Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Alisher Navoi National Park and the Tashkent TV Tower in Tashkent
Our impressions of Tashkent
Incredibly clean and green city: We were blown away by the amount of parks and tree-lined walkways, all of which are impeccably maintained and constantly being watered (apparently the sprinkler water comes from the nearby river as Uzbekistan is doubly landlocked)
Neat juxtaposition of ancient, brutalist, and modern architecture: The three major sources of architecture — Islamic (like the mosques and madrasas), Soviet brutalist buildings, and modern — combine to create a really fascinating mix. We were surprised by the amount of new construction underway and will be intrigued to see what Tashkent looks like in 10 years (assuming all of the projects are completed — we saw a handful of abandoned buildings too)
Limited tourists and friendly locals: Tashkent is a very lively city with a ton of young people around (particularly in the area where we stayed), but very few tourists. We often found ourselves alone in museums or parks, which may have felt eerie elsewhere but didn’t here. Though we weren’t able to robustly communicate with anyone (few people we interacted with spoke English), everyone that we met was incredibly friendly and willing to help, especially the friends we made at the plov restaurant and the woman who helped us navigate the train station
What we saw
Amir Timur Square: As one of the first places we saw in Tashkent, we were impressed by the greenery and how well maintained the square was. A statue of the national hero sits in the center of the park, framed by the Hotel Uzbekistan (a relic of the soviet era that has seen better days) and the Palace of International Forums (a magnificent palatial building that apparently hosts state-supported events). Though we only spent ~30 minutes here, it would have been a nice place to kick back and read if we were in Tashkent for longer
Alisher Navoi National Park: We stumbled upon this lovely park after a meal at Beshqozon (see below), which is a tribute to all of the Uzbeks that died under Soviet rule. The park is situated along the Ankor River where a path is lined by park benches filled with young Uzbek couples. Tashkent’s version of the Chicago riverwalk
Museum of Victims of Repression: Situated next to Alisher Navoi National Park, the museum is a stunning, Islamic building with dark wood carvings and blue tiles. We were curious to learn more about Uzbekistan under Soviet rule, so we ventured inside. It is one part examples of oppression experienced by different groups of Uzbeks throughout history and two parts a tribute to the progress of newly formed Uzbekistan under its first leader’s rule. Most of the exhibits were only in Uzbek and Russian, but the names of each artifact were in English so we got the gist. Definitely worth a stop in here
Ko’kaldosh Madrasa: We took a Yandex Taxi (Uzbekistan’s Uber) to the madrasa, which is in the same area as the Chorsu Bazaar. We were the only people in the madrasas outside of the actual students (it’s still an active school). The inside of the madrasa is a serene courtyard encircled by old student rooms (typical style of madrasas) — a great place for a quick and peaceful stop
Chorsu Bazaar: A quick walk from the madrasa is the iconic Chorsu Bazaar — the main market in Tashkent. We happened upon a ton of stuff in this bustling bazaar — clothes, corn on the cob, fish mongers, and women selling nuts and dried fruit — the whole nine yards
Metro Stations: One of the major highlights of Tashkent is the metro stations. Originally designed during Soviet times, the stations celebrate various achievements of the Soviet Union (e.g., space exploration). Though “stunning” is not a characteristic typically attributed to metro stations, it very much applies to the stations in Tashkent (in stark contrast to the “L” stations in Chicago that we’re used to). We took the metro a few times (it’s $0.13 USD for a ticket to anywhere on the metro lines which is a total steal) and our favorite stations were Kosmonavtlar and Mustakillik Maydoni
Islam Karimov Museum: We thought we had passed the Teleshayakh mosque complex a day earlier when we were taking a taxi back to our Airbnb, so we set out to retrace our steps on foot. While we were way off base on the location of the mosque (we eventually had to admit defeat and go to a hotel to get WiFi), we happened upon the Karimov museum. As we were walking down Afrosyiob Boulevard, we saw two guards standing outside of grand gates with a statue of Karimov in the middle. The guards ushered us in and we spent some time walking the grounds — we were the only people there, outside of a large group of staff maintaining and guarding the park. While the museum is not yet open, there’s an exhibition hall full of photos and god-like paintings of Karimov, the first leader of Uzbekistan. A guide who spoke English (probably the best English we encountered in Tashkent) ushered us around, reciting the various personal achievements (the best chess player, a great grandfather) and professional feats (master peacemaker at the UN, space extraordinaire) of the first president of Uzbekistan. Despite what we had read about Karimov before arriving in Uzbekistan, he still seems to be revered in the country (and certainly at this museum). This museum was one of the more interesting and unexpected stops in Tashkent
Independence Square: Independence Square is a lovely park that was established to celebrate Uzbek independence (which you could have guessed 🙂 ). It’s a nice place to walk around with a silver structure reminiscent of Budapest’s Victory Square or the Brandenburg Gate, a fountain, and plenty of nearby trees for some shade. It was a good place for us to regroup and realize that we didn’t really know where we were headed (high confidence, low competence)
Teleshayakh mosque: This complex was far and away the most beautiful thing we saw in Tashkent, so we’re happy we saved it for last. At the front, there are two minarets and an operational mosque (complete with a digital welcome sign). Venturing to the back, we were rewarded with an incredible view of the mosque (much larger than we originally thought), minarets, and a gorgeous madrasa that contains an active crafts workshop. It was an amazing place to walk around and one of our first glimpses at Islamic architecture. We also experienced a small contingent of tourists here — the only meaningful group we saw in Tashkent
Where we ate and drank
BookCafe: Full of Russian, Uzbek, and a few English books (we saw a GMAT quant book which felt out of place), BookCafe is a great place to grab a coffee and relax before a packed day in Tashkent. It is situated in an area full of universities, so most of the patrons are university students which made us feel #young
Beshqozon (formerly known as the Central Asian plov center): We had read a lot about plov and specifically this place from various travel blogs, so we set out for our first plate of plov for lunch! And it was a total experience. After exploring the front of the restaurant where all of the plov is made in massive vats, we walked in to find a table. The restaurant was absolutely packed (which is saying a lot as it can seat upwards of 500 people), but we were lucky enough to find two seats next to a young Uzbek couple. There’s no menu here and our waitress didn’t much speak English, but the couple helped us out. We ended up with a delicious meal of freshly baked bread, pomegranate juice (pomegranates are huge in Uzbekistan – they symbolize fertility and good fortune), and two steaming plates of plov, all for $6 USD. Jessie had the wherewithal to translate “no meat for me” in Uzbek that morning and take a screenshot, which yielded a delicious plate of vegetarian plov. It was an awesome experience — anyone who goes to Tashkent should check Beshqozon out
Afsona: On our second day in Tashkent, we opted to try another Uzbek restaurant that was close to our Airbnb, Afsona. We sat outside surrounded by tables of friends and businesspeople and enjoyed a leisurely meal. We started with bread, followed by lagman for Doug (a steaming, Chinese-inspired noodle/broth dish) and vegetable shashlik for Jessie (a kebab cooked over charcoal). We were excited to try samsa, another local delicacy that we thought would be similar to a samosa given what we had read, but it tasted like a puff pastry with vegetables (not for us). Everything else was great, though!
Forn Lebneh: Doug had enough foresight to predict that we might eventually tire of Uzbek cuisine, so we tried a Lebanese spot near our place. Not only was it delicious (hummus, falafel sandwich, shawarma YUM), but it was a great place to unwind before our evening train ride. Definitely worth a stop
Where we stayed
Airbnb: For the first stop on our trip (and honeymoon) we decided to stay at an Airbnb. There isn’t a huge range of Airbnb options in Central Asia, but we’ve always enjoyed our experiences at Airbnbs so went for it. Our place was located in an awesome area called Lolazor – so awesome that it was a bit tough to sleep at night as it was noisy into the wee hours (even on Sunday and Monday) – with a ton of nearby restaurants, shops, and university students. It was equipped with everything we needed and even had a laundry machine which was nice after a long few days of travel
Tashkent travel tidbits
Costs and currency: Uzbekistan uses the Som (which means pure in Uzbek). The conversion while we were there (which is always changing) was around 11,000 Som to $1 USD. Generally speaking, this meant Tashkent was cheap: $0.13 to ride the metro anywhere, $3-6 USD per person for a good meal, $1-2 USD for a taxi ride pretty much anywhere in the city (beats Chicago Ubers these days)! However, there is QUITE a spectrum for what a single item costs — a coffee can range from $1-6 USD depending on where you are (we refused to pay $6 USD)
Curbs: The “curbs” here are a liability — up to 3 feet deep and 2 feet wide and rectangular in nature. Right after landing at the spritely hour of 2:30am in Tashkent, Doug tumbled into one, backpack over heels, and scraped up his leg
maps.me: Not Uzbekistan-specific, but this is an offline ‘google’ maps-type app with GPS routing. It’s a lifesaver anywhere you’ll be on airplane mode without reliable access to WiFi to get around
Yandex.Taxi: Per suggestions from other travel blogs, we downloaded Yandex.Taxi (Uzbekistan’s Uber for taxis) for getting around. It’s awesome — better user experience than Uber and saves you the experience of having to negotiate fares. Pre-Yandex, our 2:30am airport taxi driver to our Airbnb insisted on $15 USD for our trip (after some negotiation) — 10x what we would spend on other trips. We were Uzbekistan rookies, jet-lagged, and desperate, so we obliged
1 thought on “Two days in Tashkent”
Love the high confidence, low competence reference 🙂 enjoying reading all the details of your adventures so far!