Tashkent — UZ2

A few nights in Tashkent to get past jet lag and to get grounded in Uzbekistan was the idea – and it seems to have done the trick

Many buildings in Tashkent were wiped out in the 1966 earthquake, so there is a strong Soviet era theme to the buildings now here. It was easy to choose the Hotel Uzbekistan as our jumping off point, reviews mentioned high ceilings, comfortable furniture, and a delicious breakfast buffet. The reviews were spot on.

We’re in the suite option, and it has been great to have a full on living room and two bathrooms for our three nights in Tashkent. We checked into the hotel around 2pm, and went for a walk around Amir Timur Park.

Both of us were pretty exhausted, so dinner was nearby at Cafe 1991 – an Uzbek-Lebanese fusion menu that was rather fancy… And within a short walk of the hotel. Our server, Shirzod, seemed to be waiting on us exclusively and he was friendly but didn’t hover too much. He did show us how to approach eating the food, in particular the somsa and my moshkichiri. OMG moshkichiri was the perfect comfort food for a tired traveler, savory and delicious. Derek had langman – to the local noodle dish.

Back at the hotel it was quite the scene, there was an event with hordes of women dressed to the nines, live musicians in the lobby, and very loud music (and karaoke?) in the garden until midnight. Thankfully, that seemed to be a Saturday thing. Last night was much quieter.

The breakfast offerings were, indeed, delicious, and local. No catering to the Western palate in sight, and I am SO here for zucchini and cauliflower as breakfast items.

Later in the trip we have 2 multi-day tours booked with Nuratau Travel. I asked them to also arrange a one day tour of Tashkent, which we did yesterday.

Dilmurad was our guide and he picked us up from the hotel at 9am. It was a full day, we didn’t get back until almost 6pm. The whole day we had a driver on standby, too. The tour included madrasas & mosques, the largest bazaar in Central Asia, a museum, the Plov Center, and several Metro stations.

---

Monument to Courage

First stop was at the Monument to Courage, a tribute to the people who pulled together to rescue and rebuild after the devastating 1966 earthquake (5.2 on Richter Scale).

---

Hazrati Imam Complex

We toured the Hazrati Imam complex which houses one of the oldest Koran’s in the world (not pictured, photos of it are prohibited). We saw many other versions, and Dilmurad shared a lot about his own personal Islamic faith and the history of the culture of it within Uzbek and Soviet history.

---

Chorsu Bazaar

Tashkent boasts a lot of superlatives. One is being home to the largest bazaar in Central Asia.

A feast of sights, sounds, smells, and people watching. Something that is very different here, compared to similar spaces in Morocco and Fiji, is the very low key sales pitches. Both of us are relieved to be able to linger and look at the wares without being harangued to make a purchase.

Dilmurad treated us to several samples: pomegranate juice, big plump grapes, fresh bread, and a local specialty of dried cheese.

Mostly we were scouting for things to buy at the end of our trip. We are also looking forward to visiting the food court for lunch on our last day of vacation.

---

Kokaldash Madrasah

An active Madrasah with teenage students, though we didn’t see them as classes were in session. We did see some calligraphy being worked on and enjoyed the serenity of the courtyard for a few moments.

---

Plov Center

Plov is the national dish, and this center is a very popular place to see it’s creation on action and then to feast on a choice of several regional varieties. And, my first sample of horse meat – it was tasty and reminded me somewhat of the flavor and texture of beef tongue.

---

Tashkent Metro

The metro opened in 1977 and is still being expanded. It’s fast, cheap, and has some of the most beautiful subway stations in the world.

I particularly liked the Cosmonaut Station, on part because Dilmurad gave us a full tour of every painting.

---

Museum of Applied Arts

We were given a chance to chose one museum to go to and, as Heather had previously mentioned it’s her favorite, we chose the Museum of Applied Arts. It’s a lovely setting and bursting with spectacular artistry.

---

All this was the one tour… And there was so much more to the conversation. History of the trees we saw, stats and data about all the universities and the need for more. (Each year 800,000 students seek placements and there are only 150,000 spots). Dilmurd’s knowledge is both broad and deep, the only area he didn’t have answers for me were some of my cooking questions.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

---

---

This woke us both up. We decided to stay in bed, though we learned at breakfast that several guests did flee their rooms.

---

Monday was on our own time, and after a breakfast that was lengthy due to a conversation with our table mate, Zohida. She is in the fashion industry, in town for a show and gala at the hotel. The entire conversation was via gestures and Google Translate.

We set off for the Amir Timur Museum, only to learn that most of the museums are closed on Mondays.

---

The Museum of Olympic Glory was open, so we walked that way. Once there the staff seemed pretty delighted to have visitors, and we were immediately assigned a docent. This is one of only 5 Olympic Museums in the world. Naturally the focus was on Uzbek Olympic triumphs and stories, with equal emphasis on both Olympics and Paralympics.

We continued on exploring around with a lunch stop for somsa and coffee on “Broadway”. It was fun to be around all the locals on lunch break and to sit and watch the crowds for a bit.

We headed back to the hotel for a break, and I started this post. Then I got antsy and wanted to try out Yandex Go! – an app similar to Uber, but you pay in cash when you get to the destination. There are all kinds of delivery spin offs, just like Uber has. Destination: Holy Assumption Cathedral Church.

No interior images as photography is forbidden, it was a visual feast though. Just stunning.

On the way back to the hotel we spotted a great example of Soviet Modernism mosaic decoration on an apartment block.

---

Heather had suggested we try “the new cheese restaurant” and, as it turned out it was a 5 minute walk from our room, that became the plan.

Syrovarnya has a cheese production area on view in the entryway, and many of the dishes incorporate their cheese.

We shared Halloumi as an appetizer, and then Derek had a stracciatella & mortadello pizza, and I chose a tomato, avocado, spinach mousse, and stracciatella salad with a side of buckwheat and cabbage porridge. They were the most flavorful tomatoes I have ever tasted. Fig pannacotta with two spoons for dessert was promising, but then had what seems to be lingonberries in there too, and it just was not a great combo.

---

Next up is a three day trek in the Chimgan Mountains, starting bright and early….