Nat & Ev

With our one month Kazakh visa running perilously low on days it was time to make a move. Nat went to the local currency exchange and returned with a wad of Uzbek Cym that was big enough to warrant a briefcase, preferably one that you can handcuff to your wrist. I think the currency situation in Uzbekistan says alot about the country. The largest denomination is 1000 cym which is roughly $1 aud! The other parallel problem is that getting money in Uzbekistan is near impossible. Once you have found one of the three ATMs in Tashkent you can only take out 20,000 cym ($20) and seeing as we pay $7 per transaction it doesn't really seem like a good deal. Fortunately we were forewarned and so we withdrew 300,000 cym prior to leaving Kaz, that's 300 1000 some notes hence the need for the briefcase! More on the cashola problems later...

On Friday afternoon we caught a mini van to the boarder and negotiated a taxi for the last 20 kms to our hotel in Tashkent. We knew we would be in Tashkent for a few days waiting for our new Kazakh visas so we decided to do a little exploring on the weekend. Samarkand has long been a mecca for Muslims and travellers alike. It was the biggest hub for Central Asian trade during the 14th to 17th centuries and as such became a major stop on the Silk road bringing in such riches that no expense was spared in constructing buildings during the period. In more recent times it has become a quintessential stop on the hippy trail. As we approached the Old Samarkand it was easy to see why people have been drawn here for centuries.

I'm going to let the photos do most of the talking.

After a awesome weekend in Samarkand it was tempting to head further west to Bukhara and Khiva but it was time to head back to Tashkent for our rendezvous at the Kazakh embassy. I was looking forward to the train trip back. I was 80% of the way through a trashy spy thriller leaving me just the right amount pages to fill the 4 hour train trip. Half way through the first page the girl next to me said hello. I have blogged about this already but allow me the chance to reiterate; once you start or become involved in a conversation on public transport you're committing to continuing the conversation until one of the parties involved reaches his or her destination. Needless to say I didn't get to start reading until we were back in Tashkent and didn't finish my book until the wee hours of the morn!

Apparently once upon a time Tashkent was a beautiful and ancient city. Unfortunately we were 50 years too late. An earthquake in 66 destroyed most of the ancient buildings and thanks to the wisdom of that time the city was rebuilt in Faux Islamic / Soviet architecture. The Tashkent of today is a stunning mix of concrete and blue corrugated iron domes. Despite this we set out to see if we could uncover any gems that had made it through the architectural slaughter. We failed. Fortunately we had more luck with our re-entry to Kazakhstan mission. Everything went really smoothly and once again we left surprised at how easy the red tape part of our journey has been.

By this stage our briefcase of Sum was starting to look dangerously low and with lots of souvenirs to purchase we were in dire need of more Sum. It was time to break ground, it was time to acquire some Sum from within the belly of the beast. First strike was our Hotel they told us to try the Hotel Mir who told us to try the Askana Bank who told us to go to the international banking department who told us to go the the Uzbekistan National Bank. As far as I could tell we were being told to go to the reserve bank and ask them to cash our travellers cheque. Seemed like a long shot but 3 hours and 4 taxis later we were getting desperate. We made it through the rigorous security and into the nerve centre of Uzbek banking. Now it was a matter of finding an Uzbek government official who would help us. After a few misdirection we finally found the Sum counter and the Uzbek Granny who evidently controls the one place you can get more than 20000 sum at one time. No wonder the black market in Sum is alive and kicking! A few forms and customs declarations later we left with our 150000 sum. Hardly seems worth it for $150.

The next day we got the chance to visit Teen Challenge who are one of the organisations CR support throughout Central Asia. We drove out of Tashkent to the TC farm where people are helped to overcome addiction and to reenter society with new skills. Part of the project is funded by micro businesses that help the students learn a skill and also to learn about a good work ethic. It was a blast to see all the micro businesses in action and to be so welcomed by brothers in a foreign land. I was asked to say a few words after lunch. "Not much just 15 minutes or so". I choked and didn't put my best public speaking foot forward but they were gracious and thanked me for sharing anyway.

We rounded our time in Uzbekistan off with a night at the Opera. We had booked early and got great seats in the front row. It wasn't strictly Opera, it was a concert that showcased a mixture of Uzbekistan's finest performers including orchestral music, Uzbek singing and dancing, opera and ballet. It was great to get just a taste of each of the styles, however I can say that whatever good work was done in me by the movies "Save the Last Dance" and "Centre Stage" has been completely undone and it will be a long time before I sign up for a ballet performance. My Favourite had to be the opera, I was literally tingling at the end of one piece. Who Knew!

I am the best goddamn dancer in the American Ballet Academy. Who the hell are you? Nobody.

Lots o' love,
Ev and Nat