Uzbekistan Holiday 2025

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Handle9

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#3371755 9-May-2025 14:35

floydbloke:

In short, because of the scenery and wanting to visit an ex-Soviet state.

We went to Georgia a couple of years ago for similar reasons. It wasn’t as exotic as Uzbekistan looks but we really enjoyed it. The Caucasus and Central Asia are pretty stunning and pretty cheap.

networkn

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#3371756 9-May-2025 14:45

Handle9:

Turkey is fabulous. The south west in particular is a great mix of culture, wonderful beach towns and really nice people. In many ways it’s like European Thailand with Roman ruins everywhere. My Mum came with us last time and had a ball.
We’re probably going to go back for Anzac Day in Gallipoli next year.

Yeah, it's absolutely the next place I want to visit. I've told her if she doesn't want to come, I'll go alone.

johno1234

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#3371759 9-May-2025 15:03

gzt: Circular market with concentric rings. That's something I've never seen before!

It reminded me of the old Corn Exchange building in Leeds!

Eva888

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#3371941 10-May-2025 09:58

I have a friend who visited Iran last year. He was gobsmacked at how amazing it was and how warm and friendly the people were. Also lots of mosaics to enjoy, such a fascinating craft. The hospitality and kindness impressed him the most. Sad that a lot of these countries have been demonised in the press focussing only on politics. As a race we all crave the same things, family, friends and peace but what we hear makes us fear to tread so both sides are deprived of an experience to learn from each another.

Loved all the pics floydbloke. You are a great photographer.

Metamorphic

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#3372007 10-May-2025 11:12

Eva888:

I have a friend who visited Iran last year. He was gobsmacked at how amazing it was and how warm and friendly the people were. Also lots of mosaics to enjoy, such a fascinating craft. The hospitality and kindness impressed him the most.

Iran is an exceptional country to visit and spend serious time in. Its geographic and cultural diversity is significant. It has some of the best architecture in the world. Culturally it is enormously rich. Before visiting I recommend reading Roy Mottahedeh's The Mantle of the Prophet and Terence O'Donnell's Garden of the Brave in War.

Incidentally, recent evidence suggests our ancestors spent as much as 20,000 years in Iran and its immediate neighbours after leaving Africa, before successfully spreading elsewhere.

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#3372497 12-May-2025 17:50

freitasm:

Why Uzbekistan of all places?

Presumably, for inferior potassium!

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johno1234

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#3372500 12-May-2025 18:25

Eva888:

I have a friend who visited Iran last year. He was gobsmacked at how amazing it was and how warm and friendly the people were. Also lots of mosaics to enjoy, such a fascinating craft. The hospitality and kindness impressed him the most. Sad that a lot of these countries have been demonised in the press focussing only on politics. As a race we all crave the same things, family, friends and peace but what we hear makes us fear to tread so both sides are deprived of an experience to learn from each another.

Loved all the pics floydbloke. You are a great photographer.

The people and the political/religious leadership are not the same thing. Great people but the leadership of Iran is evil.

Metamorphic

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#3373461 15-May-2025 09:42

johno1234:

Great people but the leadership of Iran is evil.

I don't want to derail discussion of the OP's holiday, but unfortunately all governments in the region are highly repressive and violent. A few days ago was the 20th anniversary of the Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan. Plenty of deaths from 2010 riots in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. The Tajiks experienced a horrid civil war in the 90s, and the dictator who emerged victorious is still in power. Turkmenistan has long been the region's most repressive regime. When the Soviet republics were first formed, the Tajiks lost their two foremost cities to Uzbekistan, Samarkand and Bukhara (a bitter loss). We are fortunate to live in a relatively peaceful and prosperous country.

Handsomedan

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#3373470 15-May-2025 10:13

Back on to the topic of the holiday and the photos.

I think apart from the aforementioned apparent lack of people in these pics (which really did make it look like a ghost-town), the most striking thing for me is the juxtaposition between the very artistic middle-eastern-style buildings and mosaics and the classic brutalism of the soviet-blok buildings.

It's quite jarring, but in an interesting way and actually makes me want to go there and see it all for myself.

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Handsomedan

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#3373471 15-May-2025 10:18

networkn:

Handle9:

Turkey is fabulous. The south west in particular is a great mix of culture, wonderful beach towns and really nice people. In many ways it’s like European Thailand with Roman ruins everywhere. My Mum came with us last time and had a ball.
We’re probably going to go back for Anzac Day in Gallipoli next year.

Yeah, it's absolutely the next place I want to visit. I've told her if she doesn't want to come, I'll go alone.

Two of my favourite destinations in the 1990's when I was tavelling were Turkey and Egypt.
Spent about the same amount of time in both countries (several weeks each) and loved the experiences, the architecture and the amazing contrasts in the natural environments as well as the cultural and architectural.

If I was forced to choose between the two I'd say Turkey was my favourite destination, but it's a close-run thing as Egypt was always on teh buscket list

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Metamorphic

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#3373475 15-May-2025 10:28

Handsomedan:

the most striking thing for me is the juxtaposition between the very artistic middle-eastern-style buildings and mosaics and the classic brutalism of the soviet-blok buildings.

Uzbekistan's contrasting architectural styles arise from the fact that Bukhara and Samarkand are historically Tajik cities, unlike other major Uzbek cities. The Tajik language is still spoken in them. Tajikistan was part of the Persian Empire. The Tajik language is a dialect of Persian, utterly unlike the Turkic languages that dominate the rest of central Asia. Bukhara and Samarkand's mosques and madrasses share many architectural features with their counterparts in Iranian cities like Isfahan.

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floydbloke

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#3373480 15-May-2025 10:44

Metamorphic:

Handsomedan:

the most striking thing for me is the juxtaposition between the very artistic middle-eastern-style buildings and mosaics and the classic brutalism of the soviet-blok buildings.

Uzbekistan's contrasting architectural styles arise from the fact that Bukhara and Samarkand are historically Tajik cities, unlike other major Uzbek cities. The Tajik language is still spoken in them. Tajikistan was part of the Persian Empire. The Tajik language is a dialect of Persian, utterly unlike the Turkic languages that dominate the rest of central Asia. Bukhara and Samarkand's mosques and madrasses share many architectural features with their counterparts in Iranian cities like Isfahan.

In addition Tashkent was essentially flattened during a 1966 earthquake providing a blank canvas for the brutalism.

Handsomedan:

...

It's quite jarring, but in an interesting way and actually makes me want to go there and see it all for myself.

Do it!!

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

gzt

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#3373486 15-May-2025 11:11

Handsomedan: If I was forced to choose between the two I'd say Turkey was my favourite destination, but it's a close-run thing as Egypt was always on teh buscket list

Turkiye and Istanbul in particular was the centre and capital city of a huge empire for several hundred years in the same sense that London once was. Like London and Rome I expect it's quite spectacular with deep history scattered everywhere.

Handsomedan

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#3373489 15-May-2025 11:15

gzt:
Handsomedan: If I was forced to choose between the two I'd say Turkey was my favourite destination, but it's a close-run thing as Egypt was always on teh buscket list

Turkiye and Istanbul in particular was the centre and capital city of a huge empire for several hundred years in the same sense that London once was. Like London and Rome I expect it's quite spectacular with deep history scattered everywhere.

Without wanting to derail the thread - Turkiye is spectacular in so many different ways!
From the Roman ruins, to the natural wonders (like Pamukkale and Cappadocia) and the Mediterranean beachside resorts.

It kind of has a bit of everything.

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