Tashkent

We woke up reinvigorated, ready for our last two days in Uzbekistan. Looking forward to a proper breakfast, so we eagerly await the opening of the big supermarket across the street at 8.00. Meanwhile we do some laundry and entertain the children in bath. The supermarket has everything we need so we can have a proper vegan breakfast and dinner today.

Tashkent is famous for its beautiful metro system, so we take the metro to our first museum of the day. The instructions on the metro blog Tim read were outdated since there is no token system and we have to buy single journey tickets or use our card. So our order of ten tickets is not understood as the ticket seller only sees two of us, after some help we readjust our order from ten to two and are on our way.

When we finally arrive at the State museum of Art, it’s indefinitely closed for renovation works, not the best of start. As there are big gaps in the metro network we change to a tandem once again, since going from a to b in a city takes much longer. We are dropped off at the Amir Timur square, but on the wrong side of the road, so we have to do some real live frogger to cross to the right side. The historical clock towers are another disappointment and we cross the square to the Timur museum.

It’s an exercise in post-independence nation building by the then dictator Islam Karimov. Linking the Uzbek identity to the feats of Timur. The interior is as post-Soviet extravaganza as you can get, the content of the museum is as lacklustre as every Uzbek museum. So we’re outside in no time on our way to the next museum, yes we are dumber than donkeys and keep trying. Hoping to find the one exception to the rule.

On our way we spot a lot of outside eateries and one is a falafel bar, we go for an early lunch since we are starving after yesterdays fasting. Another power outage delays the delivery of the food, but Zeno has a lot of fun chasing the pigeons in the park. His unbridled enthusiasm for birds intrigues the other eaters who help him by throwing some bread on the ground to attack more birds and Zeno has the time of his life.

The national museum for history and archaeology is housed in a pretty Soviet style rectangular building. It’s one of the more expensive ones but also one of the better ones, the panels and displays are 50 years old but at least the content is good. It provides an historical and archaeological overview of Uzbek history from the prehistory to now. Highlights are the Buddhist paintings and statues from Termez, the only place with remains of a Buddhist complex in Uzbekistan. Since it’s right on the Afghan border it’s not considered safe for travel, so this is a great way to still get a good idea of the place. The second floor is completely dedicated to Uzbekistan since its independence and is not interesting at all.

We walk to the metro and right to the entrance is an art museum. Today is the first of a photography exhibition by Helga Paris, who just died this year. It’s interesting work from East Germany and provides a great insight into the 1980s. Upstairs houses the collection of contemporary Central Asian artists, not the greatest or most Avant Garde but still interesting.

We take the metro to Chorsu bazaar, we let the first metro pass since it’s filled to the brim. The second one is just as full so we squirm ourselves inside and get out at the next stop to change lines. The second one is much quieter, and in no time we are at the bazaar. The bazaar itself is surrounded by stalls as soon as you exit the station. Olga tries to negotiate for new sunglasses for Cleo but fails to get a good price. She finds some strawberries instead, Tim enters the main dome, which is a great looking building from an architectural point of view, but the state of the building is abysmal.

We take a yandex to our last destination, the Hazrati Imam complex. It is said to have survived the 1966 earthquake that destroyed most of the old city of Tashkent, but we highly doubt it. Everything looks like it was built 10 years ago, so after a quick tour we go to the building that is said to house to oldest quran in the world. It’s the book that Timur took from Baghdad and which used to be on display in the mosque we visited in Samarkand. It’s huge (60cm) and we are not allowed to take pictures.

When we exit, Olga admits how stupid it was to eat those strawberries. The discomfort of yesterday’s food poisoning is back. We take a Yandex back home, but are distracted by the nice café at the first floor of our apartment and we enjoy a delicious chocolate ice cream that we share with the four of us.

It’s already 16:30 when we’re finally back. Olga cooks pasta and we enjoy a quiet evening. Except Tim, who must shoot Tashkent by night, as this is his only chance. The only obvious target is the Tashkent tower which is lit like a Christmas tree. Tim takes the metro to get there to get that real city vibe. Sadly the tower is surrounded by a gated Aqua parc, so the vantage points are limited. After the photos the inspiration is gone and Tim takes a Yandex back.