Thinking Allowed: Joy in the unexpected

We decided Uzbekistan was the place to be about a week and half before arriving. This didn't leave that much time for discovering why exactly Uzbekistan was the place to be and making it all happen. Mostly I did some internet research and read other people blogs to come up with a quick plan. Tashkent was one of the spots that reviewers seemed lukewarm on. Many travellers were of the opinion that it should be skipped completely. Those that enjoyed Tashkent generally seemed to go largely to see the Tashkent metro system. With expectations of the city set fairly low we were all pleasantly surprised.

Tashkent is a large modern city. We had the good fortune of staying in an apartment right above a pedestrian zone beside the central park. This was an hip area full of cafes, ice cream stands and activity. After the speed of London it was so pleasant to be in an area where the main aim was a casual stroll with family and a leisurely meal. The well manicured city park won our hearts with its various activities, sculptures, greenery and large body of water. In the evening there is a fountain light show in the city park. We have seen many such fountain shows but this was by far our favourite. There is a pedestrian bridge that brings you quite close to the fountain so that the experience becomes immersive and wet. It was an extravagant fountain show with frantic plumes and sweeps and squirts of water and light.

I worried that our view of Tashkent was rosy for the area we chose to stay in so we made sure to walk everywhere we could. Still, we continued to be impressed by the many parks and the general vibe. Even walking on large busy roads there were plenty of shops and other pedestrians making it an enjoyable experience. The Tashkent market proved an unexpectedly fun adventure. Having mixed up the conversion rate by a factor of 10 (hard to keep track of all those zeros) we ended up with 11 dollars CAD (100,000 SOM) in cash and our journey was transformed into a mission of how much a person can buy in the Tashkent market for 11 dollars. Turns out the answer is a small bottle of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, a bag of roasted unshelled almonds, half a kilo of figs, a pomegranate, two boiled corn cobs, two potato somsas and one marriage proposal. Not bad! Still worried that we werent seeing enough of town to be unimpressed we walked for an hour in the other direction the next day. It was a green walk that passed by many important buildings and more lovely parks. We ended up at a museum that was as grandiose in appearance as its history.

Eighty years ago there was a forced migration of ethnic Koreans near the border of Korea to Tashkent. Carted through the vast expanse of Russia in cattle cars many of those Koreans died. Those who didnt led hard lives of forced labour in their new home. A sad time in history but now there is a large culturally Korean community in Tashkent that shines through in many parts of the city. Seeing Korean writing and eating Gimbap really caught our fancy and we took full advantage of the Korean culture.

The metro, built by the Soviets in the 60's to be earthquake proof, act as a nuclear bomb shelter, and showcase art, was interesting. Even though we went in the middle of the day it was quite crowded and I felt silly riding around in the throng for the joy of it. The children seemed perplexed by the hype and mostly chatted amongst themselves. So we learned, in a most agreeable way, that travel pleasures differ based on person and expectation.