![]() ![]() “Bukhara is over two thousand years old and is the most intact example of a medieval city in Central Asia. I have heard such promises before, but after visiting the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, the Po-i-Kalyan Complex, and the Arc of Bukhara, I stop resisting. In Bukhara, I am surprised again by my guide, named Manfur, who preps me for a packed two-day trip in what he calls ‘the pearl of Uzbekistan’. But don’t forget this is a young nation.” Point well made. In the intercity to Bukhara, I let Fatima’s words sink in: “What did you expect? That donkeys are our means of transportation? Alright, there is still a long way to go, we are no Germans, you know. What’s more: there are few countries where I feel more at ease. Definitely number 1: isn’t that dangerous? It isn’t. Tell a family member, a friend, or a colleague about Uzbekistan and you will get a load of raised eyebrows, worried looks, and curious questions. The more time I spend in Uzbekistan, the clearer it becomes that the image I had-a prejudice, as you will-is miles from the truth. That explains the enormous growth in tourism.” In 2019, he abolished the visa requirement for travelers from about seventy countries. “The appointment of our new president (Sjavkat Mirzijojev, red.) was the dawn of a new era. Misogynistic? Muslim conservative? Old fashioned? Nonsense. She clearly makes a point of all the liberties in her country and consequently dismantles the persistent preconceptions about Uzbekistan. “Until recently, it was hard to get a visa as a foreigner,” says city guide Fatima, who awaits me, dressed remarkably hip in a short skirt and with colorful make-up. “Thanks.” Only then do I notice I am not the only one with a lot of photo equipment, let alone the only tourist. “ Rahmat,” he mumbles, while he checks himself on the screen of my camera. There-out of view of his bosses and colleagues-he asks me for a picture, the state portrait type. ![]() Once I arrive in Samarkand, a young police officer leads me outside through the station’s VIP-room. The Afrosiyob is the modern high-speed train that carelessly roams around the Silk Road, in the footsteps of the old adventurers like Dzjengis Khan and Alexander the Great. ![]() Tashkent, with its beautiful mosques, mausoleums, museums, and metro stations, is a tasty extra.Īnd so I find myself on the Afrosiyob a day after I arrive. “By the way, it was the Russians who started renovating the old attractions in Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva.” I look forward to it because those three cities-once an essential stop on the Silk Road-are the heart of tourist Uzbekistan and the reason why Uzbekistan Airways’ flights are almost always fully booked. And she hasn’t even shown me her favorite metro stations. Maybe it is the brutalist Soviet style combined with the crisp and clean streets filled with white Chevrolets and rundown Lada’s. A little later, I find myself in the bustling center of Tashkent, in front of the iconic Hotel Uzbekistan, and I swoon. Infinite desert as far as the eye can see. Could that be correct? I stare out of the window of the old-fashioned Boeing and see the dry landscape below me consent meekly. These are the thoughts that overwhelm me on the six-hour flight from Paris to the Uzbekistan capital Tashkent. And there are only two of those: Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein. Double landlocked means that the neighboring countries also do not border on an ocean. There are forty-four countries like that in the world. Landlocked means the land does not border on an ocean. ![]() Interesting fact: On this planet, only two countries are double landlocked, and Uzbekistan is one of them. ![]()
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