Clik here to view.
2012 TRAVEL PLANS
For months, I have been pondering where to go next. I would like to “finish” my travel mission to the Middle East after focusing on this region of the world for the last ten years. So, where to go?...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Day 1 – TRAVEL-TRANSIT-TRANQUILITY
SYNOPSIS: IT’S A BORING START – TRANSIT I left Michigan on April 30 at the end of the day and will arrive in Tashkent on May 2 in the morning. 36 hours in transit – that makes for 28 real hours since...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 2 – SOVIET ERA TASHKENT
SYNOPSIS: SOVIET-ERA TASHKENT – TIME TRAVEL TO THE GOOD-OLE DAYS There is nothing special about the airport in Tashkent. Airports – or what limited insight you have when you land in one terminal and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 3 – OLD TASHKENT
SYNOPSIS: A WALK FROM CHORSU BAZAAR THROUGH OLD TASHKENT TO THE MOST SENIOR ISLAMIC COMPLEX , HEADQUARTERS OF THE MUFTI OF UZBEKISTAN. A FEW OBSERVATIONS ABOUT MONEY, TAXI DRIVERS AND OTHER MUNDANE...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 4 – NUKUS AND AROUND
SYNOPSIS: ABOUT A CEMETERY, A DEAD CITY AND GOVERNMENT-CENSORED ART COLLECTED WITH GOVERNMENT FUNDS. Now the ignorance was on me. After all the “Uz-what’s” I had heard from people when asking about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 5 – DESERT CITIES
SYNOPSIS: THE SITES BETWEEN NUKUS AND KHIVA. FROM A ZOROASTRIAN TOWER OF SILENCE TO 2000 YEAR OLD CITADELS TO A MULTI-CULTURAL UZBEK FESTIVAL. A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE ARAL SEA ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER....
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 6 – KHIVA!
SYNOPSIS: THE UNESCO SITE OF KHIVA – AN UNREAL STEP BACK INTO MEDIEVAL HISTORY. It was about 5 PM in the afternoon when I reached the medieval city of Khiva, laid eyes on the immaculately preserved...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 7 – TRANSIT
SYNOPSIS: IN A TAXI ON THE ROAD TO HELL OR BUKHARA, IF YOUR CAR MAKES IT THAT FAR. Did I mention that I ran into the “Frenchies” again, the ones I met in Tashkent and whom I asked to share a taxi to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 8 – BUKHARA
SYNOPSIS: IMPRESSIONS OF BUKHARA – MADRASSAS, CARAVANSERAIS, AND MORE. A SYNAGOGUE AND TWO BRIBABLE POLICE OFFICERS. I crammed three days worth of sightseeing into one – madness! That meant a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 9 – AROUND BUKHARA
SYNOPSIS: HOW MY ITINERARY GOT HIJACKED AND WHAT THE SURROUNDINGS OF BUKHARA HAVE TO OFFER; AND A FEW INSIGHTS INTO DAILY LIFE THANKS TO TAXI DRIVER FURKAT. Fatima, the matron and namesake of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 10 – TRANSIT DESERT
SYNOPSIS: ABOUT MONEY, TAXIS, A MAJOR THUNDERSTORM, SIGHTSEEING NORTH OF BUKHARA (OR NOT), A GREEDY AND A HOSPITABLE TAXI DRIVER, AND THE ARRIVAL AT A YURT CAMP AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Yesterday, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 11 – YURT CAMP
SYNOPSIS: ABOUT THE YURT CAMP AND THE PEOPLE I MET THERE (REALLY ON DAY 10). ABOUT THE VALUE OF DEMOCRACY, BEING SICK (ON DAY 11) AND GETTING OUT OF NOWHERE BACK TO CIVILIZATION. It was full-bosomed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 12 – SAMARKAND
SYNOPSIS: ROAMING SAMARKAND FROM MORNING ‘TIL NIGHT. MORE PISHTAKS, MORE COURTYARDS, MORE MINARETS AND A HUGE NECROPOLIS, AN ANCIENT OBSERVATORY, AND MORE. ABOUT BREAD, HANDICRAFTS AND THE TOURIST...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 13 – REGISTAN
SYNOPSIS: THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF YESTERDAY’S EXCURSION THROUGH SAMARKAND WITH FOCUS ON THE REGISTAN (CENTRAL SQUARE) AND THE HANDICRAFTS OF UZBEKISTAN. According to the guide book there is no...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 14 – SHAHRISABZ
SYNOPSIS: AN EXCURSION TO THE BIRTH TOWN OF TIMUR WITH A SHARE TAXI – MORE PISHTAKS AND THE USUAL, AND A REUNION WITH THE GERMANS FROM THE DESERT. HOW I GOT A DINNER DATE… There would have been enough...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 15 – FLIGHT
SYNOPSIS: A FLIGHT BACK TO SAMARKAND AND A DAY OF CATCHING UP WITH LAUNDRY AND BLOG. IN OTHER WORDS: NOTHING INTERESTING TO READ ABOUT. Why don’t I follow my own advice? Planning never pays. For some...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 16 – TASHKENT AGAIN
SYNOPSIS: A VISIT AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS AND A VISIT AT THE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF TASHKENT. ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES AS A TOURIST AND ABOUT WHAT MORE LIKELY GOES ON IN REALITY. I can’t even...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DAY 17 – UZBEKS
SHORT POST TODAY: This blog is dedicated in pictures to the Uzbek people I met and the thousands more whom I only saw on the street. I loved the way the women and the men dressed, often still in part...
View Article
