Country #4/5 on three-week tour of "Stans"
One of the first stops in Tashkent, Hazrati Imam Complex.
Khast Imam Square, Barak-Khan Madrasah
Amir Timur Square
Very nice park, had some college students interview us for their English class. We've turned into a spectacle lots of times on this trip with people wanting to practice English.
WWII Memorial. Uzbekistan had ~300k casualties out of 6.5m population. Buildings at this site have all of their names engraved on metal sheets, divided by province.
Mustaqillik Maydoni
Tashkent Subway, Taking pictures became permitted only a couple of months before our arrival.
Tashkent Metro, Kosmonavtlar Station
Chorsu Bazaar, Tashkent
No Central Asian bazaar is complete without a horse meat section
Fresh bread cooking in tandur oven
Afrosiab train from Tashkent to Samarkand
Samarkand... Pro tip: A "hot dog" may not even remotely resemble your expectation. "I'll have one" produced a giant piece of pita-like bread stuffed with shredded pickled beets, cucumber, carrots, bologna, half a jar of mayonnaise, something like ketchup, regular pickles, fried onions, and yes, a small frankfurter buried at the bottom.
Gur-e Amir Mausoleum, Samarkand. I may have misjudged vaulting over a concrete ledge here. An extra couple of feet drop onto concrete is actually relevant to a smooth landing. All that smooth white stone just threw off my depth perception. Luckily I'm still bouncy enough that nothing broke. As it was... totally hilarious to Martha and Greg.
St Daniels Tomb, Samarkand. Apparently there's some kind of holy arm bone or something that will grow with time.
Magic holy wish-granting spring water
Sher-Dor Madrasah, Registan Square, Samarkand. One of only two mosques depicting living creatures (lions here)
Ulugbek Madrasah
Bibi-Khanym Mosque
Watermill at Silk Paper factory
Ulugh Beg Observatory
Ancient mousetrap
Afrosiab Museum, Samarkand
Ark Fortress, Bukhara. Site of lots of colorful, historic executions.
Last Emir's Palace
When the Bolsheviks ran off the Emir, the official history is that he left behind his harem and took along a band of "dancing boys" with him to Afghanistan. Greg insists this is fake news from the Russians.
Chor Minor in Bukhara
Nadir Divan Begi Madrasa in Bukhara, The second (of two) Islamic structures depicting living creatures, in this case a pair of cranes
Kalyan Minaret in Bukhara
Bukhara Old Town
You have to get out early to beat the pensioner tour buses
Old Soviet swag is plentiful throughout this region.
RC, Taste of America
Bukhara Old Town, very touristy but you can get a decent meal here that probably won't give you dysentery
Plov Center, Tashkent. This place is a well-run operation serving hundreds of guests at a time. Some of the best plov of the trip.
Russian Salad, It looks like a plate of Oregon Trail dysentery, but it's not bad at all. The mayonnaise is bacteriostatic
Kalan kebabs... tasty, nutritious, but after enough similar meals, you're ready for some variety. ANY variety.
Sher-Dor Madrasah
