Dedeman Silk Road Hotel Tashkent

... to look through the windows.

Also in the yard was a small congregation of storks. We all rushed over to take photos of the storks. A woman was there whose child was determined to go play with the storks. The storks would just move out of his reach and pay him no mind but the policeman there was quite irate that the child was “bothering” the storks. I asked if I could take a photo of the ...

... as other stations have come on line, they have continued to build them with a theme, sort of, or at least decorated each one in some fashion.

One station was Cosmonaut station. It had large almost abstract drawings from photographs of different Cosmonauts and the people who had designed the rocket engine and the one who built it. Another station was dedicated to cotton and was covered ...

The Mighty Buck October 10, 2009

My small two star hotel in Tashkent changes money. Makes it a lot easier than trying to find money changers or black market changers or even an ATM which aren't as plentiful as I was lead to believe by the guide book. They are offering a rate of 1500 Uzbekistan Zum to $1. That’s a ...

... start to negotiate, final result: 1700 sum for 1 USD. Still ****, but at least it’s a bit more. Only later I realize this is rarely done, so pretty proud I got it done ;-))

After a second night at their home, sharing tea, homemade wine and good company it is time to say goodbye. They have to go to work and we want to visit some more sites and have to hit the road again…Ochin Spasiba for everything!

Following the old Silk Road and now tourist trail our ...

... br>
‘S avonds worden we door TJ opgehaald en thuis gebracht. Wat een luxe J Broer, vrouw en kids zijn er deze avond ook en we drinken thee als 1 grote familie.

Op weg naar Samarkand zien we weer meloenen, katoenvelden, de meest prachtig en kleurrijk gekleedde vrouwen, theehuizen, op bankjes zittende opaatjes en grazende ezels. Ik zou prima de hele dag naast zo’n opaatje kunnen zitten en om me heen kijken, potje backgammon spelen en thee drinken ;-)

Tashkent, Uzbekistan mirapanis

... jeep, and deserted landscape, mountain peaks and fascinating how the people can survive in this area. You cross mountain passes approx. 4000-4500 meters. We didn't have a good start entering into Tajikistan. The border control - two drunken guards - wanted to have some money from us. When we said (or tried to explain) that we don't pay, they forced us to take all our luggage out of the car. This was reason enough to pay them a bribe ...

... by way like what could you eat or where could you sleep. Therefore our friendly united team which is able to solve all these everyday questions is going to escort you. And obedient horses are going to carry you on their backs during all this nice route, and you will make friends with these hard-workers, and you’re going to miss them, and keeping kind smile long time after you are going to remember everybody who has been meeting with you at this journey…
But ...

... base camp (4000m). Ascent preparation.
Day 6 Ascent to the Camp 1. 4600 m.
Day 7 Ascent to the Camp 2. 5300 m.
Day 8 Ascent to the Camp 3. 5700 m.
Day 9 Ascent to the Camp 4. 6400 m.
Day 10 Descent to Camp 1.
Day 11 Descent to Base Camp.
Day 12 Rest and preparation day.
Day 13 Ascent to the Camp 1.
Day 14 Ascent to the Camp 2.
Day 15 Ascent to the Camp 3.
Day 16 Ascent ...

... singlet tops. In one sense it was a relief to see such liberal clothing but in another they seemed so exposed. Had I somehow become indoctrinated by the Iranian ethic? As we walked through the duty free shops I was struck once more by the pictures of women in advertising, scantily clad women holding perfume bottles or alcohol. These were advertisements I had seen many times before but now they appeared so graphic and erotic. I was suddenly aware that in the three ...

... the last coin of what currency we had with us.

If Tashkent airport had not been as stifling hot as it was, it sure would have been by then. A bit of tension between the two of us? Never. But tempers rapidly turned to relief when we saw our driver who met us on the other side of customs. Welcome to Uzbekistan!

Our first destination on our travels was the city of Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan with a population some 2.5 million. Totally rebuilt after the devastating ...