All Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian
By Nitin Gairola
After the natural wonders of Kazakhstan (our first country during the Central Asia tour), it was time to move on to the next one – Tajikistan. But this was not without a detour via Samarkand and Tashkent in Uzbekistan. So from Almaty in Kazakhstan we reached Tashkent which is the capital of Uzbekistan and after spending a day there we were on the bullet train to Samarkand. We really didn’t expect to find a high speed bullet train here, but the world has a habit of breaking our preconceived notions about places and people. The Afrosiyob train has a top speed of 250 kilometers per hour and while it may be a tad slower than the 300 km per hour trains of Japan, China or Europe, 250 kmph is not exactly snail’s pace. It covered the distance of 300 plus kilometers between these two Silk Route cities in exactly 2 hours 29 minutes which is what they had advertised at the time of booking. I never thought I would find Japan like precision in Uzbekistan.
So there we were, in the historic Samarkand after seeing a bit of Tashkent on the way. We had two days in this magnificent ancient city before we were to leave for the land border of Tajikistan near their city of Panjakent. But our adventure in Samarkand started within just 30 minutes from stepping down on the train platform. It was around 11 in the night when we took our taxi to the central Registan Square (a UNESCO World Heritage site) where our hotel was, but upon reaching the area we just couldn’t locate the place in Google Maps. So our driver called the number and after some explanation two shady characters came saying that the hotel was overbooked but they could take us to a similar place which was a short walk away (where the car couldn’t go). These 2 said that they would be happy to take us there and I felt one of them was being over friendly.
My gut just told me to avoid this offer and so we requested our driver to take us to some other nearby hotel. We visited a few decent ones over the next hour or so but found no rooms available. But then we stumbled upon Hotel Zarina and they let us in. We met some wonderful people at Zarina (Beka and Zahid) who understood our situation and gave us a good room and at the right price. And just like many in this amazing country, they were very keen to talk about Bollywood and their favorites were Raj Kapoor and Mithun Chakraborty. Later we even left our extra luggage with them for 10 days when we went to Tajikistan since we were to return to Samarkand itself.
So after a good night’s sleep, we looked forward to walking around this once medieval city that was one of the main centers on the Silk Route – which was the land route for trade between Europe, Middle East and China. In fact the great traveller Ibn Battuta visited Samarkand in the 1330s and described it as one of the greatest and finest cities in the world.
Our first port of call was Amir Timur Mausoleum or Gur-i-Amir as it is better known there. Amir Timur had a shared ancestry with the most famous Mongol we all have heard of – Genghis Khan. This beautifully designed and decorated structure was surrounded by magnificent gardens and parks as are the hallmarks of such places. The best part about Samarkand was that all major places of interest were within walking distance from each other and one could just roam the streets from one site to the next and in between stop by at bazaars or restaurants and tea houses. While most of these were quite modern, you could find the slightly quaint ones too as we did.
After enjoying the popular Uzbekistani black tea (they drink copious amounts of it in every sitting) we were back in the iconic Registan Square and were really blown away by the scale and symmetry of the ancient ensemble. The ‘Square’ had the ubiquitous ‘rectangular’ gates of their Madrasahs, and then there were the strikingly blue domes and quiet courtyards but the best part of the experience was locals wanting to take their pictures with us. Now I know many Indians visit Uzbekistan, especially the popular cities of Tashkent and Samarkand, so it baffled me a bit as to why they wanted snaps with us. Maybe this was their subconscious way to welcome tourists since many a time all the ‘stans’ get coloured by the same brush and are considered dangerous. Uzbekistan clearly was anything but dangerous and in fact was in parts very touristy and without doubt very friendly. But this attention from locals was something we found in almost every part of this country and not just in Tashkent or Samarkand. We had it even more in Nukus and Khiva, which are in the much more remote western part nearer to Turkmenistan. These places were in our 2nd leg of the journey to Uzbekistan post returning from Tajikistan.
We have to admit that we enjoyed this attention and these interactions since it reminded us of our visits long ago to other parts of the Middle East, especially Jordan during the Syrian refugee crisis in 2016. I feel during such crises, many people go out of their way for strangers since they feel that their country is wrongly portrayed in media and it is their duty to dispel such false depictions. Well, dispel they did in Uzbekistan. They almost made us feel like mini-celebrities and it will be a lasting memory I will take from this part of the world. In fact we didn’t see this in Kazakhstan or even in the far less touristy Tajikistan (which we absolutely loved too). I must say, this was unique to Uzbekistan just as their Shah-i-Zinda site was. This Samarkand marvel is actually a cemetery with blue coloured and intricately designed mausoleums. The most magnificent of mosaic work is to be found here and for a moment we felt as if we had stepped through some portal and into the distant past.
So with these lovely places of interest and the interest of lovely people in us, it was time for the edgy adventure that awaited us in Tajikistan and the Badakhshan region. We were a bit nervous to leave the comfort and warmth of Uzbekistan especially since we realized that here we could see the exotic with all the safety of any other safe nation. That would not be the case with our next 2 destinations. The places which are both exotic and easy are the sweet spot in world travel. For me this makes Uzbekistan truly unique and we were glad to get a taste of it in Samarkand en route to Tajikistan. You can say we ‘passed through’ this jewel of the Silk Route as did many traders & travellers before us, and as many will.
Nitin Gairola is from Dehradun and has travelled the natural world more than almost any Indian ever. He has set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet, and holds National Geographic conservation certifications. He is also a senior corporate executive in an MNC and in his early days, used to be a published poet as well. More than anything else, he loves his Himalayan home. Reach him at: www.facebook.com/MostTravelledIndian/ ; www.instagram.com/MostTravelled_Indian/
