Toshkent va Samarqandga tashrifim / Мой визит в Ташкент и Самарканд

Today was the day of the walking tour. Thankfully I didn’t have to be up super early. I was so glad of that as it meant I could sleep in a little more.

I got up and got ready to head out. I was trying to decide if I should get the metro or use Yandex to go to the meeting point. I decided on Yandex – think Uber. It was about 2.5 miles and cost a whopping 73p. The extortion!

I got to the meeting point about 30 minutes before the guide would be there. It gave me a chance to go to the shop and get something to eat and drink. I was feeling quite hungry at this point since I hadn’t eaten in a while. I think it was the meal deal I got at Gatwick.

I just wandered around the meeting point and got accosted by guides asking if I wanted to do a tour with them. I just put my headphones in and left them to it.

I did get stopped by 2 university students. They asked me if I minded being “interviewed” for their course. They were doing English and one of them was at a basic level, so they were trying to improve it.

I told them it was fine. She asked me if I liked Uzbekistan, then asked if I had seen anywhere else in the country, then asked if I felt safe. It was a cute interview for her to practice her English.

I left them and then met up with the guide. It was a small group – only 6 of us and the guide.

He started to talk about how Tashkent got its name and somehow likened it to the Kent brand in the USA. I kind of gave up listening at that point. The bits I did listen to was him saying that trading is well established in this city because of its importance on the Silk Road. It has 4 points in which it intersects. The way to China, the way to Australia, the way to India, the way to Europe.

We went from our meeting point at Hotel Uzbekistan to Amir Temur Square.

In the square, he talked about Amir Temur and how he was pivotal in changing the ways of Uzbekistan.

I was trying to get some pictures here, but 3 people in our group decided to take their sweet time taking pictures. I had to cough to get them to move.

We then carried on walking along the Broadway. He said the place comes alive at night. I believe that too. There were games stalls lined up all along the street. It was good too because it is a pedestrianised street.

We walked to the metro station of Independence Square. He said that the station facade had a bust of Lenin, but that was removed and the current facade has been in place since. It symbolises the freedoms they had since they became independent from the Soviet Union. It symbolises education, freedom of speech, health amongst other things.

We went through the underpass and then into the station. He was describing how ornate they were. I knew what to expect as I have used several of the metro’s of the former Soviet Union. They are all ornate and pretty. These were no exception.

We got on the metro at Mustaqillik maydoni (Independence Square) and got off the next stop at Paxtakor (Cotton).

He showed us an original escalator from when the metro was built. The original escalators on the old stations have wooden panels and move pretty quick. The handrail moves slightly faster than the stairs. I am unsure why that is. It’s weird.

We then went to a mausoleum. Inside one of them was a tree that had grown through and it has been preserved that way. There is a tombstone inside too. He said it isn’t the original one though.

We saw a couple of other buildings in this complex before the tour ended.

I took the chance to grab some souvenirs before heading back towards the metro station so I could get something to eat and drink. I was hungry again. What can I say, I’m a growing man!

I went and sat in the small park there and enjoyed my wafers and my Sprite. I was trying to decide if I should get the metro or just walk around. I had a quick look at the map and decided that since I was only a couple of miles from Independence Square, I would just walk in that direction.

I did exactly that. Tashkent is such a pretty city. It is so clean too. If people drop litter, they stop and pick it up and put it in the bin. Littering is a massive bugbear of mine so it was nice to see this.

Some of the buildings here are huge – a throwback to Soviet times. Thankfully they are not a dull grey. The one below is the Ministry of Health.

I crossed the road and then headed to the Memorial Square. I crossed the river. The water here is really brown and I am not sure what has caused this. It doesn’t look to be because it’s just dirty.

As I was walking, I noticed a lot of the entrances were barricaded and police were there. I wanted to ask why that was but I didn’t dare. Who knows if they even spoke English!

Across from one of the entrances was the Turkistan Concert Hall. What a massive building that is.

I found an entrance to the square that was open and I went in and walked around. They had some names inside of a memorial. Going by the dates I am guessing it is to do with WWII.

I got to the main part of the square but the fountains weren’t on – they were earlier when we saw the square from across the road.

I walked around and noticed that the entrances to the independence monument were blocked off too and police were on hand to make sure nobody went past them. I could only get a picture of it from the barriers.

I left here and decided I would head back to the meeting point from this morning so I could get some pictures of the clock towers that were there.

I headed back into Amir Temur square to have a walk around. I was going to go back to the Broadway but I ended up going back to the shop from this morning for something to drink.

I made a quick stop where the sightseeing bus picked up to ask about the prices. It was 200,000 som for 1 ride that lasted 2 hours. 200k is about £12. Totally not worth it in my opinion – we’ll see if I have nothing to do on Friday or Saturday how worth it it might be.

I left here and walked back through the square to get some food from one of the burger places on the street. I know I should be careful, but it’s meat and fries.

I paid the hugely inflated price of 40,000 som (less than £2). I told them how I wanted my burger. They had a walkie talkie with the van across the path and they made the food.

I got my food and walked towards Independence Square to find somewhere to eat. I had the fries and then went to have the burger, but they had put salad on it. I went back and they changed it for me.

I then decided I would take a slow walk back to the hostel and see what I could find on the way back.

It was a really nice walk back. I saw the Romanov Palace (it’s currently closed for renovation, so I could only see it from the outside).

I then carried on with the walk towards the hostel and would stop whenever something caught my eye.

The next stop I made was at the Cosmonaut monument. I need to go back and get some pictures when the sun isn’t setting as you can’t see properly what’s on the monument.

The view from the other side of the monument is clearer because the sun isn’t in that direction.

I then went to the store to pick up some quick food for dinner. I just got snacks instead of anything of sustenance since I had the burger and chips and I don’t know how that will affect me.

I am back at the hostel now, just relaxing because I have an early start tomorrow. I am getting the train to Samarkand at 08:40 and I have to be there about 30 minutes before for security checks.

Below are some pics from today