Tashkent, May 9th, 2014

Monday 5th May. (Still in Kyrgyzstan) We drove to Chon-Kemin. Although the fruit trees are covered in blossom and the villagers are busy planting potatoes a lot of the land is still without much colour.

In Chon-Kemin we stayed in Ashu, a lovely guest house with views out to the mountains. It started out in 1994 as just spare rooms in the house, but has just grown and grown catering to local as well as foreign visitors for seminars and tourism. In the village I liked the fact that there was often a horse tied to the fence in front of the house and the local children gaily galloped around.

May 6th. We headed back to Bishkek and then south to Ala Archa National Park. We walked into the park and although it was hazy we could see some of the glaciers, but alas still no wildflowers on the alpine meadows.

On the outskirts of Bishkek we happened on a V.E.  day ceremony. 400,000 Central Asians died in the Great Patriotic War or World War ll (fighting with Russia.) and it is a public holiday.

May7th We caught our 5.20 a.m. flight to Tashkent although the lack of signs and loud speaker announcements made it a bit tricky.

After a nap and breakfast we walked to the Metro and caught the correct train to Chorsu Bazaar. It is huge, but with a bit of help from a sandal seller we found the textiles. Like the world over, there are plenty of Chinese goods, but there  were a few stalls selling local ikat fabrics both silk and cotton.

We found the fruit and vegetables and spices, but the dried fruit and nuts are on a balcony above the huge meat hall so were not immediately obvious.

May 8th. A city tour with Kemal, an electronics engineer who enjoys guiding for variety during the two short tourist seaons in spring and autumn. It got very hot so we went to some museums rather than more monuments in the hot sun.
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The first eleven or so photos below are in Kyrgyzstan and the rest are some of the monuments and museums we visited in Tashkent.

The door of our yurt 'dining room' in the yard of our homestay in Kochkor.

View from the Ashu guesthouse

Always a good idea to have a horse saddled ready to go!

The lady in the village shop. Two shelves of vodka and some other goods

 

 Embroidered suzani in Ashu guesthouse - dated 1969.

Picnic near Chon-Kemin.

 Cafe in Bishkek. Ladies get a straw with their pot of beer. The Quit campaign has not yet reached Bishkek!

The band introduces the ceremonies for V.E. day in Bishkek.

Waiting to lay the wreaths - actually buckets of flowers.

In Ala Archa National Park.Note the jagged ridge, but it is too hazy to see the glaciers clearlly.

Fabrics in Chorsu Bazaar, Tashkent.

Cafe kitchen in Chorsu Bazaar. Smoking in the kitchen is not a problem here.

Memorial to the victims of Stalin's 1930s purges. It was built on the site of a mass grave.

Amir Timur museum.

The school children were more interested in us than the museum.

Earthquake memorial. Tashkent was flattened in 1966 and people came from all over the Soviet Union to help rebuild the city.

26th April at 5.23 a.m.

 Ikat in the Applied Arts museum.

Embroidered Suzani

Embroidered skull caps. The paisley motif is a pepper motif here and should protect one from the evil eye. Women's skull caps are more colourful.

More embroidery.

 Stringed musical instrument.

Examples of machine embroidery from about 1960.

A wishing tree in Kyrgyzstan. Although the Arabs came in the 8thC many pre Islamic traditions such as this still survive in spite of 70 years of Soviet rule.

Finally for today a few street scenes around our hotel in new Tashkent - the area which was rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake.