graculus

By popular demand (well, at least two people who read this lj are interested!) it's time for pics from my trip to Uzbekistan, although they're definitely condensed down from the 300 or so that I actually took. Part of the delay with posting will be making sure I get the right names on the pics as I go along.

We arrived in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, at a fiendishly early hour having flown via Istanbul and then crashed out at the hotel for a couple of hours before the sightseeing proper began.

First stop, the memorial to the 1966 earthquake which was pretty much responsible for much of 'old' Tashkent looking very much like 'new' Tashkent:

As we would discover on this trip, it was always difficult to tell exactly how old something was without proof and a very good look - much restoration work had been done in Soviet times and again since independence, of varying quality. Here's the madrassah of Barrak-Khan, built in 1532 but with much work done on it since:

Here's a look at the frontage, which gives an idea of the complexity of designs - all done in majolica tilework and, in this case, much influenced by Iran:

Next it was off to the nearest market, where you can probably imagine the smell from the variety of spices on sale:

Three things come to mind where the markets are concerned:

That Uzbek currency is crazy

That I wish I spoke more Russian

That they might sell lovely spices but god knows they don't often cook with them!

Money: the current exchange rate is 2000 Uzbekistan sym to the US dollar, which is fine except that the largest note available is the 1000 sym note. Coins are pretty much obsolete, with 100 sym, 200 sym and 500 sym notes also available but much less used. Come to Uzbekistan and get used to carrying wodges of money around!

Language: having been a Soviet republic for about 90 years, and also not requiring visas for anyone to visit from elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, most people speak at least some Russian. Even those who don't speak more than I do! ;)

Food: the concept of vegetarianism is completely alien to the Uzbek culture, which appears to be built on eating sheep in various forms.

Off to Independence Square, for first the monument to the war dead of World War II:

And then more celebratory architecture - the phoenix gets a lot of play here, as does the crane (as a symbol of fertility):

Last, but by no means least, here's Amir Temur, Uzbekistan's primary post-independence hero and all-round medieval megastar - better known to the West as Tamerlane, he is claimed by various places in Uzbekistan and beyond: