We have been fairly busy since we arrived in Tashkent and have not had much chance to venture outside the city limits. We thought it was about time, so we bought tickets to Samarkand on the new bullet train purchased by the Uzbek government from Spain.
Buying tickets was the first adventure. Being sent to one ticket stand only to be told that the tickets for "that train" are sold on the other side of the train station. Then stand in wrong line for 10 minutes. Get in "right" line where no one is working. Jeanette stays in line while I try to find some one to help us. Some one finally comes (leaving people in THAT line quite upset, with us, of course!) and we get tickets. Fun stuff!
It used to take 4-5 hours by train, or longer by car, to get to Samarkand. But the new train, which reaches speeds of 220 kilometers per hour (132 miles per hour), gets you there in a snappy 2 1/2 hours. This makes it possible to do Samarkand as a day trip which is what we did.
We boarded around 7:45 and found our rather cozy "economy" seats. The train departed at the exact departure time, a minor surprise, but a welcome one. Shortly after departure, we were served breakfast, a nice little roll filled with potatoes and hot green tea. We soon noticed the digitial display for the speed, and were happy to see that we got up to 220 kmh. It's at this moment that two thoughts go through your mind: 1) Wow, it's so cool that Uzbekistan has a bullet train that can get us to Samarkand in 2 1/2 hours and 2) Do we really want to be on a train in Uzbekistan that goes 220 kmh? But alas, we survived and disembarked in Samarkand at the schedule time.
The rest of our day was spent wandering the lovely city with its wealth of Islamic sites. Many of them are some of the most important Islamic sites in Central Asia. You can see pictures at the following link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/coffren19/SamarkandUzbekistan?authuser=0&feat=directlink
We also wandered Navoi Park, had lunch at a small Italian restaurant (they really are everywhere in the world!) and enjoyed some ice cream to take the edge off the heat. We then caught a marshutka (mini-bus) back to the train station for the trip home. Back in Tashkent in time for a late dinner. A really good day!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Paris...20+ years later
Jeanette and I first visited Paris over 20 years ago when we were in our early 20s, a time when we travelled on a very limited budget, about $30 a day. Due to budget constraints and high entry fees, our visit to the “City of Lights” meant that we skipped many a museum and abstained from an ascent of the Eiffel Tower. We enjoyed our visit, but got out of town in order to to save money--baguettes, cheese and jam trumped the Louvre.
When considering where to travel during our latest break, Paris came to mind. So off we went, only this time with money! And what a wonderful week we had. Lots of walking, great croissants, fantastic red wine and a few too many plates of cheese and double espressos. We visited the numerous gardens on offer, explored neighborhoods we neglected the first time, went on a great walking tour with a local Parisian and took a wine-tasting course. All in all, a nice little break.
The funny thing is, we still didn’t pay to get into any museums or catch the lift up the tower. I guess our (read: Paul’s) frugal side stays with us (read: him), and heck, it left more money for that last plate of Chevre, Blue and Brie. Oh yeah, and that final glass of wine!
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