Andijon to Tashkent

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Andijon is a 'modern city' but I didn't see it

I caught a taxi from the border to Andijon and asked the driver to drop me off at the Hotel Andijon, which he took to mean 'a hotel in Andijon' and just dropped me at the first hotel he found which turend out to be ridiculously expenseive. I asked the hotel staff to point me in the direction of the actual Hotel Andijon and was told be a couple of guys that it was closed, I should have seen that coming. Anyway, these two guys ended up being really helpful, they helped me change some money on the back market and then put me in a cab heading towards a cheaper hotel. Although, there definition og cheaper was a hotel that was once pride of place, when Moscow had the Olympics, and since then it hasn't been touched, ever. My bedroom was...cosy, I did have a very nice view of a pond (that was frozen) but the nicest touch was the plant, it really did give it a homely feel.

I sorted out my ridiculous money situation: I changed $50USD and got a massive hadnful of notes, 67,000som to be exact. I then figured out how I was going to get to the airport the next morning, organised a wake-up knock after figuring out what time I needed to wake up and then I was so buggered that I crawled under the doona and fell asleep and didn't wake until I got my wake-up call from the receptionist lady, 15 hours later. A good sleep and just what I needed as my chest infection, cold/flu thing started to dig its claws in.

I walked outside in the darkness (it was 7am) and walked along the road waiting for a taxi, which proved to be a longer wait than I first anticipated, but eventually one came along and took me to the airport.

I managed to get through all the checks at the airport and then we all waited for the plane which was due to take off at 820am, we waited, waited some more and at 10am were told that it would be here within the hour. 11am came and went and still no plane. In the meantime, me sleeping all night meant that I hadn't had any dinner the previous night and getting up and going tot he airport so early meant that I had no breakfast and there wasn't a shop at the airport. So, when two girls came up and started practising their English on me, which forced me to get up from the crouched position I was in, leaning on the wall, I suddenly felt very light-headed and very warm and then all the colour started to drain from my eyes...I was going to faint. I managed to mutter something about not feeling well and needing to sit down as my legs buckled and I sat on the floor. They offered to get me some water, which I accepted and soon I was feeling a little better. One thing that one of the girl's said to me that struck me as interesting was that it was a shame that I couldn't stay in Andijon longer as she could have shown me around, and while Andijon isn't a historical city it was a modern city. A modern city? Maybe, but all the buoildings I saw were built during the cold-war and haven't been renovated since! But then again, I didn't venture too far in Andijon, so perhaps it is a modern city.

The flight was uneventful and I arrived in Tashkent much later than expected and negotiated a taxi to take me to a reasonably posh hotel, as I had decided to lash out a bit in order to help recuperate. I got to my hotel and was pleasantly surprised to find a double bed! Heating! Hot water 24/7! And buffet breakfast included in the price! I was a pig in mud.

More to come, sorry I have been slack but these computers are terrible...the other day the power went out and then the day after the internet dropped out!

Matt out

END TRANSMISSION

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