"I have learned to live my life one step, one breath, and one moment at a time, but it was a long road..." - Muhammad Ali
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| (A meeting of four wise men) |
Day 12: 22 August 2017 (Tuesday)
Route: Khujand – BP Oybek – Tashkent
Distance: 166 km
Hotel: Tashkent Shodlik Palace Hotel, Uzbekistan
Early in the morning we visited statues of Somoni and Lenin in Khujand. The monument of Ismoil Somoni is erected where the statue of Lenin used to be. The Lenin statue was moved to a small park away from city centre. The Lenin statue is the largest in Central Asia.
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| (Another statue of Somoni) |
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| (Lenin Statue) |
From Khujand we traveled for an hour to Border Point Fotekhobod, Tajikistan. At 10.00 am border clearance was a little chaotic when there was queue jumping by the locals. We completed border clearance at Border Point Oybek, Uzbekistan at noon. Once we completed border formalities, we continued our journey towards Tashkent.
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| (Border Point Fotekhobod) |
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| (Fellow bikers being harrased by the locals) |
We arrived Tashkent just in time to have lunch at a posh Navat Restaurant. After lunch we had a panoramic tour of Tashkent and stopped at Khast Imam Square which includes Barak-Khan Medresse. This is the religious centre of Tashkent. The minarets are 50 meters high.
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| (Tashkent Independence Square) |
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| (Navat Restaurant) |
We visited the Islamic Literature Library where Islam's most sacred relics - Othman Koran, the world's oldest Koran is preserved and kept. It is believed that this is the Quran read by Saidina Usman bin Al-Affan when he was killed. His blood stained could be seen on this mushaf.
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| (Khast Imam Square) |
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| (The main prayer room of the mosque) |
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| (Asmaul-husna on the wall) |
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| (Islamic Literature Library) |
Parts of the square are now occupied by artisans working in wood, leather and copper. We bought some souvenirs here.
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