Uzbekistan, Day 2

Today started with the worst possible words a traveler can hear: 4:30 am wake-up call. ugh. 4:30? thetwinsontour don’t even get up that early for Black Friday Shopping anymore since the best deals are all online. But, some things are worth getting up at 4:30 am– and I am not referring to the boxed breakfast from the hotel– an apple, an orange, banana, a weird crust-less sandwich, sparkling (intolerable) water, and a yogurt with no spoon. No, I am talking about hopping on a plane to Urgensh! (which I just spelled wrong, but per above, I am sleep deprived.)

So, you may wonder, what is in Urgensh? I am wondering that still, too. But, we hopped on our old-people tour bus, and off we went. We saw lots of fields of cotton– evidently it is world class cotton– that the Soviets started growing in the days of the USSR. Now the Uzbeks have cut their cotton production by about 25% to only grow it in places with enough water. After driving through the countryside for 2 hours (and a few wrong turns) we arrived at our first destination– a true cultural experience that lives up to the dreams of thet

winsontour– BREAKFAST IN A YURT!! Hot-diggity-dog! Oh, yeah! That is what I needed (the breakfast box just didn’t cut it). I don’t really even know what I ate, but it was finger-licking good. Literally, it was finger food. And, the only beverage was tea. thetwinsontour don’t do tea. But, this was slightly tolerable. And you drink it out of a little bowl. And I might have refilled my cup. Because I was eating breakfast in a YURT. It is a yurt, just for tourists. I’m a tourist, and I loved it! The apricot jam, the fried bread, the candy. It was delicious.

Like any self-respecting yurt, this yurt was out in the middle of the desert. I think I still have sand in my teeth from all of the wind. It was so windy and cold. I was super glad I dug my trusty Eddie Bauer (hey can I get a sponsorship here?) down coat out of my suitcase before we left the airport. That way I was able to run around and take a few pictures on the swing set (yes swings!), the camel that was hiding, and the fortress ruins across the way from the 3rd century BC.

What about these ruins? Words, words, words, really old, words, words, words. Invading tribes, words, words, words. But, they are old and pretty darn neat.

Then we drove a while more and went to a slightly more modern fortress ruin that we were able to climb on and around. These ones were from the 5th century AD. They have been repaired and/or partly reconstruced recently. How do I know this? Because the hay sticking out of the mud walls did not look 2,000 years old. You can’t fool thetwinsontour! We are pretty dang smart. It’s still amazing that these ruins still exist at all, and that we are able to walk around amongst them. All that history!

Oh and I forgot to mention, when we got on the bus our guide told us that in addition to the standard bottled water, they also have hot water for tea and coffee if we want that. I think maybe I should suggest that they also offer Ramen noodles too. That would be a nice surprise, but maybe not as much of a surprise as when he told us they also have vodka on the bus for us whenever we want it. It was a little early for me to partake, but maybe later. We’ve got some long bus rides coming up. And it’s Uzbek vodka, so that would be a cultural experience to try that.

We don’t eat lunch until like 3 o’clock, so we have very long mornings with lots going on. I don’t know if that is a contributing factor to lunch being so damn good. Seriously, lunch today was so good. Like I wish I was still eating it. We’ve been eating a lot of cooked eggplant. thetwinsontour absolutely adore eggplant in all its forms.

Our afternoon was spent in Khiva, which is pronounced Xiva. We had a bit of free time, so we went exploring. And when thetwinsontour explore, you can be sure there will be lots of selfies. And shopping. We may have bought camel wool scarves. Because we needed them! If you are ever presented with a chance to buy a camel wool scarf, you should do it. That is my new motto in life. Thus far, I am doing quite well at following it, too. I always say, if you are going to do something, do it well. And let me tell you, thetwinsontour are great at buying camel wool scarves!

On that note, that is enough for day 2. We need to save some juicy tidbits for Day 3– selfie-palooza in Khiva! So fun! Hang on tight for the next installment– you don’t want to miss it!!

thetwinsontour

PS I don’t know what pictures are going to show up on here. I am currently seeing pictures from the Torino Olympics in 2006. I decided they are great pictures and deserve to be seen again and it is too much work to correct them. So enjoy.