"Turn left at the old soviet rocket launcher"
September 1 is Independence Day in Uzbekistan, the day 24 years ago that Uzbekistan became its own country, no longer a Soviet republic. It is obviously a national holiday, so schools are closed. I celebrated the holiday with some other teachers by having a picnic in the Uzbek countryside. We piled into two cars for the convoy. Luckily the car I was a passenger in had super-navigator Renee in the front seat, with her trusty GPS.
Before we even left Tashkent, we were stymied by a road closed for celebrations. No worries, we backtracked and zigged and zagged and made our way to the highway. We blew through the police check (the yellow 'foreigner' license plate has some advantages). We drove through extremely dry landscapes, past corn fields, cotton fields, and vineyards, all looking parched.
When we reached the village of Nevich, we got a tiny bit lost again. We followed people who looked like they were going to a party (carrying covered plates of what was most likely plov), thinking they might be heading to the river's edge. It was a good choice, because we did eventually make our way to the river. 'River' is an exaggeration. Apparently in the springtime it is a rushing torrent. Today it was a very cold wading pool.
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| This may or may not be an old soviet rocket launcher. |
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| dried cow dung (taken with the macro lens) |
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| still playing with the macro lens |
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| no idea what this mysterious building is or was |
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| beautiful murals on the outskirts of Tashkent |
