Our driver from Samarkand to Tashkent was ten minutes late because he got caught up in all the road closures with the South Korean president’s visit. But no worries. Said our goodbyes to Vlad and Firdavs and we were off.
Our driver was good, didn’t try to upsell us on anything, and got us to Tashkent just after 1pm. We stopped for gas along the way. In Uzbekistan, the passengers have to get out before the car enters the fuel pump, which we’ve experienced a few times now. I’m not sure the logic behind this.
In Tashkent, we stayed at the Lotte City Hotel. I think it was originally a palace. The staff were very professional, but also very bureaucratic. Their procedures still call for all the old paperwork that has been done away with recently by the Uzbek government. Our papers were in order, so no problem. It was the only trace of the old bureaucracy that we experienced in Uzbekistan.
We were hungry, so dropped off our bags and headed out for food. Heather had noticed a döner place across the street when we drove in, so we headed there. It was excellent, the pita was freshly baked and the toppings were fresh.
We thought about touristing for the afternoon, but decided to relax and plan out tomorrow instead. The city’s opera house was literally right across the road from us, so we bought tickets for tomorrow night’s performance of Verdi’s Aida . Had dinner at the hotel since it was raining out. It was okay; their draft beers were good.
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