I Finally Made it to Uzbekistan

I did it.  I finally made it to Uzbekistan.  When I was a teenager I read a magazine article about the Soviet Union and it talked about how Tashkent was home to camels and pineapples.  It sounded so exotic and it's been on the bucket list for 32 years.

After yesterday's travel day I made it to Tashkent this afternoon.  

In Uzbekistan I'm loaded.  I pulled out 1,5 million Uzbek Som from the ATM.  You've go to love the 50k bank notes.  1,5 million sounds way more impressive than €145 or $159.  

Tomorrow I'm taking a 200 km (124 mile) road trip to check out the Tian Shan Mountains, Chimgan, and Lake Chorvoq.  I've got a few days in Tashkent before I head to Samarkand so I need to go find those camels and pineapples.