uzbekistan: tashkent

My taxi picked me up at 0530 to bring me to the train station. My train departed on time and arrived on time in Tashkent, at 0830. It was basically the continuation of the train on which I'd arrived in Samarkand, a couple days earlier.

It was raining as I arrived, which didn't make me happy, but hey, what can you do. I walked to the same hostel at which I'd stayed during my first couple nights in the country. I wasn't going to stay there overnight this time, but I knew I could stay in the common area during the day.

While warming up in the hostel (it wasn't warm rain,) I ended up talking with a woman from Estonia. She was in the middle of a longer trip through a lot more of Central Asia, I envied her. She and I ended up walking together into the city 'center,' then going our separate ways.

I continued walking, I wanted to see a few more mausoleums marked on the map. I was able to find one of them, but another was behind a security gate. The one I did see was quite small, and had a couple people offering prayers when I visited.

I kept going in the rain (argh argh argh,) and walked toward a Soviet style monument. Called the monument to courage, it memorialized the 1966 earthquake that destroyed much of the city.

Near Tashkent Islamic University I found trees of blooming cherry blossoms. Beautiful, though the rain made them less so.

Eventually my walk brought me to the Jama Masjid of the city. The Friday Mosque, the main mosque of the city. This mosque was far more modern, not at all like the other mosques I'd seen around the city and country.

Behind this mosque was a wide open platz, it was really big. Since it was raining I was able to take a couple of my favourite kinds of photos, those with reflections. At the back of the platz was another old madrassa, also with the vendors about whom I'd come to have such ambivalent feelings.

I found a cafe not too far away (across the street, actually,) and stepped inside for a late lunch. I ordered too much, but it was nice to be out of the rain for a while. I think I was the only foreigner in there, I felt everyone staring at me for most of the time I was in there. Thankfully, I'm used to the feeling, and don't mind eating by myself.

After lunch I found the nearest metro station and rode the train to the stop nearest the hostel. I walked to the hostel, and took time to get all of my stuff organized in my pack. There is a difference in how you want to pack your bags when you're traveling by train/bus vs. plane.

The hostel called a taxi for me, which took me to the airport. The driver tried to get away with not giving me change, I had to ask twice. Sadly, I'm used to this kind of scam, so I had the patience to deal with it.

My flight back to Moscow was easy and smooth.

I'd like to come back to Uzbekistan, though the next time I will be exploring completely different parts of the country. After this visit I've seen enough of the cities of the country, now I want to see the landscapes.