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3 days in Tashkent, not really my favorite city, it is modern and does not have the charm of the 3 ancient cities we've been so far. This is also the end of the trip for almost half of the people that started in Ashgabat, Leslie celebrated her birthday, they went to the FM Bar which has a circus like show with semi clad women giving massages and lap dance if you want , skipped it since I was feeling under the weather, from what i gathered from people who went, did not really missed much except for the striptease Sam was asked to perform onstage, good on you Sam. Lots of people still feeling ill some stomach bug going around and also heat illness. Places we visited include the Train museum which houses old Soviet trains ran with coal, they are massive! the Independence square has something going on when we went there, world war 2 veterans celebrating something, the folks were so nice they oblige when we ask to have their photo taken and they shook our hands, this is actually the highlight of Tashkent for me.Got the chance to use the Metro system, quite cool, different design
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SCENERY ON DRIVE TO TASHKENT motiffs on every stop, unfortunately photo is not allowed and police all over so you can't dare. Chorsu bazaar, too crowded so we did not stay long, Nigel buying his outfit. Went to Tamerlane's museum quite good collection of photos, paintings, and traditional clothing also miniatures of famous sights, our guide was brief and explained quite well about the origin of the Persian ruling Moghuls of India, among others. Tabaka chicken for lunch, excellent, if not a bit salty. Nothing really much to say about the city, can't wait to move on. Found an excellent Japanese restaurant near our hotel(Grand Orzu), really satisfied my craving. Food at the our hotel was surprisingly good too, I had the Beef tongue with mushroom, very tender and tasty. We are off tomorrow, we'll take the taxi to Kokand we'll meet Toni and our truck Gisele who went off today to cross into Tadjikistan then back to Uzbekistan on the other side, it has something to do with the Uzbek raod rule on the road we are taking to get to Kokand, some bad accident forced them to ban more than 6 passengers on a vehicle or something, anyway, lots of camping ahead of
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PEE STOP us, yipee! not really...Got our Kazakhstan visa yesterday thanks to Toni, cost was lot less than if applied in the US but the invite letter is expensive! So that's the update Next time you hear from me is probably in Kyrgyzstan, til next time.
TASHKENT:
(Uzbek: Toshkent, Тошкент, Russian: Ташкент) is the capital of Uzbekistan and also of Tashkent Province. The population of the city in 2006 was 1,967,879.
The name of the city has evolved in a number of stages. During the Han period it was known to the Chinese as Beitian (= Bin-kāth, the old name for Tashkent), the summer "capital" of ancient Kangju (康居).
In medieval times the town and the province were known as "Chach". Later, the town came to be known as Chachkand/Chashkand, meaning "Chach City." (Kand, qand, kent, kad, kath, kud--all meaning a city, are derived from the Old Iranian, kanda, meaning a town or a city. They are found in city names like Samarkand, Yarkand, Penjikent etc.)
After the 16th century and the steady replacement of the old, Persian-speaking population with Uzbeks, the name was changed slightly from Chachkand/Chashkand to Tashkand, which, as "stone city", was more
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KHOSTU IMAM meaningful to the new inhabitants than the old name. The modern spelling of Tashkent reflects Russian orthography.
Due to the destruction of most of the ancient city during 1917 revolution and, later, to the 1966 earthquake, little remains of Tashkent's traditional architectural heritage. Tashkent is, however, rich in museums and Soviet-era monuments.
Kukeldash Madrassa
Dating back to the reign of Abdullah Khan (1557-1598) it is currently being restored by the provincial Religious Board of Mawarannahr Moslems. There is talk of making it into a museum, but it is currently being used as a mosque.
Chorsu Bazaar
Near the Kukeldash Madrassa, this huge open air bazaar is the center of the old town of Tashkent. Everything imaginable is for sale.
Telyashayakh Mosque (Khast Imam Mosque)
Contains the Uthman Qur'an, considered to be the oldest extant Qur'an in the world. Dating from 655 and stained with the blood of murdered caliph Uthman, it was brought by Timur to Samarkand, seized by the Russians as a war trophy and taken to Saint Petersburg. It was returned to Uzbekistan in 1989.
Amir Timur Museum
An impressive building with brilliant blue dome and ornate interior (see
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KHOSTU IMAM COMPLEX, MOSQUE BEING BUILT photo to the right). Inside, the exhibits of Timur and of President Islom Karimov vie for the visitor's attention. The gardens outside contain a statue of Timur on horseback, surrounded by some of the nicest gardens and fountains in the city.
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