Uzbekistan - This Country will Surprise You! | Travel Documentary

hey guys and welcome to coolvision I've decided to travel around central Asia and visit some of the countries that used to be part of the USSR so let's discover ancient cities architectural masterpieces delicious food warm weather deserts mountains and cotton welcome to Uzbekistan [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's a landlocked country in Central Asia and the former Soviet Union Republic that became independent in 1991 it borders Kazakhstan to the north Turkmenistan and Afghanistan to the Southwest Tajikistan to the southeast and Kyrgyzstan to the Northeast [Music] today the population of the country is almost 35 million people for most tourists Uzbekistan starts with its capital city Tashkent it's a huge city with a population of 2.9 Million people busy traffic bazaars and greenwide avenues the center of the city is Amir Timur square a plaza with fountains and S planes around the statue of Amir Timur who was a legendary ruler from the 1300s this is where you find the famous Uzbekistan Hotel lots of restaurants and museums has a reputation of not being the most exciting place in the country which is probably true to a point it's a large city with a lot of traffic noise and all the things that come with it but touchcan has a lot of things to offer if you look around where else in the world would you find so many examples of seismic modernism seismic modernism is the term for the large-scale Reconstruction of Tashkent after the 1966 earthquake more than 300 000 people lost their homes due to this earthquake that lasted for several months a huge reconstruction began which brought a lot of people from the USSR republics who volunteered to help teshken was restored in three and a half years and the Reconstruction gave the city several new residential areas it became a showcase Soviet City combining service architectural Styles and National decorations in 1977 touchkin got a subway system today it has four lines and 43 stations most stations are so beautiful you can consider them works of art and they reflect typical National 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 until recently you weren't allowed to film inside the subway luckily this restriction was lifted a few years ago dashkent is a car dependent City you can find a seven Lane Road even around the Central Park and the driving style of the locals oh it leaves much to be desired taxi rides are dirt cheap most of the time you're not going to pay more than one or two dollars what about salaries the average salary in the city is around 4.4 million sounds like a lot I know but it's in the local currency which translates to only about four hundred dollars the city is very modern and traditional at the same time business and modern high-rise districts coexist with traditional Uzbek bazaars and all low-rise communities where everyone knows each other they call these communities mahalas let's take a look at one of them foreign people are so friendly this gentleman invited us to his house for some tea his family has lived in this house for decades please [Music] [Laughter] and then we saw some ladies picking up walnuts this looks like Countryside right but we're actually in the middle of the city is this foreign [Music] but if you want to try the most famous national dish plov go to the center of plov a tribe by the famous TV tower they have several varieties of cloth and you can watch the entire cooking process trust me you're gonna love it normally it's cooped by a man and is cooked with lamb or beef I got the lamb version and it comes with rice and different vegetables like carrots onions and vegetable oil now it can be topped with a lot of things mine came with a quail egg a regular egg and kazee which is a sausage made from horse meat sounds pretty exciting right so let's try it finally [Music] tushkent is a green City that's a countless number of parts and many of them represent different cultures like this Japanese Garden in the very Heart of the City or this Korean Garden over the last five to six years the city changed dramatically new parks and business centers were constructed and now there's a real construction boom Going On teshkent is becoming a real modern Metropolis now let's talk to some locals um what are your plans for the future so right now I'm studying at Webster University and in the future we can study in in the US in the Webster in St Louis or in Webster in Geneva in fact take a semester yes in the US yes come back two semesters right and uh what's your program what are you studying uh Mis it's just kind of programming oh yeah yeah management information system yes so subscribe yeah wonderful thanks guys the city is very safe too okay I'll have a separate video about the scan so let's move on let's get a car and travel outside of the Capitol funny fact about cars in Uzbekistan is that 90 percent of them are Chevrolet Yes you heard that right ninety percent of cars are Chevrolet so if you look around Chevrolet Chevrolet and guess what kind of car I ran it well that's the sign it's a Chevrolet Chevrolet tracker wow we decided to go outside of Tuscan today and drive to the mountains and we stopped to check out the scenery it's charvak Reservoir huge body water and the locals said there's plenty of fish here and pretty big ones you know so might as well stop to enjoy some fried fish later on but for now let's continue to the mountains now who would have thought that just 65 kilometers away from the city of Tuscan there's a Winter Ski Resort it's called Amir soy right behind me but right now it's September and it's warm it's actually pretty hot it's 25 Celsius but there's still plenty of things to do here we're going to take that cable car it's going to take us to the very top of the mountain and there's going to be some breathtaking views and I'm going to show them to you in a second if you love skiing or hiking in the summer good because there are shengen mountains not far from tushkent [Music] finally we are at the summit of Amer soy two thousand two hunky meters above sea level you know it's moments like this that you're going to remember the most wow it's me sitting here admiring The Majestic mountains while you're here you can travel around the mountains and visit some remote Villages and you're going to see some incredible Landscapes like this foreign over 50 percent of the population still lives in the rural areas life here is like a different planet compared to the life in Tashkent they still cook their own bread and wash clothes by hand they're also very friendly folks you can easily find accommodation to stay overnight if you want to and it's going to be real affordable I found a guest house for just ten dollars let's see what life is like in the newsbec village foreign thank you foreign you're going to find a very interesting place it's a solar furnace of Uzbekistan built in 1981. we are 45 kilometers away from the city of Tashkent and this is solar furnace of Uzbekistan it uses ten thousand and seven hundred curved mirrors to reach temperatures up to three thousand Celsius why would they want that well it's to study different materials on how they react to different temperatures you know initially it was built in 1981 for military purposes but now it has a lot of soil applications like the working on carbon fibers and you know all kinds of new materials that would help in Aerospace and other applications and I was so lucky to join a VIP group so we got a chance to go on the very top so is it for cooking delicious crust to use big bread you ask not really but nice try the place for the solar furnace of his biggest end was chosen carefully because the sun shines here for 270 days a year now before we travel to other parts of the country let's talk about the history of Uzbekistan these lands were occupied by Nomads since the early days skiffian sogdians charismaans bactrians were all distant relatives of modern uzbeks a huge boost in Economic Development came from the great Silk Road that allowed trade and cultural exchange between East and West the great Silk Road turned cities like buharat and summer camp into large Trade Centers they traded silk jewelry spices and horses at the beginning of the 8th Century Arabs came here they brought Islam they also introduced the Arabic alphabet which the uzbeks used up to the Soviet days at the beginning of the 13th century chingis Khan a ruthless Warrior showed up with this massive Army destroying everything in his path many cities like buhari and summer can were completely ruined and most part of their population was either killed or enslaved took almost a century for these lands to recover in the 14th century Amir Timur came to power he United the lands of Central Asia under the timurid Empire it was a time when science and culture were flourishing and left plenty of great monuments to us in the early 16th century separate Uzbek principalities were formed the harness of hiva buhara and kokane in the 19th century they try to resist the Russian expansion into this area but failed thus becoming first a part of the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union okay now let's relocate to summer camp the second most famous city in Uzbekistan to get here you can take a fast speed train afracy app or rent a car but roads are very mediocre quality so just keep that in mind and it's four hours to drive but I still recommend driving because you're going to see so much of the countryside and I think it's well worth it along the roads you'll find homemade dairy products like iron and gujar it takes some getting used to but I've learned to like them and here we are summer can is the third largest city in the country with 560 000 people along with buhara summercand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia from its early days summer camp was one of the main centers of sogian civilization an ancient Iranian civilization Alexander the Great conquered summer camp in 329 BCE the city was known as Americana by the Greeks by the way summer camp from sogian means a stone town and Tuscan from turkic also means a stone Town that's about all they have in common see in touchkin you have to look for historical sites in summer camp you just can't avoid them the most famous one is the registan foreign [Music] and right now we're standing at the registan which is a plaza surrounded by three madrasas which is the Arabic word for a seminary this one is from the 15th century and the other two are from the 17th century so there's tons of History here let's walk around and let's admire the beauty the name registan means a Sandy place or desert in Persian each madrasa has a beautiful Courtyard with souvenir shops craft shops and the good thing is everything is locally made [Music] thank you another place of interest is the Shahi Zinda it's a necropolis which includes mausoleums and other ritual buildings from as early as the 11th century a lot of noble people are buried here among them philosophers and Scholars you'll see some amazing mosaics and tombs beautifully decorated with Majolica tiles to get around there are small tourist bus to circulate in between the major sites and it's so convenient foreign [Music] mask is another Masterpiece in the 15th century is one of the largest and most magnificent mosques in the Islamic World bibihana mosque has to be one of the most impressive buildings in the entire Central Asia it was built under the reign of Amir Timur the construction started in 1399 and it was finished in just five years unbelievable they had to bring hundreds and hundreds of workers from different neighboring countries and they also had to bring over about a hundred elephants from India to carry the heavy loads it is considered a masterpiece of the timurate Renaissance as you have noticed most of these structures were built under emirtimurain for someone not sophisticated an oriental architecture you might think they all look kind of similar foreign [Music] er's Empire was so huge it stretched from Syria to India and the capital was summer camp there are so many other places to visit in sarakan like the guria Mir which is a mausoleum of Amir Timur oligbeg Observatory from the 15th century and so much more today's summer camp has turned into a real tour City and amate tourists from all over uh where you come from so originally yeah originally Singapore um and I live in Oxford actually siblings uh I'm John and I live in Oxford in the UK um and I'm Eddie I live in Amsterdam report coming to Uzbekistan did you know much about the country um I did a little bit of homework I've actually been kind of um planning it for about like nine months actually I think nothing really prepared prepares you for what you're actually here it's just the scale of things are so much bigger and so much more like the Grandeur just takes take really takes you back so I had done a little less research I kind of like to be leave to be a little surprised by places I think just looking at some of these buildings I think even in this day and age I can't even tell them how they were built let alone like 500 years ago or a thousand years ago and I just I don't know how that architecture was possible then you know it's it's wild yeah recently another tourist attraction was opened and it's called The Eternal City it's a new District by the water which reminded me of a small medieval town it's so photogenic that I saw a lot of people coming here to do photo shoots really cool now before we travel to our next destination let's visit urgut which is a small town not far from summer camp near the mountains first of all it has stunning mountainous Landscapes second of all it is known for the Grove of plain trees some of which are more than a thousand years old we are in a city called urugut which is not far from summer camp this population is 65 000 people and right now we're in a place called chor chinor which means four plane trees now that Plane Tree in particular is 1100 years old so old and it's so big uh it's 35 meters high and it's huge and in fact inside of it there used to be a medicine which is a religious school this is where people would hide from rain and strong wind well it's pretty dark in here so this is where they would have their religious teachings and you know learn more about the Quran I ran into a local news crew and gave them an interview lower than foreign some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet even if there's a language barrier they'll make you feel welcome when we drove around one of the villages we met this family they let me ride their donkey showed us the surroundings and gave us some honey walnuts and apples great hospitality and a little bit all right we go into the woods to get some nuts it's a good donkey come on this is my friends and we're drinking tea we're good foreign okay now let's relocate to another historical City and that is buharat [Music] [Music] you can get here by high-speed train or drive it's going to be another four hours of driving buhara is the seventh largest city in Uzbekistan with a population of 280 000 people it was a prominent stop on the Silk Road between the East and the West many world-known scholars artists and philosophers lived and worked here like avisana and Umar hayam it still contains hundreds of well-preserved mosques madrasas bazaars and caravanserize dating largely from the 9th to the 17th centuries for over two thousand years the city did not change its location let's take a look at some of the sites Poe Kalan is a huge religious complex consistent of the Kalan mosque the Kalan minaret and the mere erab madressa these three structures form a Plaza in the center with a mirier wrap and the Kalan mosque face in each other the Smith red behind me is known as Kalyan minaret and is 45 meters high it was founded all the way in 1127. now a hundred years after it was constructed chingisan attacked and it was one of the few structures in the city that he spared now there was a staircase taking you all the way to the Rotunda in the 12th century it was known as the Tower of death because many criminals were executed cuded by being pushed off the tower but at least they could enjoy a few moments thrilling moments before landing since we can't climb the minaret let's climb the shoehab tower and get a good view from there drones are not allowed in the country by the way a great place in buharat to come enjoy some great food and live music in the evening is the lobby house Ensemble surrounding the pool in three sides it's a pond but it was built in 1568 to 1622 there were many ponds like this in ancient buharah and they played the role of major water supply system until the Soviets came and when the Soviets came they didn't like the system because it was spreading a lot of diseases so they got rid of that now today it's mostly playing the role of a focal point of the old city of buhar at night it turns into a fairy tale with a lot of tourists lots of cafes and restaurants and live music so come here and check it out another must visit place is the Ark of bohara it's a massive Fortress that was initially built and occupied around the 5th Century A.D it was the residence of the last hunt of before he was overthrown by the Red Army in 1920. by the way this is what he looked like this is a real picture now there are a lot of museums housed inside the arks buildings at night in buharat you can attend a performance with dinner the one we went to was inside nadir Divine begum address [Music] [Music] thank you foreign does a great job of relocating you to the 16th century walking around the back streets entering the courtyards is a lot of fun you don't know what to expect it might be a carpet chop it might be a coffee house it might be a pottery I loved it in buhara there is a good choice of carpets how much are the carpets okay okay do you have any flying carpets how much are they oh it's too expensive I guess I'll just keep on shopping many of the current hotels are based in historical houses we stayed in one that used to be a house of wealthy Jewish gentleman in the 19th century [Music] hey Allah [Music] [Applause] May our love next on the list is the city of Kiva once you leave buharat life dies out and you go into a desert crazy to think that just a few centuries ago Caravans were traveling through it must have been so difficult and hiva must have felt like a special place in Oasis surrounded by deserts after traveling in the desert for days and weeks the merits of hiva must have looked like spaceships back then remotiveness from the rest of the world made hiva the most unique town in Uzbekistan it used to be the capital of korresum a large Oasis region on the amuraria River delta in Western Central Asia Behind These Walls is the inner Castle known as ichankala these massive protective walls of ichankala were built using the clay from the nearby amudriya River this inner Castle has a rectangular form and it has Gates on four sides it became the first UNESCO site in Central Asia some of the records indicated that it existed in the 10th century and one of the Legends goes like this one of Noah's biblical Noah's sons Sim was going through a desert and he found this Oasis and he dug up well and he tasted the water and he'll love the water so much that he said hey back which means tastes so good and so this whole castle area was founded around that well and it's called Havoc well well I wanted to find the whale and visit it but right now it's located in a private property and the owner of the house lives in touch Kent and so there's no way to visit that the very fact that it remains to this day for us to witness is mind-blowing what are the major sites let's start with the culta minor minaret this minaret is called calte minor and is probably one of the most recognized symbols of hiva the construction started in 1852 and it was started by Muhammad Amin Han but unfortunately he died in 1855 so the construction was never finished now his plan was to build the tallest minaret in the entire Muslim world now the only God as far as 29 meters and that's where it got got its name caltaminor means a short minaret this is the mausoleum of the poet pahlavan Mahmoud who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries and what is that building from above it doesn't look like anything special but in fact it's one of the most exciting buildings in hiva Juma mosque or Friday mosque the building is unique in that it has neither portals nor domes this has got to be one of the most important buildings in ashangala it's called Juma mosque and it dates back to the 10th century now it has a very neutral layout for a mosque the ceiling is supported by 212 pillars 59 of them have been replaced over time the rest are original foreign [Music] Fortress within a fortress the construction of the Citadel began in 1686. it was fenced off from the main Fortress by a wall and served as the residents of the hands of horizon this is where they worked and lived with their families The Citadel had everything from entertainment facilities immense and even a harem make sure you go on top because this is undoubtedly the best place in the city to watch the sunset [Music] takes you back in time and it's so incredible you will feel like you're in a real medieval city with a spirit of modernity is given out only by the electric wires cobbled streets clay masks elaborate patterns and Majestic Fortress walls make sure you do some shopping too they have a lot of souvenirs to choose from and some cool hats look at this they call them chorizma well there's a nice selection of hats should aware the black one or the white one see the purpose of this hat was to protect from the Sun plus it's really warm and it's even protecting you from a sword they say also you can use it as a pillow in the evening be sure to catch some shows going on in different places see this trumpet it's called carne it's a national musical instrument and it can be up to three meters long so you can imagine how heavy it must be [Music] most of the monuments in Uzbekistan that remain to this day belong to Islam but throughout history many different religions existed here Zoroastrianism Buddhism and many others for example three hours away from hiva you'll find an example of zoryastrianism chill picked ahma or the Tower of Silence it looks like an extinct volcano from a distance a dead body in Zoroastrianism is considered unclean and elements including Earth and fire are considered sacred which means the dead cannot be burned or buried therefore the zoroastrians built huge towers of Silence where they would carry the dead to be eaten by birds and insects and only after that they would collect the bones and put them in clay caskets did you know that Uzbekistan had a c it still does but it's almost completely gone Errol C technically it was the fourth largest lake in the world and there were plenty of fish but now it's nothing but the rusty ships how did it disappear it all started with a Soviet government's decision to turn Uzbekistan into a cotton-producing factory most agricultural lands were turned into cotton production cotton was used for many things from clothes carpets to Rocket Fuel and banknotes but for that to happen you need a lot of water to water the plantations so the Soviets diverted the arrow seats primary fresh water sources the third area and amudaria rivers for irrigation of their Cotton Fields Aral Sea was quickly drained with all the fish in it but the Soviets didn't care they thought good more land forgotten you know Jesus was able to turn water into wine and the USSR was able to turn a sea into a desert [Music] but we're not done yet Uzbekistan is huge now we're going to visit the fergana valley it's located in the eastern part of the country Border in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan it's limited by the kianshan mountains in the North and the LA mountains in the South the four major cities here are kokane nemangan fergana and Andy John it takes four hours to get here from Tashkent and you'll be driving through a mountain range with spectacular views I mentioned before that the local roads were mediocre but here for some reason they're perfect the Fogata Valley is the agricultural Heartland of the country driving around you'll see Cotton Fields Vineyards sunflower fields apple orchards and so much more let's take a quick look at the major cities let's start with name again it's the second largest city in Uzbekistan with a population of 626 000 people however it doesn't get many tours I wanted to find a hotel on booking.com and there was only one option so I had to do it the old-fashioned way drive around town and walk into different hotels to find a room and that's in a city of over 600 000 people nemangan has an important craft and Trade Center since the 17th century named after Emperor babur who was born in the fergana valley the park is known for its numerous old plane trees foreign [Music] hello name again is one of the most conservative cities in Uzbekistan with strong Muslim Traditions at times it felt like being in the Middle East many women are wearing the Dekalb the Islamic women's dress that covers everything by the eyes in the 1990s name again made it in the news for the wahhabi Islamic movement that started in one of the local mosques it came from Saudi Arabia which led to president Karim of Bannon all their religious fundamentalist groups believing they were a threat to his regime but don't worry it's totally safe today name again is super cheap I was able to have a good lunch for 1.5 dollars all of this came to 1.5 dollars can you guys believe that the city is like Uzbekistan but without the tourist part it's very authentic busy crowded and many people didn't speak Russian let alone English only again of course it's a good idea to go to a local market it's the busiest part of the city and get some apples because is famous for its apples next fergana it's a city of 380 000 people named after fergana Valley ferganai has been a center of oil production since the Region's first oil refinery was built near the city in 1908. there's really not much to do in ferganao for a tourist except for eating at local cafes strolling through the green Parks taking the ferries will and visiting the local market it's a relatively new town only founded in 1876 by the Russians to control the territory of the former cocaine hanate a noticeable growth from the City's population began only in the 20th century and in particular after the second world war when many industrial facilities were relocated here foreign this is probably the most recognized building in all of oregano Valley it's called the Palace of hurayar Han who was the last Han of kakan hanate which ruled this land from 1709 till 1876 until Russians came here and conquered the land now this cocand honey they had seven palaces all together and each one they built was greater than the previous one so this is the last one they built so let's step inside let's see what it's like [Music] the palace boasts seven Courtyards and 113 roofs 12 of which are open to visitors today in cocaine I recommend you visit the beautiful 19th century Jamal mosque it's colorful minaret in the center stretches up more than 20 meters supported by giant columns made from Indian redwood trees this mosque Mausoleum also has a lot of Craftsman shops to visit foreign also in cocaine you can visit the Museum of great Scholars and learn something about the wise men from the past you can also visit some local madresses and mosques like narabouta Bay mosque built in 1799. this city these peoples are very friendly there are a lot of historical places these countries come to a lot of services then we suggested suggested tasted in our traditional food pillow pilaf is very tested if you don't mind asking what's your job my job is account oh so you you're counting money yeah yeah kind of money all right it's been nice talking to you thank you so much thank you so much and finally Andy John it's a city of 458 000 people and it's one of the oldest cities in the fergana valley dating back to the 7th and 8th centuries the city's perhaps best known as the birthplace of babur who follow in a series of setbacks finally succeeded in laying the basis of Mahal Dynasty in the Indian subcontinent and becoming the first mohal emperor Andy John also gained notoriety in 2005 when the governed forces opened fire on a peaceful demonstration that was protest in poor living conditions and corrupt government killing hundreds in what came to be known as the andeshan massacre the highlight of the city is Divana boy mosque it's the largest and most beautiful mosque in on Dijon a magnificent building with two Tower in minarets which can accommodate approximately 7 000 people the original structure was erected in 1899. most definitely populated area of Central Asia it is divided between Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan unfortunately became the most troubled region in Central Asia with a breakup of the Soviet Union part of the reason has to do with the division that Joseph Stalin did in the 1930s the map making ignored the fact that most of the valley was a patchwork of ethnicities not easily Incorporated International Republics there are many unique traditions in Uzbekistan for example the youngest son has to stay with the parents to take care of them even when he gets married he continues to live in the parents house with his family many marriages are said to be pre-arranged like in the old days women still have very few rights in the marriage and the husband is always right this is very true especially outside of tashken and the capital is get more westernized weddings are normally huge 600 guests or more is typical and anyone can show up basically an eat for free cockfighting and RAM fighting is popular no holiday goes without it people come in hundreds to watch the event I visited one in the city of Kiva this is what it looks like tell us what's going on you'll be surprised by a good fighting Ram can go for five thousand to ten thousand dollars or even more what's the weather like in Uzbekistan very hot summers daytime air temperatures frequently surpass 40 Celsius that is 104 Fahrenheit Winters are mild although in some desert Parts Winters can be pretty brutal let's talk about food local food is delicious and inexpensive outside of tourist places I was able to have a substantial lunch for two dollars uzbeks love drinking tea they have these Outdoors tables called tapachan with a large bed for four to eight adults drinking tea on the top Chan is a daily ritual uzbeks consume a lot of meat so for a vegetarian it's probably going to be a little challenging plav is the signature dish of Uzbekistan it's a main course typically made with rice pieces of meat grated carrots and onions it's usually cooked in a Kazan or a huge pot over an open fire chickpeas raisins barberries or fruit may be added for variation and if you want to try a pla if you got to come before 1 30 PM because after that time it's mostly sold out you cook it everywhere even in the cotton fields for lunch it's also the main course for weddings and many other celebrations and in every region they prepare differently questions [Music] another important part of the national Cuisine is the round bread here they call it none it comes in all shapes and sizes thick thin small and big wheat corn and whatnot they cook it in these ovens called tandoors lots of bread sold along the roads another one is samsa those are triangular or round meat pies they're so delicious and locals eat them burning hot straight out of the Tandoor and of course don't forget about shish kebab and lots of delicious soups like Sherpa that is a meat soup and lakman that is a noodle soup and also there are so many varieties at One Restaurant I saw eight different varieties of Sherpa being in Uzbekistan you gotta visit a local market it's a whole culture of walking around shopping bargaining and striking conversations and of course keep a smile on your face because these Pakistani people are very friendly Rihanna thank you wow now let's talk about how Uzbekistan changed after he got its independence in 1991. the first president of Uzbekistan Karima did everything to get rid of the Soviet Legacy but one thing he forgot to do the Soviet system had to be replaced with a market economy instead Uzbekistan fell into the Trap of becoming another post-soviet dictatorship along with Azerbaijan Turkmenistan Belarus and now Russia however ever since the new presidentev came to office in 2016. many steps have been taken in the right direction which made The Economist declare it Uzbekistan country of the year in 2019 as the most improved country Uzbekistan is slowly transitioning from a soviet-style command economy to a market economy it is now okay to criticize the government film videos in most places even in the subway but flying drones are still a big No-No if you try to bring a drone even a tiny one you could be facing up to three years in jail ridiculous I know how's the economy doing Uzbekistan is the eighth largest cotton producer in the world here they call it the wide gold during the service times bakersten was basically turned into a huge Cotton Factory kids didn't start the school year until all the cotton was picked which is why many countries boycotted Uzbek cotton until recently luckily the country has finally eradicated systemic forced labor and child labor working conditions have greatly improved since 2020. almost all cotton in Uzbekistan is still harvested by hand foreign foreign foreign agriculture in Uzbekistan employs 28 of the country's labor force and contributes 24 of its GDP ample sunlight mild Winters fertile soil and good pastures make it suitable for cattle raisin and growing all sorts of fruits and vegetables what are they growing grapes apples peaches corn plums tomatoes and much more for example Uzbekistan is the second largest producer in the world of carrots and apricots besides agriculture gold natural gas minerals and Mining are also important to the economy the tourism industry is growing fast numerous new restaurants and hotels are being built to become more tourist friendly their introduced tourist police those are friendly guys who can speak English and will make sure you're safe and can help you with any questions you might have you'll see them around every tourist area corruption is still a big problem though I had to give a bribe to a traffic Hub once I took a wrong turn and he was asking for 150 dollars but after some bargaining 20 bucks was just fine there's a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy like you have to get registration papers from each Hotel you stay at and keep them one hotel did not want to check me in because I didn't have the registration papers from the previous one the official language is Uzbek Russian is also widely spoken because Uzbekistan has a lot of ties with Russia and many uzbeks go to work in Russia depending on where you go you'll find caracal pack kyrgis and tajik languages in use good jobs are hard to find and salaries are pretty low that's why over 60 percent of cars in the country are running a natural gas people this way oh and if you want to be a millionaire you have to come to Uzbekistan when I was renting a car for two weeks I had to pay 11 million in cash this is what it looked like but that's a local currency that's called some 11 million translates to one thousand dollars actually things have improved because now they have banknotes of large denominations like one hundred thousand two hundred thousand imagine what this would have looked like when the largest bill they had was five thousand people were carrying cash large bags so now let's sum it up Uzbekistan is a sunny country that has a lot to offer historical cities like buhara summer Canada the big city life of Tashkent great nature and mountains we did not visit every corner of the country of course but I hope you got a good impression of the country and its people now if you like this video please give it a thumbs up and share it and thank you so much I'll see you in my next video foreign [Music] yum yum [Music] a shoes [Music] awesome [Music]

Channel: CoolVision

Views: 4,905,750

Keywords: Travel Documentary, uzbekistan, The Silk Road by

Id: 7xStxJVOJhI

Length: 48min 42sec (2922 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 22 2022