Greetings from Uzbekistan!!

Gosh I don't believe I am here! I did not know what to expect before I arrived, but the city of Tashkent indeed has its own charm.   I don't travel often for work, but ocassionally I do get to go to unusual places, such as Papua New Guinea, and now Uzbekistan. I love unusual places, not your typical holiday destinations. Photography has a lot to do with it. Snapping cultures that are new to me is exciting and very fulfilling. Even more fulfilling than shopping! Imagine that! Tashkent is certainly a place with a culture that I have not experienced before.   It definitely has a Soviet state "feel". Even the architecture is different, the cars are different,and the people are so trendy! The women are beautiful. Now nearing winter, they wear gorgeous winter jackets with furry collars, knee length boots. Men wear their furry Russian hats and smart jackets.   Food here is great too! Tastes like middle eastern/ mediteranean food. This is the closest description I can think of. Most food are tomato based. They do eat rice and lots of lamb. And lot and lots of bread! They must have bread. Even if they have rice, they have to have bread! Their bread is very large ( like the size of your face!) and you break it up into pieces for everyone to share.   People are generally friendly although they don't look it. They have an argumentative type nature, but its just their culture, they don't mean to be rude.    The currency here is Sum. 1 USD is currently 1,400 Sum. So I get about 4 inches thick of notes when I changed USD 150! Far too much cash to carry around! A typical meal will cost around 4,000 Sum. A fridge magnet costs around 3,000 Sum. A pack of cigarettes is around 1,500 Sum.   I have not had the opportunity to download my pictures from my camera yet, as I did not bring my laptop for this trip. Its either my laptop or camera, so of course, I bring my camera. Will upload pictures when I get back!   The weather is current sunny and a bit chilly. An ideal weather for winter if you ask me!   Ok more stories and pictures when I come back.   Cheerio!