This post is my last for Uzbekistan and chronicles my truck jump and solo trip to Tashkent, the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan for the next three nights bringing my total time away from riding the truck itself to 9 days. My solo trip brought my total stay in Uzbekistan to 12 nights.
After one of the best sleep-ins, I gifted some wine to Frances on her birthday this morning before greeting my driver Odil who would take me in his Chevrolet car (of course) to Tashkent, 308km and 4hrs drive away for only $60USD. Private aircon cars here are the best way to travel the hot deserts door-to-door, especially if you can share with one or two others. There were others on the truck that wanted to come with me to Tashkent but could not afford the $215USD flight back to the truck in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, our next country. I am also certain that I purchased the last air ticket anyway with only 2 flights per week, I just made it happen !!!
The drive to Tashkent was uneventful. Lots of small interconnected towns with mainly farmland. The road condition was OK since Tashkent and Samarkand are the two main cities in Uzbekistan. The landscape did not change much and remained flat right up until Tashkent. Overall, I descended slightly from 620m to 455m. Odil was kind enough to stop by a large supermarket called Korzinka, where there was ample hot food ready to go !!! Yippee !!! Reached hotel nearby at 430pm and ready get set go – off to get more wine, cheese and olives to last me the next 3 days in Tashkent. Relaxed the evening with hot food and a James Bond movie. Tashkent is right next to the border with Kazakhstan, which will be the last “Stan” that I will visit before entering China !!!
Tashkent (Pop 3,041,533, Elev 455m) is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan, first settled 3rd Century BC. Before the influence of Islam in the mid-8th century AD, Sogdian and Turkic culture was predominant. After Genghis Khan destroyed the city in 1219, it was rebuilt and profited from its location on the Silk Road. In 1865, Tashkent fell to the Russian Empire; as a result, it became the capital of Russian Turkestan. In Soviet times, it witnessed major growth and demographic changes due to forced deportations from throughout the Soviet Union. Much of Tashkent was destroyed in the 1966 Tashkent earthquake, but it was soon rebuilt as a model Soviet city. It was the fourth-largest city in the Soviet Union at the time, after Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv. Today, as the capital of an independent Uzbekistan, Tashkent retains a multiethnic population, with ethnic Uzbeks as the majority. In 2009, it celebrated 2,200 years of its written history.
During my morning run in Tashkent I confirmed a theory I saw whilst running in Samarkand and Bukhara: 60% of cars are petrol USA Chevrolet and 30% are pure electric Chinese BYD (Build Your Own Dreams) – both have factories in Uzbekistan which explains why there are so many of them. It is surprising that Uzbeks drive electric given how much oil and gas is underground but I later found out that BYD are a status symbol – this explains why I only saw one Merc and one BMW in the 11 days I was here !!!
My walking tour of Tashkent went very well but was very tiring since everything is spread out – a total of 12km in 4hrs in 32C. The city is amazingly modern and progressive. The centre has a mall to rival any I have seen – even in Dubai !!! Streets are clean and lots of fancy inner-city apartments with security guards at the entrances. Another strange observation is that males call other males they do not know “bro” like in New Zealand – strange, given how far away the two nations are. I saw the following attractions: Planetary im Ulugbeka, Abdulla Qodiriy Park, Circus (Old Russian Pavillion), Furkat Boulevarde (New Grand Apartments), Tashkent City Park, Congress Hall & Hilton, Tashkent City Mall, The State Conservatory, National Television and Radio Company, Koymas Gate, Presidential Residence, State Museum, Romanov Palace, Art Gallery, Palace of Youth Creativity, State Library, Kokand Gate, State Museum of Timurid History, Central Square, The Chiming Clock, Palace of International Forums, Hotel Uzbekistan. The highlight was definitely the Mall given its size and finish. Tashkent even has a skyscraper Hilton and Hyatt Regency. Very impressive. It also has a Disneyland of its own called MAGIC CITY and a South Korean eating precinct on its main river reminiscent of Singapore’s famous Lau Pa Sat. This is precisely what I wanted to see after so many (good) days of ancient Mosques and Madrasas… Before relaxing in the coolness of my room I took a taxi to Korzinka Supermarket and bought the following classic Uzbek dishes for tonight and tomorrow night:
XE TOVUQLI
Fillet Chicken marinated in red chilli sauce with onions, red peppers, sesame seed olive oil and vinegar.
SALAT BAYRAMONA
Thin beef strips, marinated mushrooms & cucumbers, in mayonnaise and soy sauce.
SALAT PIYOZLI SELD
Pickled Herring, potatoes, dill in lemon juice and sesame seed oil.
These dishes were absolutely GORGEOUS and will feature in the film – in the meantime enjoy the photos of them alongside super-modern Tashkent…
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My guide Baha (Bah Ha Ha) was spot on time to pick me up at 8am for my 9hr day-trip to Amirsoy Ski Resort, Chimgan Mountain and Charvak Lake. There were two other guests, one from Riyad SAUDI ARABIA and the other from Denpasar INDONESIA. As we drove out of Tashkent we noticed a huge complex of sporting venues reminiscent of an Olympic Complex – Tashkent will use this to host the Summer Asian Youth Games in late 2025 – if this goes well they want to put in a Summer Olympics Bid !!! Tashkent is already running a high-speed 210km/h train from the capital to all the ancient places I visited to boost tourism during the games and before and after – good thinking.
Amirsoy Ski Resort and Cable Car is very impressive. Chalets and huge lodges everywhere. This place must be good. There is a huge modern Swiss-built cable car running to lodges and to all the ski runs including a long mountain bike trail in summer. The highlight was riding this cable car, opened in Nov 2019: total length of 2913m, 1630m to 2290m (Mt Rufus) elevation above sea-level, a capacity of 2,400 people per hour, a travel time of 9 minutes & a total investment of 15.2 million euros. The top was glorious – 360-degree views of distant mountain ranges and valleys close to the Tajikistan border.
The drive to Mt Chimgan was only 20min but lacked the glamour of Amirsoy. This is because the facility with restaurant, chair ski lift and small zipline looks like it was built by the Russians 50 years ago. In fact, the ski lift and zipline closed ages ago and they introduced horse riding and quad bikes to attract tourists. I was out of local currency (since I was flying the Tajikistan the next day) so I opted for a small hike to photograph the Chimgan Mountain Range.
Our last stop at Charvak Lake was refreshing. This lake is a large reservoir with a surface area of 37-40 km² and a volume of approximately 2 km³. Formed by a 168m high dam on the Chirchik River in 1970, Lake perimeter is about 100 km. Maximum depth is about 120 meters. I went for a dip liking the 17C fresh sweet water. On our way back to Tashkent we got a brilliant view of the lake from a mountain pass high above it.
What a great way to complete Uzbekistan – Tashkent and its surrounding offerings which I am sure you will enjoy…
END OF DINNER
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