I was “finally” back in Tashkent. The last time I was there, it wasn’t as enjoyable. I rented a hotel room for three nights and was alone again. It was time to do some exploring of Tashkent, and this time with a local.
What Was I Doing?
Honestly, it wasn’t my plan at all to revisit Uzbekistan anytime soon, but it happened. I tried to make the best out of it, but I wasn’t in the best mental state, to be honest. The struggle of the trip got to me, and being home would have been a better thing for sure. However, giving up on the trip was also not an option.
The first thing was getting new pants because, as you read last week, my old ones were dirty from my failed jump attempt. Only bringing one pair of pants maybe wasn’t the best idea after all. I feel uncomfortable buying things for myself, but I didn’t have another good option.
Also, walking around the region was something I had been doing, but I didn’t feel joy in it. I had to do something else. So, I decided to go Couchsurfing and contact locals.
Meeting Locals
I was texting with Zarina, a local Uzbek girl, on the hangout option in the application. It was her first time using the app. We met at a nearby park. I had to walk about 5 kilometers to get there because I didn’t feel comfortable using public transportation at that time. First, we went to the mall after the park, where we broke her fast because she was fasting during Ramadan. It was a good time because we found a German kebab place, which didn’t taste like German kebab, but still, just being able to say I ate German kebab in Uzbekistan was something funny.
She then took me to the center of the city, where we explored things I had never seen before in Tashkent, even though I had visited the city during my last trip. I was surprised by how many new attractions there were or at least attractions I hadn’t seen before.
Magic City
Probably the best part of the little time we spent in Tashkent was seeing Magic City. It was a combination of a shopping complex and an amusement park, which was kind of weird because usually, I’m not a big fan of shopping areas. But it was fascinating because it combined new and traditional places. Additionally, there was a great park combined with it, which was a pleasant surprise. I also wrote another article about it, which should be published soon. After this, we went back downtown, and she showed me the metro stations, which were also quite new to me. She left me at my destination, and then I went back to my hotel. I really enjoyed the time I spent with her because it got me out of my bad mood, and now I was back on my own.
Last Day in Tashkent
As mentioned earlier, I didn’t really enjoy the time in Tashkent by myself. I didn’t want to dwell on it, but I tried to make the best of it. I wrote some articles and made some references on Google Maps to become a local guide, which actually worked during my time there. Making the best out of it didn’t fully work, I would say.
I mainly spent the time in the hotel, mostly in bed. Sometimes I tried to motivate myself to get up and find something to eat. I found a really decent pizza place, which was kind of overpriced but still probably the best pizza I had in Central Asia.
I was just counting the hours before leaving the country, not because I didn’t like it there. It was actually way better than my last visit, but I just wanted to be home. After touching down, there was another place I was going to visit, which I will definitely write about later.
How Was the Second Chance of Uzbekistan?
Before entering the country, I wasn’t excited at all, but after seeing a new region in the west of the country and some old traditional places, I kind of felt like it wasn’t as bad. Also, traveling by train, meeting locals in Tashkent, and diving into the country again opened my eyes a little bit. It’s not all bad; it was just a bad time for me during my last visit. It was during COVID, and I wasn’t spending any money on accommodation and transportation, which made it more difficult because Uzbekistan isn’t a country where people are the most friendly to you when you don’t spend money and expect help. At least that was my experience.
While hitchhiking through Uzbekistan three years ago, I didn’t enjoy my time fully and didn’t connect with the people. Of course, I met great people and am still happy about my experience, but it wasn’t great. Uzbekistan was really low on my list of favorite countries, but after this visit, I need to admit that Uzbekistan is actually a nice country. It has its downsides, but like every country, it basically has that. During my previous visit, I was sadly seeing those downsides only, and it was just a combination of bad coincidences.
Leaving the Country
I had to leave the country quite early and didn’t really sleep during the night. I had to wait until my pants were cleaned by the hotel staff, which luckily worked, but it was more difficult than expected. Also, the food in the hotel was terrible and not enjoyable at all, but that’s a different story. I left the hotel by a shared ride. During the day, the employee from the hotel told me it would cost around 15 dollars for a taxi ride organized by them. I didn’t want to reserve it, so in the morning, I just asked another guy who worked in the hotel if he could order me a Yandex. The ride to the airport cost me less than 5 dollars, so I saved a good amount of money.
Being at Tashkent airport is and was always a struggle. There were many controls before even entering the airport, with huge queues in front of it, and it was just really annoying. But I made it through the security check and waited for my next flight.
What’s Up Next?
Next week, you are going to read about how the trip continued to a new country, which will be revealed next week. So stay tuned!
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