From Asia with love

Country one and day one as we land in Tashkent, Tamerlane's capital (see photo!) to be pleasantly surprised by a civilised, spacious and green city with none of the expected (even by Lonely Planet standards) scrums at the airport or in markets. The buildings are very grand, in the Soviet style and there are parks and fountains everywhere. By and large the Uzbek people seem friendly, but not at all pushy. They come in every shape and size from skimpily clad, flame haired russian ladies to Chinese and gypsy looking dark complexions. A real melting pot.
After a precious 4 hours of sleep we were to be found queuing at the Tajik Embassy for our visas to allow us to wander freely in and around the 2 countries...2 hours later we were no further forward, but eventually the nice man told us to come back a day later and all would be well. It was then a hop and skip to buy air tickets West to Urgench, gateway to the infamous Khiva and the first real stage of our journey through Great Game country.
After a good night's sleep last night, we treated ourselves to a couple of Kebabs, a look at the capital of Central Asia and a dekko at the renowned Chorzu market on the superbly decorated Tashkent metro. I only got us lost twice! Next leg then across the River Oxus to Khiva where the famous architecture and culture of this region really kick in...
Thought of the day from Rachel - can't believe we have landed in Khiva safe and well on the 60 year old death-shuttle Uzbekistan Airways plane. The seats folded up like Guess Who cards and the whole thing looked like something out of an early Bond movie.