Cycling Day 9: Tashkent to Sirdayo
The heat in Tashkent was intense, but I was warned that it would only get worse as I went south. I left before 5AM and rode about 50 miles until 9:30AM. The sun was shining overhead and even at this time, the heat was getting very intense, it was probably over 95 degrees this early in the morning. I figured it was alright and I could see the town and lay low and ride another 10-20 miles in the evening. I wandered around the market, which was very crowded, where did all these people come from?
After that, I slowly rolled around the main drag in town looking for a suitable restaurant - there were many restaurants that appeared to only have outdoor seating, but I was looking for one with air conditioning. I found one and was ushered inside. One of the famous Uzbek foods in this area is Somsa - a kind of flakey dough stuffed with meat and onions. I ordered a couple of these as well as an order of plov, which, in Uzbekistan is known by the local term, “osh.”
A sign listing all of the places this road will take you
I slowly ate my food, realizing that it was only 1PM and it was scorching hot outside, there was no way I was going to ride out before 5 so I needed to kill some time.
Two women were eating next to me and started asking questions about my trip and my appearance. We talked for a little bit and as they got up to leave, they invited me to go with them to get ice cream. So I figured I had used enough air conditioning at this restaurant and went off with them. They were both probably in their 50’s and one was telling me about her grandchildren. This is a small town and as we sat outside and ate ice cream, many people passed by, came to our table and wondered about this western curiosity that had suddenly appeared in their town. Word must have spread quickly because one of the women received a call from someone who claimed to know English. She passed me the phone and the person on the line had a pretty tenuous grasp of English, but enough to tell me to stay where I was and that he would be there in a few minutes.
A man showed up at the ice cream place with his wife. They introduced themselves as Otabek and Feruza. Feruza’s English was very good, she explained that they were both English teachers at a school in town and in fact, she is a first-year PhD student majoring in English at a local university. They asked if they could host me, even if just for the afternoon as they jumped at the opportunity to be able to speak with a native English speaker. I went back to their home with them where they promptly served me some national food - an ayran soup (I was not about to consume a hot, milk-based soup on such a hot day), and a nice snack of watermelon and honeydew.
They asked if I would be willing to go to their school and talk to their students. The two of them run the school, an IELTS certification center and they currently have 200 enrolled students - from small children to adults. IELTS is a British English certification test for English fluency.
I met with a class of young children who appeared to be between 6-8 years old, and another class of kids who were probably around 13-15. They were all pretty shy but I got them to ask what my name was, where I am from and my age.
I also met with a couple of their teaching “apprentices,” who taught lessons and worked on the curriculum. Everyone was very enthusiastic about learning English and all had aspirations to continue with careers in which English was required, from flight attendant to diplomat.
My impromptu hosts, Otabek and Feruza
After seeing their school, we went back home and they offered me a place to take a nap. Which I did. Fortunately, my ability to sleep anywhere in pretty much any condition comes in handy. Although I slept a little longer than I expected and it was already after 6 when I got up. I resigned myself to riding longer the next day, or even taking an extra day to reach Samarqand.
After waking up. I helped his wife and one of her students take a sample IELTS exam for an upcoming re-certification test that they have. Then they served some shorpa (potato and carrot soup) and we left for the evening so they could show me the town.
Sirdaryo is an industrial town of about 15,000 people. They told me about a new Chinese factory that was recently built. It sounds like this factory comes directly from China’s belt and road initiative - essentially modern colonialism coupled with shady economic practices. They manufacture a wide variety of products there, mostly out of lizard skins. This factory operates 2, 12-hour shifts and workers apparently are not entitled to holidays or weekends and receive very low wages. The expert positions at the factory are all held by Chinese nationals and all of the equipment comes from China. And at night the factory emits terrible smells.
To compensate for this sketchy factory, the Chinese also built a fantastic green space next to the factory. A “smoke and mirrors” distraction park to improve China’s image in the town. Unfortunately, the park was closed when we got there.
They took me for a drive through the town’s industrial sector. Large Uzbek-owned factories and warehouses that primarily make tiles and flooring products. Another was a sack factory.
We went back to the town’s main drag which was very busy. People are fairly active at night, it seems like many stores and restaurants stay open until midnight, even in such a small town. There were children playing on the sidewalk and in between some buildings. We walked around and sat between a couple government buildings as they greeted many of their friends. As it is a small town and they run a popular school, they know a ton of people all over town.
Walking around the main drag
We also went for pizza and a restaurant called “France-Uzbekistan Restaurant.” A misnomer, as it was a pizza joint after all.
It was a nice evening and we had a great connection together. Once we got home I got into bed quickly. I’ll need to get out at dawn tomorrow if I have any hope of making it to the next town.
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