Essence, Tashkent
Author: Anothertravelguide.com
Unless you are on a business trip, Tashkent is probably not quite the city to visit for its own sake; as often as not it is the starting and finishing point of a trip to Uzbekistan, the favourite spots of interest being Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. It is also not the place to go for some examples of ancient architecture: just a few Old Quarter streets survived the 1966 earthquake; they are mostly located in the vicinity of the Chorsu market, the green dome of which has become a sort of symbol of the city. The rest of Tashkent's features are dominated by classic Soviet-style architecture with an Oriental twist and countless blockhouses. True enough, Tashkent does boast a few gems: the Moyie Mubarek museum in the Khast Imom complex, renovated in record-short time, is home to the world's oldest copy of Koran. It was originally brought to Samarkand by Timur, later - in 1868 - taken to Moscow and in 1924 - on Lenin's orders - given back to Tashkent as a sign of good will.
Still, Tashkent is also a bit like an onion revealing itself as you peel off a layer after layer. The first thing you notice about the city is that, in spite of its desert soil, it is incredibly green. There is a „green corner" in front of practically every house, including the newly constructed ones. The official residence of President Karimov is all but invisible behind the lush trees. Whenever he takes the daily trip to work, streets are closed down along the whole of the route - not for long, though, it has to be said: the President's car with the escort whoosh past, considerably exceeding the speed limit. Streets are perfect in Tashkent, people living outside the capital can only dream about roads of equal quality - and there is no such a thing as traffic jams in the capital of Uzbekistan. The presence of money also makes itself felt, most of all in the shape of restaurants the likes of which would not be out of place in most metropolises of the world, and the first privately-owned hotels. True enough - there are just a few of them as yet, and the city is still dominated by a post-Soviet cocktail of styles, slightly laced with a breath of global influences.
Keywords: Tashkent, Uzbekistan
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