Uzbekistan

Arriving in Tashkent was a relief. The train may have been loads of fun but we were all overdue for a good nights sleep, a proper shower and a meal that didn’t consist of 2 minute noodles and canned meat (it may have looked like dog food but it actually tasted pretty good). That night we had one of the best meals though. It may have been because we wanted it so bad but nonetheless it was amazing. Salads all round with an interesting pasta dish (genuine traditional uzbek pasta) finished off with some awesome fruit.

That night we may have laughed at the money situation but we would soon come to hate it. Essentially the largest uzbek note was worth only 50 cents and changing it was more like a drug deal than an exchange of currency. Carrying around a large wad of money worth little more than 50 dollars was fun at first but finding somewhere inconspicuous to hide it whilst we walked around soon become a chore.

The next day we left on the train for Samarkand. The train ride passed by some beautiful uzbek countryside on the way. After the 5 hour train ride that was only supposed to take 3 we arrived in Samarkand. Samarkand is probably one of my favourite cities that I visited during my entire trip. It was spectacular wherever we went. Enormous mosques, bustling bazaars and the piece-de-resistance, registan square. Our hotel was an extremely short walk from Registan Square, the main tourist attraction of the city. Interesting is probably the best word to describe our hotel. It was extremely haphazard in its design and architecture and we all loved it.

We would visit registan square numerous times during our time in Samarkand. However first we got some awesome traditional food at a family restaurant. Plov is an uzbek specialty and everybody needs to try it before they die. During the afternoon we visited the massive mosque, bazaar, and the incredible cemtary where many of the nations important historical figures are buried. To finish off the day we visited an observatory where an uzbek astronomer made accurate calculations of the distance to many of the stars.

That night would become one of the most memorable of my entire trip so far. First we walked down to registan square just as the sun was setting. It was absolutely breath taking. We bribed the guard 5 dollars each and he took us round the back and up to the roof. The way up there was sketchy at the best of times, running across thin roofs climbing up rickety ladders made of reo. The view from the top was well worth it though. Afterwards we headed out to a nightclub. We sat down for dinner in a nightclub it was very strange but the food was really nice and we could dance in between courses. The dj was fantastic and we all had lots of fun dancing the night away. Afterwards we headed out to another club but headed home fairly shortly afterwars. We had so much fun that night partying whilst quite inebriated with sober muslims.

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The next day we saw a few more mosques but in the afternoon all of us bar Julia got an incredible stomach bug that would not leave me until well into Thailand. Julia enjoyed mike jones’ cooking her plov from ingredients that they bartered for at the local bazaar. I heard that it was amazing. Next time maybe.

Luckily I started to feel a little better the next day since we would be catching the train to Bukhara.

Sorry i wrote this ages ago and never got around to uploading it

So it has been a fair while since I have updated everyone on my activities. Last time anybody really heard from me was st Petersburg. Since then I’ve been constantly doing things and I’ve rarely had access to any internet. However here is basically what happened whilst I was on the vodkatrain through Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

I left st Petersburg late at night and only just managed to catch the train to Moscow. To say that I was uneasy about the trip ahead would be an understatement. Luckily I met Julia, one of the group members on the train that night and immediately started to worry a little less.

We arrived in Moscow and the last thing that either of us wanted to do was go outside and sightsee, so we figured that watching borat would be just like reading a guide book for Kazakhstan. That’s when we met Jamie, the third member of our group and later we met valentin the final (little did he know we already facestorked him after getting his details from reception).

At each stop on the vodkatrain you meet up with a ‘honcho’ which are effectively just guides but theyre always locals and are just there to help show u round and to have a nice chat. Our first guide was marina and she was awesome. Over the next few days she took us to all the cool places in Moscow:

·         the kremlin

·         st basils cathedral

·         Red square

·         The metro system which is decorated with very beautiful soviet architecture and art

·         Some of the extremely fancy department stores (they’re built in old aristocratic palaces. Very fancay)

·         Many of the sculptures that dot the city

·         The state circus (where we would make the first of many bribes on the trip)

·         And Moscow’s answer to Disneyland. It wasn’t much of a reply and thankfully was closed

·         We also sampled some Russian vodka at a dodgy student bar one night.

Anyway we had a lot of fun hanging out in Moscow with marina and teaching her proper English such as the meaning of does a bear shit in the woods. It was sad to see her go as we left on the train headed for Tashkent. That trip would take 3 days but was just as fun.

So the train trip. It was epic in so many ways. The first night we cracked out the vodka and saw how much fun a drunk Julia is. Unfortunately the next nights were more subdued since we had a bit of a run in with a kazak official who wanted to kick us off for drinking beer. He was asking for a 7500 ruble bribe which is around 250 dollars. We weren’t have’n none of it so we stood our ground. Thankfully he spoke no English and valentine spoke Russian so we good tell him to go jump. We were all still pooing our pants though and were perfectly prepared to pay the bribe. Luckily after about 20 minutes we managed to get him to piss off since their wasn’t much he could actually do.

The other highlight was teaching some uzbeks returning home after a year working in Moscow how to play uno. They were a little slow to pick it up but loved it so much. A little vodka helped the process along. From that point on they never left us alone always wanting Jamie to go and play cards wth them.

Anyway the train was a good laugh and the days passed fast and pretty soon we made it to Tashkent where we met the legend that is mike jones.