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[spock]

An Uzbek visa is so hard to get,Uzbekistan is Asia's most well kept secret.
But it is a place I am in love with!

[spock]

To begin with "it has the city of stone" Tashkent.It has the granduer of Samarkand and Bukhara,the quaint charm of Khiva,the snow clad hills of Chimgan,the restless valley of Ferghana and the picture postcard beauty of Charvak.But unfortunately,one of the most repressive regimes in the world.And abject poverty!

[whereshegoes]

What is the food like here??? Must one be invited to get a visa?

[spock]

Yes citizens of most countries (the US and Canada) included need visa support letters.The regime is pretty paranoid especially now that it has closed the US base operating in the country.You can count on the Secret police following you around,adding to the fun.There is this excellent book on Uzbekistan,"Chasing the Sea" by Tom Bissell.
The food is passable.Horse sausage is available there too.And plenty of Koreans around who consider dog a delicacy.But the fruit is so good,I have never tasted anything better.

[spock]

The Tashkent metro stations are unforgettable works of art.Art in metro stations ? Well,Uzbekistan is that kind of place. Gorgeous girls everywhere.It seems they are getting their revenge on the Soviets who wrapped women up in the most drab clothing imaginable and the only way a woman could express her fashion sense was by the design of her shoe.Well,now they are setting that right with great gusto and a vengeance.

[spock]

Like most Soviet cities,Tashkent has this walkway,also called "Broadway" or "Zarfashan." Shashlik stands,nascent captalism and an endless parade of girls in the most outrageous mini skirts.

[spock]

One hour from Tashkent is the ski resort of Chimgan.It has a few shashlik stands but little else in the way of amenities.But the snow is perfect,the road is good and the experience memorable.

All Central Asian countries are land locked.So they create their own beaches.A short distance from Tashkent is "TashMoray", a lake with boating and used for sun bathing and picnics.Nice place to leisurely spend a summer day.

[spock]

Tashkent's Ali Sher Navio ballet theatre is world class.It also has a wonderful concert hall,"People's Friendship Palace" (or Druyba Naroodo).Very strange architecture from the outside but the pop concerts and fashin shows inside were amazingly good.Great special effects and acrobatics.Also the circus had some hair raising stunts.

[spock]

Unfortunaltely,all is not well in Uzbekistan.Political unrest has been brewing for several years.Last year,President Karimov ordered a crackdown which resulted in a massacre of hundreds (if not thousands) in Andijon.Uzbekistan still remains behind an iron curtain.

[spock]

The "Tezeekofka Bazar" in Tashkent is a sad sight.It is a grim reminder of the harsh realities of life in the post Soviet era.People bring every little thing from their homes tryng to sell it no matter how useless it may be.
Many are nostalgic for the Soviet safety net which has been yanked from under them.

[123alma]

http://win.alma.googlepages.com/home

[marat777]

A good thing is that there is very high competition in the Uzbek travel market, so you can expect to get a very decent service. People are friendly, and there is no unrest or street crime.

[mohidil]

Hello,

If you wish find out more about Uzbekistan. To visit his fantastic cities as Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Shakhrisabz. That Travel agency " ALIJON " - the leading travel agency in Republic Uzbekistan since 1996, with an operational experience in the field of tourism will incur all cares and the organizations of your rest and will make its unforgettable.
OUR CONTACTS:
Travel agency “ALIJON”
Sattepo 148 b, Samarqand 140100, Uzbekistan.
Tel: +00998 66 935 99 53
Fax: +00998 66 221 45 60
Å- mail: alijontour@yahoo.com
Web:www.sam.com
Sincerely,
Tugalova Mohidil
Manager «ALIJON»

[centralasia]

Oriental Dastarkhan


Fascinating journey for foodies!

To the heart of Tamerlane`s empire map of the tour in Uzbekistan. Uzbek cuisine, perhaps, is one of the most saturated in the whole Orient! Uzbekistan, during hundred of years located at the trade caravans’ ways of the Great Silk Road gathered inside the most interesting and extraordinary dishes of the different countries. Traders were exchanging the dearest secrets of the one or other recipes. By this way many dishes of the different countries entered to the Uzbek cuisine and practically became national. Each dish has it’s own ritual and method of preparation. Certainly, the most world-wide famous dishes, as it well known, is pilaw (pilau). Just imagine, only this national dish has thousand of recipes. And you will have opportunity to try pilaw of Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, Fergana and even Tashkent and compare them: which one is the tastiest?
The pilaw is considered as ordinary and at the same time festive dish. Neither national holiday nor birthday party can go without it! There is a huge list of other not the less exotic dishes besides it. During this program of the tour you will also try national dishes of some other cuisine as Kyrgyz, Tajik, Georgian, Armenian, Russian, Korean, Chinese etc.
And you will be certainly entranced by the sweatiest odour of the juicy fruits, which attracts with asking to try them! Not without a reason it said that Uzbekistan is the country of the fruits! And abundance of the national sweeties will make happy any one who likes sweets! During this tour you will have a opportunity not only to try Oriental gastronomy, but meet with ancient history and culture of Uzbekistan. Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva are the cities, where still is kept the memories about Tamerlane, Alexander the Great, Chingiz-Khan, many trade caravans of the Great Silk Road. High and elegant minarets, grandiose madrasah and mosques will be branded into your memory. This travel will be of the mind of the real gourmet! Open for yourself the world full of the oriental delicacies!

Program of the tour:

Day 1. Arrival to Tashkent.
Day 2. Tashkent - Samarkand transfer.
Day 3. Samarkand.
Day 4. Samarkand - Bukhara transfer.
Day 5. Bukhara.
Day 6. Bukhara - Khiva.
Day 7. Khiva.
Day 8. Khiva - Urgench - Tashkent.
Day 9. Tashkent/departure.

The cost of the tour in $:

Per.


2


3-4


5-6


7-9


10-14


15-19


SGL supplement

hotels of 2-3*


1370


1300


1130


1060


1010


950


50

hotels of 4-5*


1595


1530


1360


1290


1265


1175


150

The cost includes:

*
Accommodation in the following hotels in twin/double share with breakfast:
*
Full board treatment;
*
Services of the driver with comfortable transport during the tour, including airport-hotel-airport transfers;
*
The cost of Urgench - Tashkent domestic air flight;
*
Sightseeing tour in each city;
*
Entry fees for the main monuments of each city;
*
Services of accompany guide for the tour.

The cost does not include:

*
International Air Fare;
*
Early check-in and late check out of hotel;
*
Insurance.

http://www.centralasia-travel.com/en/count.../tours/culinary