Can the Stans handle the Merck girls?

October 2: Farewell to Samarkand

Very early departure from our hotel (6.45 am) because we were getting the train to Tashkent. When we arrived at the station, we were too early for the security screening so we just wandered on into the station!!!

The train ride took 4 hours and when we arrived, there was some gentle rain in Tashkent (our first shower since being in the Stans). Time to eat and we went to restaurant very close to the station, which had a really unusual name(not).

For the foodies among the blog readers, here was our lunch

It’s the last night of the tour so we had a farewell dinner. It was renamed as a “farewell dinner for Marg” because Marg is the only one of our group who is not staying on for the extension tour of the next 2 Stans.

Here’s Marg and I in our Uzbek-style gear, as well as our group at the restaurant.

And for the foodies, our meal was really lovely….note that the plate which looks like it has shredded cheese is actually shredded butter. They don’t normally serve butter or oil but you really need butter when you are having delicious warm bread rolls.

Right across the road from our hotel is a big square and there was a concert on tonight by the State Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan. Well when we arrived home after dinner, we got the last performances from the concert. The conductor was amazingly energetic, and the lighting made it quite magical.