Wanderings in Uzbekistan - 1 - The Silk Road - Tashkent

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At last, we are traversing a section of the ancient Silk Road - travelling around the major "Silk Road Cities" of Uzbekistan. We arrived in the early morning in Tashkent - the exotically named capital city. Driving around the city we were amazed by the tree-lined, wide roads with extensive Russian-style buildings. A massive square, with a central statue of Timerlane on horseback - the Uzbek national hero, had pride of place. The whole square was surrounded by impressive large white buildings, headquarters of banks and industries, and the stark soviet built Hotel Uzbekistan. The Kukeldash Mosque, with its turquoise-coloured dome sparkling in the sun was magnificent, together with sandalwood pillars, tile and brick work. The adjacent medrassahs, a small museum, housing the world's oldest Koran, and other buildings formed a scene of Central Asia and a flavour of things to come later in the tour. We visited the central market, a hive of activity with spices, dried fruit, nuts, vegetables, meat & a wide variety of Uzbek breads with many colourful local characters. The next day we flew to Urgench, in the west of the country, and then a two hour drive to one of the main "Silk Road" cities - Khiva.

Accommodation - City Palace Hotel Tashkent

Weather - warm and sunny with blue skies - 26c

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Comments

[Helen and Bob]

Uzbekistan
Enjoyed your first blog in Usbekistan - it looks amazing! The blue skies seem wonderful too. Glad it is all going so well xx