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It was a monumental effort to get Ocean, Oliver and Nadia out for a training run along the Ankhor Canal. There is a picturesque 5 kilometer trail running along the canal. We ran from the parking lot of La Terasse Restaurant to the Menor Mosque and back for a 10 kilometer training run. We are preparing for the Samarkand 10KM in two weeks. This was the furthest Ocean has ever run, normally she runs up to 5 kilometers on her cross country team. Oliver was the strongest and he is such a good runner! He and our friend Shannon, finished well ahead of Nadia, Ocean and I. It was a perfect autumn afternoon as we are soaking up the final luxurious days of Fall Break.

Yesterday we drove up to the Charvak Reservoir and the Chimgan and Beldersoy Mountains. I wanted Nadia to get out of the city a bit and it reminded her of the mountains of Sucre, Cochabamba and Potosi of her native Bolivia. We checked out a couple of the hotels in Beldersoy in anticipation of ski season. The views were beautiful and it was nice to spend time with Owen, Nadia and Ocean’s friend Josh during the drive. I really want to ride my bike around the reservoir!

On Thursday I went on a 50 kilometer ride with my friend Matt. It was a bit busy as we got off to a late start, but the route back was quite pleasant. I love cycling and am happy to get out occasionally for morning rides.

Nadia and I also played several tennis games this week. We also took a lesson from Jasur, the tennis pro at the Yoshlik Sports Center.

On the flight to Istanbul last weekend I finished Oleg Steinhauer’s spy novel. The trip gave me over 9 hours of reading time. (5 hours 20 minutes flying west and 3 hours and 40 minutes flying east thanks to the jet stream) I picked up the book in the bargain bin at Barnes & Nobles this summer. Reading novels set in the world of expatriates are always interesting to me; however, spy novels are usually not on my reading table. 

The book centers around the wife of the deputy consul at the US Embassy in Budapest. Working in international schools, I’ve spent a lot of time in American embassies around the world. The book is a murder mystery as she tries to find who killed her husband as they were having dinner together in a restaurant. They had recently transferred from Cairo, where most of the action takes place. My former residence of Serbia also is featured in the book. A Serbian spy plays a prominent role in the intricate plot. There are also flashbacks to Serbia on the eve of the start of the Yugoslavian war in the early 90s. The main characters are my age. 

It was an entertaining book to read during bouts of insomnia and on the plane. The plot got a little confusing towards the end as there are a lot of characters. My general take away from the lives of spies are there is a lot of deception and lies. It would be tough to live in a world like that, always evaluating information to check for its truthfulness. Some reviews claim he is the next John Le Carre, who was recently criticized by the head of the British Secret Service. My son Owen is considering a career in the foreign service or intelligence. It would be good to have a book that depicts how it is working in the secret service. I would think most of the jobs deal with the analysis of information and not being a spy. 

Having lived in Serbia and having spent a lot of time in Vojvodina, I see that he has been to the place. I had to laugh when he mentioned how pleasant the countryside is in the Fruska Gora National Park. We spent many an afternoon having picnics and hikes around one of the monasteries. It was one of our favorite places in Serbia. That is the beauty of Flickr that I can find a photo from those picnics in a couple of clicks. Nadia and Oliver are below – lots of happy memories! 

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Mid-September weather in Tashkent has been perfect with temperatures in the 70s F and nights cooling down to the low 60s. We had a nice weekend with the highlight being Oliver’s soccer game. Today Nadia and I went shopping down to the massive Chorsu Bazaar. It always makes me laugh that the vendors are curious about where we are from and how we like Tashkent. Tourists are still new here and we are a novelty. A refreshing change from other parts of the world. Nadia was on a mission for raspberries to make jam. She loves making jam and giving them as gifts. The cost of living is very low here, she bought 4 kilograms of raspberries for $USD 7.

Nadia and I checked out the TIS faculty bands on Saturday night. They were playing at The Temple Pub. Lots of talent on staff and we had a good time with friends.

We were also reminded about the most dangerous part of living in Tashkent, the crazy drivers. We saw the aftermath of a crash around 3:00 PM in the afternoon. There were a lot of police and bystanders at an intersection. There are some drivers here that move at a dangerously high speed, especially through intersections. I would love to get some statistics of the locations and frequency of crashes here.

Finally, I got a nice bicycle ride in on Sunday morning with Matt. I am working on becoming a better cyclist, focusing on technique and cadence. I really love cycling – I could go out for a ride everyday!

Oliver played his first game at the Tashkent International School (TIS) this morning. The TIS Owls lost 0-2 to the British School of Tashkent (BST) in a hard fought game. Oliver came in just as the second half began and while playing defense, his team did not allow a goal. The boys played with much effort and they have a promising season ahead.

Oliver loves soccer and the camaraderie that comes with team sport. He was so excited this morning to put on the Owl uniform for the first time. The junior varsity team has players in grades 8-10 and they play in the Central Asian Sports Conference.

Both the boys and girls varsity and junior varsity teams played today, as well as middle school girls volleyball so there were plenty of sports action on campus today. There were quite a few parents and students in attendance and Athletic Director Branden Tobin leads a professional program. I enjoyed soaking up the athletic atmosphere and talking with community members.

I finally got out of Tashkent for a day in the beautiful Western Tian Shan mountains, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Chatkal Mountains are only 65 km (40 miles) east of the city. It is so nice that they are so close to the city and readers of my blog will be hearing a lot about them.

The hike was led by a retired engineer named Boris. For years he has led hikes for foreigners living in Tashkent. Yesterday’s trek started in the village of Chimgan and headed up towards the Bolshoy Chigan, the central peak of range in Uzbekistan. We climbed over the fine open tops of Big Chimgan and Small Chimgan, walking along ridges. We descended to the Chorvok Reservoir where the van picked us up. Boris is quite the character and we had a good time trekking with his grandson and partner, Vladimir and a couple of fellow expats.

Most of the hike was following trails through grazing areas. We saw horses, sheep and cows during the day. As in the American West, I wish there were no livestock grazing on such beautiful lands because of the environmental damage they wreak upon the natural flora and fauna. I always wonder what the place would look like without livestock. It makes me want to be a vegetarian. Despite this, the views were striking and this gave me a taste of what more there is to explore. There were a few steep sections on the top of Chimgan peaks (1950m and 1850m) and I slowly and safely scrambled over the rocks.

We had lunch overlooking the Chorvok Reservoir. The lake had a weekend-getaway feel with lots of “dachas”, Soviet-era hotels and Tashkenters driving up for the views. Fortunately, it was peaceful far up above them, but we saw a lot of people on the way back. It is a three-day weekend in Uzbekistan to celebrate 28 years of independence from the USSR.

The Chatkal Mountains are the far west of the Tian Shan Mountain Range that goes all the way to western China. The peaks are not as high as in neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but they are much more accessible and close to the city. The far east of Uzbekistan is a finger between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan and we could see the mountains go on across the border. I am looking forward to exploring more of these mountains in the Chimgan Ugam-Chatkal National Park.

Some of the nice things about living in an ex-Soviet Union Republic are the wide streets and huge areas of public space. In a capitalist society that values individuals, there is more privately owned land in cities than in socialist societies. For a cyclist, the extra traffic lanes and large sidewalks provide safer cycling paths. This morning I went for my second extended ride and got in about 20 kilometers. The traffic before 7:00 AM is light and on Saturday, you get an extra hour to cycle before it becomes unsafe. Although there are sections where the sidewalks are uneven, a cyclist can get around pretty well around the city. There are also many parks in the city that provide cyclist protection as well.

Another legacy of the Soviets are the unusual architecture gems around the city.

Mention the term ‘Soviet architecture’ and instantly enormous concrete buildings come to mind. The term ‘Brutalist’, from the French ‘beton brut’ (raw concrete), flourished in the 1950s -1970s, inspired by the works of Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. As an architectural style it was also associated with social, utopian ideology.

After the devastating Tashkent earthquake of 1966, many large-scale apartment blocks were quickly built to house the homeless. Later, several grand buildings were constructed as well as the marvellous metro system. 

The massive Hotel Uzbekistan, centrally located at Amir Timur square, Tashkent, is a classic example of Soviet 1970’s modernist architectural style. In its heyday celebrities such as Federico Fellini, Marcello Mastroianni and Raj Kapoor stayed there, as well as the power brokers of the USSR. 

Uzbek Journeys website September 19, 2011

One of my favorites so far is the Hotel Uzbekistan. The hotel was build in 1974 and has been renovated several times, the last being in 2010. The government was trying to sell its 80% ownership from what I last read. I plan on going inside and checking it out soon.

We are settling in to our new lives and are enjoying the school and our new home after 1 week in the city! The weather has been very hot, with day time temperatures over 100 F everyday. This is normal for this time of the year. The low humidity makes is nicer and having a pool at our home is an easy way to cool off.

The first few days we spent at the Hotel Sharq (sharq means “north” in Uzbek language). The hotel, like the city has a cool vibe with a really nice swimming pool and courtyard and a decent breakfast. We moved into a smaller room due to the air conditioners and after figuring out how to cool the fridge, we were comfortable with our stay. As in the Trip Advisor reviews, the desk and lobby workers were not the most attentive employees I have ever seen. I think it may be the long hours they work. They were nice and after a few days of practicing my Russian with them, they warmed up to our family. There is also a nice fitness center in the basement.

Nadia and I went for several walks and runs along the canals and in the many parks in the center of the city. It is quite beautiful in the mornings for exercise. Unfortunately, our house is located in a different neighborhood and it is a bit more difficult to find parks and areas to exercise. When we get a car and learn the city landscape a bit better, it will be easier. I laughed at watching local guys swimming in the canals every morning. I am tempted to try it myself!

The restaurants are numerous and of high quality. We had several really good meals including L’Opera, an Italian restaurant located in a park near the hotel. I also went for the Uzbek national dish, plov. It is basically rice with carrots and onions, slow-cooked with either beef, mutton, or lamb in huge vats. It is a common dish all through Central Asia and the national dish of Uzbekistan. The Uzbeks take great pride in plov and there are many different varieties. The restaurant Dunyo (“World” in Uzbek) served a style from southern Uzbekistan and featured cow ligaments and tendons. This is the second time I’ve had it and luckily, I enjoy it. My friend Muhktor said Thursdays are plov day.

Most of my time has been spent at school or unpacking. The movers came on Wednesday. The shipment made it to Tashkent from Osaka in about 40 days! We have another shipment coming from the USA later. It is a new home and is missing things like a door bell and curtains, but we are very comfortable and the school is taking good care of us.

The Uzbeks and Russians we have met so far have been incredible kind and easy-going. The city and culture have a very positive and relaxed feel and I think we will enjoy living here.