We started our Uzbekistan leg with a reasonable 10am group meeting and learned we would be doing some inner country travel on our own.  We also discovered that technology (google maps, booking services, etc) is not allowed.  Oyy, it was a scary moment until we walked our first block and met Ammous.  He works in a business center and some taxi cab drivers went to fetch him as he speaks english. He reached out to ask a travel agent friend to help with train tickets. Guess what?  It is Eid (the end of Ramadan) tomorrow and the entire country utilizes all methods of transportation to be with family. Tickets were booked solid.  He hailed a cab for us and paid for it, much to our dismay. At the train station, after some sketchy back room dealings, one member of our group was able to secure a sprinter van for us to go to Samarkand this evening. We were off to see Tashkent for the day until them.

We are much braver than we were just a short week ago and asked a million people on the subways how to navigate the city.  That said, we seemed to be an attraction as English speakers and we were approached numerous times by younger students who wanted to practice their English.  What has been most noticeable about the people in Tashkent vs. Seoul is that airpods are not the fashion statement of choice here and they are taking in the world around them, which today happened to be the strangers from a foreign land.  

We met a new friend in the Metro who escorted us to the Chosu Market and helped us navigate the wild food market.  He is hoping to work in the US one day and shadowed us around for while.  He was 20 years old, and continued to pay for our items, much to our dismay, even though he was fasting. Over lunch he poured our tea, as is customary here.

Highlights from Day 1 Tashkant:

• The metro stations are beautiful, which we enjoyed through a metro photo scavenge.  Each stop is unique, colorful and artistic. This was an unexpected surprise.

• The metro stations were nuts.  We were squished like never before so the claustrophobic member of our team (Shannon) was box breathing.

• People seemed to hover around us to help in any way they could, which we appreciated because we were without maps and phones.

Subway Frien

• Donna is the food testing champ because most options are meaty.  Shannon spit out one product (white balls of strong/curdled/dried cheese called Kurt. It taste like hard Brie).  It is really best that she is not trying food in front of others.  She can be embarrassing. 

• Eid tomorrow impacted our journey to Samakand and increased our drive time from 4 hours to 9 hours.  That was a doozie and so were the bathroom stops along the way, but connecting with teams from around the country, hearing about their families and understanding their reasons for embarking on this wild adventure made it bearable and even fun.  The literal bumps on the road (so many bumps), the moment we thought Kathleen was going get run over by one of the millions of white cars (observation; all the cars are white) on the road, and the terrible snacks we found along the way led to bonding and laughter despite a 2:30 am arrival and having to bang down the door at the hotel to get a in. Worst food winner thus far is the Banana flavored Popcorn. It was mistaken for buttered popcorn, which it was certainly not. Best food winner is the cucumber/tomato salad from the Bazaar. Yum!!
• Most of our time was spent on the van, so lots of photos.

Stay tuned for Day 2 pics from Samarand. It’s a favorite so far!!