Sadly I think I’m giving up on posting videos. WordPress isn’t built to handle video uploads very well and I end up spending more time trying to add videos than it’s worth. I think they add a lot of value, and sometimes do a better job than photos of showing what I am describing, but it’s been a huge headache every post and half the time they don’t even work.
Uzbekistan had a tough draw in the match. I was tired after nearly two months of traveling with Ken and hiking like absolute madmen. Plus I had spent the previous week on the adventurous road trip along the Pamir Highway stuck in the car with three other people. I really needed a beach vacation from my backpacking trip (I know my life is so tough) where I could sit on my conga baking in the sun and staring at the crashing waves, but Uzbekistan was in the neighborhood and I didn’t know when I would have another opportunity to visit. Don’t get me wrong, I still had a very enjoyable experience traveling around the world renowned Silk Road cities. I was just at the point of my backpacking trip where I was feeling a bit travel fatigued.
Uzbekistan stood at the center of the Silk Road with cities like Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva serving as strategic trading hubs linking China, the Middle East, and Europe. The country is a crossroads of civilization and melting pot of cultures – art, architecture, literature, music, science, religion, academia, and craftsmanship. Early civilizations like Bactria and Sogdia flourished in the river valleys before Arab conquests in the 8th century brought Islam to the area. The territory later came under control of the Persian Samanid Dynasty, the Turks, the Mongols, and conqueror Amir Timur (Tamerlane). Under Tamerlane, Samarkand became his imperial capital and flourished with a cultural and architectural boom.
Following centuries of independent Uzbek khanate rule, the expanding Russian empire took over the territory in the 19th centuries. The Bolsheviks formed the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924 reshaping borders, driving rapid secularization, and enforcing massive cotton production. Like the other Stans I visited, the country gained independence in 1991 with the collapse of the USSR. Uzbekistan has had only two primary leaders since its independence with Islam Karimov ruling with authoritative power from 1991-2016 (the country held elections but true opposition political parties were suppressed and he would always win by a landslide) and Shavkat Mirziyoyev in charge ever since (slightly more fair but still an absence of real competition).
Uzbekistan is one of only two doubly-landlocked countries in the entire world (the other being Liechtenstein) —meaning you have to cross at least two national borders from any direction to reach an ocean. Roughly 80% of the country is covered by flat desert plains. The eastern part of the country is mountainous on the borders with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Tucked between the mountains is the fertile Fergana Valley, a densely populated agricultural heartland. In the far northwest lies the remnants of the Aral Sea. Once one of the four largest lakes in the world, it was famously drained by Soviet irrigation projects that diverted its feeder rivers to grow cotton. The Aral Sea has lost roughly 90% of its surface area and water volume since its decline began in the 1960s Today, much of the former seabed is a toxic salt desert known as the Aralkum, presenting a major ecological challenge for the region. Once booming fishing villages have now been abandoned. The area’s only appeal now is a strange form of tourism to see the “Ship Cemetary” of abandoned rusting ships.
The Uzbek som is 12,000 to the dollar so there’s lots of zeroes to deal with and always caused me minor headaches differentiating between the 10,000 and 100,000 notes. But hey at least I was a millionaire every time I pulled money out of the ATM!
Almost every car you see on the road in Uzbekistan is a white Chevy. I did my research and historically 80-90% of the country’s vehicles are Chevy. Following its independence, Uzbekistan sought to establish a self reliant domestic economy creating a joint venture with South Korean automaker Daewoo and building Central Asia’s largest manufacturing plant. When Daewoo collapsed in the early 2000s, GM took over the plant and rebranded the vehicles as Chevrolets. For nearly three centuries, the Uzbek government aggressively protected its local factory by imposing exorbitant import tariffs often exceeding 100% of a vehicle’s value. Additionally, because millions of Chevrolets have been built domestically, the entire automotive ecosystem and supply chain is optimized for the brand. The Chevys are all white because of the extreme heat in the desert plains.
Andijan
Andijan is the fourth largest city in Uzbekistan with a population of just over 500,000 people. Inhabited for over 2,500 years, it is one of the oldest cities in the Fergana Valley and historically served as a major trade crossroads on the Silk Road. Lying on the southeastern edge of the Fergana Valley close to the border with Kyrgyzstan, the city is surrounded by irrigated farmland in a region famous for cotton, silk, and fruit production. In modern times it has become a major manufacturing center producing chemicals, textiles, and machinery. Crowds of people in the streets, restaurants and shops, and heavy traffic had all become foreign to us. After staying in tiny villages along the Pamir Highway, Andijan felt like we had entered the largest city in the world.
Getting In
After our dispute with Musa’s brother over our deposit was resolved, he showed his Kyrgyz hospitality and offered to drive us the five minutes to the border. The same border we had crossed just a few weeks before on our way to Tajikistan. Once again, the stamps on Ken’s passport gave him issues and the border patrol sent him to a small room for questioning. Uh oh. Emiel and I waited on the other side hoping that Ken would be able to get through. The alternative would have meant him going to the embassy in Bishkek and flying out from there. That didn’t sound like a fun option. After 10-15 minutes, Ken’s smiling face came walking through. Woohoo! He ended up in a room with the same border patrol guard that had questioned him a few weeks before and was able to say he was just passing through the country for a day after completing the Pamir Highway. With that stress behind us, we easily crossed on the Uzbekistan side then had the joys of haggling with the taxi vultures. Ken was over the hustle but I was enjoying playing the negotiation game. We got one driver a little bit down on the price and figured good enough. But since we only had three of us, we sat in the car waiting while he found a fourth. After 10 minutes, we agreed that it would be worth the few extra dollars to pay for the whole taxi. I went and found the driver in the crowd and offered a price less than we would be willing to pay so that we could ultimately meet in the middle. I saved us a whopping $1.50! It felt good to play the game. The drive to Andijan was less than an hour and we got to our hotel by late afternoon.
Lodging
We got a hotel room for one night in Andijan since the city only served as a stop off on our way to Tashkent. There were crazy tourist taxes that nearly doubled the cost, but we were too tired to really care. I learned this is common in Uzbekistan and was attentive in my future bookings to see what taxes were charged. Another interesting thing about lodging in Uzbekistan is that the government has a system to track tourists’ accommodations and it is recommended to ask your hotel for a print out of your stay (there is now a digital system but it is prone to system glitches) in case you get asked at customs when leaving the country. I always got a copy, or at least whenever possible as some guesthouses didn’t have printers, but never got asked when I left the country.
Wandering Around Town
Ken, Emiel, and I once again celebrated the success of our Pamir Highway adventure and drank a bunch of beers at the hotel bar. The energy was high and the conversations flowing. We ended up getting authentic Uzbek dinner that night at a little known place called KFC. Sometimes you just need fried chicken in your life.
Our train the next day wasn’t until mid afternoon so we decided to be tourists and took a Yandex to the Andijan Regional Museum of History and Culture. The museum chronicles the archaeological history of the Fergana Valley and also houses some 20th century paintings by Uzbek artists.
Then we got lunch and headed back to the hotel to say our goodbyes to Emiel. He was heading directly to Samarkand, whereas Ken and I were going to Tashkent. There was a chance that I would catch up to him later on in Uzbekistan, but Ken was flying out the next day so they wouldn’t see each other again. The train station was a five minute walk from our hotel (part of the reason we chose it).
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and largest city in Central Asia with a population of approximately 3.28 million people. The city became the capital of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic on August 17, 1930 (my birthday! Just a few years before I was born) replacing Samarkand. The ancient city was mostly leveled by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in 1966 and was subsequently rebuilt by Soviet architects with wide tree-lined boulevards. The city is an urban sprawl and not super walkable. Everything further away than it looks on a map. But it does have the first metro system in Central Asia. More on that later.
Getting In
Ken and I took the fast train to Tashkent lasting 4hr45min. Uzbekistan has the most advanced and efficient railway network in Central Asia, famously anchored by the high-speed bullet train, the “Afrosiyob.” It is the best way to get around the country but also requires booking tickets in advance particularly for the Afrosiyob. Since I didn’t book weeks in advance, I usually ended up on the slow trains. I still had to come up with a schedule for my 10 day stint in Uzbekistan in order to lock in a seat.
We had regular seats and the train was air conditioned. There was constantly a guy walking down the aisle selling a variety of different snacks and drinks. Ken let me have the window seat. We were laughing about a small plot of land that belonged to Tajikistan inside of Uzbekistan. Upon further investigation into the map, there were also small blocks of land belonging to Uzbekistan inside of Kyrgzstan. These small enclaves were an end result of Soviet border drawings for these countries and the sudden collapse of the USSR. It was a crazy concept to live landlocked in a part of your country that was entirely surrounded by a different country.
Lodging
For his last night, Ken and I stayed in a hotel with smelly hallways nearby the train station in a predominantly Chinese neighborhood. We went out for amazing Georgian food and beers on our last night together. We had a great run and it was bitter sweet to see him leave the next morning. I was glad to have him as my partner in crime for all the crazy hikes and backcountry treks we had done. We traveled well together and I only occasionally got annoyed with him; as is bound to happen when spending so much time together traveling. But I was stoked to have my freedom back and to travel at my own pace exploring whatever fit my fancy in that moment; not having to ask someone else’s opinion on what to do next.
On my first night of independence I decided to spend the big bucks and got a $35 hotel room that was the nicest place I had stayed in a while. It was clean, big space, double bed, nice shower, good breakfast buffet, and friendly staff. Very much worth the splurge. In our two months together, Ken and I never booked separate rooms, so it was nice to finally have an entire room to myself.
Change of Plans
My original plan after the Stans was to go to Nepal to do more trekking. But the country has been going through a rougher than usual monsoon season, and for once in my life I was getting kind of tired of trekking. While on the Pamir Highway I was having second thoughts as to whether now was the right time to go to Nepal. I knew my sense of mountain adventure would be renewed once I saw the Himalayas, but I was feeling a little burnt out on trekking after having done so many hikes in Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, and Central Asia. The universe was pointing toward a change of plans. After careful consideration, I decided that Japan would be my next stop. I knew that I would make a future trip to Nepal a priority, but I didn’t know if I would ever have the opportunity to do long travel in Japan. My first night by myself in Uzbekistan I decided to lock in my future plans and booked a flight to Japan; a decision I would not regret.
Tashkent Metro
For 2,500 Uzbek Som ($0.21), metro stops are both a tourist attraction and a functional means of transportation. The Tashkent Metro was the first metro system in Central Asia, opening its doors to the public in 1977. It now has four fully operational lines running. The metro was an important symbol of modernization and technological advancement during the Soviet era and served as a prestigious project for the city. For years you could not take pictures of the 29 Taskent metro stations, because of its military and strategic function, but this all changed in 2018. In the older metro lines each station has a story behind it and is tied to a theme reflected in its ornate design and decorations built by prominent Uzbek architects and artists. In Soviet ideology, the metro stations were to be palaces of the people representing the beauty of Soviet life. You can get off at the stop to view the architecture then hop on the next metro five minutes later. On my first full day in Tashkent, I made a point to hit a lot of the highlight metro stations; while also using it as a means to get me around the city to different tourist attractions.
I started by taking the green line metro (the third line to open in 2001) to get lunch at Besh Qozon, a central Asian plov center. Every country in Central Asia serves plov, and I had eaten my fair share of it already, but for Uzbekistan it is their national dish; each region has its own variation and specific style differing on rice type, ingredients, and overall composition. I had read about Besh Qozon in a blog and with over 11,000 reviews on Google and 4.7 stars, I figured it was the place to be. The restaurant is huge and has both indoor and outdoor seating with a giant patio that seats hundreds of people; and almost every table was full. This was a good sign. The plov was delicious and certainly a step above some of the other versions I had eaten.
After lunch I hopped back on the green line before switching over to the red line (the oldest line) and heading to Amir Temur Square. The main square of the city is home to the Uzbekistan Hotel, a landmark Soviet-era grand hotel. I didn’t look up what it cost for a room, but I imagine it was outside of my backpacker budget. In the center of the square was a nicely maintained circular park with flowers surrounding a statue of Amir Temur and the Uzbekistan Hotel in the backdrop.
From there I walked down Sailgokh Street; a wide pedestrian only street with overhanging lights, food vendors on both sides, ping pong tables, playgrounds, and lots of activity. It felt nice walking around and exploring solo. I didn’t have to wait up for anyone or ask their opinions on what to do; just the way I like it. I enjoyed my time with Ken but am used to solo travel and it felt good to be back. I sat on a bench observing the hustle and bustle of people living their everyday city life.
I got back on the red line for one stop before switching to the blue line (the second line to open in 1984 and the one with my favorite stations). The switch from the red line Paxtakor stop and the blue line Alisher Navoiy stop is a center point of the metro system and had the most hectic crowds of any of the stations (but was nothing compared to the chaotic stations I would experience in Japan). I was on my way to the Chorsu Bazaar, but first I got off at multiple stops along the blue line to enjoy the architecture and murals. I took it all the way to the end before heading back toward the bazaar.
I had seen a lot of bazaars in Central Asia, but Chorsu was one of the more interesting designs. It was a giant circle market centered around a dome. You could find all the usual stuff – souvenirs, artesanal goods, food, etc. I purchased a refreshing beet juice.
Then I walked through the Zarkanyar Street Shops which had an old city feel to it on my way to Hazarti Imam Complex. This complex is the religious heart of Tashkent with mosque, madrasas, museums, and other pilgrimage sites. This was the first of many examples of beautiful ornate Islamic architecture and tiled patterns that I would see in Uzbekistan. Afterwards I was tired and decided to Yandex back to my hotel rather than using the metro.
The following day, my train to Samarkand wasn’t until late in the afternoon so I went to the remaining popular metro stops on the red and blue line that I missed the day before. The red line was more crowded this time, maybe because it was around lunchtime, or maybe it’s always that crazy and I got lucky the prior day, but we were packed in there like sardines. I can’t even imagine how miserable this would be in peak summer heat. The space themed Kosmonavltar on the blue line was my favorite out of all of them.
On my last day in Uzbekistan (and Central Asia) after doing the major Silk Road cities, I had taken the overnight train from Khiva back to Tashkent arriving in the city at 8:15am. My plane wasn’t until 10:20pm so I had all day to kill. I dropped my luggage off at the storage locker in the train station so I didn’t have to deal with it. I had already seen the sites that interested me in Tashkent which gave me the whole day to do nothing. I passed the time by going from park to park, bench to bench, and cafe to cafe. I researched Japan and the Philippines, wrote the blog, and tried to learn some basic Japanese phrases. I also ate one final lagman for lunch, which turned out to be one of the best of the whole trip.
I had all the time in the world to get to the airport after my nothing day in Tashkent so I decided to take the bus back to the train station since it only cost $0.22 (compared to the wildly overpriced $5 Yandex. That’s a 25x multiplier!). What an experience that was! At first it wasn’t too crowded but every stop way more people got on than got off and soon enough we were packed in there like sardines. It was so packed the door could barely close yet people were still piling in. Freaking Asia! I was so glad to get off that thing. It was a good final memory of Central Asia.