Monday, June 29th - Tashkent

We had breakfast at the hotel and there was lots of variety: regular cream of wheat type porridge, rice porridge, meats, cheese, hard boiled eggs on the table, eggs  to be cooked as you liked, bread, toast, fruit, vegetables, cold cereals, juices, tea, etc.  We ate well and certainly had no complaints with the food.

We left at 8:30 and went by taxi to the Hast Iman Islamic Centre.  Hast Iman means first iman and he lived in the 10th century..  He is buried here as are many others but we did not go to the mausoleum.  Most of the original structures were all destroyed but the foundations were identifiable so some of the buildings have now been rebuilt.  There is a regular mosque which we did not go in but could look in the windows.  It is from the 16th century and is pretty plain but certainly functional for prayer five times a day all week long except for Friday afternoons.  

The Friday mosque is a more formal mosque and it is the most important as it is in the afternoon that the iman teaches from the min bar (not a mini bar).  This mosque is newer, being built in 2005, and has two decorated 54 metre minarets.  There is also a 16th century madrasa (school) that now houses workshops where the owners make and sell souvenirs.  There were some very impressive things (carved wooden boxes, paper mache boxes, scarves, slippers, paintings, etc.) but I don't think we bought much. 

This complex also has a building that houses one of the oldest korans in the world.  It has 338 big pages and is kept under glass for conservation and safety purposes.  Mohammed, the last prophet of Islam, lived in the 6th century AD.  While other prophets before him told the stories to the people, Mohammed actually wrote them down.  When he died, Osman who was one of his close followers, put all of the writings together  and in the 7th century AD he put them all together and wrote them on deer skin.  Six copies were made plus the original and today only 4 remain with one each in London, Istanbul, Cairo and here.  This copy was in St. Petersburg but was given back to Uzbekistan by Lenin in 1994 after Uzbekistan's independence.

The only other thing I can say about this whole area is that there is an offical Islamic Centre.  If you want to make your pilgrimage to Mecca you have to register in this office and right now there is a 20-year wait list as only so many can go at any one time.  I thought that was quite amazing.

From here we walked through the back alleys of the city to get to the market.  The alleys are clean and neat, and the one side was generally in the shade so that's where we walked.  Have I told you that it's 39 degrees Celsius already today?  It is hot and we are all sweating and going through water like crazy.  But back to the alleys.  There are always community centres where in the afternoon you generally find the men sitting around playing backgammon or cards.  They are quite friendly to us foreigners and don't seem to mind our picture taking.  We passed a few women out running errands but other than that everyone is inside resting instead of being out in the heat.

The market is huge and amazing.  When we first entered we were in the bread area and there was an area the length of an arena but narrower with both sides full of stalls/tables with people selling bread of various shapes and sizes.  The baking area was behind the one side of tables and the bakers rent the ovens from the market.  We went back into the baking area and the heat was almost unbearable, especially when you got close to the ovens - and of course we did so to get pictures.  They are big gas ovens but they look like old brick oval shaped wood fire ovens.  One person would be pounding out the dough and shaping it and the other would be picking it up on a long-handled metal plate and putting it into the oven.  The interesting part was that the dough was placed on the top of the oven and it actually stayed there while it cooked.  When finished, the baker just pried it from the ceiling and it was ready to sell.  Of course we had to buy some for our lunch and I can assure you that it was very hot to carry since I was carrying it.  And it smelled heavenly that by the time we had lunch the mice ((Randy and I) had gotten into it for a sample.

The next building had eggs, fruit, vegetables, desserts, etc. and again it was a huge building with hundreds of sellers.  Most of the produce was local but there was a section of imports such as citrus fruit, and all of it was displayed beautifully.  There was also a section where you could get your vegetables already washed and cut up so you were ready to make your rice pilaff as soon as you got home.  I thought that part was very logical.  Also they have the normal orange carrots but they also have yellow carrots that seem more popular.  The desserts were pretty fabulous so we bought some nougat and some other versions of a dessert we had tried previously (forget the name).  This area was also the size of an ice arena.  The aisles were wide but there were still a lot of vendors.

From there we went to a two-storey round building.  The bottom floor was all meat products including cheese and yogurt-type products.  The rest of it was basically meat but again with many individual sellers.  Each one had a large display refrigerator so it was very clean and neat - much different than the open-air meat stores with flies all over everything.  As the country is mainly muslim, there was no pork but there was a lot of everything else and in every cut imaginable.  This meat area was about the size of a whole grocery store in Canada and very impressive.  I certainly wouldn't mind shopping there.

We viewed the meat mainly from the second floor balcony that went all around the building.  This balcony was full of huge tables with vendors selling nuts and dried fruit in every shape and form.  We had to buy some of these too for our happy hour, and we had to have a few samples before we knew which ones we should buy.  All in all, it was quite an experience.

Lunch was outdoors at the market on the lower level of the first building.  We had our bread and some nuts and fruit, but we also bought some kebabs of beef and of minced beef, which was delicious when wrapped in some bread.  It was a very relaxing meal and the rest and sustenance were enjoyed by everyone.  We are all turning into beer drinkers before the meal and tea drinkers after the meal

After lunch we took the subway to independence square.  The subway, like everything else, is very clean.  The trains seem old but they move quickly and stop regularly at the stations.  I think our guide said there were 29 stops on 3 lines; two from Russian time and one newer one from independence time (after 1991).   It was afternoon and the trains were moderately busy.  We only did a couple of stops on one line and then switched to another.  in both cases, some young gentlemen got up to give us "old ladies" their seats - very nice of them and, given the heat, very much appreciated.  

Independence Square is huge and beautiful and it was empty when we were there.  Only we tourists were stupid enough to be out walking around in the heat of the afternoon - but I may have already mentioned that before.  There is a long high arch as the focal point.  Above the centre part there are three beautiful phoenixes (?) to depict a country rising up strong, and along each side of the arch there are storks to indicate rebirth.  It was so hot that we didn't stay long to enjoy the structure but it was impressive.

Down the wide tree-line path behind the main arch was a statue of a mother holding a child at the base of a pillar which had a globe at the top with a relief map of Uzbekistan.  This statue too was for independence and the hope it provided, and new birth, as well as Uzbekistan as a new country among other countries on earth..

And down another few paths through a wonderfully cool park with lots of shade, we came to another statue.  This one they had a competition for to see who could design the saddest female and the one they now have is really nice.  She is older and she is sitting/kneeling on the ground with her hands on her knees and her face has a worried and sad look.  She is a waiting/grieving mother and this is the WWII memorial, and in front of her is an eternal flame.  On both sides of the statue running for perhaps 100 feet there are big books which list the names of the more than 300,000 Uzbekistan soldiers who died in service  - forced into the Russian army.  The books are huge and all have many pages, and they are divided by province.  The whole thing is quite a unique and moving memorial - one of the best I've seen.

Throughout this area there were fountains and flower beds so it was very relaxing.  The sprinklers were on in some areas so a few members of the group took the opportunity to cool off, at least for a moment.  We felt sorry for the ladies who were working in the hot sun to keep the flower beds in shape but we also admired their work.  Around the outside of the area were big impressive white buildings - some old and some new - that added to the peaceful feel of the parks and monuments.  Despite the heat it was a beautiful experience.

We took the underpass to get to Broadway Blvd. and right at the corner was an huge old brick Romanov House which was very impressive.  It is now used by the Ministry of Defence or some similar department but it is in great shape and the yard looked very inviting.  I can't imagine what it was like to live there as a single family.

We then walked back to our hotel along Broadway Blvd, a lovely shaded area with park on one side.  We stopped to buy water and also ended up with ice cream, which was a real treat.  Once back at the hotel we had a couple hours to rest and then happy hour before heading out again for dinner at a large restaurant with seating outside - just a few blocks off Broadway.  I had the BBQ chicken, which was delicious.  It was sort of like a kebab but a big piece of flattened chicken that was well seasoned.  It came with some rice, french fries, cucumber and tomato slices, and shredded beets, onions and carrots in separate piles.  A mojito or two to go with it and I was ready for the walk back to the hotel and a short night before an early morning flight.