Hotel Uzbekistan

source

Hotel Uzbekistan

While living in Tashkent, I went at least once to Hotel Uzbekistan.  I went to the bar to check it out.  I actually sat up at the bar.  Not sure what I had to drink.  Wasn't drinking much alcohol in those days!  What I do recall was being approached by a rather beautiful lady in a red dress who spoke very little English.  It took me a few minutes to figure out that she was likely a sex worker.  I chatted with her for a bit.  That was all.

Click here for more history and photos of Hotel Uzbekistan.

Click here for photos of Amir Timur Square.

Opportunities

When I spent a year in Uzbekistan, I had a chance to go to the DMZ (demilitarized zone) separating Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.  Some friends went.  I didn’t.  Tajikistan was also unstable then.  A year earlier, I did go to Kazakhstan, but it never occurred to me that I could easily visit Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.  And I really didn't understand how close Iran was - not that I would have gone.  This was in the early days of emailing, which I was doing from a laptop using dial-up.  Forget websites.  That was barely getting going.  During the winter break in '94, I flew direct to India.  Great time there.  Had considered a few days layover in Pakistan, but opted not to attempt it.  I was just in my early twenties.

Gonna Be Interesting

an email journal from the year I spent in Tashkent (1994-95)

(outgoing and incoming)

I will share some of the more interesting bits. 

Amir Timur Square

1995.  Where is the monument?

Amir Timur Square

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Click here for an interesting article about trees that were chopped down in the square.  Made lots of people upset.

A Little Memory

Alisher Navoi Theatre & Opera

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

The year I spent in Tashkent, I would see this magnificent building while out walking.  Once, my friend Andy and I got invited to a musical or play.  I wish I could remember the name of it.  We sat next to an American guy from Boston and his Iranian-American girlfriend.

Summer in Los Angeles

This is the university where we stayed and trained.  While I was out there, I emailed 

some newsletters explaining all that we were doing.  I also kept some journals and continued journaling during my year in Uzbekistan.  I have it all, and over time I will share some of it.  Very interesting to read it today. 

 

This is the restaurant Mezzaluna in Brentwood, where earlier that summer Nicole Brown Simpson and her family dined.  Nicole's mother had left behind her glasses and a young waiter named Ron Goldman volunteered to drop them off at Nicole's condo later that evening.  We pretty much know what unfolded after that.

One thing my dad wanted to do was see the Rose Bowl Stadium.

Lucille Ball's home

My dad came out to see me off.  I will say this about my dad: He always showed up for my activities.  I miss him.

Leaving Central Asia

After finishing up in Central Asia, I began a 30-day trip around Eastern Europe.  I first landed in Moscow (Russia), which gave me a chance to visit Red Square and Alexander Garden.  From there, I flew to Helsinki (Finland), where I stayed a few days.  At that point, the plan was to take a hydrofoil to Tallinn (Estonia), then go by train to Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Warsaw (Poland).  And from Warsaw, I would take a train to Prague (Czech Republic), where I would meet my great-uncle from Headland, Alabama, so we could continue traveling.  We bounced around the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary.  It was amazing!  Under categories in the right sidebar, find Eastern Europe Trip 1995 to read about the whole journey.

All the photos above are obviously of Moscow.   Then, for whatever reason, in my album I moved ahead to Riga, Latvia.  So the rest of the photos are just of Riga.  The guy with me is named Alex, and he was Latvian.  I met him on the train from Tallinn to Riga.  Once we got to Riga, he gave me a short walking tour.

The Silk Road