Rovshan-Tashkent Hotel

... winding down. We only have a few more hours to go. I stuff my pillows in the corner of my sleeping platform and lean back against them and actually drift off to sleep again. My roommate did the same. On arriving in Urgench, our tour leader runs off to find a porter (lovely deal, this porter business) and we climb on a bus for our trip to Khiva, our next stop for sightseeing.

... br><br> Back in the bus and back to swivel head for awhile. We then stopped at one of the big parks, of which they seem to have many, and went to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There is an eternal flame there and a large statue of the hero mother &#8211; a mother who has lost her son or sons in service to Uzbekistan. We were lucky to find an older couple there in traditional Uzbekistan dress and they did not ...

... in Tashkent. Per my husband, it is always safe to drink the beer as it is boiled when it is made. You might not get the same standard even with bottled water. It was a nice meal. The walk back to the hotel from the restaurant was a bit chilly. Finally I think I am going to get to use my warm clothes which haven&#8217;t been out of the suitcase since the first week in Iceland. A very nice first tour.

... is &#8211; at best &#8211; unordered chaos. There are bags all over the floor as energetic baggage handlers have pulled them from the two carousels. People are crowded around several stands filling in paperwork so I figure there are customs forms now to do. I find a blank form but it&#8217;s in Uzbek. There is an English form glued to the counter and I manage to fill in the form but I did it quite ...

... days ago we made it to Tashkent: the 4th largest city of Central Asia and capital of Uzbekistan with over 3 million citizens, although it does not feel like a busy place at all. The center is widespread with lots of green, huge buildings and large streets. For us mostly a functional stopover as we have to arrange at least 2, but preferably 3 visa: Kyrgyzstan, China and India. If we can arrange the last one here also, it means it is not a must to Bishkek (capital of Kyrgyzstan ...

... is indrukwekkend in Samarkand en lopend zeker een stuk beter te behappen dan met de bus, hel! Onbedoeld raak ik verstrikt tussen toeterende minibusjes, wandelende broodkramen en heel veel wandelverkeer. Een vriendelijke jongen loodst me er door heen en ik kan er gelukkig enorm om lachen. De bazaar is geweldig net als de bakkerij die we onderweg tegen komen. Brood is hier kunstig rond, met sesamzaadjes, lepyoschka genaamd en werkelijk op iedere straathoek te vinden. Ze rijden hele ...

... and we just had to bribe the border control once when they pushed us to give them some money (and that we didn't have to get all our things checked). Travelling to the Fan mountains was the other time our driver paid some money. On the way to Ayni, there is a tunnel which is still in construction, but going through this tunnel helps you save two hours drive over a dustry mountain pass. It was a funny experience though - with money, you ...

... of the lake.<br>Day 8. Ride from Iry-Kel lake to the southern extremity of Sary-Chelek lake to Upaly tract. Bypassof Kely-Kel lake and further ride to Arkit-Say river. Camp 6 is near Arkit village.<br>Day 9. Transfer Arkit village - Osh (420km;8h). Accommodation at hotel.<br>Day 10. 1) Transfer to airport. Early flight Osh &#8211; Bishkek. Departure home.<br>2) Transfer to airport. Departure home. <br><br>http://www.centralasia-travel.c om/en/trekking/tien-shan/sari-chelek<br >

... put our bags on our backs and carried on down the leafy back street to the Sam Buh Hotel. Although nothing fancy this place had a much better feel to it. The rooms were pleasant and had TV, and even better, they were showing BBC news, something we had been completely starved of when in Iran. Aside from some snippets at Nikki and Heath's we had experienced a bit of a media blackout over the past few weeks.<br><br>We spent the late afternoon walking around Tashkent ...

... br><br>We didn't ever meet a really ferocious Svetlana but we certainly had some exasperating and nerve wracking times with Central Asian bureaucracy.<br><br>Once again our departure from Urumqi airport to Tashkent, Uzbekistan placed us in yet another country capsule. As we queued up for our departure, gone were the Uighur people, there certainly were no Chinese looking people and quite disconcertingly the pushing throngs of people returning to Uzbekistan from China ...