘Sultan Saraj’, where the specialty is local shashlik, very tasty. From the restaurant it’s only a short walk to our hotel.

After an afternoon nap we install ourselves on the hotel terrace. Talking, watching some bought stuff,
discussing upcoming days. A guy from Belgium, whom we met at the plane, joins us for a drink. His name
is Luc. He’s here on a business trip, not for the first time. He talks about his life and it’s interesting to
note when you meet someone far away he (or she) talks more freely about matters of life,
emotion, personal feelings. Luc did just divorce and now planning how to live the rest of his life.
The three of us take a cab to a restaurant he frequents called ‘Lazgi’, which has Uzbekistan food, a nice
atmosphere, a man playing a trombone. The food is as perfect as the sparkling conversation.

We take a plane to Urgench, there driver Paulik awaits us and drives us to Hotel Asia Khiva. After some coffee, guide Saida tells us a lot about the city of Khiva, which was known as Khorasam centuries ago. The traditional story goes that one of the sons of Noah founded the city. After the flood, he wandered in the desert alone. He dug a well and the water had a surprising taste. This well can still be found in the inner town, called Itchan-Kala. This town is encircled by brick walls whose foundations date back to the 10th century. And of course Alexander the Great passed by.

After lunch (in restaurant Keivah) we walk around the city. The atmosphere is pure, most tourists are locals. Because the town is so beautiful, lots of people get married here. You can take nice pictures. The Kalta Minor, a large blue tower in the city square dominates the town. There are plenty of historical monuments and old houses, dating from the 18th century. Therefor it’s a pleasure to sip a coffee on a terrace, overlooking Khiva city.

That evening we dine outside in ‘Terraza’. It’s situated on a balcony overlooking execution square. Very quiet and peaceful now, in other words you can hardly imagine what happened here in former days…

The shashlick food is good.

After Khiva we visited Turkmenistan. Before entering Uzbekistan again we are dropped off at the border by our driver. By feet, carrying two suitcases, we enter the country again. First a minibus (which is two dollar per person) takes us through no man’s land. After that a doctor wearing a white coat checks up on us. He merely asks about our health. No tests or whatever – this was before Covid.

Our papers are checked, luggage control. My wife’s bag is checked. When the customs officers want to check her suitcase as well, she protests. It works: they skip her suitcase, concentrating on mine. Kind of arbitrary…

In Uzbekistan, driver Amin takes us to Bukhara. Bukhara is really beautiful, it’s located on the Silk Road. The city long served as a center of trade, scholarship, culture and religion. Like Khiva, the historical center is listed as a World Heritage Site. Diner in the Budreddin restaurant, there’s nice food and a great atmosphere here. The violin player does a nice job!

Next day driver Shafkat and guide Mackzuma show us the city of Bukhara. We start at the Samanid mausoleum. Ismoil Samoniy, a hero from Tajikistan who lived in the 10th century is buried here. Close by you find the Bolo-Khauz mosque, a very attractive building. Especially interesting are the richly carved wooden columns in the entrance. Moreover another fascinating site is the old Fortress, a huge building with a lot of museums inside. On top of it you have a nice panoramic view of the city.

The main attraction in Bukhara is the Po-i-Kalyan complex. The complex is so impressive that even Genghis Khan spared the Kalyan minaret (back then one of tallest buildings in the world) after he conquered the city. The whole complex consists of a mosque and a madrasah and is one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in the world. While Genghis Khan spared the minaret – he did not spare the local nobles nor their children however. To prevent them from ever rising up against the Khan dynasty he had them all murdered in front of the big Kalyan mosque.

A lot of students visit the complex today. They are all eager to talk to us and exchange views. On our way to the hotel we buy some pairs of scissors. These scissors are shaped like a bird, the symbol of Bukhara. The craftsmen make them themselves and are very proud of it. In the evening we dine at restaurant Minzifa. On the rooftop terrace we are served Central Asia typical dishes including meat, salads, fried eggplant topped with fresh tomatoes.

We visit a madrasa leftover called Chor-Minor. The name means ‘four minarets’. It’s the well preserved historic gatehouse for a long ago destroyed madrasah. On our way to Samarkand we stop at the summer residence of the last Emir of Bukhara. The current building was built in 1912-1918 under the last Emir, Alim Khan. Few tourists walk around, however the place is beautiful.

We continue to the memorial complex of Chor-Bakr, which was originally built as the burial place of Abu-Bakr-Said who died in the year 971 . He was one of the four of Abu-Bakrs (Chor-Bakr) – descendants of Muhammad. The complex includes the necropolis of family tombs, and courtyards enclosed with walls. It is located in modern-day Kalaya, Uzbekistan. At the last place guide Mackzuma leaves us, she hops on the bus back home. Driver Shafkat takes us farther to Samarkand.

We arrive at the hotel at the end of the day. Every hotel requires you to fill out a registration card. In all hotels the registration cards from the hotels before are photocopied. All this bureaucratic administration is probably another leftover from Soviet times…

The best restaurant in town, close to the hotel, is called Platan. We dine there this evening. The food is mostly regional, we ordered manti (steamed dumplings), samsas (baked triangles ‘with the flavors of Uzbekistan’), lamb chops followed by cheesecakes. A French group we met in Khiva also dines here.

Next morning driver Shafkat and (new) guide Susanna pick us up. Punctual, as all people here are. Susanna is named after Suzie Q. In the beginning she is very serious; later she loosens up a bit. We first visit Timur’s mausoleum – The Gur-Emir Mausoleum. Conqueror Timur, also known as Tamerlane is buried here. It’s a beautiful building which served as a model for the Taj Mahal in India for instance.

The tomb is inscribed with a warning ‘When I Rise From The Dead, The World Shall Tremble’. During WW2 Soviet scientists opened Timur’s tomb. Afraid for the warning locals warned them in vain not to do this.
Two days later Germany started Operation Barbarossa. Stalin ordered Timur to be reburied instantly!
I wait till a large tourist group is gone to make some pictures. Timur’s tomb is in the middle surrounded by tombs for his family members.

In the center of Samarkand you find it’s absolute highlight; the Registan Square. It was a public square where people gathered to hear royal proclamations and also a place of public executions. It is framed by three madrasahs (Islamic schools) of distinctive architecture. You feel like Napoleon once said ‘all those centuries looking down on you’. We visit all madrasahs, walk around the square. In conclusion: a spectacular experience.

Then we take a coffee break in an Art center. We talk to some people, they’re excited because there’s not much tourism here yet. People are eager to know where we’re from. We meet a nice dressed girl who poses for us. After that we visit the Bibi-Khanum Mosque, named after Timur’s wife.

There are no supermarkets or whatsoever here. Instead there’s the Siyob Bazaar. Big Bazaar. You name it; they sell it. Endless lines of offers, fresh is really fresh here!

Very interesting is the Ulugh Beg Observatory. Built in the 1420s by the astronomer Ulugh Beg who was very skilled in mathematics and astronomy. Thanks to his observatory he observed and calculated the positions of thousands of stars. That evening dinner in restaurant Besh Chinor. The restaurant was difficult to find. The staff didn’t speak English so we just pointed to things in the display. All sorts of kebab and nice salads.

On our last day here we have a look at the Tomb of Saint Daniel. He is the Daniel in the lion’s den, who was saved from lions by the God of Israel (chapter 6 of the Book of Daniel). The tomb is very long and the story goes that the tomb grows larger every year…

We buy some souvenirs, mostly gifts for friends at home. Lot of small stuff bears the Leopard sign, the symbol of Samarkand. In a clothes store called ‘Fatima’ my wife buys a nice dress. We were here before; I ordered a satin shirt. It’s tailor made. I put it on; it’s fits perfect. Fatima is enthusiastic!

Close by we wander around the Shakhi-Zinda Necropolis. A big complex, impressive, it contains all kind of tombstones, small, big and very big family mausoleums, very photogenic. Susanna and Shafkat take us to the station. We say goodbye to them because they may not enter. Once again our papers are checked meticulously. On the station we are to travel by Afrosiyob – the fastest train in Uzbekistan. The train will take us to Tashkent from where we will fly home. It only stops for five minutes.

When it arrives we have no idea where our places are. We ask, have to walk back more than a little and at last – the train starts moving already – we enter the right compartment. Just in time! We are served a local red wine. Sipping on it I think over the contrast between this fast moving high tech train and all kind of historical places which it connects, history really lives in Uzbekistan. The cadence of the train makes me a little sleepy. Just before I close my eyes and I think I see a large group of ancient warriors on horses in the gathering darkness…

Trip was made in 2017.

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