Tashkent Uzbekistan. The City on the Silk Road

foreign the capital of Uzbekistan welcome to tushkent it's the largest city of Central Asia with a population of 2.9 Million it's a city of white Avenues and green alleys and architecture from different periods like Soviet architecture modern architecture and of course magnificent minarets and mosques now it also has a great variety of Cuisine from every part of the world but most importantly Uzbek Cuisine so let's get to know more about the skin [Music] touchkin lies in the northeastern part of the country once it was an ancient city on the great Silk Road from China to Europe then it was the fourth largest city of the USSR now it is gradually transformed to a modern world-class Metropolis the center of the city is Amir Timur Square it's a plaza with fountains and esplanades around the statue of Amir Timur a legendary ruler from the 1300s this is the first place most tourists go to tashcan gets plenty of foreign tourists and this is Sam um it's a really interesting City I mean it's got a lot of interesting monuments like this one and lots of cool spots around the city that you can take the metro which has been really fun we've kind of been on the Metro all day so what's your most favorite type of food so far um I mean how can you go wrong with Plums and there's that I forget what it's called but the one out by the the television Tower it's got uh supposedly best plov in the city and it was really good yeah I would say Tashkent exceeded what I was expecting I didn't really know what to think about before coming here I just kind of booked the trip and here I am and this is where you find the famous Uzbekistan Hotel it received its first guess in 1974. it was part of a large-scale restoration of the city after the 1966 earthquake that destroyed half of the scant it's one of the classic examples of Soviet architecture some call it brutalist like the style of uh like raw concrete type of architecture and we continue our tour around the square there are lots of restaurants and museums like Amir Timur Museum you know it's important because you can find it on a local banknote after Uzbekistan became independent in 1991 they had to revive the nation's spiritual and cultural heritage and recognize the historical figures that played an important role in the world history like Amir Timur also known as Timberlane he was able to unite the Central Asian lands he promoted Science Education culture music and poetry the history of Tashkent took a sharp turn after the 1966 earthquake half the City was destroyed this is an actual clock that stopped at the exact time of the earthquake more than 300 000 people lost their homes and the huge reconstruction began which brought people from the USSR republics who volunteered to help all the new buildings were designed by Architects from Moscow and they were able to withstand the strongest of earthquakes they labeled this architectural style seismic modernism the city was restored in three and a half years and tushkan became one of the best Soviet cities I met these guys at the earthquake Memorial known as Monument of Courage they just came back to Tashkent after 30 years in Israel let's see what they have to say foreign foreign [Music] foreign [Music] system today it has four lines and 43 stations most stations are like works of art and reflect typical Uzbek motives like cotton Agriculture and such but some stations really stand out like the cosmic station or turkistan station one of the most recent ones wow pretty impressive this is basically a museum and a very affordable one the entrance is just 15 cents good news is that now it's okay to film videos in most places even in the subway besides the subway they also have a network of buses and a single ride on a bus is 15 cents also despite that touchkin is still a car dependent City and the number of cars keep increasing every year driving style of the locals leaves much to be desired trust me I've driven in over 20 countries and who's Big drivers are some of the most Reckless ones one of the worst things about driving into skent is there are plenty of u-turns just like this one and it creates a lot of excellent like situations where people are honking and those driving in the left lane always have to go to the right because those people making the U-turn are always in your lane so I always try to stay in the Middle Lane if you think everybody's a professional and they know how to drive in this situation it's not it's not like that because there's plenty of accidents we've seen like a dozen accidents already good thing is that taxi rides are dirt cheap most of the time you're not going to pay more than one or two dollars Josh can't has changed dramatically over the last few years many new parks business centers were constructed and now there's a real construction boom Going On touch can't just turned it into a real modern Metropolis with a good choice of restaurants and the nightlife let me show you some of the cool locations tashcan City Park it's a brand new district with modern apartment complexes and a great Park that was finished in 2019 it's super modern there's an artificial pond and a music fountain [Music] there's also Planetarium and a 7D movie theater there are lots of restaurants coffee shops and Scenic locations wow tushcan City Park you know impressive and with the way things are going there's so much construction going on that I think you won't be able to recognize a city 5-10 years from now foreign [Laughter] thank you another example of the modern trash can is Magic City Park it's a fairy tale-like park with colorful houses great place for a family weekend there's a movie theater an aquarium a water show many restaurants and cafes and shops a lot of shopping options and also it's a park and it's just a beautiful area you know kind of reminds you like Disneyland oh you know fountains they always make it so refreshing I love it I love it [Music] in fact uh [Music] Tashkent is modern and traditional at the same time business in high-rise districts coexist with traditional Uzbek bazaars and old low-rise communities where everyone knows each other they call these communities mahalas let's take a walk around one of them it's got a very special vibe to it you know there's a river down below almost makes you feel like you're in Venice at one point but if you look over here you almost feel like you're in some Arabian quarter you know like in an Old Town or some I don't know Zanzibar people are so friendly this gentleman invited us to his house for some tea his family has lived in this house for decades foreign [Music] foreign foreign then we saw some ladies picking up walnuts this almost feels like Countryside right right but we're actually in the middle of the city foreign [Music] go to the center of plov it's right by the famous TV tower they have several varieties and you can watch the entire cooking process it's a whole show and trust me you're gonna love it foreign sure juicy pieces of lamb or beef on a skewer you can't go wrong with that if you love meat you gotta try shish kebab or just kebab you know it's a meat honest cure it's been pre-marinated and cooked over fire um wonderful I ordered lamb but you can order beef or chicken whatever you like also we got some veggies fresh salads and lots of onions smells fantastic let's dig in and how can you say no to samsa of course you can those are delicious meat pies one of the most favorite snacks in tushcan and all of the very popular pie meat pie and it's super super cheap let's see what's inside oh the smell the smell is good I might have another one also you can add some sauce delicious personally I love uzbaked soups like Sherpa it's a lamb and vegetable soup or like mine it's a noodle soup with meat they're both thick and very substantial price wise the further off you go from the tourist places the cheaper it gets how much do you think I paid for this lunch plaw of bread samsa and some tea 1.5 dollars not expensive at all there's a countless number of parks and many of them represent different cultures like the Japanese garden it's a nice green getaway right in the city center now I've never been to Japan and this is the closest thing to Japan over here let's enjoy some Serenity and you know in every Japanese garden there's got to be those colorful colorful fishes so let's find them oh there they are where's my fishing rod ironically it was initially built by Japanese prisoners of war in 1947. there's a small pond and you can rent a paddle boat at Seoul national park you'll find typical Korean buildings artificial ponds with water lilies and rare plants from South Korea the creation of the park was financed by Korea to promote the spread of South Korean culture part of the reason Uzbekistan has so many Koreans is because in the 1930s the USSR forcefully relocated over 170 000 Koreans from the Far East of Russia to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan that's why you'll find a lot of Korean restaurants shops and other buildings all over the city for example they construct in this new shop and District called Korean man pretty nice this is what it looks like and this is what it's going to look like when it's finished there are other great parks in the city like Echo Park it's a modern park with sports facilities very family friendly and it's a popular place for different festivals to celebrate 30 years of Independence they recently opened new Uzbekistan National Park this is what it looks like there are about 70 universities and colleges in tuschkent let's talk to some students technology is America foreign foreign [Music] foreign [Music] subscribe the best university in Uzbekistan is Westminster International University all right now let's take a look at the major sites right next to Amir Timur square is a street that is called tashken Broadway it's a popular walking Street a pretty nice place to relax to cool down in the shade of perennial trees there are lots of Street artists food vendors and ping pong tables I love ping pong foreign [Applause] is that all these trees in September almost October and they're still green and everything's blooming it's just so beautiful I like that because the city is in the middle of steps I was expecting everything to be Yellow by now but it seems like it's the middle of the summer wonderful [Music] okay you got it regular pulleys and you got police on horses [Music] this building is known as zarafshan and it was built in 1974 during the during the Soviet days and at the time it was the largest restaurant in Central Asia it was so big three stories high three stories below but nowadays it's more of a mall it's Mall it has cafes restaurants and everything let's see what it has to offer today let's walk up these stairs there's a fountain in the middle I love this area I can't believe it was just one restaurant occupying all this space [Music] [Music] God [Music] the street takes you from Amir to Moore Square to master Kalik maidane or the Independent Square with fountains during the service times it was called Lenin Square this is the Independent Square interstate and this is called the arch of Independence there's also the independence Memorial but for now the access to it is closed and I love this park it's huge there's a lot of flower beds there's a lot of fountains there's a lot of trees there's also a lot of governmental buildings like the Ministry of Finance the cabinet of ministers and many others and that's why there's a huge police presence over here right next to it is State Museum of the history of Uzbekistan this museum has three levels and it covers the country from prehistorical to the modern times it's a great introduction to the country if you're just starting your tour into Kent the third level is about where Uzbekistan is heading and the future prospects right next door is Romanov palace this residence was built in 1891 and it belonged to the prince Nikolai Romanov who was a grandson of Emperor Nikolai the first he was exiled by his Royal parents to tushkand in 1877. unfortunately the place is closed right now [Music] no City tour in Uzbekistan is complete without visiting the main Bazaar so let's go to chor subazar we're now about to visit the largest market in dashkent it's called chursu Market I'm so excited let's walk in the city's best known Market located in the center of the Old Town its enormous aquamarine carapace sets the stage for the daily bustle of thousands of shoppers [Laughter] I feel like I'm hungry for some onions I wonder if they have any onions oh they got me covered um pomegranates Cathy fruit apricots grapes meat and different types of spices are all in abundance here of course you can find all the nestro ingredients for a good plova twice the size of my head right next door to it is the cuckoldash madressa it's a medieval madressa that was built around 1570 by the shabboni dynasty of rulers the inner yard is just fascinating and what's cool about it is that it's an actual madrasa today it's a religious University and they still have class here wow [Music] now let's visit Museum of victims of political repression it's dedicated to the memory of the people who fought for the independence of Uzbekistan you know Uzbekistan like many other countries suffered from Russian occupation during the Russian Empire Era and then the Soviet Union so all together they consider it 150 years of occupation the repression started in 1860 when the Russian Empire waged a colonial war in Central Asia and intensified during the Soviet times too bad everything is only in Uzbek not even Russian looking at pictures is great but you're not going to understand much imagine the horror these people had to go through to be sent from this wonderful motherland all the way to Siberian labor camps that's terrible and let's just hope that one day in the world will have no oppressed regimes that would be great if you love art you can visit State Museum of Art the initial collection of the museum consisted of 100 works of art from that same Prince Nikolai Roman of private collections that were nationalized in 1918. recently there was a corruption Scandal the chief curator of the museum Mr rusmanev was found selling artworks in the black market for 15 years he was caught in 2014 persecuted and sentenced to nine years in jail sir serves him right our Galleria was Vegas stand it has contemporary art exhibits from the 20th and the 21st centuries some abstract pieces on the first floor are wonderful and thought provoking however not enough exhibits to justify the entry fee of five dollars which is a lot by local standards hey let's not ignore the elephant in the room the touchkin television Tower you can see it from everywhere it's a 375 meter Tower this is the famous tashken TV Tower and it was finished in 1978 but it only started its operation in 1985 and at the time it was the fourth tallest tower in the world now today it's the 12th all right and we're going up flying to the Moon okay we're finally on top and you know what the observation deck is closed but the option they offered us is to go to the the local restaurant you know it's cool it's a rotating restaurant now we're going to be watching the beautiful city of Tashkent while sipping some coffee it's a pretty romantic spot if you want to make your date special [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] opened in 2014. it's a huge modern mosque with Tower and minarets and the turquoise Dome and can hold up to 2 400 people while Uzbekistan is predominantly Muslim other religions are also represented this Cathedral is called Sacred Heart Catholic Cathedral and it was built in 1912. [Music] this Russian Orthodox church is called holy assumption Cathedral it was built in 1871 what I found curious about it was the depiction of the Red Army soldiers who executed the Tsar family back in my hometown of yucatarinburg I've never seen the church people portray Communists before how's the economy doing typical salaries in the city are pretty low 300 to 400 a month contrary to many countries like Russia America has a positive image here and many people dream of going to the US matter of fact lots of uzbeks live in the U.S they work hard and they send money back to their Homeland I remember back in 2003 when I was in Tennessee I had some Uzbek friends and some of them were working three shifts I don't know how that's possible Green Card diversity lotteries being advertised everywhere and kindergartens and schools with a focus on English are in high demand the tourism industry is growing fast there's a lot of new hotels and restaurants being built although corruption and bureaucracy might still be a problem but according to Transparency International Uzbekistan moved up to the 140th position in 2021 uh from 172nd position in 2010 quite an achievement the future looks promising and with all the Investments coming in touchkin might be one of the fastest growing cities in the world in the next five to ten years International chains are common here like Hilton Marriott KFC Wendy's and many others lots of countries are investing like turkey and China and Korea for retail investors there are some restrictions though you can only buy property if it's over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars which is smart this way the affordable housing won't be affected and no housing bubble will be foreign I.T sector is growing fast there's an I.T Park and recently a lot of Russians relocated to tushkent further contributing to the local I.T potential what's the appeal living here is cheap Tuscan feels very safe I always love it when you can go out at night without any worries that's the way it's supposed to be the city is clean and well taken care of the weather is nice this is what late November looks like although Summers can be a little too hot Russian is still widely spoken and most signs on buildings are still in Russian but the younger generation more and more often is choosing to learn English instead of Russian something I've always noticed in Georgia Azerbaijan and other post-soviet countries we study at National University in Uzbekistan and foreign philology faculty in English you know I was so surprised that like you're Uzbekistan and you don't speak Russian instead of that you speak English our faculty is English so we just learned its English and took out so that's why we can speak early in English and even at school you didn't now we learned but a little bit we can understand but replying is kind of a bit difficult for us so that's why what are your plans after graduation after graduation I'm gonna study at Webster what kind of program do you want to pursue I'm gonna Lauren Tesla or tefl okay okay very cool very cool okay I guess that's it thank you thank you very much it's always nice when they have athletic equipment you step outside you get some exercise you know it's important to stay in shape you guys thought I lost shape and I can do a pull-up well there you go [Applause] so when you get tired of the city what are your options you can go to the mountains if you love skiing in the winter or hiking in the summer good because there are Champion mountains not far from tushkent we're going to take that cable car that's going to take us to the very top of the mountain and there's going to be some breathtaking views and I'm gonna show them to you in a second there's a number of skein Resorts like Emerson mountain resort that was completed in just 2017. and finally we are at the summit of Amer soy 2290 meters above sea level another place that we visited was chinner Kent it's located in a picturesque mountainous area at the foot of the chat Cal range of the chenshin mountains location in the panoramic Center are perfect there's a hiking area and some restaurants there's a number of cable cars in this area the first one visited was Emerson and this one is called chimer Kent okay we are in China cans well here I am on top of Shin or Kent what a beautiful place right fantastic I mean living next to the mountains is definitely a privilege it's just wonderful you know we got a day off go to the mountains get some fresh air get some use and he'll get plenty of energy wonderful Uzbekistan is doing a great job promoting tourism and building tourist infrastructure but I've got one major complaint and that is garbage sometimes it seems like people just don't care they throw away garbage like it's nothing just look around it's a beautiful Scenic spot where people stop to take photos and then you see garbage all over the place just look down below and it seems like a lot of people just don't care we were following a car with two guys in it and they threw out Coke bottles one after another then I was having a conversation with a lady from touchkin and she was standing right here and then randomly she threw away a bottle I was like what the hell is going on I'm a foreigner here I would never do that [Music] thank you so there you have it Tashkent might be one of the fastest growing cities in the world in the next five to ten years it's got all the ingredients for it so come see for yourself thanks for watching guys if you love this video give it a thumbs up and share it and hit that Bell button so you'll be notified about my future videos thank you next video will be Kazakhstan [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: CoolVision

Views: 444,502

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Id: -28uw0I5KqE

Length: 35min 53sec (2153 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 01 2022