Best Eastern Shodlik Palace Tashkent

... then into Tashkent.<br><br> For some reason, buses and cars are not allowed to drive up the ramp to the front door of the airport. So buses unload their passengers at the foot of the ramp and porters load everyone&#8217;s bag onto one cart and push it up the ramp. We have only been together 10 days but I really like all those Brits. They all had a good ...

... for sure. There was also a Koran there about the size of a miniature playing card. You would need a very large magnifying glass to read it.<br><br> Finally we stopped at the mosque. It had twin minarets and the builders had a competition to build them but I am not sure what the competition was because they looked alike so maybe it was who would finish first. We could not go into the mosque but we did ...

... street looking for an internet café but couldn&#8217;t find one. Did find a large fruit and vegetable market in a large covered area with smaller markets around the edges for meats and breads and sundries and household items and such. <br><br> I decided to get some yoghurt and the store I picked had one clerk who spoke a bit of English. They were delighted ...

... I&#8217;ll just go until I drop I guess.<br><br> It wasn&#8217;t a bad walk. He did warn us that crossing streets is a national sport and you cannot ever guarantee that cars will stop. He was like a shepherd guard dog getting us across the streets. <br><br> When we finally reached the subway he warned us that we could not take photos in the subway at all and if we were caught, they would either ...

... they had to try so I wasn&#8217;t upset. Some airports are way too pushy and then it&#8217;s not fun as you try and fight them off.<br><br> I have my coat now and start walking through the crowd looking for my name on a sign. I look at every sign and one says &#8220;British Council&#8221;. He speaks English so he asks if I have any phone numbers. I pull out my itinerary with all the emergency phone ...

... rallied round to help. They take me to a bank. No they don't accept Visa/Mastercard. They find one that does. You must get dollars I am advised. I do. Back to the airport to make a phone call. Now the ticket. <br>"You need cyms."<br>"But I thought..."<br>"No cyms."<br>We go back to town. Then comes the bargaining to get a good exchange rate.. It is certainly better than the bank rate but the dollar is sliding. One of the delights of Uzbekistan is its ...

... much, do yoga or creative things. This will have to wait till India I think. The days are filled with sightseeing, driving, doing daily chores and socializing&#8230;not that I am complaining, feel very happy that I do not have to work like most of you ;-))<br><br>Typing this last bit of the story, I am now also the proud owner of a one year multiple enty visa for India! Chinese visa will have to wait till Kirgizstan as due to bank holidays we are not the only ones waiting at the ...

... helpt ons regelmatig en aangezien we hier een week zijn, worden we uitgenodigd op het verjaardagsfeestje van zijn vrouw. Een lange tafel met familie en een overvloed aan eten en wodka wacht op ons. Er wordt gepraat, gelachen, gespeecht (Angelique en ik moeten uiteraard ook speechen ;-), getoast, gedanst en gezongen met de karaoke, erg leuk. <br><br>We dachten in Tashkent ook wel gemakkelijk aan geld te kunnen komen maar dat blijkt een tijdrovend klusje. Dollars wisselen naar Sum is ...

... that hike. <br><br>Our drive through Kazakhstan was in sharp contrast. For the first 8 hours or so, we fell in and out of sleep, chatted and people watched as we passed through towns. Then things began to melt down as the air-conditioning also melted down, just in time for the crushing heat of the afternoon. We sang through the Sound of Music in its entirety - twice - and Les Miserables to pass the time, re-enacted the Do-A-Deer scene ...

... gleaming like they had a been air-brushed and little glass jars of fragrant spices were lined up in rows to entice buyers. There was entire section dedicated to kurut, small round white balls of dried yogurt, that smelled a bit like old milk.<br><br>Most intriguing were the loaves of bread. Hundreds of round loaves were housed in old fashioned baby carriages (we saw this time and time again) and were varnished with a shiny glaze. The women walked around with their ...