UZBEKISTAN GUIDE TIPS. PART #2 TASHKENT MUST-GO LIST

It’s not usual and traditional guide, I warned you) But, I think that if you go there you will not regret. Well, you came to Tashkent International Airport and went to your hotel. The next morning you woke up with thoughts where you should go. And here we are, let’s go to:

1. Bazaars. You definitely should go to bazaar and feel it, not watch from the distance or see pictures but go into it: feel the spirit of bazaar, buy or try something there, talk to people and just watch over crowds of people who sell and buy diversity of products and lively atmosphere is everywhere. In the bazaar you can find almost anything you want, and the huge benefit of bazaar is the quality of products, food is natural and fresh. You can find sellers who have their own farm and sell their products in the bazaar. Also there is a good discount system there, yeah we don’t have complicated discount system with percents and etc., we just bargain, and tell the truth Asians are very good at it.

Tip: not just ask but demand discount! They say: “Ask and it will be given to you”.

There are about 10 large bazaars in Tashkent, but I will tell you about 2 of them. The first one is Chorsu bazaar which is near the old part of the city. Chorsu bazaar is more than 100 years and it was reconstructed more than 3 times. You can find either variety of souvenirs, handicrafts or delicious traditional food, spices and other products. Prices are pretty good there.The second one is Alayskiy bazaar. It is located near the centre of the city. Also very big and good one to buy food products or just walk and watch. Prices are not low.
Tip: if you are going to buy a lot of stuff you should take ‘araba’. Similar to big markets we have kind of carts, but with person who will carry it instead of you for fee, about 1$. You will see a lot of arabas when you enter the bazaar.
If you have never been to bazaar watch this video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPPj-aJIS5U

Continue Tashkent Must-GO list

2.  A: Are we at the museum?

B: No, it’s Tashkent Metro
While you walk down in the city don’t miss M signboard and subway. It is our metro; by the way in Russian and Uzbek we use the same word - metro. It is worth to go there, because every station is unique, different from the others and has its own history. It is the first metro in Central Asia. Tashkent metro is not budget project; it is built from marble, gravel and decorative stones, also a lot of handmade there. I want to tell you about my favorites. Go to ‘Cosmonauts’ and ‘Mustakillik Maydoni’ stations. 

‘Cosmonauts’ station

Mustakillik Maydoni (which means Independence Square)

Tip: don’t take photo in the metro, because it is illegal here and duty policeman can ask you to delete shots. But you can go to Google and find pictures of Tashkent metro there.

3. Cultural and spiritual heritage. Holy places.

There are a lot of holy places, burial and mosques in Uzbekistan. Of course most of them are not in Tashkent. But there is one interesting place to visit in Tashkent. It is Madrasah of Abul-Kasim. There is centre of Applied Arts inside of Madrasah. So if you go there you will kill two birds with one stone. From one side it is spiritual experience of being in the holy place and from the other side you can see and touch cultural heritage. Madrasah of Abul-Kasim has interesting story, it was built in the 16^th century by Abdul-Kasim who was the leader of spiritual community. Madrasah was the place where a lot of people got education, skills and spiritual enlightenment. According to the legends there is a hair of great prophet Muhammad in this holy place. Also, you can see and talk to masters while they work on carving, stitching and other art handworks. You can purchase works of art if you wish.

4. Tashkent TV Tower
The Tashkent Tower is the tallest structure in Central Asia, opened in 1985. It is 375 meters which means it is taller than Eiffel Tower. It was built in the times of Soviet Union, maybe that’s why the restaurant which is inside of Tashkent Tower looks like you go back in time and find yourself in Soviet’s cafe. Ok, I’m just joking)) There is observation deck which is located 97 meters and there are prototypes of little towers from all over the world. You can take pics and enjoy of Tashkent panorama. Don’t forget to take your passport with you.

Tip: if you are not afraid of heights you can ask service staff to take you up higher, for fee of course. It is really incredible beautiful and exciting. Because it is very high and there is a narrow passage made from iron bars and the wind is wild. You carefully move and see beautiful city spread out before you. The best time to do it is sunset or night.

And our Must-GO list ends with

5. Tashkent City Tour
For those who don’t like to walk and explore city by themselves, there is a comfortable way to find out interesting places of Tashkent. We have City Tour Bus in our capital. Bus goes from point A to point B, but there are many stops and you can stay there as long as you want, you can take the next bus as well. As usually buses go every 30-40 minutes, just keep schedule with you.

You can get more information here: 

https://www.facebook.com/TashkentCityTour/?fref=ts

So, we started from morning wild bazaar and finished by panorama of night Tashkent. Hope you will enjoy your visit to Tashkent!)