Things to do in Tashkent
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Advantour
The reliable outfit located in the Rovshan Hotel can customize tours for both groups and individuals. The personable and knowledgeable husband-and-wife owners speak perfect English. They were relocating at research time.
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Al Delfeen
There are simply not enough superlatives in the English language to describe the cuisine at this Syrian restaurant. Load up on appetizers like baba ganush, hummus, falafel, samsa and tabbouleh, all redolent with ancient spices and bathing in exotic oils. If you still have room, dive right into the equally scrumptious mains - try the mosakan (chicken cooked with sumac and olive oil).
Once you're finished, lie back on your outdoor tapchan (bedlike sitting platform) and send wisps of heavenly shisha (hookah) smoke skyward whilst marvelling at your luck for finding such a place.
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SMI
More bar than nightclub, this is where people gravitate after an evening of club hopping. The flow of so many inebriated people to one place can have a creative effect on the environment. As one British expat put it, 'SMI morphs into whatever you want it to be at six in the morning'. SMI is the Russian acronym for 'mass media', and the walls pay due homage to the honourable craft of the scribbler.
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Caravan
Tashkent's quintessential theme restaurant is tarted up like a made-for-Hollywood Uzbek home. Its Westernised Uzbek cuisine is tasty, but comes saddled with bill-inflating service and 'entertainment' charges. The attached store is filled with crafts from all over the country and is open late, making Caravan a great place for both a nibble and a last-minute gift-buying spree.
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Central Asian Plov Centre
Few things excite the Uzbek palate like plov, that wonderful conglomeration of rice, vegetables and meat bits swimming in lamb fat and oil. This Central Asian staple has been elevated to the status of religion in Uzbekistan, the country with which it is most closely associated. Each province has its own style, which locals loudly and proudly proclaim is the best in Uzbekistan - and by default the world. That plov is an aphrodisiac goes without saying.
Uzbeks joke that the word for 'foreplay' in Uzbek is 'plov'. Men put the best cuts of meat in the plov on Thursday; not coincidentally, Thursday's when most Uzbek babies are conceived. Drinking the oil at the bottom of the k…
reviewed
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History Museum of the People of Uzbekistan
The History Museum of the People of Uzbekistan is a must-stop for anyone looking for a primer on the history of Turkestan from ancient times to the present.
The 1st floor has ancient Zoroastrian and Buddhist artefacts, including a small Buddha from a Kushan temple excavated at Fayoz-Tepe near Termiz. On the 2nd floor English placards walk you through the Russian conquests of the khanates and emirates, and there are some foreboding newspaper clippings of revolts in Andijon and elsewhere being brutally suppressed by the Russians around the turn of the 20th century. The 3rd floor, naturally, is dedicated to Karimov. A placard contains what is surely one of Karimov's more iro…
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Alisher Navoi Opera & Ballet Theatre
Tashkent has a full cultural life, some of it, such as drama, of interest mainly to Uzbek and Russian speakers. But one of Central Asia's best cultural bargains and a highlight for all visitors to Tashkent is the Alisher Navoi Opera & Ballet Theatre, where you can enjoy quality classical Western opera almost any night (except during the months June to August). Shows change daily - in just a week you can see Swan Lake, Carmen, Rigoletto and the Uzbek opera Timur the Great.
The interior harbours various regional artistic styles - a different one in each room - executed by the best artisans of the day, and under the direction of the architect of Lenin's tomb in Moscow. Japan…
reviewed
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Human House
Human House not only has a good selection of carpets, skull caps, suzani and other textiles from various Uzbek provinces, but also doubles as one of Tashkent's most fashionable boutiques, featuring modern clothing infused with Uzbek styles and designs. They also stage quarterly fashion shows to exhibit the work of their hand-picked designers. Human House's Unesco-supported latest project, dubbed Human Made, is a silk-making and weaving school/factory on the outskirts of town.
'We are going to build our own generation of weavers to help revive the craft of textiles in Tashkent', says commercial director Dina Malkova. The factory will offer tours similar to those given by t…
reviewed
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Yunus Khan Mausoleum
Across Navoi from the Navoi Literary Museum are three 15th-century mausoleums. The biggest, on the grounds of the Tashkent Islamic University, bears the name of Yunus Khan, grandfather of the Mughal emperor Babur. The mausoleum itself sits locked and idle, but you can check out its attractive Timurid-style pishtak (entrance portal). Access is from Abdulla Qodiri kochasi.
Two smaller mausoleums are east of the university grounds, accessible via a small side street running north from Navoi - the pointy-roofed Qaldirgochbiy and the twin-domed Shaykh Hovandi Tahur. Next to the latter is a mosque with beautifully carved wooden doors and attractive tilework.
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Home Restaurants
One place to taste true Uzbek cooking is in an Old Town home restaurant. These establishments have no signs or shop fronts - just tables in a courtyard, where you're served one or two simple dishes, plus tea or beer.
One such neighbourhood, called Chigatay, contains dozens of these establishments. Boys practically drag you off the street for the midday and evening (after 19:00) meals. From Tinchlik metro, walk to the closest traffic signal on the main street, Beruni prospekti, and turn right into Akademik Sadikov kochasi. Most of the home restaurants are between five and 10 minutes walk along (or just off) this street. Look to pay about sum3000 per dish.
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Chorsu Bazaar
Tashkent's most famous farmers market, topped by a giant green dome, is a delightful slice of city life spilling into the streets off Old Town's southern edge. If it grows and it's edible, it's here.
There are acres of spices arranged in brightly coloured mountains; Volkswagen-sized sacks of grain; entire sheds dedicated to candy, dairy products and bread; interminable rows of freshly slaughtered livestock; and - of course - scores of the pomegranates, melons, persimmons, huge mutant tomatoes and whatever fruits are in season. Souvenir hunters will find kurpacha (colourful sitting mattresses), skull caps, chapan and knives here.
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Moyie Mubarek Library Museum
The official religious centre of the republic is located 2km north of the Circus, on Zarqaynar kochasi. Here you'll find the newly restored Moyie Mubarek Library Museum, which houses the 7th-century Osman Quran (Uthman Quran), said to be the world's oldest. This enormous deerskin tome was brought to Samarkand by Timur, then taken to Moscow by the Russians in 1868 before bring returned to Tashkent by Lenin in 1924 as an act of goodwill towards Turkestan's Muslims.
It is Tashkent's most impressive and important sight. The museum also contains 20,000 additional books and 3000 rare manuscripts. The library is next to the spartan Telyashayakh Mosque.
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Abulkasim Medressa
The Abulkasim Medressa, close to the Oliy Majlis in Navoi Park, has been turned into an artisans' school and workshop where local painters, lacquer workers and potters ply and teach their craft. It's a great place to buy the fruits of their labour, plus souvenirs like rugs, suzani and ceramics brought in from the regions.
Up on the 2nd floor, Andijon native Madraimov Abdumalik Abduraimovich fashions fine traditional Uzbek musical instruments and can wax eloquent in English about the nuances of the dutar (two-stringed guitar), tanbur (long-necked string instruments) and rubab (six-stringed mandolin).
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Fine Arts Museum of Uzbekistan
The four floors of the Fine Arts Museum of Uzbekistan walk you through 1500 years of art in Uzbekistan, from 7th-century Buddhist relics, to the art of pre-Russian Turkestan, to Soviet realism, to contemporary works.
There are displays of East Asian and South Asian art and even a few c-19th century paintings of second-tier Russian and European artists hanging about. Nineteenth- and 20th-century Central Asian masters are well represented, and there's an impressive section on Uzbek applied art - notably some brilliant old plaster carvings (ghanch) and the silk-on-cotton embroidered hangings called suzani.
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Ilkhom Theatre
Tashkent's other main cultural highlight is the progressive Ilkhom Theatre, which stages productions in Russian but occasionally has English subtitles. Known for bucking trends, its productions often touch on gay themes and racial subjects, putting off some locals but thrilling Tashkent's expat community, many of whom are big supporters of the theatre. You'll see such oddities as Shakespeare plays entwined with Beatles music.
The theatre also stages occasional jazz concerts as well as art exhibitions in its lobby.
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Tashkent to Isfahan
21 days (Tashkent)
A remarkable journey through Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan & Iran.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$4,890 -
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Peoples' Friendship Palace
Downtown Tashkent's largest park, sprawling southward from Halqlar Dustligi metro, is a haven for joggers, Sunday strollers, and appreciators of Uzbek eccentricity. Soviet architects had a field day in Navoi Park, erecting a pod of spectacularly hideous concrete monstrosities, the most eye-catching of which is the Peoples' Friendship Palace, which appears like a moon-landing station from a 1950s film set. Looming inside is an enormous concert hall with 4200 seats.
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Museum of Applied Arts
The Museum of Applied Arts occupies an exquisite house full of bright ghanch and carved wood. It was built in the 1930s, at the height of the Soviet period, but nonetheless serves as a good sneak preview of the older architectural lurking in Bukhara and Samarkand. The ceramic and textile displays here, with English descriptions, are a fine way to bone up the regional decorative styles of Uzbekistan, and there's a pricey gift shop to trap impulse buyers.
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Navoi Park
Downtown Tashkent's largest park, sprawling southward from Halqlar Dustligi metro, is a haven for joggers, Sunday strollers, and appreciators of Uzbek eccentricity. Soviet architects had a field day here, erecting a pod of spectacularly hideous concrete monstrosities, the most eye-catching of which is the Peoples' Friendship Palace, which appears like a moon-landing station from a 1950s film set. Looming inside is an enormous concert hall with 4200 seats.
reviewed
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Mountain Kingdoms Of Kyrgyzstan Reverse
16 days (ex Bishkek)
by Intrepid
Wander the wide streets of Bishkek, Camp by the serene shores of Issyk-Kul Lake, Soak up the charming atmosphere of Karakol, Go hiking in Djety Oguz Valley., St…Not LP reviewed
from USD$1,295 Advertisement
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Samarkand & Tamerlane's Testament Reverse
15 days (ex Tashkent)
by Intrepid
Pick up souvenirs in the bazaars of Tashkent, Discover the romance of the Silk Road in Samarkand, Spend a memorable night sleeping in a yurt, Walk through Bukha…Not LP reviewed
from USD$1,445 -
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Dervish
It's mud-walled dining at its best in this caravanserai-style restaurant known for its homemade wine and reasonable prices. Beautiful trinkets, Rishton ceramics, and suzani line the walls of the vaguely cave-like interior. There's a patio for claustrophobic types. The eclectic dishes ooze local flavours and have cheeky names like 'Egyptian Nights', and 'Arabian Fairly Tales' (chicken fillet with honey, nuts and butter).
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TV Tower
The TV Tower, a 375m three-legged monster, the epitome of Soviet design, stands north of the InterContinental. The price of admission gets you up to the 100m viewing platform. You'll need your passport to buy a ticket. To go up to the next level (about 220m) you'll have to grease the guard's palm - 2000S should do the trick. At 110m there's a revolving restaurant that serves a decidedly mediocre set Russian meal (3100S).
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Kulkedash Medressa
The grand 16th-century Kulkedash Medressa sits beside Tashkent's principal Juma (Friday) mosque on a hill overlooking Chorsu Bazaar. The 15th-century mosque was once a place of execution for unfaithful wives. The mosque was a sheet metal workshop and the medressa a storage space during Soviet times. Both were renovated in the mid-90s, and on warm Friday mornings the plaza in front overflows with worshippers.
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Bistro
This scrumptious Italian eatery serves up large portions of pasta, pizza and grilled meats along with bottles of Uzbek or Georgian wines. The Roquefort salad is to die for. It's in a candle-lit, courtyard setting, with live music. Next door are three sister restaurants - Omar Khayyam (Lebanese), Shintaco (Japanese) and La Casa (Mexican). The latter morphs into the Ché nightclub in the evening .
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