In continuation to our last blog, this blog provides other fascinating details of the rest of the attractions of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. After a fantastic half-day at Tashkent, it was time for us to spend another day at this beautiful place before moving to another country. Let’s take you all on another day trip to Tashkent and visit some of the renowned places.
In case you don’t know who we are……
We call ourselves Travel Freaks……
For a quick recap, we have already explored Samarkand and a few popular places in Tashkent after landing in this beautiful country. Do read our previous blogs to know more about our experience. It will help you plan your itinerary.
Returning to our story, we woke up by 6 o’clock in the morning. In no time, we were ready to have our breakfast at our hotel, “Alisher Hotel by Sosh”. When it was close to 8:30 AM, we headed towards a local bank for some quick currency exchange.
We had to wait for a few minutes for the bank counter to open. Soon after exchanging, we headed towards the Oybek Metro Station which took us 15 minutes to reach by walk.
Tip: You can exchange your currency in any bank with ease across Tashkent City.
Uzbekistan has a quite affordable public transport system. You will have to pay only 2000 Som for one-way travel in the metro within Tashkent City irrespective of the distance. The first on the list was…..
1. Tashkent Metro
As we entered the station complex, we could see the busy lifestyle of the people of Tashkent. Most of them were travelling to their respective workplaces as it was the busy morning hours. Somehow we stood at a corner of the station as the station complex was way too crowded. Soon the metro arrived and we boarded. The next station was the Tashkent Metro.
We could understand that the metro rake seemed to represent the soviet era model and it was not modernised as compared to the European or the Singapore Metro. Another important thing we noted was that there was no indicator for the upcoming stations. You need to either download an offline map or take the help of the daily commuters.
Tip: Download an offline map while travelling in a Tashkent Metro.
The best part of travelling in a Tashkent Metro is that you will find an appealing architecture of all the metro stations that you pass by. Be it the beautiful mosaics, sculptures, and artwork, everything is a reflection of the rich historical past of Uzbekistan. It took us four stations to reach the second attraction on our list……
2. Chorsu Bazaar
As we got out of the Chorsu Bazaar Metro Station, the market was opening as it was 9:30 AM. Locals were setting up their shops. We went to a few souvenir shops where we bought the typical Central Asian plates which had beautiful work and carvings on them. The bazaar’s colourful appearance makes it a photogenic location.
This bazaar has a rich history that dates way back to the 9th Century AD. For ages, it has been a major trading hub connecting Central Asia with the Middle East.
The market has a variety of products, including fresh fruits, vegetables, spices, dried fruits, nuts, meats, dairy products, traditional Uzbek bread (non), and various household items.
We observed the centrepiece of Chorsu Bazaar has the iconic dome, which covers the market’s central trading area. The central part of the bazaar consisted of meat sellers and dry fruit sellers.
The area was quite huge and it requires a lot of time to completely explore this place. We did notice a few tea houses within the Chorsu Bazaar area.
By looking at the variety of products, we could not resist from buying fresh fruits, dry fruits and spices.
After exploring for close to two hours, we decided to move to the next spot for the day……..
3. Kukeldash Madrasah
It was within walking distance from the Chorsu Bazaar area. You could even see the dome of the Kukeldash Madrasah from the Chorsu Bazaar.
We reached the complex and were stunned to see the beauty of the monument. The Madrasah Staff took donations of around 10000 Som per person to explore the complex.
As it was operating hours and students were sitting inside where classes were going on, we could not catch a glimpse of the rooms from inside. We did notice students were focused on their classes as we passed by the rooms.
Overall, it was a decent experience for us and we loved our time at the Kukeldash Madrasah. When we looked at our watch, it was almost 12 noon and we were hungry at the same time. So we thought to go to the next attraction where we could both explore and have our lunch.
The next on our list was……
4. Tashkent TV Tower
We quickly returned to the Chorsu Bazaar Metro Station and bought the metro tickets for Shahriston Metro Station. However, we had to interchange at two metro stations namely: Paxtakor and Amir Temur.
When we got off the metro at the Shahriston, we could catch a glimpse of the Tashkent TV Tower from a distance.
It took us around 15 minutes of brisk walking to reach the Tashkent TV Tower. It is one of the tallest structures in Central Asia. It has an observation deck and a communications antenna. The price to go to the observation deck is around 40000 Som.
We already had previous experiences with the observation deck and the weather was also cloudy. So we skipped going to the observation deck, rather we were more keen to taste the traditional dish of Uzbekistan, Plov (pilaf, pilav, or pulao) in one of the most famous restaurants of Tashkent, Beshqozon.
The restaurant was located exactly in the Tashkent TV Tower area. The restaurant was spread across a large area that could accommodate hundreds of customers at the same time. We took one of the best seats to have our lunch. Soon the waiter arrived with a smiling face and we ordered a veg Plov with vegetable salad. Within 5 minutes he arrived with our plates.
Plov is a typical dish that is generally best served with meat besides rice, carrots, onions, vegetable oil, and a blend of spices. After lunch, we were excited to experience their traditional bread and Plov making process so we headed towards their kitchen area.
One of the best thing we observed about the place was that even the kitchen area of such a famous place was open for the public. People were keenly observing the process and taking photographs and making videos. We were no different either.
Here are some of the snaps of the famous staple bread and Plov.
As it was already 1:30 PM and we had to return to our hotel and then leave for the bus station to catch our 4 PM bus to the next country.
Soon we booked a Yandex cab from the restaurant and left for our hotel to end our trip to Tashkent. Now that we are on the verge of completing our trip to Tashkent, you might wonder……
5. What places we missed to explore at Tashkent?
To be honest, we covered all the places we desired to explore while in Tashkent. Now apart from the ones mentioned in the previous blog and this blog, there were the following attractions that you might plan as per your interest and time schedule:
- Independence Square (Mustaqilliq Maydoni)
- Abdulkasim Madrassah
- Minor Mosque
- State Museum of History of Uzbekistan
- Hazrati Imam Complex
We reached our hotel by 2:30 PM and soon booked a Yandex Cab for the bus terminal.
Now, you might want to know….
6. How was the experience of border crossing through land and about the immigration process?
Our bus was scheduled to depart at 4 PM. We reached the bus terminal just in the nick of time and took our designated seats on the bus. After an hour we reached the border area of Uzbekistan, thereby ending a memorable trip to Uzbekistan and continuing our journey to another Central Asian country, Kazakhstan. When we reached the border area of Uzbekistan, our bus driver asked us to get down for exit immigration formalities of Uzbekistan.
We got down from the bus, took out our luggage and proceeded towards the immigration office area. There were many counters over there for the foreign nationals. We stood in a queue in front of one such counter. The immigration official verified our passports and put the exit stamp of Uzbekistan on all the passports. We got our baggage checked and scanned through the security procedure. In the meantime, our bus driver was waiting outside and we put all our baggage inside and took our seats.
Just after crossing the border of Uzbekistan, there was another immigration formalities for entering Kazakhstan. The same process was followed over there as well.
We got down with our baggage. Got out passports stamped for Kazakhstan entry and baggage scanned through security. The bus halted for a quick bio break.
The entry and exit formalities at the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were pretty simple and quick. It was our first experience of crossing the country’s border and immigration through land by bus. The process was smooth and hassle-free. You could also plan your travel in a similar manner between these two countries.
On discussing with our driver, we came across a small store at the border area where he mentioned we could exchange our currency, get a sim and some snacks as well.
We quickly headed towards that store. We got some currency exchanged for Kazakhstani Tenge for our immediate requirements and bought a sim from the store.
The sim was of Tele2 Kazakhstan 5G mobile operator that cost us around 4000 Tenge (approx. 750 INR). We also bought a 5 liter jar of water and some snacks. Then we boarded our bus again for the onward journey.
It took us another 40 minutes or so to reach the city area. We finally reached Shymkent, Kazakhstan. It was around 9 PM when we got down from the bus. It was cold outside. We quickly booked two Yandex cabs to reach our stay.
The stay was at a distance of around 10 km from the bus stop. We reached soon within 15 minutes. As we have already informed the stay-in prior about the dinner, they prepared and made our dinner ready.
After freshening up we had our dinner at the stay. With this, we called our day off. All of us were pretty tired as we had a long day and there were plans to explore the beautiful city of Shymkent, the following day.
Hope you can get a glimpse of the beautiful cities of Samarkand, Tashkent and our onward journey to Shymkent Kazakhstan. Apart from the two cities, we can help you plan your itinerary of Uzbekistan, we are just a click away.
Do join us for the next part of the tour in a new country. Till then follow us for the Central Asian Blog Series.
We are not going anywhere without this last question……
7. What kind of help are we going to provide?
Let us inform you that we prepare itineraries not only for anywhere in India but also for Asia. We have been travelling since we were toddlers. So here in our blogs and stories, we will give you a glimpse of our journey and help you plan your trip.
Read about our Uzbekistan blogs.
Read about our Kazakhstan blogs.
Read about our Singapore blogs.
Read about our Vietnam blogs.
Read about our Cambodia blogs.
Read about our Bali blogs.
Read about our Kuala Lumpur blog series.
Read about our Sri Lanka blogs.
Read about our Nepal blogs.
Read about our Char Dham blogs.
Read about our Ladakh blogs.
Read about our day trip to Hyderabad.
Read about our Madhya Pradesh blogs.
Do follow our Instagram handle @mindfulllofvacations and watch for the next destination story of a new place. For any query related to any trip, drop a mail at @mitkau007@gmail.com.
by mitkau
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