Uzbekistan

I have had the pleasure of traveling back to Uzbekistan for the first time in 15 years. I like it here this time around as much as I did as a 20-year old college student. :) My study abroad group had an excursion to Tashkent, Samarkand, and Buhara. I remembering thinking this place was so exotic, so Eastern, so cool! I also remember drinking a lot. :-) Make that, vaguely remember drinking a lot...

If Almaty is like NYC with it's less-than-friendly people, fashionistas, and high-end cars, then Tashkent is like Chicago. Big city, but people have time to smile and say hello, and everyone is like "So where are you from?" when you talk to them.

I got chided by a cop in the metro for taking pictures, and when I said "I'm sorry, I'm not from here, I didn't know you were not allowed" he (of course) asked, "Where are you from?" I explained to him that I had never seen such a clean and beautifully-designed subway in America, and so he let me off easy. I tell ya, you can take the Soviet Union away, but some of the kooky regs they enforced during the Cold War to this day linger on in people's psyches. Trust me: I'm not a risk to your national security, mmmmkay? Geez Louise.

Tomorrow I upload pictures, tell you about shopping at the markets, and about going to hospitals in Ferghana where they don't have heat. And it's been the coldest winter in 40 years.

I {heart} Uzbekistan! Sorry, Kazakhstan, but this place kicks your ass. Maybe it's just nostalgia talking....maybe it's the Baltika 7 I've consumed. Or maybe it's the fact that I am in a kick-ass hotel with free wifi in your room, a breakfast to die for with homemade preserves and baked goods, and staff that are gracious and smiling and pleasant (instead of bored/surly/annoyed, as most workers I've encountered in Almaty are). All for the bargain basement price of $55.

Trust me, you want to go to Uzbekistan! Put it on your list of places to see.