If we wanted to do something out at the capital city of Tashkent (S.Hrg.108-450)

After an overnight flight spent restlessly tossing on the worn padding of an Uzbekistan Airways flight to Tashkent, I knew I would need some excitement to get me through the day. The Uzbek capital is no London and lacks the lights of Las Vegas, and unlike New York, the city definitely sleeps. But we found plenty to do to keep me awake.

Generally, I wouldn't pick a tennis match as the best offense against jet lag, but I didn't want to pass up the chance to see the Davis Cup, the World Cup of tennis (left). After all, it's not every day you get front-row seats to watch two national teams face off. Americans Steve Johnson and Steve Querrey defeated Uzbeks Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov in three straight sets: 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 (right).

 

It was fun to hear some shouts of "U-S-A," but in the end, I didn't fly six hours to revel in American culture, so we struck out to see the achievements of Uzbekistan. A main source of Uzbek pride is Tashkent's TV Tower, the highest in Central Asia (left). From its observation deck, we could see -- but not photograph -- the entire city, including the old Muslim quarter. Right at the entrance to the quarter sits Kukeldash Madrassah, next to the Khodja Akhrar Mosque (right). Within the quarter lies Mui-Mubarak Madrassah, which houses the world's oldest Koran; unfortunately, we didn't stumble across the right madrassah to catch sight of the holy text.

Uzbeks are also proud of their national hero, perhaps best known as Tamerlane. The Mongol conqueror was born near Samarkand, but many cities pay homage to him, such as the statue in Amir Temur Square, adjacent to the Palace of International Forums, or International Congress Hall of Uzbekistan (top). From the square a promenade extends to one of the many well-maintained parks in the city (bottom left). It's difficult to decide which are more impressive: the carefully tended roses or the colorfully illuminated fountains, especially the one in front of Navoi Opera and Ballet Theater (bottom right).

The city gives off a good impression, but the countryside has its charms as well, as we saw on our way to Ugam-Chatkal National Park. When we weren't waiting for sheep herds to cross the road (left), we were steering clear of overloaded sedans (right).

Despite all the obstacles, eventually we made it to the mountains. Our car took us halfway up the heights, then we rode the rest of the way on Beldersay Cable Car (top left). At the end of the line, we got a great view of Mount Chimgan (top right). We were rewarded with an even more expansive vista after we hiked up Kumbel Mountain (bottom).

From the top of our hike we also could see Charvak Reservoir (left), which looked so serene that we decided to drive down and find a place to picnic beside it (right). Our meal consisted of some meat and cheese that I brought in from London, along with some fresh bread bought at one of the many local markets, which I discuss in an another post.