Story of a Trailing Spouse: Tashkent, the "Stone city"...

"Registan" complex...remarkable monument of Samarkand

Salaam,

Our Turkish Airlines flight TK368 landed at Tashkent International airport in the early morning hours of Wednesday...April 28th.

By the time we checked-in at Hotel Dedeman Silk Road on Amir Temur Street, the sun has not arisen yet. Hence its time to recompense some of our interrupted sleep during the four and a half-hour long flight.

Our first day in Tashkent was basically spent with a familiarisation tour of the city and its surrounding, including visit to the bazaar and handicraft centre. The capital of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent has a population of over 2 million with an area of 300 square kilometers. Historically, it used to be divided into the old city and the new city along the main Ankhor river. With a history of more than 2000 years, Tashkent have developed from a tiny oasis to the biggest city of Central Asia. Its strategic geographical position made it one of the main cities of the famed Great Silk Road - the most important trade backbone road of the ancient world. Trading in semi-precious stones in central Asian mountains from the 10th - 12th centuries, Tashkent thus received its name from the word "Stone city" or "Turquoise city."

Today, this amazingly beautiful and hospitable city is indeed a real pearl of the East. With numerous reconstructions and architectural approaches, it has turned the city into a unique example of a Central Asian cosmopolitan city. In term of population, Tashkent is the biggest city in Central Asia...the political, economic, cultural and scientific center of Uzbekistan.

Wassalam.