Blogs from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Asia

I discovered Tamburlaine during uni swat vacs...'cos I was not a diligent student. I'd head into the Hunter Valley to the wineries as you do. That's how a love for the red wine of Tamburlaine grew...the vineyard that is. On their bottles his image...an emperor on horseback. On old maps was 'the Jewel of the Old Silk Road'...Samarkand...the capital of the 14th C Empire of Tamburlaine. In 2017 Denise & I discovered the Stans on a roadtrip following the northern border of Afghanistan in Tajikistan with Dave & Merry Jo Binkley and The Travel Camel...ascending into Heaven in the High Pamir. In 2019 once bitten twice shy we planned to return to the Stans...to the land of Tamburlaine...Uzbekistan. We added Turkmenistan to our itinerary but their rugs were too expensive so we headed to Russia instead. ... read more

11 Nov: Finally the Uzbekistan sojourn has come to an end. Yesterday was a day trip to Chimgan , a mountainous region 2hrs away from Tashkent . Enroute, lake Chorvak- beautifully set amongst the mountains ,the misty weather , chill in the air, a chairlift ride to the top, SNOW on the mountains - all made the day pleasent and exciting . But the best was yet to come! The breakup party! 11 days of fun and frolic was made memorable by vodka filled dizzy veterans and Divas setting the dance floor on fire! As I look back on these 11 days, I feel Uzbekistan is a country like no other! It's a yo yo feeling between past and present, the acceptance of cultures that have impacted its existence and absorbing the flavors of the Turks, ... read more

After packing up and paying the B&B we headed back to Bibi-Khanym mosque. we liked it not being perfectly restored like all the others, it made it feel more authentic. You can’t really capture on a photo how massive they are. Knowing that we probably won’t see anything like it again for a long time we hung out and took our time. Aside from Khiva where we had a cold wet day and the first day in Tashkent which was the opposite, the weather had been perfect autumn days reaching about 18 in the day and dropping with the sun, until it disappears about 6pm’ish and then it gets distinctly chilly. Today it was sunny but there was a Siberian breeze so when we got too chilly gawking at the mosque we moved onto the bazaar. ... read more

8 and 9 AUGUST, 2016 Departed Bangkok on a 9.5 hour non eventful flight to Istanbul. Waited at airport 6 hours ( no seating, so aimless wandering), before departing (6hours) to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Discovered on arrival that I flew solo. For some reason Turkish Airlines didn't load my bike box, containing bike, bike tyres, spares, camping gear!! Tashkent arrivals was the worst schmozzle I have ever had the misfortune to experience. Bags flew or rolled off the carousel, it was 30 feet long to handle probably 500 bags. No Bike Box!! After arrival I had only limited time before needing to race off to the rail station for the last train of the day to Samarkand. 3 hours south. I have visa limitations. Through the valiant efforts of Mem, she located that the bike was still ... read more

July 1 - I was still wondering how the entry to Uzbekistan would be, as there were many things that could be quite complicated - the customs, the passport, having to claim and possibly show all your money here, changing money (you get double the money on the black market, but that is not possible in the airport), getting a taxi for a good rate. But just before the flight landed, the woman across the aisle said something to me and we started talking. She is Uzbek and I asked her a few questions and then a guy in the aisle said he was also going to the same guesthouse as me. All of a sudden, things got easier. There were two guys from the states traveling together, they had just finished college, and they were ... read more