Tashkent

We arrived in Tashkent, Uzbekistan's capital, after an 11 hour overnight train journey. The train was filled to capacity and very hot - but it departed and arrived exactly on schedule and was certainly more comfortable than the bus trip we had previously taken from Samarkand to Bukhara.

We were happy to feel the cooler temperature of Taskent and immediately impressed by the greenness of the city. In fact, it is regarded as the "green" city for two reasons - its parks and trees on the one hand and its ubiquitous and very active green-uniformed policemen on the other. We encountered both.

We quickly found that Tashkent is a very big city. It's the only Central Asian city we've visited which has a metro system - clean and architecturally elegant like so many of the East European systems - and we were soon using it to make our way to the massive farmers market (Chorsu Bazaar) on the outskirts. It is a huge bustle of vendors competing to sell all sorts of agricultural produce, spices and bread. The good quality fruit and vegetables were a contrast to the less tempting specimens we've seen in some other parts of the world. And Uzbekistan is the only place where we see vendors constantly polishing the bread.

We spent the rest of the morning checking out some nearby mosques and medressas, not quite up to what we'd seen in Samarkand or Bukhara, and then walking in the "old" part of town. Quiet, narrow streets bordered by high-walled properties. And behind the walls were typically enclosed courtyards which serve as the centre of family living. Next stop was a nice small fine arts museum, set within a large house, which presented examples of textile and ceramic design. And later in the day, we toured some of the central city sites - a huge Senate building, massive well-kept green parks and monuments, especially around Independence Square, and many, many unique types of fountains. Also some examples of less glamorous Soviet-style building, often showing little signs of use.

We used our second day in Tashkent to visit the Khast Imom area, Uzbekistan's official religious centre, which incorporates a large medressa, mosque and library complex where a very battered 7th century version of the Quoran holds pride of place. Then on to downtown Navoi Park, Parliament buildings (never used, it seems) and the city's showcase contemporary art museum which houses an expansive albeit somewhat monostyle collection. Finally we enjoyed a couple of hours in a streetside cafe watching the world go by before heading out to the airport for our flight to Seoul. And farewell to Central Asia.

Simon