Wow. Tashkent again.
It seems like yesterday that I was arriving in Beijing, halfway across the continent from here. In the past three weeks, together with my six other intrepid caravaners, I’ve covered over five thousand miles of ancient Silk Road. My head is spinning from all the amazing things I’ve seen, places I’ve been, people I’ve met and experiences that will stay with me for a lifetime.
But here it all comes to a close, at least for now. Uzbekistan was not the end of the Silk Road, of course. The routes extended from here either north or south across to Istanbul and, from there, to Europe. Not to mention the Maritime routes. There are at least enough other destinations for a half-dozen more Silk Road trips. But for the moment, this is the end of the road for me, as I head home tonight.
Closing the loop
This morning, after a relaxed breakfast, we boarded the van one last time for the drive back to Tashkent. It was a fairly uneventful ride, with only a few short stops for snacks, fuel and water. We did stop off at some rocks with a lot of broken glass, and at another roadside melon stand to see some donkeys. But other than that, it was basically open road for the five hours or so back to Tashkent.
We got back to the city mid-afternoon and checked back into the large, imposing Hotel Uzbekistan. Then, we had a last few hours to get in some last-minute souvenir shopping before dinner. On the advice of Rustam, I walked up with Colleen and Laurent to the GUM department store. Unfortunately, unlike the one in Bishkek, this one was quite small and had a pretty terrible selection of souvenirs. I guess I should’ve been more decisive in Bukhara. Oh well.
Last night in Tashkent
For dinner, Rustam took us to a middle-eastern style restaurant with grand ballroom-style halls, live musicians, and delicious shashlik. We feasted on local wine, grilled meats, vegetables and salads, and I even got in one last chocolate cake for dessert.
Then, we went to the next room for the show: Traditional Uzbek and Russian dancing, and — yep, you guessed it — belly dancing. The trip wouldn’t have been complete without seeing at least one performance, right? The dancers were mostly Russian, not Uzbek, and it was a bit kitschy, plus the boys almost ending up spending all their taxi money on the dancers. But it was good fun nonetheless. After the performances, the DJ switched to dance music and everyone got out on the floor for a bit of dancing to close out the trip.
We headed back to the hotel about an hour ago, and said goodbye to Rustam in the lobby. It is going to feel strange going back home and not having him tell me what we’re doing every day, or the history of every building and monument I come across. I also met some more Folk Festival musicians in the lobby of the hotel — the representatives from Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Israel. Nice seeing how the music scene brings people together, in Uzbekistan of all places. It’s a nice example of how, even to this day, this country truly is the crossroad of the world.
Goodbye, Uzbekistan
So now there’s nothing left to do but finish packing and get ready to go. I’m using the hotel room for a few minutes longer to get organized, and will shortly head out to the airport to start the long journey home. Five of us are on the same flight out, which leaves just after 3am from Tashkent. From there, I’ll be connecting in Istanbul and Geneva, and I should be home by tomorrow afternoon, if all goes well.
I’m quite sad to be leaving. I admit I probably won’t miss squat toilets, and I’m rather looking forward to drinkable tap water, a hot shower and sleeping in my own bed. But I will definitely miss relaxing on an outdoor supa in a courtyard in perfect weather, eating Uzbek pastries and sipping tea in the shadow of ancient minarets, dancing with elaborately-dressed locals in the square, and walking through two thousand years of history everywhere I go. Uzbekistan may not have the well-known sights and cities of China, or the natural beauty of Kyrgyzstan, but it’s gotten under my skin all the same.
This has been a truly epic journey that has completely exceeded my expectations in every possible way. I’ll have more to say about it once I get home. But for now, thanks for reading and following along with me.