Uzbekistan

Asia » Uzbekistan
April 30th 2009

Published: May 2nd 2009

Edit Blog Post

JulianGT

Uzbekistan Parliament

A word about transportation in central Asia. One of the most convenient and inexpensive ways to travel between cities is by shared taxi. Just head to one of the spots where taxi drivers congregate, explain where you want to go, wait for a few more passengers to fill up the car, and off you go. Except that the taxi you got on may not actually go all the way to where you want to go. Instead, the driver will drive a certain part of the way, negotiate with another driver, gesture to you to get out and move to another car and off you go again. This might be repeated two or three times before you arrive at your final destination. You only pay the first driver - then you become a commodity, traded among taxi drivers, each presumably trying to slice off as possible much from the tourist premium you paid in the first place.

Uzbekistan is beautiful. Tall imposing mosques and madrassas, covered in intricate azure and green mosaics, topped with turqoise domes that glisten in the sunlight. These are the images of the Silk Road that I had in mind before I set off, and they are

You won't go thirsty for vodka in Uzbekistan

more even more overwhelming in real life than they are on pictures.

Additional photos below

Photos: 15, Displayed: 15

More market madness in Tashent

Plov - THE national dish

The Opera and Ballet Theatre

Shows are on almost every night in this beautiful theatre for very little money.

Uzbek Opera

We were lucky enough to catch a performance of.. oom.. not quite sure what it was called. Not quite sure what it was about either. We think something about national hero astronomer Ulugbek. Hey, the costumes were pretty..

The Registan in Samarkand

Registan

Any visitor to Uzbekistan will walk away with a lot of pictures like this..

Inside the courtyard of one of the madrassas

Get a sense of scale

Guri Amir Mausoleum

Shah-I-Zinda

Tesco Ireland still trades along the Silk Road

Curiously every border official here thinks I'm Irish, because it is the last word that appears in the name of the country on the front of my passport. Perhaps the ultimate victory of our emerald isle friends..