Uzbekistan Travel Blogs

Uzbek Story: It's Like That, Life
Jan 11, 2008

... few years corruption has become much worse," he lamented. But despite the mafia, corruption, and the militsia, "the people in Uzbekistan are beautiful," he added. "You understand me what I am saying, Lloyd." He told me about himself, his life in ...

The Silk Road: Unpeeling the Layers of History
Jan 14, 2008 (53 photos)

The settlement history of Samarkand is thick, layers thick.  Over the years, earthen accretion, erosion, and sieges have covered and destroyed preceeding layers.  But each layer tells a story that is a piece of the Silk Road legend called ...

Al-Jazeera on Satellite TV
Jan 2, 2008 (1 photos)

For four nights I stayed at the Ali Tour Bed and Breakfast. After the long night drive from Fergana, I was greeted to offers of "beer and vodka," prostitutes, and a late night breakfast, not so odd if you are immersed in Central Asian culture for a while. ...

Journey to Baku
Jan 23, 2008

... this financially-challenging leg.  P.S.  What happened with the banks is that they saw activity from both Germany and Uzbekistan and froze my account.  Somehow the server from Karakalpakstan was registering as German.  Either way, everything was straightened ...

The Silk Road: Pomegranate
Jan 18, 2008 (23 photos)

... threat to the secular dictator, Karimov, so are obviously repressed. But one site was the most important for Muslims in Uzbekistan, the Bakha-ud-din Naqshband Mausoleum, where the 14th century founder of the Naqshband Sufi order lies under a humble tomb ...

The Lonesome Smoking Santa
Jan 10, 2008 (24 photos)

Despite what you might think after the recent posts, Tashkent offerred more than just visas and militsia and apparatchik. As the largest city in Central Asia, Tashkent was a winter playground of Metro stations, historical monuments, and museums. ...

Visa Hell
Jan 9, 2008

... militsia than you can shake a stick at (I don't recommend doing this though). So I needed another option... Option Five: Cross Uzbekistan, travel to Kazakhstan to the edge of the Caspian at Aktau, then fly across the Caspian Sea to Baku, where you ...

Just photos
Oct 28, 2003 (2 photos)

Nothing much new going on, just wanted to add photos of Anna and her host family. Enjoy!

Q and A
Sep 17, 2003

Q and A from various recent emails (Since I have a depressing amount of homework tonight, so real entries, emails and trips to the post office to mail that first batch of letters must wait for another day. FYI, I am told that letters take about 2 weeks ...

Weekend Adventures
Oct 19, 2003

I must apologize for taking a week to post these pictures. Allow me to add Tashkent Traveler's Health Tip #7 to my previous list: Do not climb to the top of a leaning minaret and then get probable food poisoning while still recovering from amoebic ...

Homesick (but healthier) in Tashkent
Oct 5, 2003

... weeks ago. Bahodir: Akbar's best friend and my babysitter; essentially a third son in the family and Uzbekistan's Enrique Iglesias. NEIGHBORS: Sveta (pronounced Svyeta): My retired Russian next door neighbor; lives with her dog, Daisy Nastia: ...

Rain and frustration in Central Asia
Oct 6, 2003

First of all, IT'S RAINING! YAY! After a few cool days (following my "Autumn Arrives in Tashkent" announcement, it has been pretty warm again overall. But it has been aining for the past few days, and is pretty chilly now. Yay! As for the ...

Central Asia, Land of Broken Hearts
Nov 6, 2003 (10 photos)

Central Asia, Land of Broken Hearts... doesn't that sound like a smashingly successful new tourism slogan? Yeah, I didn't think so. ;-) Anna, Karen and I had joked in Samarkand and Bukhara about how the only people who seem to get into this field in the ...

Bits and pieces
Sep 23, 2003

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A Girl's Guide to Being Instantly Recognizable as a Foreigner in Tashkent (With additional [and likely biased] commentary from acquaintances) 1. Be in a hurry ...

Health Advice in Uzbekistan
Sep 29, 2003

... see whoever is available, but try to see Dr. Ellen. She rocks. She should be in the Lonely Planet Guide for Uzbekistan... right after the restaurant section ;-) #3: Get good medicine. My antibiotics kick ass. :) #4: Don't feel bad accepting as ...

Arrival and Travails in Tashkent
Sep 8, 2003

... me, since despite all of my pre-departure Russian lessons, I seemed to have forgotten everything as soon as I arrived in Uzbekistan. Dictionary in one hand, I struggled with the lock with the other, to no avail. Finally, I understood the word for window ...

Autumn arrives in Tashkent!
Sep 14, 2003

The heat wave has finally broken! I could comfortably wear the long sleeves and slacks yesterday that comprise most of my wardrobe, and last night was actually chilly! This is a very welcome change from the searing 100-degree-with-blinding-sun weather ...

More Q and A, and some quick updates
Sep 19, 2003

Q: Can I call you? Can you call me? Can you get phonecards? A: Good questions. I don't know, but I'm working on it. Ok, well, hypothetically yes, I do have a phone, but it's not very cooperative. First of all, the connection is bad, so it's really ...

Karakalpakstan: A Hidden Gem of a Land
Jan 22, 2008 (19 photos)

... take long to also realize that people here consider themselves a separate country.  Earlier I asked a man if we were in Uzbekistan: "No nyet, Karakalpakstan."  For thousands of years they have been separate, even if for much of the time, nearby nation-states ...

As the Mahalla Turns...
Oct 9, 2003 (5 photos)

... it, but I've forgotten a lot of it. Besides, I like Uzbek better. I: But I don't understand. You can only speak Uzbek in Uzbekistan. You can speak Russian in many countries. M: I know, but don't worry, I'm sure I'll find a use for it. ;-) I ...

The Silk Road: Ichon Qala, Frozen in Time...Almost
Jan 20, 2008 (16 photos)

Sharing a car with Yuki, Motoko, and another Japanese traveler, I headed west across the white Kyzylkum desert, a misnomer in the winter because it translates as "red sands." Seeing no red sands for hours, but wide expanses of flat, sparse shrublands, ...

Museum of Applied Arts
Oct 27, 2003 (8 photos)

Dilfuza and I went to the Museum of Applied Arts today. At first, I was reluctant to go because I've pretty much had my fill of museums and was really tired, but I was really glad we went. There were lots of beautiful exhibits, and I was able to take ...

Samarkand
Oct 19, 2003 (15 photos)

... remembered that (a) I was still bedridden only 3 or 4 days before, (b) I have a bad knee, (c) I'm a little claustrophobic, (d) Uzbekistan has a history rich in occurences of people being thrown from the tops of minarets, and (e) our friendly policeman had ...

Bukhara
Oct 19, 2003 (1 photos)

... , and you can see the difference in how Bukharans interact with foreigners as a recently hot destination and some other parts of Uzbekistan. Everyone speaks a little English, and isn't afraid to use it. I think they're used to mostly obnoxious tourists, ...

Happy Thanksgiving!
Nov 27, 2003 (10 photos)

... Mavjuda is going to have an invasion of American girls! (This is incidentally the first year there has been a group of girls in Uzbekistan-- usually there's only one at a time, if any... now there's 5!) My only other big news is that I'm coming home ...

Assalom Alaykum! Yakhshi Misiz?
Sep 11, 2003

Wow, so much happens everyday that is probably trivial but seems important to me, that it seems like there's too much to update! I'll do my best, though. The most important thing is definitely that I finally started classes yesterday. My teacher, ...

SNOW!!!
Nov 16, 2003 (8 photos)

It snowed last night! Not very much, just a dusting, but it's still cool. It usually doesn't snow here until January... or maybe it just doesn't snow very much until January... I don't remember. Anyway, it's very pretty from a distance... just don't ...

Welcome to my neighborhood
Oct 24, 2003 (15 photos)

I'm being lazy and procrastinating about finishing my Samarkand and Bukhara posts (there's so much to say I don't really know where to start) so I'm going to post some random stuff. My neighborhood doesn't look like much at first, but it's actually ...

Hurricane!
Sep 20, 2003

Ok, can I request that my hurricane-affected peeps check in? My TV is on the fritz again, so no more CNN... I'm going to peek at the Post online, but I would love to hear how you're all holding up at your earliest convenience. Thanks! Now, if you could ...

Adventures along the Silk Road
Jun 30, 2008 (75 photos)

... in every metro station and on every street corner and train and bus stations. The police force probably employes half of Uzbekistan's citizens. In addition, if you are a nostalgic for good old stinky East European cars, Uzbekistan is the place to go - ...