FIVE STANS 35 -NEAR LINE’S END

The moon at night through a train window

Dear Reader (2024-04-18),
It is late afternoon when we board the night train to Tashkent. There is what the mirror says about our ages, what the body says, how we feel, and how we behave. Some go off to the bar car. Three sometimes four of us will lounge around our four-birth compartment, drink wine from tumblers made from water bottles, and talk of ships and sails and sealing wax. Eventually, we all get some sleep. Morning arrives and we arrive in Tashkent (population 2.6 M).

As a gateway city to The Stans and the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent is the most populous city in Central Asia. It has both modern architecture, and ghosts of a soviet past. It is also an ancient city. “In 2009, it celebrated 2,200 years of its written history.” [1] As well, the feels city distinctly Central Asian. If you would like me to try and explain that last phrase, let’s meet for a drink.

Our band of travelers see a little bit of the old and a little bit of the new. That makes a fitting division between this post and the next. In today’s post you and I will:
~ Visit a museum where an ornately painted stool catches my eye (01 – 03).
~ Walk across a wide plaza to view very old Korans. I don’t read illuminated manuscripts either. Both are fascinating. There is also an Islamic bookstore along the way (04 – 06).
~ View one more mosque and its minaret (07 – 09).
~ Catch details of note including a statue of a very European dressed man (10 – 14).
~ Explore an Eastern Orthodox church. The details and volume of most mosques are often jaw dropping. But, I have a fondness for Eastern Orthodox churches. That too is a beverage conversation (15 – 18).

Footnotes
[1] – Quoted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashkent