Ubiquitously Uzbekistan – A View of Bukhara Beyond the Old Town

From the Zindan Jail we headed over to The Plov, a restaurant that has high ratings for its plov dishes. There was quite a bit of a walk to this restaurant. In that walk we went through a large area of Bukhara outside the Old Town area, and came face to face with some of the realities of Uzbekistan that common tourists would not see.

My friend and I carried on about the issue of poverty, as it was inspired by the observations that we were making as we walked through this part of Bukhara. I noted that a village poor might be somewhat better off than an urban poor because access to land and farming may be a relatively assured means to food. She raised the point about how the village poor are stuck in (generational) poverty if they were not able to find opportunities in the city. And as I was nodding to this point, we came across this man who might be a little older than mid aged. He was scrounging around the trash for food.

We found it an awkward moment. We certainly had sympathy for him, but we were tourists and did not know how, if we were to give him something, it would be received. At the moment when we had already walked past him, my friend said, “didn’t you grab a few snacks from the hotel this morning?” And there you go, a perfect way to give. He was thankful to me when I handed him the snacks.

On a happier note, we saw some local life as well, whereby two men were playing some kind of chess on the street.

A Walk in Bukhara Beyond the Old Town

Outside of Bukhara’s thriving Old Town, the sights and sounds turned markedly drab. There were indications of urban woes there. Without having any reference to other Central Asian countries, I thought the scenes in Bukhara proper reminded me of the provincial cities of China.

There were many large storefronts that displayed what seemed to be outdated products, like clothes that have gone out of fashion. There were no customers in these stores. The only active element in this area was the vehicles that roared by the well-built, wide, multi-lane motorways.

If this observation is to be viewed in the perspective of the recent three decades of Uzbekistan’s market economy (a process of continuous liberalization), it seems to suggest that there were high hopes for these businesses when they began. Why build, own, rent or keep large storefronts when there was no serious demand for the business? Another suggestion is that land is certainly cheap in Bukhara.

Needless to say, there was the distant memory of the communist planned economy as well. Perhaps the fact that large, deserted stores with outdated products lined the streets of Bukhara proper was simply a remnant expression of the overplanning tendencies of Soviet economies. There certainly is some parallel with what I see in the provincial townships of China.

When placed in contrast with the scenes of the booming Old Town Bukhara, the deserted stores and low foot traffic in this area suggest that, beyond tourism, the urban economy is lackluster.

According to the Wikipedia, however, the lifelines of Uzbekistan’s economy are agriculture, mining and natural resources, and tourism. This may have been a good explanation for why Bukhara’s urban areas looked somewhat in desolation.

The Plov

Lunch was at The Plov, as the Uzbek’s national food is prominently featured here. We could tell that it is popular both with the locals and with the tourists. We saw throngs of foreigners flooding the venue during lunch hour.

In this restaurant, the Uzbek-woven drapes were hanging from the ceiling instead of the walls (as opposed to the décor of the Silkroad Teahouse). The ambience was festive, modern and warm.

There is a spot where you can peep into how this famous rice pilaf is prepared.

My friend did not like the plov very much. I liked it, but only with beef as the meat.

Sources

The Wikipedia on the Economy of Uzbekistan.