Out n' About

So we arrived in Tashkent today! It was a long drive through mountains from Bishkek to Osh. Osh is one of those famous old cities of the Silk Road but to be honest it rained all the time we were there so I dont have a great impression of it! Some say that Alexander the Great reached the city - but others say he did not! And we crossed over the border into Uzbekestan to spend a couple of days in the Ferghana valley - famous for winged horses and carrots in ancient China but known more recently for unrest. It appers rich agriculturally and I also noted some small oil derricks so maybe rich in other ways too. We had such a bad guide that it was funny. First we laughed when he took us to a museum that was closed, then we laughed when he took us to a bank that was closed.... But we did get to see some handicraft places where traditions have been handed down through generations. Wood carving, silk weaving, knife making...Facinating to see people still working in conditioons of centuries ago. Even the mechanised weaving was on machines that Dickens would have been familiar with! I have some photos to show you but have yet to work out how to upload! I will keep trying... I'd got the impression from my reading that this country was troubled but things seem to have lightened up since the elections. On the surface that a tourist sees anyway. Changing money is a bit of an ordeal of bits of paper to sign and a degree of lethagy amongst the tellers - otherwise our brief encounters with bureaucracy is quite normal really. And we have found a couple of pleasant little cafes with live music, 'fusion' I guess you would call it. Russian, rock, blues and vodka! Now we are off for dinner! Tomorrow to explore this city.