Road to Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Oct. 14, 2023- Road to Samarkand, Uzbekistan AOL isn't working. Trying Gmail. Hope this gets through Don’t mess with Yura. Not only does he have a PhD in history, but he was ranked boxing champion of Uzbekistan in 1996. He’s the only guide we’ve had who wanted to control our passports. He retrieves them from the hotel on days we transfer from city to city then deposits them at the next hotel. We don’t argue. We bounced our way out of Tashkent on our springless bus and soon were surrounded by pastures. The usual occupants grazed peacefully with the addition of domesticated camel herds. Since camels only bear one baby a lifetime and the meat is tough, Uzbeks keep them solely for their milk and wool. We only took photos of the livestock from the bus, but got off at a huge melon market. Yes, Virginia, there are real “melon farmers.” These men spend 24/7 at their stands during melon season sleeping on beds set up beside the four lane highway. They’re rocked to sleep by speeding semis but will wake to sell melons at any hour. The samples we tasted were “mazalli.” Our first rest stop was at a gas station selling methane and butane. Since tanks are filled under intense pressure, there was nothing self service about it. Passengers and driver have to leave the car and stand at a distance during fueling. Explosions are possible. Cotton fields were plentiful and Yura regaled us with fond memories of university days when students were compelled to “volunteer” two months a year picking cotton. He likened it to summer camp. Men and women were separated at night, but that didn’t stop hormones and ingenuity resulting in romance, marriages, and some babies. Nowadays farmers have to pay for labor, although they still rent and can’t own the land. Travel time is often educational. Yura explained the dilemma facing Uzbekistan in 1991. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, they had to choose between becoming a democratic republic or Islamic state. The IMU (Islamic Movement or Uzbekistan) was overruled and fled to Afghanistan and Pakistan. They still try to infiltrate and stir up trouble, but are strictly discouraged. As to general security, Uzbeks fear Afghanistan and China more than Russia. The government that emerged was constitutional, but weighted toward presidential control. The constitution calls for a maximum of two consecutive four year terms for president, but the first president held office for 25 years. How did that happen? Constitutionally, the senate is 50% elected and 50% appointed by the president. He kept having his term extended as all he needed was one more vote. The new president has extended his term, but made changes that are welcome. He cleaned up the black market currency exchange and restored confidence in banks. Education is free from elementary through high school, although parents chip in for supplies and cleaning. Schools are run in either the Uzbek or Russian language with Russian being more popular. New mothers have six months leave while their job is held. Pre-school is public or private and prepares children for the elementary entrance exam. Bribery is common if a child fails. Bribery is also used at the university level to ensure high grades. Nowadays, Yura would rather use a doctor trained during Soviet times and not a younger one who might have bribed their way through med school We arrived in Samarkand in time for a late lunch then started touring. The preferred language in this region is Persian. The crops are fruit, and the regional hero is Tamerlane (1336-1405). His real name was Temur. He walked with a limp. Brits called him Tamer the Lame, which evolved to Tamerlane. He conquered what is now Central Asia, Iran, and Afghanistan leaving 18 million dead. A patron of arts and science, he died of pneumonia, undefeated in battle. He left stunning architecture in his wake. He must have liked blue and green mosaic, because the similarity in design is striking. We visited his family mausoleum and Ulugbek Observatory (1426) where the remains of a giant sextant is preserved. We’ll be at the Grand Samarkand Superior Hotel three nights. It’s small and quaint. That means no elevator. It isn’t a coincidence that our room is on the ground floor. Yura has evaluated our abilities well. He hasn’t helped anyone with the hundreds of steps we’ve already climbed. That is left to group members. I’m in charge of David and KC. Nancy is in charge of Joan. It just worked out that way. Big news is that I scored a hippo keychain. No one in the shop understood “hippopotum.” One man thought it was an elephant and held his arm up to mimic a trunk. I moved his arm away and gestured “big teeth and mouth.” I then said “water.” He said “very round.” Bingo! Bigger news. One of our bus windows splintered into hundreds of pieces. Yura found a rock in the bus that must have been kicked up by a passing car. Tonight the driver arranged to have it replaced. Fortunately, no one was sitting near it and the safety glass did its thing. Tomorrow we’re introduced to Bukharan Jews. They’re Persian speaking Jews related to the Mountain Jews we met in Azerbaijan last year. There were tens of thousands of them in Uzbekistan. The majority of Yura’s schooling was spent with them until a Jewish day school was built. There was an exodus to Israel in the 1970’s and again in the 1990’s. Yura said it was for more opportunity and a better life. From tens of thousands there are only 50 today in Samarkand and 120 in Bukhara. Toby