Media Center UZBEKISTAN TRAVEL
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INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL NEWS By: Steven EMMET “Uzbekistan?” “Where is it?” “Why are you going there?” “Is it safe?” These were the most often asked regarding my planned April-May ’08 trip. “Where is easily answered by a quick trip to Wikipedia: Bordering Kazakhstan and the Aral Sea to the north and northwest, Turkmenistan to the southwest, Tajikistan to the southeast, and Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Uzbekistan is not only one of the larger Central Asian states but the only Central Asian state to border all the other four. “Why?” is a more difficult question but the best answer I can give is that I had fond memories of the lovely old Silk Road Madrassahs (schools) and Mosques which I had seen in 1974, when Uzbekistan was still part of the USSR, and I wanted to share these memories with my wife, Yuki. I also wanted to rephotograph these places- with better cameras and hopefully, better skills. With our usual luck, a friend of a friend introduced us to a young lady, Zulya Rajabova, who had worked at Bukhara Travel, a major travel company in Bukhara. She used her contacts to quickly set up an excellent and inexpensive tour. Zulya now has her own travel agency in the U.S.(Chester, NJ 908-719-7676, www.silkroadtreasuretours.com ), and I highly recommend it for any of you who might, after reading this report, develop a hankering to visit this fascinating country. Finally, is it safe? I wasn’t sure before we left, but, for various reasons, I felt safer in Uzbekistan than almost any other place in the world, almost boringly safe. There were no pickpockets, no screams or no sirens in the night. No cliques of seedy men with beady eyes hanging around buses or train stations, no groups of children pushing, shoving and then stealing your wallet. Safe
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