Ubiquitously Uzbekistan – Last Impressions of Uzbekistan

Our Final Lunch in Uzbekistan at the Afsona Restaurant

Afsona Restaurant is very popular in Tashkent and it is highly recommended on quite a few online platforms. We sat down for our final lunch in Uzbekistan and we were excited. But we made the wrong decision to order their fish as our entrée. Coming from Hong Kong, we are accustomed to fish done right and the fish at Afsona fell far below our expectations. We drooled over the things that other patrons ordered, but our soup and appetizers and everything else were all very good.

Last Impressions of Uzbekistan

It came time to leave for our flight. We had to make through much of Tashkent in rush hour traffic, as it was time for everybody to get off work. The urban streets were busy with street vendors throughout, mostly selling the essential ingredients for an Uzbek dinner. The din on the street projected a sense of raw liveliness amidst an otherwise fully cosmopolitan city.

We began our journey in Uzbekistan in Tashkent, then tracked the footsteps of the ancient silk road, westward to Samarkand, Syyod, Kyzylkum Desert, Nurota, Bukhara, the Aral Sea, and finally ending at Khiva. In these 13 days we met amazing people, had endless Uzbek gourmet and learned a great deal about the history of this wonderful country.

As always, history was the first basis upon which we understand the human and natural forces that shaped the face of Uzbekistan today. From prehistoric settlement to pockets of ruled kingdoms, from the unifying act of Amir Timur the Great to the Islam conversion, from the Khanates to the Russian invasion and ultimately being part of the USSR, Uzbekistan has always played its role as a critical player in world affairs.

The long heritage that has left its print on every aspect of post-Soviet, modern-day Uzbekistan was shown, ubiquitously, throughout our trip. Its history is celebrated, bequeathed, unto its people, cuisines, antique monuments, and the innumerable bastions of faith and minority cultures. Be it at war or in peace, being colonized or freely independent, the country has shown the resilience of humanity in embracing calamities and glories alike. It was in this unfamiliar territory that I discovered a new context for appreciating the world.

So long, Uzbekistan!