Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Part Two

After lunch, we went for a walk in the vicinity, as there are a number of sights packed into a relatively small area.

Panfilov Park


Bishkek


Bishkek


Bishkek


Bishkek


Lenin Statue
Moved from the front of the building to the rear in 1991.


Kyrgyz State Medals from USSR


Kyrgyz State Medals from USSR


Bishkek


Kirghizia Coat of Arms


Bishkek


Frunze Museum


Frunze Museum


Frunze Museum


Frunze Museum


Frunze Museum


Frunze Museum


Frunze Museum


Frunze Museum


Frunze Museum


History Museum
Former Lenin Museum


Oak Park


Oak Park


Russian Theater


Russian Theater


Russian Theater


Oak Park
Pony rides


Kurmanzhan Datka Statue


Soda Fountain


Soda Fountain


Ala-Too Cinema


Ala-Too Cinema


Ala-Too Square


Bishkek


Manas Statue
Replaced the Lenin Statue


Manas Statue and History Museum


Manas Statue


Friendship Monument


Friendship Monument


Monument of Heroes


Parliament


Parliament


Parliament


Bishkek


Cinema Russia


Sport Palace


Sport Palace


Sport Palace


Russian Church


Russian Church


Bishkek


Bishkek


Philharmonic Hall


Monument to Important Kyrgyz People
The copper busts were stripped from the monument by thieves.


Philharmonic Hall


Philharmonic Hall


After this walking tour, we met up with the driver and drove to the Osh Bazaar, one of the largest I'd yet visited.


Osh Bazaar
Lepyoshka or Tandyr Nan


Osh Bazaar


Osh Bazaar


Osh Bazaar


Osh Bazaar
Dried fruits


Osh Bazaar
Kurut, a dried, salted cheese. Formed by hand and eaten as a snack or made into a drink.


Osh Bazaar
More kurut.


Osh Bazaar
Dried fruits.


Osh Bazaar
Horse sausage (left) and slabs of cured fat (right)


Osh Bazaar
Stomachs, intestines and other offal


Osh Bazaar
Lepyoshka


Osh Bazaar


After this, we headed for the airport, which was a 30 minute drive away.

Thanks! What areas do you mean by Hindustan? Kashmir, northern Pakistan, etc?

Thanks!

I find local guides in advance, generally using a few different services geared toward independent travelers. Specifically, I've found great guides through TourHQ, ToursByLocals and Viator Tour Guides. They don't have 100% coverage, though. If those fail or are too costly, I'll typically contact local tour operators at the destination to inquire about tours. I've had to do that in areas with: (1) a less developed tour industry, such as East Timor, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan; or (2) places where I needed something more complicated than a day tour, such as India.

For this trip, I used: TourHQ for Baku, Almaty, Samarkand and Tashkent; Ayan Travel for Turkmenistan; ToursByLocals for Bishkek and AAA Tours for Dushanbe.

Air Astana
Economy Class
KC Economy Class Ticket
KC110: FRU-ALA (Bishkek to Almaty)
23 April 2019
Embraer ERJ-190LR (Two Class Configuration)
P4-KCI
Seat 12C
Departure: 7:55PM
Arrival: 8:45PM

I arrived at the airport a bit early and had to wait around for check-in to open. Once airside, there's not much to do but I did sit in the Priority Pass lounge for a bit to charge my phone. The flight was utterly uneventful. I had an entire row to myself again and we arrive in Almaty slightly ahead of schedule. Immigration was quicker this time and I was landside 5 minutes after landing.

I used Yandex.Taxi to order a cab to my hotel, which was a lot cheaper than the hotel arranged car service I'd used previously. Roughly 1,200 KZT (approx. $3 USD) for a 25 minute drive with no haggling or problems.

Bishkek Airport Mural


P4-KCI

Hotel Mercure Almaty City Center

On my return to Almaty, I stayed at the same hotel as I had previously. In a strange stroke of luck, they put me in the exact same room as last time, so I didn't bother taking any photos of the room. After check-in, I ordered a quick dinner so I could get to sleep at a reasonable hour. The room service was fairly mediocre, but at least it was pretty cheap.

Club Sandwich & Salad


The next morning was clear and I could actually see mountains from my room.

Mountain View



After breakfast, it was time to go back to the airport.

Air Astana
Economy Class
KC Economy Class Ticket
KC131: ALA-FRU (Almaty to Bishkek)
24 April 2019
Airbus A320 (Two Class Configuration)
P4-KBG
Seat 12C
Departure: 10:40AM
Arrival: 11:30AM

Going back to the airport, I used Yandex.Taxi again and it worked great. Arriving at the airport, check-in, immigration and security were a breeze. Took no more than 10 minutes to get airside. Unfortunately, we had a 30 minute delay for this flight, as the crew was late arriving at the airport. Not very impressive, I must confess.

In any event, this flight was a bit longer than my previous KC flights, so they served a snack. I had my usual seat 12C again. As before, I had the entire row to myself. The flight was otherwise uneventful and we soon landed at Dushanbe. The Dushanbe arrival process was fairly smooth, as I'd been granted an e-visa in advance. I later learned, I was supposed to complete an arrival card in duplicate to be returned on departure, but not doing so didn't seem to cause me any issue when leaving.

The departure would be an absolute nightmare, but I'll get to that later.

Empty Row


View Parked at ALA

Snack

Yes seems daft to change the name like that (although i get why they did it), And fair enough, I know what its like trying to put together a schedule to fit everything in! I will say though you did miss visiting an excellent city from the photos my family send me of the place.

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

My guide met me at the airport and we commenced the tour right away. Our driver turned out to be the owner of the tour company. Apparently, he had some free time and wanted to join our tour. The guide and driver/owner were both very kind and hospitable hosts. My driver even offered to introduce me to a "cool guy millionaire" if I wanted to do any business while I was in town...

I let them know I was particularly interested in Soviet architecture and mosaics, so they did their best to accommodate. Unfortunately, a lot of the old Soviet buildings are being torn down and replaced with new buildings, which is quite unfortunate. That said, some things still survive, for now.

First stop was the supermarket for bottled water. Unfortunately, it was raining quite hard most of the day, so I tried to avoid getting too soaked...

Dushanbe


Mosaic


Ismoil Somoni Statue


Memorial to Tajik Writers


Memorial to Tajik Writers


Dushanbe


Wedding Banquet Hall
Shaped Like a Melon and Not Air Conditioned...


Wedding Banquet Hall
Yes, there's even a leaf and stem at the end...


Hisor Fortress


Hisor Fortress


Soviet Eternal Flame
Not lit...


Hisor Fortress


Hisor Fortress


Hisor Fortress


Hisor Fortress


Hisor Fortress


Hisor Fortress


Hisor Fortress


Hisor Fortress



After the fortress, we went for lunch at a local restaurant. The owner of the tour company treated us to lunch, so he did the ordering. There wasn't a printed menu that I saw, so I ended up with borscht and shashlik.

Borscht and Tandyr Nan


Beef broth with stewed beef and chick peas
The broth was very fatty, so not really to my liking.


Chicken Shashlik


After lunch, we went to the Mekhrgon Bazaar.

Mekhrgon Bazaar


Mekhrgon Bazaar


Dushanbe


Dushanbe


Next up was the strangest place of the entire visit. They told me we were going to a tea room, which was the most impressive building on the tour. I didn't really know what to expect, but this was definitely not what I'd envisioned. It actually turned out to be next door to my hotel. Built over a 5 year period, the structure was funded entirely by local oligarchs at the request of the government. The cost of the building is secret, but it's safe to say it cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

The building was constructed entirely by Tajik builders and craftsman. The level of detail was extraordinary.

Navruz Palace



Navruz Palace


Navruz Palace
My driver at the bottom right.


Navruz Palace


Public Reception Hall
First small reception hall. Available for rent for weddings, etc. Costs $5,000 USD to rent.


Public Reception Hall


Public Reception Hall


Public Reception Hall


Hand Painted Ceiling


Hand Carved Wooden Staircase


Exterior


Gazebo and Artificial Lake


Artificial Lake


Next up was the second function hall. This is used for state level meetings between the Tajik government and foreign governments. Not available for rent.

Conference Hall
My driver


Conference Hall


Hand Carved


Mosaic made by hand from semi-precious stones


Hand carved ceiling


Intricate work


Mosaic tiled floor


Conference Room


Mosaic in Semi-Precious Stones
The president and his mother


Next up was another room for formal state receptions. I believe this room is for state meeting as well.

Conference Room


Domed Celing
Real gold leaf and crystal chandelier


Conference Room


Dome


Chandelier


Detail work


Inlaid parquet flooring


Golden Chairs
The chairs were being refinished with gold leaf. We actually found some spare gold leaf just sitting on the floor...


The final room is the banquet hall used for formal state dinners. Again, everything is carved by hand with huge attention to detail.

Banquet Hall


Banquet Hall


Banquet Hall


Banquet Hall


Banquet Hall


Banquet Hall
My guide is bottom right with the camera


Banquet Hall



Banquet Hall


Banquet Hall


Tajik State Emblem in Gold


Adjacent to the banquet hall was a small anteroom for private meetings.

Anteroom


Anteroom


Entry


Murals



Next stop was the museum. Unfortunately, the museum was closed because the state security services were doing a security sweep in anticipation of a state visit the following day.

Dushanbe


Museum
Security services cars parked in front.


Former Tallest Flagpole in the World


Museum


Rudaki Park


Rudaki Park


Rudaki Park


Rudaki Park


Rudaki Park


Rudaki Park


National Library


Ismoil Somoni Statue


Ismoil Somoni Statue


Ismoil Somoni Statue


Ismoil Somoni Statue


Parliament


Dushanbe


Dushanbe


Puppet Theater


Puppet Theater


Puppet Theater


Concrete Factory


Concrete Factory


Concrete Factory


Dushanbe
Obligatory photo of the president


Dushanbe


That river was angry


New Indoor Water Park


We then made our way to my hotel so I could get some sleep before my late night flight.

Hyatt Regency Dushanbe

The hotel had a strange layout, but pretty good views of the Novruz Palace from my floor (10th floor). We got the the hotel by 5:30PM and I wanted to go to sleep by 7PM. So I ordered a quick dinner then slept for a solid 5 hours.

View


View


View


Room


Room


Room


Room


Room


Room


Room


View from Room


View from Room


View from Room


View from Room


View from Room


View from Room
The mosque in the background is being financed and built by Qatar. When finished, it's supposed to hold 100,000 people.


I ordered some dinner before conking out.

Choban Salad


Passable Hamburger


Overall, the hotel was decent. On par with what one expects at a Hyatt, so no complaints. Also, I booked with points, so it was dirt cheap.

Uzbekistan Airways
Economy Class
HY Economy Class Ticket
HY718
25 April 2019
Airbus A320 (Two Class Configuration)
UK32019
Seat 13D
Departure: 3:00AM
Arrival: 4:05AM

My departure from Dushanbe was not smooth on any front. I'd arranged an airport transfer with the tour agency, but they never showed. Apparently there was an explosion near their parking lot and the police wouldn't allow them to leave to come get me. So I had the hotel order a taxi for me. Luckily, the taxi was prompt and cheap at roughly $5. From there, everything went downhill.

I arrived at the airport 90 minutes before my flight (with no checked bags) and I barely made the flight. In hindsight, I should have arrived extra early and/or spend $30 for CIP service. It's such a small airport that I figured 90 minutes would be more than enough time. Wrong.

First, bag x-ray to enter the building. The combined Departure and Arrival Hall was incredibly crowded with onlookers. The building is much too small to allow non-flyers to hang around inside. I had to elbow and shove my way through the crowd to get to the next hall with check-in counters.

Next was a ticket check to enter check-in hall was pointless. I didn't have my printed ticket at the ready, so I just flashed my US passport and they let me in. Not kidding.

Then came the check-in. It was an EXTREMELY slow check-in process with Uzbek Air; easily the worst I've experienced. The line wasn't long, but it took a solid 45min to check-in and get a boarding pass (easily 5min per person); they weren't even checking visas, so I don't know why it was so bad. It was so backed up, they were still checking people in at 30 minutes before departure...

After that was a boarding pass check to take escalator upstairs to customs. Seriously?

Once I got upstairs, I figured I was basically home free. Wrong. There was an ENORMOUS line at customs (easily 200 people just in a huge pile standing there waiting for who knows what) and it wasn't moving whatsoever. I just went around them and it was fine. No idea what the issue was. Thankfully, I have no compunction about line skipping in these circumstances and if someone says something I just play dumb. It usually works.

Finally, I got to immigration and it was another interminable wait. The line was long and disorganized, with people pushing and shoving. One lady was in tears because of the aggressiveness of fellow flyers. A guy somewhat in front of me was straddling two lines at once, so I went around him. That's when he got angry and started yelling at me in Russian. I think he wanted to fight, but I just stared at him and he calmed down.

The border agents were terribly inefficient taking 3-4min per person, all while being line jumped by runners for CIP passengers shoving stacks of passports in their faces. Easily a 30min wait here. I was still in line at immigration at 2:45AM, 15 minutes prior to the scheduled departure. If this were the US, I'd have been offloaded by then.

Security was mercifully quick. They even had a fake millimeter wave scanner setup after the metal detector and you had to stand in front of it for 7 seconds. I gave it two seconds and kept walking, but not before getting a security stamp on my passport. What a joke.

Overall, it was the most aggravating departure airport I�ve experienced. Every single aspect was terrifically inefficient. Thankfully, there was no noticeable corruption. Pretty much the only bright spot here. It�s a stark contrast to the arrival experience, which was fairly quick and painless.

Onboard


Onboard


We boarded eventually and actually landed more or less on time in Tashkent. Despite the horrendous ground experience, the flight itself was totally fine. Some poor manners by an old lady in my row who kept shoving people out of the way so she could deplane first. Joke's on her, though. We landed at a remote stand, so her rudeness got her nowhere fast and I easily made it to immigration before her.

Immigration and customs at Tashkent was absolutely painless. Zero issues whatsoever and no hassle from any police.

Uzbekistan Railways Afrosiyob: Tashkent - Samarkand
Business Class
Train 762
Departure: 7:28AM
Arrival: 9:42AM

Upon arrival at Tashkent, I made the mistake of not using the ATM in the baggage reclaim area. I assumed there was an indoor arrival area beyond. That's not the case. So I had no cash. Luckily, I'd arrange for a driver to meet me to take me to the train station and I'd already paid in advance. Once at the train station, I was able to exchange cash at a small exchange booth. The ATM did not work for me unfortunately.

I arrived at the train station two hours before my train, so I had a bit of a wait. Nothing was open, so I was getting pretty hungry.

Tashkent Station waiting to Depart


Included Breakfast Snack


River


We arrived in Samarkand right on time. The whole train process was quite smooth and fairly easy to navigate.

Samarkand

Yikes at your departure at the airport! I'd have been having kittens at the thought of missing the flight!!!

Wow at how beautiful the Novruz Palace was, and I agree, that would have cost a small fortune to create!

That Novruz Palace indeed looks like quite some place, like a modern-day version of the old mosques and madrassas of Samarkand in Uzbekistan (which is ethnically majority-Tajik).

Curious about your impressions of Samarkand (I loved the place!) - and thanks for posting about the other Stans as they are high on my list to visit.

I think you are also one of the few with a proper Turkmenistan Airlines review! I have always wondered about them. You know what kind of booze they serve? Any nice top brands of champagne or cheap local/Russian stuff only?

I don't doubt it. If I'd had more time, I would've like to see Astana.

Yeah, it was quite the nerve wracking experience. I don't recommend it!

Samarkand was interesting and has many fine examples of various Islamic architectural styles, but it also felt very touristy. Much more so than any other city I visited in the region. Aside from the main architectural sites, there wasn't a whole lot to see. In contrast, Tashkent felt like a more vibrant and cosmopolitan city.

Ah, yes, T5. It's not an oft-flown airline, that's certain. As far as booze goes, I didn't inquire about their selection and there was no printed menu listing beverages on offer. They did offer a PDB, but I declined. If there was champagne on offer, I didn't see anyone drinking it and I never heard a cork pop. They had wine available with dinner, but I never saw the bottle. I'm sure they had vodka, whisky, etc. Most likely local brands if I had to guess.

They did have a very small selection of liquor in the lounge, but it was not free. The booze served in the lounge was from brands I did not recognize, so likely mid range regional brands (presumably of Russian, Uzbek and Kazakh origin). They also had chocolate in the lounge, which was not free either. All other food and drink was free, but the selection was quite limited.

Thank you for a wonderful TR!

Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Part One

My guide and driver were a bit late due to traffic, but soon arrived. The exit from the train station was one of the few places on this trip that I encountered fairly aggressive touts. Once my guide arrived, she informed me our first stop would be the mausoleum of Timur, Gur-e-Amir.

Samarkand


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir
Grave markers, but not the actual tombs.


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir
Locked entrance to actual tomb


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Gur-e-Amir


Samarkand



The next stop was Registan, the former heart of the city in Timurid times.

Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Inside former madrasah class rooms are merchants selling local crafts. I took the opportunity to buy a couple scarves for my wife. I was offered the opportunity to climb to the top of one of the minarets. The cost was 20,000 sum (roughly $2.50 US), so I did it. The staircase becomes very narrow at the top, so it can be a bit tricky when passing others on the way up/down.

Registan


Registan


Registan



Views from the top.

Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan Minaret Staircase
Steep and tight


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan


Registan



After the Registan, we went to a local Uzbek restaurant for lunch. I ordered lagman, but wasn't clear that I wanted the dry style. I ended up with the soupy variety of lagman. Not one to complain, I ate it anyway. It was quite good and very cheap. Lunch cost around $1 US per person.

Lagman for lunch


We went next door for a quick dessert. I had one of those cones filled with cream. It was quite good and cost less than 50 cents.

Pastry Shop



Next up was a visit to the Ulugh Beg Observatory. The later Jantar Mantar Observatory in Jaipur was apparently based on the design of this complex. I didn't really find it all that interesting, if I'm honest.

Ulugh Beg Observatory


Ulugh Beg Observatory


Ulugh Beg Observatory
Remains of the sundial


Ulugh Beg Observatory


Ulugh Beg Observatory


Ulugh Beg Observatory