Goodbye Uzbekistan; Hello Baku! 1/12-1/13/2020

After about  a 30-hour day…. January 12/January 13 2020

Final scoping out of Khiva (about 8 hours); One-hour car drive from Khiva to Urgench; two hour wait at Urgench Airport (in CIP Lounge); 1.5 hour flight to Tashkent; taxi from domestic terminal to international terminal (about 15 minute drive); flight from Tashkent to Istanbul (about 6 hours); flight from Istanbul to Baku (about 3 hours); taxi to Baku hotel (45 minutes); plus waits at each airport..

Our last day in Khiva was interesting as we scoped out the town and the market and then headed to the airport.  As usual, I asked for some ice for my foot, and I had to “order” it a few hours in advance. When it came, it was always only about 6 ice cubes. Funny  because it is below freezing outside, you’d think they could just put out a plate or bowl and make ice…

The guy who manages the hotel and handles the “front desk,” (Matir, I believe is his name) decided to be our taxi driver, which was good because he knows some English and we did want to have a quiet conversation with him to get a better understanding of the country and its politics. Matir knew most about the Khiva region which is part of the Khorezim “state” within Uzbekistan. He and his wife (a French teacher at the secondary school) were born and raised in Khiva (They live outside the Ichan Kala). They have three daughters but he said Uzbek people like large families and they will probably have about 5 children – he indicated that an average family size is 8 people, but not certain if that includes grandparents living at the home. He considers Uzbekistan to be very “free” with total access to television and the Internet – compared with Turkmenistan (which is contiguous to Uzbekistan) where there are many restrictions to free information and where women wear burkas and are held back with regard to education and social life.

Matir is probably about 35 years old; he owns a car (older model) and family income is probably about $15,000/year. He said that there is a push for entrepreneurism and encouragement by the government for the 300 families that live in the Ichan Kala to open their home for bed and breakfast style accommodations and for home style restaurants. Because of this, property values in the Ichan Kala have risen rapidly and now a home inside the old city could sell for about $50,000 or even $100,000.  While Matir seems to think he has a good life, plentiful food, etc. he laments that he cannot travel to see the rest of the world because of financial restrictions.

We talked a bit about the role Russia played in Uzbekistan over many decades and the history of slavery (which officially ended during Czar Nicholas’ regime). Many of the slaves were Persians. Cotton has historically been the major national economic driver and as I recall from a visit to the amazing Slave Museum in Zanzibar last year, Uzbekistan is considered today to have one of the largest number of “modern slaves” in the world (forced labor at very low wages working to pick cotton). Matir did not discuss this issue. He feels lucky to live in such a wonderful region. We also learned more about the wedding processions that goes on daily: The bride and groom make the procession down that street in the Ichan Kala to be blessed at one particular mosque and to make a prayer at the well… a prayer to ensure they will have children.

We arrived at Urgench Airport which seemed almost dark as we approached the terminal. Because we had a first class ticket on Uzbek Air (cost was about $20 more than economy) we were told we could go to the CIP Lounge which I suppose is like a VIP lounge. It was a very brightly lit room with oversized couches and a very large table. No food, a flat screen television with only Russian stations, and a woman who tried to be helpful but knew no English. Anyway, we figured out that someone would come to tell us when to board the plane, which they did. I read an article in the Uzbekistan Airways magazine which was interesting with a good deal of very sexist language.

The flight was uneventful, except for being about 45 minutes late.

We landed in Tashkent and it was a good thing that we had read about transferring at Tashkent Airport because while the “two” airports share the same name they are miles apart and there is no real way to get from the domestic terminal to the international terminal on foot (even if you wanted to try to walk for about an hour. There supposedly is a bus to take between the two terminals, although even if we knew where to find it it would have been complicated with luggage. So we opted for a taxi which took about 15 or 20 minutes. We trudged into the international terminal and headed to our Turkish Air flight to Istanbul which left at 3:00 am. Landed in Istanbul at 7:30 am (two hour time change)… went through the transfer process and onto another Turkish Air flight to Baku which left at 8:45 am….

Landed in Baku (another time change in the reverse direction) at noon and then negotiated the taxi scene (their taxis look like they bought out an older fleet of London taxis) and finally arrived at the Four Seasons (!!!) – a wonderfully comfortable hotel located just outside the gate of the UNESCO-designated heritage site of the Old City. It’s a new building (2012) that was designed to fit into the landmark area (sort of pretending to be a late 19^th century structure). That said, I’m not complaining.

After 12 days of very modest, small Uzbekistan hotels with limited or no service, steep stairs everywhere, menus that repeat at place after place, limited hot water, uncomfortable beds, and somewhat sketchy Internet — (although I’m not complaining and am glad we chose to be in the old section of each city and to support small, independently-run, locally-owned hotels) — it felt wonderful to walk into this spotlessly clean, shiny, tall-ceilinged space. Indeed, it almost felt fairy-tale-like. It was made ever more wonderful when I called to ask for ice and they brought up a huge bucket as opposed to the six or so cubes I was able to get in Khiva, and always needed to give them several hours advance notice in order to get that.

Anyway, we settled into a great room (complete with fresh apples in a bowl and bottles of water) with views of the “flame towers” off our little balcony. We went down to the cafe in the lobby for a snack and then I headed out to see if I could find a pair of shoes so as not to have to use my boots all the time ( a little challenging with the problem foot) and Mike took a nap. After a while I decided to return to the hotel without the shoes…. Long story. I then went up to the spa to get a manicure!! While there, they tried to convince me to get a botox treatment. I declined. We then headed to dinner in the old city — a very complicated walk up many stairs and down many teeny alleyways. I think there was really a direct path (still with some ups and downs) but somehow we kept getting lost.

Had a great dinner at Burc Qala – started with two different eggplant “dips” and the local breads.

Then shared a wonderful lamb with pomegranate and chestnut dish. Best food since we left Geneva. And we had a wine from Azerbaijan which was quite nice. Their wines (like Uzbekistan) are mild, dry, and quite pleasant to drink. The bottle of wine in Uzbekistan cost $6; here in Azerbaijan the bottle of wine was about $11. Waiters couldn’t help coming back to our table with little English comments that we had to decipher — about American basketball, US politics, and more. Basically, they like to watch basketball, don’t really understand US politics, and think America is great. And, they are always shocked to learn we have come from the US, always thinking we are either Germans or Italians.

We walked back to the hotel at about midnight, stopping frequently to photograph the Flame Towers which put on quite a light show every night — changing colors through lighting on each of the three buildings.. Blue, then red, then green then what look like people carrying the Azerbaijani flag (which is naturally red, green, blue), then what looks like water flowing on the buildings, then a scene of people with umbrellas, then flames, and then repeat… It is amazing to watch from different vantage points throughout the city and very mesmerizing. We trudged down the cobblestone streets, walking for a while in Kichiqala which seems like restaurant row. We returned to the hotel and Mike decided to try out the whiskey bar located on the lobby level… Finally we reached our room at about 1 am.

More tomorrow as we discover Baku.

Best –

Fern