Tashkent, meaning “Stone Fortress”, is the capital of Uzbekistan.  It was once a vital commercial hub on the ancient Silk Road. Today, it is divided into the old city and the new city.  While the old city is the home to many historical relics such as mosques and mausoleums, the new city presents to the world the modern face of Tashkent after the rebuild of the city, such well-developed public facilities include the newly built metro stations, theatres, TV tower, and gymnasiums, etc.
 

On our second day in Tashkent, the tour guide brought us to the famous Chorsu Bazaar, a local market which sells various culinary herbs and food products.  Obviously, agriculture plays a vital role in Uzbekistan.  The Bazaar is a good place to get to know and experience the local customs and lifestyle.  Besides Ohi non, the major food in Uzbekistan, there are some fruits which we have never seen before.  One of them is lemon.  With smooth skin and orange in colour, it tastes like lime from Thailand and fresher than the typical lemon found in Hong Kong.  Interestingly, we also found kimchi in the Bazaar.  We were told that Korean, whose ancestors were forcibly moved from the East to Central Asia by the former Soviet government between 30s and 40s, takes up about one percent of the total population in Uzbekistan nowadays. They carried with them their culinary customs to Uzbekistan. 

Then, we visited Kaffal Shashi Mausoleum.  Kaffal Shashi was a famous Islamic scholar and a poet in Tashkent.  He received profound education from the madrassahs in Bukhara, Samarkand and Termiz.  He was the first Imam, a worship leader of a mosque, in Tashkent and was well recognized in the religious conscience.  His mausoleum was first built in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 16th century.  Today, it is a place of pilgrimage for Muslims.