FALCONRY IN UZBEKISTAN

Falconry is the tradition activity of keeping and training falcons to take quarry in its natural state. Since ancient time Falconry was very popular in our region, Central Asia. I was surprised to find out that it is still popular in modern Uzbekistan and there is society of falconers in Tashkent. 

I went to their club and spent an amazing day with falcon-lovers. What is Tugan Falconry Club and what they do, what is fides and where you can see falconry and other interesting things which I am going to reveal in this post.

Traditionally Falconry was transmitted from generation to generation as a cultural traditions by different ways, including learning within families, mentoring and formalized training in clubs. 

Falconry Competitions of Khiva's King, 1890. 

In Uzbekistan there is only one official Falconry Club which was opened in 2014. It is non-governmental commercial organization was found by falcons true lovers with non-commercial purposes. Tugan Falconry Club has support of Uzbekistan State Committee for Nature Protection. The Club was found for purpose to develop in 2 following dimensions: revival of traditional falconry as it is cultural heritage, making contribution in falcons’ population. That’s why nursery for growing up falcons or treating injured birds was built, located in Sergeli region which is 30 minutes away from the centre of Tashkent city (taxi fee 1-2$, you can ring up to the Club and they will help you to find the place). By the way they are very hospitable so it is free to visit their club. If you want to go to see falcons' fly you can ask price when you come to the Club.
Today there are 10 falcons in the nursery, in autumn 2 of them will be released to face the wild nature.

While talking to club members I noticed theirs real love for birds, they touched them with care and there was love in their eyes. Falconers develop a strong relationship and spiritual bonds with their birds, and commitment is required to breed, train, handle and fly the falcons. It is fides (you can notice this word on the logo of the club), which means trust and belief, it is foundation of relationship between falconers and falcons.

The world of Falconry is much larger and wider than I imagined. UNESCO recognized Falconry as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Since before the time of the pyramids, over 4000 years, Falconry as a hunting method has become a deep tradition. Today’s modern lifestyle and rapid urbanization have restricted opportunities to practice falconry. 

Thanks to Falconry club now we have opportunity to preserve traditions and transmit them to growing generation. Recently Uzbekistan became the member of IAF (International Association for Falconry) along with such countries as UAE, Spain, Ireland, South Korea, Mongolia and others. It can open new ways for cooperation and development this sphere in our country. 

I wish the best luck to Tugan Falconry Club in Tashkent! You can find more information about Tugan Falconry Club here - https://www.facebook.com/denis.choi.5686/?fref=ts

Photos with love from Ernest Kurtveliev.

KUPKARI

Dust from horses’ hooves, excitement around lamb/goat carcass, atmosphere of real competition among horsemen – all of these things you can see in Uzbek traditional game, called Kupkari. Here in Uzbekistan we say that Kupkari is a competition of real dzhigits (brave and strong young man, skilled horseman). Yesterday I went to this competition which was held in Parkent area and it was fun.

Kupkari also can be called as buzkashi or ulak, it is a traditional Central Asian competition. ‘Kup’ from Turkish means ‘many’ and ‘kari’ from Persian means ‘case, work’. So, the name defines the heart of the game: many dzhigits are involved in one case. And the case is about grabbing sheep’s carcass and hold it until you reach the finish line/open space, then you should throw it in the far distance and the game will be over. 

But it is worth noting that the weight of animal carcass is from 25 to 130 kg. Can you imagine how it is difficult to pick up heavy object at full gallop and after that hold it in your hands while a lot of competitors tries to get it. For me it’s almost unreal. But there is a good motivation for dzhigits. Of course, taste of win and proud, but prizes also can motivate players. In Kupkari prizes can be very different from carpets to sum amount, and the biggest prizes are usually body carcass (which was used in the game), foal or calf. Because games are held in the villages, so the prizes are relevant.

There are two versions of this game. The older version of this game is rather brutal one where everyone for himself. And the battle is against everyone. And the modern one is about team playing, where two teams are in the fight for trophy.

Usually Kupkari is held in spring or autumn. Because in Uzbekistan people traditionally celebrate big events such weddings in these seasons, as well as during the main spring holiday Navruz. It is on the 21st of March and for Uzbek people Navruz is New Year holiday. Kupkari games are often held during Navruz holiday. Yesterday event was hosted after the wedding and Father of the groom decided to organize game, by giving prizes. Participants came from different regions of Uzbekistan, even from distant ones to take part in Kupkari games. It began at 12 p.m. and ends in the evening. There were about 60-70 players and 300-400 visitors, didn’t count but there were a lot of people.

On my way home I thought that people need these kinds of event, something huge and bigger than just a party because everyone of us want to be the part of something bigger than we are. 

Photos made by Ernest Kurtveliev. 

I used photos of Kupkari games (not only from Parkent event).

UZBEKISTAN’s MOUNTAINS. PART #1 WINTER

First of all, we do have great mountains in Uzbekistan; surely you should visit them in any season. Because vivid colors of nature, fresh air and feeling of something unexplored and wild draw every human being. There are peculiarity of nature and interesting events in every season, and today we are going to talk about winter season.

A little piece of information about Uzbek Mountains. Powerful and complicated mountain system of Central Asia belongs to the highest systems of Euro-Asian mountain belt crossing. Tien-Shan and Pamir-Alai are included in the Central Asia. 

By the way interesting fact is mountains occupy 43% of the total land area, in Uzbekistan it is 96,000 m², which means 21,3% of total land area of the country. Uzbekistan’s mountains are medium-high mountains (2000-2500 meters above the sea), the highest peak is Babatag (4688 m).

Chimgan and Beldersay are well-known and popular places among locals and foreigners. You can find up to 10 hotels to stay near these areas if you want to stay in the mountains more than 1 day. These areas are located not far from Tashkent city, about 90 km. You can go by mini-bus or taxi. Departure is early in the morning at 6-7 a.m. from Maxim Gorkiy region, near metro station. Price for bus is about 5$ (two-way), taxi* – 8$ (two-way). Taxi is not private one; you will sit with other passengers. Private taxi price is about 65-70$ for one car. It takes about 2.5 hours for bus and 2 hours for car.

Winter weather is mild, and it’s very cool to have snow activities while the weather is pretty warm. Average temperature in winter season is 8°C.

In winter the most popular activity are skiing, snowboarding and sleigh. For professionals and extreme-lovers: climbing, tracks, heli skiing, free-ride and others. You can find out more information about it here https://www.facebook.com/ClimberCA.ru/

I will tell more about mountain leisure for amateurs. Let’s start from skiing. Ski season is not long, from late December till mid-March; the ideal time for skiing is February. The longest ski slope is in Beldersay (3017 m), there is chairlift to the top. It takes more than 20 minutes to get there, the higher you go the colder you feel. There is also ski slope in Chimgan (1500), about 10 minutes. And rope tow lift ‘mop’ is 570 m.

For snowboards Chimgan is the best place. In Uzbekistan young people love snowboarding more than skiing. There is even snowboard lovers’ community in Tashkent. You can find them on Facebook page Snowboarduz

You can rent ski and snowboard equipment for one hour (4-5$) or for one day (9-10$). If you are with more than 3 persons ask for a discount.

Winter events

Tournaments on ski and snowboarding are held regularly in winter season. Recently 27-28 February, 2016 ski-cross and snowboard-cross tournament was held by support of non-government organizations. Event was called ‘Chimgan Extreme 2016’ on the slop ’12 keys’ in the Chimgan Mountains. Competitors’ age was from 12 till 60 and it brought something very exciting into the atmosphere of the holiday. Children, adults and elders altogether were involved in the world of sport. Though it was not professional sport there was contest spirit and explosion of emotions while the tournament. The day was bright and warm, filled by rays of the sun and people’s smiles. Sport activity is all about emotions. 

The award ceremony was held in the atmosphere of joy and simplicity. Everybody was glad for each other’s win and the winners got their prizes. When the holiday was over I left with the good memories and desire to come and watch it again!  

What to eat

For Uzbek food lovers there are sufficient amounts of cafes there, not very expensive. But if you don’t eat Uzbek food you should take some snacks with you. 

Have a snowy rest ;)

P.S. some of pics made by our local famous photographer 

Ernest Kurtveliev

UZBEKISTAN GUIDE TIPS. PART #3 THE MUST-EAT LIST: TASHKENT

There is one thing in what everyone who was in Uzbekistan agrees: food is very delicious here. The variety of tastes of Uzbek cuisine you will remember for a long time. Natural, organic, simple products are used in preparing meals.

Number one in Tashkent Must-Eat List is Plov. It’s traditional festive dish. But at the same time real Uzbek people can eat plov every single day. In Uzbekistan Thursday is plov’s day. Plov is made from rice, meat, carrot, onion and spices. In different interpretations raisin, pea, garlic and other things can be added. The real plov is surely made in pot on fire. Plov usually is made for large number of people, because we Asians love to eat in big companies and sharing meals. Worth noting that there are different types of plov in different parts of our big country.

Plov

In Tashkent plov places almost at every step. But one place is special and famous one. It’s ‘Central Asian Center of Plov’ in Yunusabad region. Cafe is large and popular, prices are low.

In Uzbekistan we are meat-lovers, so number two is Shashlik, similar to Turkey well-known kebab or meat on sticks. Meat can be lamb, beef, chicken, fish and even pork; because there are different nations live in Uzbekistan. For good shashlik go to ‘Navat’ cafe, inside Poytaht Mall.

Shashlik

Do you remember how Panda Po ate noodles, seemed so yummy? The next dish is like thick noodles with meat and veggies, it’s called Lagman. It can be prepared either as the soup or fried noodles. Originally it’s Uyghur dish, but there are a lot of interpretations in Central Asia. And Uzbek lagman is worth to try in ‘Lagman-House’, located near Chorsu bazaar opposite the mosque. It is special feeling to eat nice food in the atmosphere where culture and religion intertwine.

Lagman

‘Anor’ café is also lagman-lovers place. It is located in the centre of Tashkent, near Gospitalniy bazaar. Interesting thing that you can watch the process of preparing lagman and other dishes, because there are transparent windows between guest hall and kitchen here.

Have you ever eaten horsemeat? The next food Narin consists of horsemeat and thin noodles. Nourishing meal, and usually it is eaten with bouillon which is also made from horsemeat.  

Narin

And the last one in our Must-Eat list is Kazan Kabob. Imagine deep fried golden brown whole potatoes, crispy fried meat, soft and fresh, melting in your mouth. You can find nice kazan kabob and narin at ‘Navat’ Cafe as well.

And just for navigation to good places in Tashkent where you can find delicious food and Uzbek traditional interior. Here is the list of cafes with average bill for one person 5-7$. ‘Rayhon’cafe, Karatash region opposite Media Park.‘Soy’ cafe opposite Uzbekistan Parliament Building.‘Manas’ cafe, interesting and unusual interior, you will sit in yurts and touch national Uyghur coloring.

And a bit of pompous and expensive places: ‘April Verdant’, ‘Caravan’,’IKAT’. Nice food, gorgeous interior.

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!)  

       

UZBEKISTAN GUIDE TIPS. PART #1 BEFORE YOU COME AND ARRIVAL

Uzbekistan is the country of contrasts and hospitable people, country of white cars and black outerwears. Here you can eat very delicious food only for 3$ and calm your soul and mind because we Asians don’t like to live under the stress and all the time run run run. Stop and see beauty of simple things here, in the country with great history and heritage. You have a lot of things to see and to try here; you are very welcomed in sunny Uzbekistan))) 

It’s all about money

First thing you should know relating to your money: you cannot bring out money more than you bring to Uzbekistan. So, it means that you should know exactly how much you need when you take money from your card in the bank and always keeping in your mind the exact amount you have brought. Our banks accept visa and master cards.

By the way as I say our country is not ordinary, don’t be surprised but we have two types of dollars exchange rate here. There are state and market (black market) exchange rates. And the second one is higher by almost twice. So, be smart and don’t change money in the banks, go and look for money changers. They usually inhabit near the bazaars or big centers.

The second thing is about old, pen-written or spoiled banknotes. Banks in our country don’t accept them; just very few of them so it would be better to bring new crunchy banknotes and do not have worries with it here.

If you decide to take with you more than 5000$ you should be ready to fill out form TC-28 (it can be filled at Tashkent airport on your arrival), it’s not difficult. And the last about money: you can bring out amount of sum (national currency) equals or less than 50 minimal Uzbekistan salaries (it’s about 1000$).

Tip: be polite to the customs officers and be honest when you answer their questions.

If you have some disease…

Maybe you already know it but I will say that it is prohibited by the law to take with you medicine contains narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances. To take them with you do the following: make copy of medical conclusion and doctor’s prescription where period and amount of taking medicine are pointed out. And if the amount doesn’t match to prescription, the custom officers have a right to confiscate it.

Arrival tips

When the plane lands don’t be surprised if our people would be look like hurrying people, they are ready to run. In this case don’t be super polite waiting all the people and skip them forward. Take your cabin baggage and go or run) First to the bus, after from the bus. There will be queues to the passport control move forward in an active way. 

After it you should find your luggage and go through the customs. Finally, you are free!

Tip: If it’s not essential for you to leave the airport earlier, skip forward all the people and after it calmly go through all the instances.

     

The first people that will meet you outside are taxi drivers. They will persuade you to get into their car, don’t be afraid, it’s normal here. Better to have someone who meet you but if you don’t have one you should know they will ask higher price than normally taxi cost. We have very chip taxi fee here, for 1 $ you can go a distance equal to 13 km. And we have a lot of taxi drivers. Usually people catch taxi, but in Uzbekistan taxies catch people.

Regulations for foreign citizens in Uzbekistan

For those who stay in the hotel the following information isn’t necessary. For the other travelers: you have 3 working days to make registration. It is the document where is information about where and how long you will stay here. If you violate regulations relating to visa or registration you will have to pay penalty (about 1000-1500$).

If you are going to move from town to town and stay in one town less than 3 days you are allowed not to make registration. Just keep all the road tickets as the proof.

Welcome to warmy Uzbekistan! In the next post I will write about must-do and must-eat lists in our country. Hope, it was helpful and interesting for you!)

Nice to meeet ya!))

Hello! My name is Anastasiya Kim. I am 25 and I live in an amazing country UZBEKISTAN!))) 
#hello