Tashkent

Sprawling Tashkent (Toshkent) is Central Asia’s hub and the place where everything in Uzbekistan happens. It's one part newly built national capital, thick with the institutions of power, one part leafy Soviet city, and yet another part quiet Uzbek town, where traditionally clad farmers cart their wares through a maze of mud-walled houses to the grinding crowds of the bazaar. Tashkent is a fascinating jumble of contradictions that's well worth exploring over several days.