Stauffer's Global Gallivants: July 20 Crossing our Last Border into Uzbekistan

7/20

Before leaving Khujand and the country of Tajikistan, we visited the Sufi Sheik Mausoleum. He was a teacher of Sufis, what some call a mystical sect of Islam, and his body moved there to this Registan, which is a central square of cities in this region, meaning “sandy place.”

Other madrassas and mosques were brought her because of respect for this sheik.

The bazaar in Khŭjand is called the Thursday Market, and we went there on Thursday! In Tajik it is the Panjshanbe Bozor in. It's the largest market in Tajikistan and a great example of a typical Central Asian market. As Dushanbe was named after its Monday market, it was fun to see the action on this market’s busiest day, even though because of the heat, some of the sellers had already cleared away from the center square and were cleaning up.

I cannot get enough of these. They are so interesting and fun. I purchased some delicious dried apricots and some seasoned pistachios.

Back in the vehicle, we continued on to the border with Uzbekistan. It was a more complex process than crossing by road from Kyrgyzstan into Kazakhstan or through the airport. We had to walk our luggage some of the 800 meters, but a good deal of the way we had it brought by a little truck, which the driver asked me to ride (I was the one nearby). We also checked out on one side and checked in on the other and had to have our luggage screened (Ilyas had sweet talked the Kazakh guards to avoid it before).

Let’s talk about the incredible country of Uzbekistan.

With 30 million people, Uzbekistan is the most populous of the four countries on our itinerary. Uzbekistan is now a Republic with an elected government, though its elections are notoriously fraudulent. The most notable example is their former president Islam Karimov, who was in power from 1991 until his death in 2016. However, this new president has created major changes, and there are many more freedoms. They are investing heavily in tourism. Recently I saw an article about advertisements for it in Times Square.

Uzbekistan is by far the most populous country in Central Asia. It is also the most diverse ethnicity and culturally.

We began our exploration of Uzbekistan in Tashkent, the capital. A bustling city of around over 3 million, Tashkent is a green city located in an oasis along the small Chirchik River, near the Tien Shan Mountains. Various settlements have existed on the site since antiquity. It has been called Tashkent since around the 10th century when the city was part of the Kara-Khanid Khanate. This name, Turkic in origin, means “City of Stone.” The city was sacked by Genghis Khan in 1219 and re-founded under Amir Temür in the late 1300s. It was considered the richest city in Central Asia when it came under Russian rule in 1865. The capital was moved here in 1922 from Samarkand. It is still the most Russian city in Uzbekistan.

Iconic Soviet era hotel that has been redone. We did not stay here but stopped there.

Beautiful newer government building. People like to hang out here in the evenings. There are lovely tree-likened streets.

Do you like the Soviet architecture? I am. It fond of it. Most of these are getting updates or being torn down.

Central Asia does not have most US chains, but there are a lot of KFC’s. We have not seen a single McDonald’s. They do not have them or Burger King.

Very little from Tashkent’s history remains; most of the city was destroyed in a massive earthquake in 1966. Volunteers came from around the Soviet Union to help rebuild afterward, and many of them chose to stay due to the warm climate and easy access to food from nearby farms. It is still very common to see bilingual signs in Tashkent, written in both Uzbek and Russian. Our guide, Erkin, is Uzbek, and he got a degree in economics in Tashkent. He is only 27 years old. The hat he is wearing is a traditional Uzbek hat.

Chevrolet manufactures here and most cars are white chevies.

Melanie, Laurie, Jody and I went to an art

Melanie, Laurie, Jody and I went to an art and textile museum. It was incredible to view the textiles, including beautiful embroidered pieces, stamped pieces, musical instruments, ceramics, miniatures, and so forth. There was a large room that was part of an old home with gorgeous tile work. We took a hundred photos.