A few Observations on the Road in Uzbekistan 🇺🇿

Just getting back from a recent vacation to Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s bustling hub and former major trading bloc for a few millennia on the old Silk Road linking China to the Mediterranean. I had to share some of my observations:

1. Uzbekistan’s rich in history: Conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 B.C., Samarkand was a gem of a city and was formerly one of the major stops along the Silk Road. The old city had been destroyed by Ghengis Khan in 1220 A.D. but was rebuilt to a new glory by Timur, the founder of the Timurid Empire that stretched as far as eastern Turkey and northern India and included most of Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

   

   Inside one of the madrasah’s at the Registan in Samarkand

   Another city along the Silk Road, Bukhara, is one of the best representations of a medieval city in Central Asia, home to the former Emirate of Bukhara. With narrow alleyways and the famed Ark of Bukhara, a fortress first built in the 5th century A.D. that lasted until the Bolsheviks bombed it in 1920.

   From the Persians, the Mongols, the Timurs, the Turks, and later the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan has been home to numerous empires at the crossroads of Central Asia for thousands of years.

2. Pre-coordination in diplomacy is important: I found a chilling story about two British military officers who ended up at the jail in Bukhara.

   British military officer Colonel Charles Stoddart had traveled in 1838 from Afghanistan to Bukhara to deliver a diplomatic message to the Emir. However, he made several mistakes, offending the Emir.
   
   1️⃣ He rode on horseback into the Emir's fortress not knowing that only the Emir was allowed to enter on horseback.

   2️⃣ He brought NO gifts to exchange with the Emir.
   3️⃣ His letter was from the British governor of India, and NOT Queen Victoria, whom the Emir considered his appropriate equal.
   
   As a result, the Emir threw him in the infamous "Bug Pit," 12 feet deep, only accessible by a rope lowered down through a hole in the center of the ceiling. Local vermin such as scorpions, rodents, and of course...bugs, were thrown down in the pit for torturing.
   
   In 1841, British Captain Arthur Conolly went to secure the colonel's release. But, he too was thrown into the Bug Pit, where the two military officers spent the last of their days together before digging their own graves prior to being beheaded on June 17, 1842.

The Ark of Bukhara

3. Uzbekistan loves Chevy: Driving around Uzbekistan, there were billboards everywhere for Pepsi and Coca Cola. But every country outside of America has that. Something unique to Uzbekistan that I’ve never seen in the 25 or so countries I’ve been to were Chevys, everywhere. Mostly sedans.

   It turns out that GM has a Joint Venture with the state-owned Uzbekistan company, Uzavtosanoat (UzAuto Motors), and has been producing Chevys in Uzbekistan since 2007. The production isn’t massive, and the country is only about 35 million people. But in 2022, UzAuto Motors produced 327,000 vehicles.

4. Sometimes the old ways are the best: Americans rarely vacation by train. But it was the best method of getting around in Uzbekistan. Just five or six years ago, Uzbekistan received its first rail cars from Spain that now comprise its hi-speed rail, the Afrosiab, which was a convenient way to get between major cities such as the capital, Tashkent, as well as Samarkand and Bukhara.

   I also got to experience somewhat of a time warp by riding the Soviet-era trains, known as the sleeper trains for their overnight use. Since the Afrosiab didn’t go all of the way to the ancient walled town of Khiva, the sleeper train was the only way to get there.

   

   [Left] The Afrosiab, [right] my “sleeper train” cabinIf someone from the 1950s was staying in these trains, they wouldn’t have felt out of place. Walking up the steps to your carriage, you’ll pass by a coal-powered stove for heating the train. Enter the bathroom, and upon flushing the toilet you’ll notice that you can see the bottom of the train tracks.

   Nonetheless, it was a pleasant ride with clean cabins, cozy beddings, and at times the ride felt like being in one of the old James Bond films starring Sean Connery or Roger Moore. I finally crossed off “sleeper train” on my bucket list.

5. The best meal traveling can be breakfast: I got reminded in Uzbekistan to look out for hotels overseas that include breakfast. Staying in the capital at Lotte City Hotel Tashkent Palace, a Korean-owned chain, the breakfast was outstanding. I am quickly finding breakfasts in most 4-star and up hotels overseas to be the best meal of the day. 100% pomegranate juice, fresh espresso, an omelet station, cured meats, aged cheeses, kefir, and specialty Korean dishes were just some of what the hotel breakfast offered.

   Another bonus is that these breakfasts overseas are often included in the daily rate. Lotte in Tashkent - you over-delivered!

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