Nov 29th Fergana Sun
Went to Fergana with Jerry and his guide, Eh Jah. Jerry’s guide is a Korean grandmother who was borned in Uzbekistan. She can speak both Russian and Korean fluently. We took a taxi to Qoylok Bazzar and then took a taxi to Fergana at 11am (325km, 5 hours drive away. 50,000 Som~USD$25 for a car).
Passed by some very nice mountains.

Local Uzbek family picnicking

Local Uzbeks selling their goods.

Back to the Mountains

Arrived at Fergana around 4pm and the weather here is colder. Fergana is a city of around 200,000 people situated at the Fergana Valley. A third of the population of Uzbekistan live in Fergana Valley. The Fergana Valley is a flat bowl surrounded by Tian Shan mountain to the north and Pamir Altay to the south.
We checked in at Asia hotel which is quite a nice hotel. Usually I prefer to stay at budget hotel but since I am with Jerry, we shared a hotel room for USD$25 each.

Visited Eh Jah’s relative then had Shashlyk for dinner.

Eh Jah and Jerry

Nov 27th
Tashkent is the biggest city in Central Asia with a population of around 2 millions. Tashkent was hit by a big earthquake in 1966 and most part of the city were destroyed. Uzbek is now the official language after the Soviet Union broke up but Russian is still the primary language used because Tashkent is quite cosmopolitan. Most signs are still in Cyrillic. Spent the morning looking for another place to stay and found Hotel Orzu (60,000 Som~USD$30) which is at the south west part of Tashkent.

Lunch (a kind of gravy and soup, I forgot the name of the dish but it’s Uzbek food)

A Medressa

Walked around Chorsu Bazaar.

Seoul Plaza

There are many Koreans in Central Asia including Uzbekistan, especially in Tashkent. During the world war I many years ago, Stalin moved many Koreans from Vladivastok to Central Asia so the army can identify the Japanese from the Koreans.

There is a street called Broadway around Mustaqillik Maydoni which has some shops and restaurants.
Ate fast food and checked out the night life in Tashkent since it’s Friday night. Walked a lot today and covered most part of the city on foot.

Nasruddin guesthouse

Walked around Lyabie Hauz, the name in Tajik means around the pool. Most people in Bukhara and the southern part of Uzbekistan speak Tajik and they look a little different from people in the northern part of the country.
Medressa

Met a Japanese biker

Changed a hundred dollars to Som.

It’s so thick that the money can’t fit in my pocket.
Kolkhozny Bazaar

The Ark, a old town inside a fortified wall.

I didn’t go in because some travellers adviced that it’s not worth the price of the ticket to go in.
Plov is sort of the national food in Uzbekistan and there are competitions on who can make the best Plov. Asked around and someone told me yesterday that theirs is a place which sell pretty good Plov, they were the champion in Plov competition.
Took bus 55 to the restaurant.
Plov with bread, tomatoes and tea (4400 Soms~USD$2.30)

Walked around the southern part of the city.

Bought a train ticket to Samarkand which is around 250km, 3 hours away. (11,000 Som~USD$5.50)
Internet is cheap here, around USD$.50 per hour. However, the speed is quite slow so I can’t do much.