At attention for an official motorcade passing our hotel
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Pharmacy (Dorixona) for Veterinary medicine - pills for animals
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Gur-e-Amir |
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Travels and conquests of Timur
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Tombs of Timur and his family members
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We had “free time” so four of us walked back to Registan, took the shuttle cart (1000 som or 80¢) back down to the market area, and hit the souvenir shops. We all bought Silk Road T-shirts. We tried to ride back up the hill but all was shut down because “dignitaries” were arriving. We decided to walk and saw the group walking down the middle of the road. It turned out they were Russian federal security officers preparing for Vladimir Putin’s visit that will take place after we leave.
We had another included dinner at a restaurant for tour groups. It was very noisy but efficient. Jalol arranged for us to have chocolate lava cake with ice cream for dessert. He has gotten the idea that we all like chocolate and ice cream.
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Sat., 10/6/18 - Samarkand to Tashkent, Uzbekistan
The road to Tashkent is four lanes and in better condition because it is a main road to the capital city. Outside of Samarkand we passed through an area of industry with a flour mill, carpet factory, and the like, and then into an area of “intense orchards.” Many fruit trees, designed to bear fruit in one year and that need very little water that is provided by a drip system, are planted very close together in neat rows. Apples and apricots grow this way and people are selling some along the road. Since the Russian take over of Crimea and Western sanctions on Russia, Uzbekistan has been able to export fruits to Russia gaining a 300% increase in exporting. Western sanctions have helped the Uzbekistan economy.
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Timur, again - from the front
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Overloaded? |
Straight, paved road
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Roadside vendors selling apples |
We left the “nice” road to view a gap in the rocky crags where Tamerlane established a natural “gate” to tax people coming in toward Samarkand.
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Timur's tax "gate"
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Advertising? |
Painted tree trunks |
Spanish built bullet train
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River water for irrigation
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More cotton pickers |
More apples
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Cows in the field after harvest |
Mounds of cotton
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Stork nests
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At least the toilets are indoors |
Syr Darya (ancient Jaxartes River) |
Cotton field and train
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Collection point for cotton
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Lots of cotton! |
In the fields |
Covered Stadium - 40,000 seats for track and soccer
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Soviet-style apartments
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Tashkent (meaning stone city) is now the capital city of Uzbekistan. It is a “closed” city. Unless you are rich enough to buy a new apartment, you cannot move in. There seem to be many ugly empty Soviet apartment buildings, but new modern ones are being built in many places.
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Tashkent Opera House |
Fountain in front of the Tashkent Opera House
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Our hotel
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At 5:30, we walked across the street to to see the opera Carmen. It was cast with Russian and Uzbek trained singers and orchestra. It was pretty good. The hall was very pretty and we sat in the second row for $6.50 apiece. The chorus, principals, and orchestra were a mix of ages. The conductor was fun to watch. He was the conductor of both the orchestra and chorus and must have been the prompter because there was no one else. It was a fun evening even if they sang the French opera in Russian! The program was written in Uzbek, Russian and butchered English.
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Chandelier inside the opera house
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Curtain call
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