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Uzbek/Kazakh + stan. My name is a Borat, I like you (Part 1)

 
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stealthpilot
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Location: BLR, DXB

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 4:15 pm    Post subject: Uzbek/Kazakh + stan. My name is a Borat, I like you (Part 1) Reply with quote

This is the yearly 'friends’ holiday we plan and also the last 'new destination' holiday we're going to do for a while- next few trips in July and October are countries I've visited already. Planning wasn't easy because syncing vacation dates took a lot of work and had to be worked out months and months in advance.
We decided on Kazakhstan (somehow) last year during our Poland/Baltic trip and as we got into the serious planning phase added Uzbekistan in the mix. Ive been dying to do Baikonur but turns out that's a complicated plan in itself. O well, one day … one day … Shocked 😁
For the visas we needed a letter from a local travel agency which wasn't a problem. We found an Uzbekistan tour agency online which had a nice itinerary and equally important matching dates, that travel agent did the paperwork. Same with Kazakhstan, sent a travel agent the required docs and they got in touch with the Dubai consulate to work out our invitation letters etc. We had that agent book our hotel rooms (which we could have gotten cheaper on bookings.com) but .... he wouldn't just do the visa bit we had to give him some business so we kept it minimum with only a hotel booking. Fair enough. After a week (ish) we were informed the paperwork is ready and to head over to the consulate (both in Dubai) with another application form filled out + assorted photocopies + documents of course. For the Uzbek visa we stood in line paid the fees waited an hour and had the visa stamped in the passport- same day service. Kazakh kept the passport for a day. Not a simple process but expected.

The Uzbekistan part of the trip may seem like a history lecture so apologies about that. Wink
Why the Borat reference ..... just because. He is awesome.



EY-296 (0950-1620)
AUH-ALA 319
Etihad A6-EID
ALA = Almaty

The last time I flew Etihad was BOM-AUH in 2010 ... maybe? I only remember the nice pancake breakfast and crappy terminal at Abu Dhabi 😜 Somehow I managed to get the registrations as well.

The 4 of us (R+me & our friends S+P) checked in at terminal 3 the morning rush was over. We had a standby ticket on EY which was connecting to a confirmed Uzbekistan Airways flight. Loadmaster (Ojas) didn't have much work to do this holiday hehehehe this flight was empty and so was my way back. Made life easy for my 2 standby sectors. We took a while at check in to make sure the agent knew what we needed, to check our luggage all the way to Tashkent- first the EY sector and then our separately booked Uzbekistan Airlines firm ticket. We only had a single entry Kazakh visa which we needed later on ... so .... it was imperative not to screw up the bag thru check in 😁. This way we could just head to the transfer desk at Almaty and get our Uzbek (ALA-TAS) boarding pass since we only had a 1:45 window to connect.
Only thing of note at AUH was the e-gate/smart gate didn't work so we had to get our passport stamped which is a big headache (as they say FWP) ..... I'm running out of pages so unnecessary stamps are not appreciated.

Got some coffee (not very good) and an almond croissant (complete crap) and some other stuff and ate by the gate. Boarding was quick flight was about half full.
Saw most of the EY family 9W 777s + AB 330 + Air Serbia 320 and 330.
I forgot how small the 319 was, and this one had 16 J seats so you can imagine how small the economy section was. It threw me off a little. IFE was nice for a narrow body not comparable to their 787/380 but not bad. Limited selection of video but it was good. They could do with more documentaries tho ......
Good food, nice crew, on time around 4:20 block = nice flight.

The new Palm in Dubai (not finished)


The old one.


The World Islands Dubai.


Food was nice desert was quite blehhh.




HY-766 (1805-1845)
ALA-TAS 320
Uzbekistan Airways Uk32011
TAS = Tashkent

Our transfer at ALA turned out to be rather easy yet weird. Headed down to passport control with the other passengers and they had a little transfer desk with an Air Astana sign. We asked about our flight (different airline) the chap said just wait so we hung around for 10-15 mins. Another lady showed up and asked for our passports + luggage tags and we were sent thru security. And that was it. Next thing we know we were at the departure gates (smaller downstairs waiting area) waiting for the lady to bring us our passports and boarding passes which she did after another 15 mins. We didn't interact with a single airline employee.
Walked around duty free (small terminal) and boarded a half hour later. I thought I had pictures of the terminal but guess not Embarassed

The interiors of the 320 were a bit worn out, and the snack was absolutely awful 😂 Croissant with cheese followed by the usual drinks run. It was ... one of the worst snacks I have EVER had in an aircraft (up there with the Air India Express 'meal' I had on COK-DXB last year). It was (not surprisingly) just a croissant with a slab of cheese and that's it. The cheese was weird so was the bread.
The crew handed out customs form to fill out which was the most important thing. There's no limit on the amount of cash you bring into Uzbekistan, but unless you fill out the form in duplicate and get them BOTH stamped (which nobody tells you) they won't let you take out the cash. Luckily we had done our research online and our travel agent reminded us so everything was filled out in duplicate.







Immigration was chaotic and took a while, our bags were already on the belt and the last step was making sure the customs guy stamped multiple forms. The agent we had was very friendly and explained the procedure to us, made sure all our forms were filled in duplicate and what to keep and hand back on our way out etc etc. That was nice.




Tashkent/Toshkent
Welcome to Uzbekistan!




Our first day was free in Tashkent we just walked around with no agenda and strolled thru Navoi Park. They had a tiny amusement park inside so we went on the bumper cars awesome fun Very Happy We did nothing in particular we just walked a lot. Tashkent is a very green city with lots of fountains. A lot of very soviet style buildings and wide roads and pavements. Very clean and very cheap as well.

Borat may not like Uzbekistan but I sure did 😜.










Let me explain the currency conversion headache Laughing Laughing something I've never experienced. The official exchange rate is 2934 Uzbeki Som to 1 US Dollar. Official. We were told you can get upto 6000 on the black market. Now generally I'm an 'official' sorta guy when it comes to exchanging currency because I don't like getting scammed. But R struck up a conversation with an Uzbeki on the flight into Tashkent who said absolutely get 6000 nobody goes by the official rate. We didn't want to exchange money at the airport so for our first dinner at the hotel we paid in dollars and we got change .... in Som ..... at a rate of 6000. 🤔 We asked the reception where we could change money and they said official rate is 3000 but they could get us 4500. Hmmmmmm 🤔🤔.
The next day we had lunch near Navoi Park and the restaurant wouldn't accept credit card. A really friendly and helpful waiter came to our rescue, he arranged a cab to take me somewhere to exchange money and bring me back, he said I should get 6,400 per 1 USD.
Now this was quite an experience, R and my friends stayed behind at the restaurant (what are friends for) and I went off with this cabbie who didn't speak english so most of the explanations were done before we left by friendly waiter. The first place he drove by had many cops so he made a quick escape u turn (he was laughing Confused ) and we tried a second spot and I'm not making this up, it was bang next to an official forex exchange. He beckoned to a chap standing with a black plastic bag. He got in the cab and asked how much I wanted but I said first tell me the rate. 6300 per USD. Done deal. Now picture the scene- he only had 1000 som notes .... so 2 black plastic bags full of currency ($300) was almost 1.9 million Som which is almost 1900 notes. Obviously I couldn't count it all so I had to trust the system and assume each bundle of 100,000 som was, in fact, 100,000 som. It was an experience.


Our tour started the next day and we were picked up from our hotel at 0915. We started with the old city, the Khast-Imam Complex. The big mosque in front was newly built (2007) and the madrasa and smaller one behind were renovated after Uzbekistan got their independence. The Soviets didn't destroy anything when they were in charge they just didn't look after the monuments. I think the Uzbek government are trying to make the whole area a UNESCO site.





The smaller mosque housed one of the oldest Qurans in existence, The Samarkand Kufic Quran was made in Saudi Arabia around 640 (?) on deer skin and the ink is olive oil with some part of a candle mixed in. The book made its way from Basrah to Samarkand taken by Amir Tamerlane (Amir Timur)
Later in the 20th century when the Soviets invaded they took the book to Saint Petersburg and displayed it at the Hermitage.



Boring lunch


After that we went to Chorsu Bazar, the entrance was (and smelt like) a bakery 😋. We had some fresh bread and Samsa (which is their version of a samosa but baked instead of fried).










Horse meat



Walked around the meat and cheese sections and it didn't smell much surprisingly. Then we went to Independence Square and took the metro to another square. No pictures allowed in the stations or on the metro. Ehhhhh?? The opera house was very interesting since it was a mix of oriental (local) architecture and soviet old style.


Not where we stayed, but a great Soviet looking structure.
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Amir Temur statue.
Tamerlane is a national hero in Uzbekistan and the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. You'll hear a lot about him in this history lesson .... errr .... TR Wink Embarassed



That evening was our flight to Urgench- the closest airport to Khiva.




HY-1057 (1840-2040)
TAS-UGC IL114-100
Uzbekistan Airways UK91105
UGC = Urgench

This was an awesome flight.... made even better by the surprise aircraft. I was expecting a boring 320 so you can imagine my surprise when the bus pulled up alongside this!!!


I must admit the only reason I knew what the aircraft was was because I had gone thru the airline magazine 😊. I wouldn't have previously know an Ilyushin 114 if I saw one. 2-2 seating, cloth seats but nice clean and new interiors. The cabin crew brought drinks on a tray when we boarded and another drinks run after an hour in flight with surprise surprise another cheese sandwich (wasn't as terrible as the last one but still not worth eating). The aircraft was loud a lot of cabin noise but I had a lot of fun. I can't tell the cabin altitude by it seemed higher, my ears felt different and I got really tired. Hmmmmmm. My only complaint with the experience was the cabin crew kept the cabin lights on full bright the entire time. The inner cabin window was glass which was odd? Right? Generally it's the plastic side towards the passenger and the glass on the outside.






After Landing it was a half an hour drive to Khiva. We dumped our stuff in the hotel and headed out for a quick dinner.





Khiva


Khiva doesn't really mean anything, it's just an exclamation/sound? Khiva is a 2500 year old fortified city which became a hub when the caravans travelled the Silk Road. Water was a scarce resource so the city and its wells were very very important. When the weary travellers came upon Khiva that was the sound/exclamation they made (believe what you want)! That's how the place got its name. I lost most of my notes about Khiva so its mainly pictures .... sorry.






2000m diameter city with 4 main gates. Inner fortress is 26 hectares and 50 monuments.
The Silk Road, the most famous and important trading route went thru Central Asia. The 'heartland of the ancient silk road' according to their tourism board.




The main wives bedroom, in the same complex housing the sultans harem.


Ghengis khan invaded in 1200(?) this used to be a mosque before he razed it along with hundreds of other structures.


Had a nice lunch. Food was ok but the place was comfy. The kebabs were standard wherever you went, nice but not amazing.






HY-1058 (2040-2140) eventually landed at 2340
UGC-BHK (-via SKD) 320
Uzbekistan Airways UK 32018
UGC = Urgench
BHK = Bukhara
SKD = Samarkand





Tiny terminal. And another surprise. The 4 of us got upgraded to business class 😉. 12 in our group and only we got upgraded hehehehe. It had rained earlier so it was a nice walk on the apron to the aircraft. Boarded from L1 and settled into 1-A, 12 seats total in J. It was a 40 mins flight and service was non existent .... basically the same as the last 2 economy legs. Come to think of it even less because we were spared the cheese sandwich. 2 drinks runs (brought on trays) but other than that the crew had an easy day. Apple juice orange juice Pepsi and water, 2 cups of each on the tray. The water had finished by the time it got to R (who was 1-B hahahahaha 😂) she asked for water but never got it.
Approaching Bukhara there was lightning and rain and after a few engine whines up we went. No drama- it was a high go around and 5 mins later we were climbing away so we figured we weren't going back for another approach (guessed more like it). After 10 mins a PA from the pilots who said we were going to Samarqand because the weather was bad at BHK. It was a short 20 mins flight to SKD, once we landed our guide was working on options in case the plane didn't go back.
Ooooo ..... this was my first diversion as a passenger 😁😁
Spent about 1:20 on the ground. Not one announcement made, none at all. No news no update no PA no info nada. The passengers were pretty calm everyone was chilling and waiting patiently no one creating a ruckus. Are passengers generally this well behaved? After an hour+ the doors closed and engines started which was the sole indication what was happening.




Bukhara/Buxoro


The city of Bukhara (also) became prominent due to the silk route. It was an oasis so a natural transit hub for trade.
The Emir of Bukhara was the ruler of the Bukhara 'Khanate' - a state/Province. There used to be 3 Khanates before the Russians invaded, Khiva, Bukhara and one more. Each province had a leader (Emir). The Russians invaded for the usual reasons- expanding their empire + rich natural resources etc. Central Asia grew lots of cotton which was valuable to the Russians.

The money exchanges in all the towns was always near the Jewish quarter 😂. The Muslims couldn't make profit out of exchanging currency so the Jews stepped up to the (lucrative) job. Most nations had coins made of bronze or gold etc so except for the weight and design they were similar in a true value sense. Whenever a trader came to sell or even transit thru Bukhara they went to covered 'bazaars' where these forex chaps would trade coins. I guarantee it would till be less weird than my 2016 Tashkent experience Laughing





Understandably water was a central theme and small canals were build throughout the city. The big ponds served as drinking water and they planted mulberry trees around them since they absorbed the salt from the ground water. Smart guys.


Every country has one main Mufti and each mosque has an imam.




The last Emir of Bukhara fled when the Russians took over in 1920s. They bombed the city for :45 mins in 1920(?) and the emir fled to Afghanistan.

The big mosque and madrasa. The madrasa is still active and has around 110 students. The guide very happily mentioned some famous students were the President of Chechnyas father and someone else Confused









The minaret is the tallest one around. When Ghengis invaded (how many times have I said this?) he destroyed everything except the minaret. Legend has it people were thrown off the top when the Emir didn't like them 😱😜.




There was another cool building which I don't have pictures of- Samanid mausoleum built in 9th century.
When Ghengis Khan invaded Rolling Eyes they covered up the entire structure with sand to save it from destruction. In 1932 (ish) when the Soviets wanted to build a park in the same spot their bulldozers struck the dome and the structure was rediscovered. The Zoroastrians used to pray around the fire and later some Sufi saint was buried there.

Breakfast was generally good.


The breakfast at Samarkand was an adventure. Eat what you get 😂 ordered the pancakes with apples/cinnamon get them with jam, order muesli get porridge. Order a ham omelette get cheese.


The 'Char Minar' madrasa which means the same- thing 4 minarets and yup its inspiration was the Char Minar in Hyderabad. A wealthy trader during his visits to India loved the architecture of the Hyderabadi structure and wanted to build one in Bukhara ..... so he did. It was partially destroyed during the Russian bombing and rebuilt later.




Random car at the Char Minar



The summer home of the Emir. It was completed 10 years before the Bolsheviks invaded so the Emir didn't spend much time here. We saw the reception room, banquet hall, tea room, the house for the concubines and a big pond. The Emir liked peacocks so they had a few roaming around.











The Ark Fortress- the oldest settlement. Originally (some form of it) was built in 4th century BC? but it was destroyed and rebuilt and restored many many times. The Emir ruled from here and its walls encompassed a whole town. Only 25% of the fortress remained after the 1920 Russian aerial bombardment. Sorry (again) no proper pictures.
The Emirs throne room and royal court stood here. The original throne is now at the Hermitage Museum only the thrones 4 marble columns remain at the Ark Fortress.









Samarqand/Samarkand


This was the capital of Uzbekistan until 1920s.
Tamerlane (Amir Temur, remember him) was the most important Central Asian ruler in the 14th century.



There are 3 statues of Tamerlane. This one of him sitting on his throne is the second (the first one was in Tashkent on his horse) and the 3rd one is in his home town. The city of Samarqand prospered under him and his families rule, and it became the biggest and most important Central Asian city because of the silk route.


Just a funny translation of lunch. Soup = nutritious + easily digested + looks good. Done Wink





Gur-e- Emir (grave of the Emir) or "Tomb of the King" in Persian. This is Amir Temurs (1336-1405) mausoleum. It had 68 ribs on the main dome because prophet Mohammad died at 68 (altho some say 64).
Temur originally built this tomb for his grandson Mohammad Sultan (?) who was supposed to be his successor. His grandson died in Azerbaijan in some war and Temur ordered this built.
Temur wanted to be buried in his hometown (Shakhrisabz) and even built a grave for himself but his son decided to burry him here. After Temur died and was buried here it's name changed to Gur-e- Emir (after him). 9 family members are buried here.
The main dome was the only thing that survived, there were 2 other buildings and 2 minarets which were destroyed when some Shah of Iran invaded.

This structure is also important because it's regarded as a precursor to other structures Temurs descendants built in India- Humayun's Tomb and the Taj Mahal.

Our Mughal rulers were descendants of these chaps (Tamir/Ulugh Begh) ..... One of the descendants was driven out of Cental Asia and went to India.





















Registan square -



On the left is Ulugh Begs madrasa, he built it for astronomy and scientific study and even delivered lectures there (around 1420)
Ulugh Beg was Tamerlanes grandson and a wanted to turn Samarkand into an intellectual center.



The other 2 structures were built 200 years later (1636)
Central one is a mosque + madrasa




..... the one on the right is only a madrasa (Sher-Dor/ tiger)










The central mosque is the highlight and was once the main mosque of Samarkand. The dome was added recently .... as in 1970 😂
Mosque interior


A lot of the mosques and madrasa were not symmetrical. As in the columns were tilted even doors and arches looked a bit wonky which was strange because they were such big structures.

Old pictures





1428-1429
The observatory of Ulugh Beg was built. He was more a scientist than a ruler (that's why he was killed by a radical group of religious leaders who convinced his son to kill the father)
Ulugh Beg became the ruler of Samarkand at the age of 12 but he couldn't rule so young so his uncle did. He made Samarkand the Center for intellect.
How did he die? Ulugh Beg left Samarkand for Meca and as soon as he left the city his son gave the order and Ulugbek was caught and beheaded. Why? The usual reason - science was undermining (and disproving) religion 😶

His observatory was destroyed by the religious types after his death. A Russian archeological came looking for the ruins in 1930something and found it. (the observatory in Jaipur 18th century was based on this observatory)






Manti- dumplings with meat with sour cream. Their version of dumplings.
Dolma- meat wrapped vine leaves.
Platan/dolon - egg wrapped with beef and veggies? Kind of like an omelette.







End of part 1
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My my...it has been a while since we had such eye-candy and history in a complete trip report, replete with sights and aromas of the place you visit.
And stealthpilot, you are one of the most amazing travellers on this forum, who also write very well. All your trips seem to be to exotic locales, with exotic routings, and of course, exotic airlines as well!
The planning and lead-up was fascinating, as usual.
I love it when you describe your detailed planning, and all the homework you do to make sure the trip has no unpleasant surprises. I wish I could do so, as well. The Dubai landmarks from the air: all exotic for people like me!

I love it that you always include food pictures, some grand photographs of places of interest you visit, and of course, the flora, and fauna as well.
To jump forward a bit, the two-humped Bactrian camel was a wonderful sight! It is characteristic of the region. The peacock in full plume was beautiful. This is the same as the peacock we see in the Indian subcontinent, the blue one. There are only two other varieties of this exotic bird, the green peacock (also found in North-East India!) and the Congolese peacock.

The `duplicate' part speaks of your planning skills.
Som Uzbeki experience you had! Fascinating...I am glad it ended up well.
I wonder what our intrepid traveller from the Soviet era, Mr. Samir Pal (PAL@YWG) will have to say, about is Soviet-era experiences from the place. I have heard a lot about Tashkent, specifically, and the slight Indian influence, from the Soviet era, from a similar traveller, a family friend.
The Il-114: now that is really exotic!
It is also nice to see the former Soviet republics preserve their history very well. You have documented cars also very well. I can spot a Zil (from the front), a Volga (from the back), and then, it looks like General Motors all the way, with the Chevrolet Beat.

You are one history and natural history buff, and thanks to your trip reports, I can now boast of a lot of knowledge about places I have never been to, and about floar and fauna, I have never been able to see and admire.
I really wish I had your eye for detail, and your ability to absorb so much.
And of course, put it down in the form of a lovely trip report!
Your wit and subtle sense of humour makes it an icing on the cake.
Fascinating...thank you very much!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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PAL@YWG
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 10:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

stealthpilot will visit Uzbekistan and I will not have my comments ? - It's just not possible! Smile Smile

Having spent 5 plus years in 2 stints, it's 3rd in my list of countries (after India & Canada) based on time spent. So consider me an expert! Smile

I must give it to you that you have chosen these 2 Stans out of so many places and endured all the hassles to obtain visa/travel agent etc etc.

First, re IL-114: I envy you dearly that you could catch this rare bird. I missed it few times. On few occasions I bought ticket thinking that it has to be an IL-114 but found either a RJ-85 or A320. In fact HY has 5 of these birds, all assembled in Tapoich, an aviation factory in Tashkent. Now the factory is no more but HY keeps flying them I guess will do till the bitter end. IL-114 actually replaced some of the routes where An-12 was used earlier. Now get this. I just read somewhere that India and Russia are kinda contemplating to produce IL-114 for Indian market with HAL.

Re Som exchange rate: He he, welcome to market economy soviet style. The factory where I used to work, our cashiers and Drivers used to bring few sacksful of currency to pay salaries to local employees every month Smile

Air Astana is indeed a good airline. It's run by mostly expatriates and it became Kazakhstan's flag carrier about 15 odd years back when Govt killed Air Kazakhstan, the erstwhile National carrier.

Uzbeks say that the word Algorithm came from their famous scholar "Al-Khozezm". But I remember reading Al-Khozerm, Al-Biruni's name in our school history books (may be in grade seven or eight).

But consider this; these "Stans" as so close to Afghanistan (in fact, Uzbekistan has a border with Afghanistan) but they are so different, much more modern. Girls are free to wear anything (you must have noticed Smile). The credit goes to 70 years of Soviet co-existence and Vodka-inspired cultural exchange!

Next time you should go to Kyrgyzstan, most beautiful amongst all Stans.
Happy travelling!
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 7:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This TR based on your Central Asian trip is fascinating. The pictures of mosque and minarets of Samarkhand reminds me an old story I read decades ago in Soviet Desh magazine. Year 1941; Soviet archeologists were conducting excavation in and around Samarkhand nearTaimur,s burial site. One day an old man in rags approached the team an announced: do not wake up Taimur ( Emperor Tamerlane ), let him sleep peacefully. If you don’t listen to me grave danger is imminent. Those communist archeologists had no faith in superstition and ignored the old man. They located the exact burial site, took X ray of the corps. Cause of his death was plague which was an epidemic in that part of the world. Within few weeks Nazi Germany attacked Soviet Union resulting 20 million life lost. May be a coincidence!
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 11:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PAL@YWG wrote:
stealthpilot will visit Uzbekistan and I will not have my comments ? - It's just not possible!

Mr. Samir Pal and Dr. Ganguly will give such interesting repiles to a post, and I will not have my comments? It is just not possible Razz
PAL@YWG wrote:
IL-114 actually replaced some of the routes where An-12 was used earlier.
Now, this is fascinating! Or did you actually mean the An-24?
PAL@YWG wrote:
I just read somewhere that India and Russia are kinda contemplating to produce IL-114 for Indian market with HAL.
This is one of those speculative news reports. HAL has too much work on its hands to even think of this idea.
PAL@YWG wrote:
Uzbeks say that the word Algorithm came from their famous scholar "Al-Khozezm". But I remember reading Al-Khozerm, Al-Biruni's name in our school history books (may be in grade seven or eight).
I really wonder, Samir-da: I had the impression that Al Kohwarizmi ("Mr.Algorithm") lived and worked close to Baghdad, and Alberuni/Al-Biruni was closer to the modern-day Uzbekistan. (He was a ujbuk)

sabya99 wrote:
Year 1941; Soviet archeologists...coincidence!
Fascinating story! Thank you for sharing this with us.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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PAL@YWG
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 12:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sumantra wrote:
Now, this is fascinating! Or did you actually mean the An-24? .


Yes, An-24. During my time one of those will crank up the engines sharp at 6am and I used that as my morning wake up bell Very Happy

sumantra wrote:
I really wonder, Samir-da: I had the impression that Al Kohwarizmi ("Mr.Algorithm") lived and worked close to Baghdad, and Alberuni/Al-Biruni was closer to the modern-day Uzbekistan. (He was a ujbuk)


Well, I saw Al-Biruni's grave in Urgench (near Khiva) and Uzbeks will be very upset if you say that Al-Khorezm was not from their land Very Happy


sabya99 wrote:
Year 1941; Soviet archeologists...coincidence!
Fascinating story! Thank you for sharing this with us.


I hard that story many times from the Uzbeks.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sumantra wrote:
The Dubai landmarks from the air: all exotic for people like me!

There are only two other varieties of this exotic bird, the green peacock (also found in North-East India!) and the Congolese peacock.

I can spot a Zil (from the front), a Volga (from the back), and then, it looks like General Motors all the way, with the Chevrolet Beat.

Dubai landmarks are boring for me I just never get to take any pictures. I guess it's the same as seeing the Taj Mahal from the air which would be boring to you but exciting for me Smile
I had no idea about the variety of peacocks trust you to have that information stored away.
Same with your eye for details and those cars. And yup Uzbekistan is full of Chevys they have a factory there Very Happy

PAL@YWG wrote:
Having spent 5 plus years in 2 stints, it's 3rd in my list of countries (after India & Canada) based on time spent. So consider me an expert! Smile

On few occasions I bought ticket thinking that it has to be an IL-114 but found either a RJ-85 or A320. In fact HY has 5 of these birds, all assembled in Tapoich, an aviation factory in Tashkent.

Uzbeks say that the word Algorithm came from their famous scholar "Al-Khozezm".

But consider this; these "Stans" as so close to Afghanistan (in fact, Uzbekistan has a border with Afghanistan) but they are so different, much more modern.

I should have remembered to get in touch with you during the planning stages. I won't forget when I plan the neighbouring Stans Cool

I was lucky to get the IL-114 and I'm pretty sure the schedule said 320 Wink
Tapoich - now thats a factory I would love to visit!

I was going to mention Al-Xorazmiy and Algorithm but it was taking to long to type out and hard to explain hehehehhehehee.

We were surprised at how modern it was, all the girls wore dresses like you put it so well the Soviet co-existence.

sabya99 wrote:
Within few weeks Nazi Germany attacked Soviet Union resulting 20 million life lost. May be a coincidence!

Great story our guide never entertained us with these superstitions, thanks for reading Very Happy
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jbalonso777
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Joined: 05 Jul 2012
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Location: Never, never land

PostPosted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 11:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Holy shit what an epic flight report!

Lovely pictures from Borat's land!!

Lucky you with IL14 swap....

Hey but the whole point of this report was the trip in Uzbek! Awesome pics of the food AND monuments, cities! Wow, lost for words!

I loved the descriptions that went along.

Regards
Jish
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