{"id":207,"date":"2022-08-23T08:52:51","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T08:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/?p=207"},"modified":"2022-08-29T08:36:53","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T08:36:53","slug":"uzbekistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/travel\/uzbekistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Uzbekistan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Through a quirk of fortune, I ended up in Uzbekistan as the youngest guest by 25 years on a retirees tour, surrounded by 70- and 80-year-olds, visiting the mosques, palaces, ruins and fortifications of this ancient land, one of only two double-landlocked countries in the world (the other is Liechtenstein).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We flew into Tashkent and sped to Nukus in the far west, clambered onto a 4<sup>th<\/sup> century Zoroastrian mud fortress, lunched on peculiar-tasting salads in Bedouin tents, explored the magnificent walled city of Khiva and the teeming, historic streets of Bukhara, once a major trading point on the Silk Road linking Europe and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-3.jpg 960w, https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-3-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-3-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-3-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><figcaption>4th century Zoroastrian mud fortress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I hired a bike and rode 138km around Lake Tudakul, checking out the wading birds in the reeds and occasional men riding donkeys. I arrived back in town as night fell, grateful not to be crushed under the wheels of juggernauts thundering past. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our guide said that women suspected of losing their virginity before marriage are abandoned by society. We saw a succession of wedding parties: the brides anxiously posing for pictures, their blood-red roses stark against their bright white dresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-5.jpg 720w, https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-5-600x800.jpg 600w, https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-5-113x150.jpg 113w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In her mid-80s, my aunt Ann was as intrepid as ever, hiking up the hills and visiting every nook and cranny on this energetic tour. She needed a bit of help sometimes, but to criss-cross a central Asian country at her age, with limited facilities and a punishing schedule, was quite a feat. She died 18 months later and is much missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My uncle Ted (her brother), despite limited mobility, also careered around Uzbekistan with his customary good cheer and curiosity. I left him sitting outside one temple for five minutes and when I returned, he was surrounded by young women, laughing at his stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope I\u2019m still as curious about the world once I\u2019m his age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-362\" srcset=\"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-7.jpg 960w, https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-7-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-7-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Uzbekistan-7-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><figcaption>Uncle Ted entertaining the locals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Through a quirk of fortune, I ended up in Uzbekistan as the youngest guest by 25 years on a retirees tour, surrounded by 70- and 80-year-olds, visiting the mosques, palaces, ruins and fortifications of this ancient land, one of only two double-landlocked countries in the world (the other is Liechtenstein). We flew into Tashkent and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Uzbekistan | David Nicholson<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/travel\/uzbekistan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Uzbekistan | David Nicholson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Through a quirk of fortune, I ended up in Uzbekistan as the youngest guest by 25 years on a retirees tour, surrounded by 70- and 80-year-olds, visiting the mosques, palaces, ruins and fortifications of this ancient land, one of only two double-landlocked countries in the world (the other is Liechtenstein). 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