3rd of January, 2023.
Hitchhiking in Uzbekistan.
Uzbek hospitality is something wonderful! Just as all the other Central Asian countries I have been, I am overwhelmed by their generosity and kindness.
If all the bad luck from yesterday was to give me all the luck I would have today (and from now on), then be it!
I am soon picked up by Saidulan and Abubaker. They are two very nice guys going to Tashkent, so they can drive me basically half way to Samarkand. Great! Saidulan is more talkative than Abubaker, so we keep chatting. They are very surprised about my journey and way of living.
We pass some really bad weather right after Kokand. It is a strong snow fall and all the vehicles are driving slowly. Soon after, the snow flakes become massive, and I feel sorry I didn’t take a photograph. They drop me off in an intersection just before Sardoba.
After passing by many taxi drivers trying to catch me as a passenger, a taxi driver stops. He and his passenger tell me I don’t need to walk, I can come with them until the next town for free. How sweet! The driver drops me off a bit before he takes another turn. It is a busy place by the road, with some small shops and trucks stopping by.
By now I have noticed that, taxis or people who intend to charge you for the lift, they will give you a light sign, like blinking twice, if you are standing by the road, just so they can know if they should stop or not. So, when I am hitchhiking now, I let all the cars which are doing that to pass by, but still, there are quite a few which stop for me that are taxis. I have to tell that to about 7 or more cars that I cannot pay. Poliyok, in Uzbek language it means “no money” and that is what I keep repeating to them.
Another sign which can help you to distinguish between taxis and private cars in Uzbekistan is if there is a woman sitting in front, on the passenger seat. If that is the case, it most likely to be a private car. Why? When women take taxis, most of the times, they seat on the back seat, leaving the front seat to a man passenger.
When a car stops and ask me where I am going, and I see a woman sitting in front, I suspect they are a family. I show them my sign and they seem to start talking. But I turn towards the road and keep hitchhiking. Suddenly they come back and tell me they can take me to Samarkand, no money needed. Yay!
Bohran help me to put my backpack in the trunk. When I open the door, I see a young boy smiling at me. That’s when I meet Jony and his mother, my dearest Yulduz. Just like her name, which in Uzbek language it means star, she is a shining being.
Jony is doing his English homework. He is very sweet and we try to have a chat. I manage to explain to them a bit about my travels. Yulduz is very kind and asks me if I am hungry. I am! She first tries to give me some chicken, but when I explain that I am vegetarian, she gives me some potatoes and bread.
Soon enough, Yulduz passes me the phone so I can talk with her son. He manages to explain to me, with some few words in English, that his mum is inviting me to come and stay with them tonight. Yay! I am so happy! It is getting dark and I was already wondering what to do once we arrive in Samarkand. Although, their family house is in a village, just outside the city.
I am overwhelmed by the whole family! They live in a huge house, with many different rooms. I stay in a room with all the other women and children. It is a beautiful room, with some gorgeous, colourful blankets finely folded in different corners. I meet mother and sister in law, nieces, cousins and neighbours. I also meet my dearest Lobar, Yulduz daughter. She is the oldest, eighteen years old, and I have talked in the phone with Java, who is sixteen years old. Jony is only eight.
Everybody is super kind and are curious about me and my life. Lobar is the translator. But she is also studying Chinese. Her aunt in law is a French and English teacher in a school in the village, so we also get into chatting.
We start eating some delicious nuts and apricot dried pits, which taste a lot like pistachios. We also have some delicious Olivier salad. The main dish is Plov and I am so happy for it! It is delicious and for sure the best one I have ever had until now. There are also some tomatoes pickled sauce, which we have along with Plov, which are extremely tasty. Basically, everything is delicious! And of course, we have some tea and a great compote.
Yulduz asks Lobar to translate her proposal to me: she wishes for me to come and stay with them in Tashkent, for as long as I want / can. Their family actually leaves in Tashkent, they have just come here for two days, to visit the family and to pick up Lobar. Yulduz would like for me to practice English with her children, and to help Java with his IELTS studies. I immediately accept because I already love them so much. I am truly happy and almost cannot believe in how lucky I am.
Before this kind offer from Yulduz, I was supposed to stay in a Couchsurfing community house in Tashkent, which Nasiba had arranged for me. I had asked to stay only for 3 days, even though I wished to stay longer, and I had no idea about food and other stuff. After accepting Yulduz’s offer, I asked Nasiba to let them know I was not coming anymore.
Lobar, me, Yulduz and her mother-in-law all sleep in this same room. We have decided that tomorrow I will go to Samarkand for the day, come back to sleep another night here with them, and after that I will go to Bukhara, another ancient city. Yulduz would like for me to come back with them to Tashkent, on the 5th, but for that I would have to either skip visiting Bukhara, or trying to do everything in a rush. I would love to come with them, but I make the tough decision of carrying on with my plan, and join them in Tashkent on either the 6th or the 7th. It is the right thing to do.
10 Years Around the World 