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Uzbekistan

Here is the sign in person... promoting the bull that is in Uzbekistan writing

That is a lot of Bull!

Local father and son enjoying a sample taste of some good locally grown melons. I tired it and it was great.

You find it in a one stop shop... a lot of Bull and a whole lot of melons.

Lots of interest in the melons.

Waiting our turn to cross a one way bridge

We discover the bridge and road is shared with the local railroad. Notice the tracks on the bridge.

After our break stop we travel for hours through the Kyzyl-kum Desert. In the distance we see the border of Turkmenistan.

At a look out point on our trip through Uzbekistan we find a "Do Not Enter Turkmenistan". In spite of its best efforts, Turkmenistan has failed to top Freedom House’s Worst of the Worst list in the category of countries with the fewest political rights and civil liberties this year. It was beaten out by joint leaders Syria and South Sudan, although it did manage somehow to edge out North Korea.

North Korea and Turkmenistan rank alongside of each other for rights of their citizens. Turkmenistan is, alas, entirely out of step with the current global investment climate in one other important respect: the environment. Committing money to the Turkmenistan energy sector means financing an environmental open sore of calamitous proportions. A report in the Guardian newspaper recently states the persistent problem of huge methane leaks.

Cotton production in Uzbekistan is important to the national economy of the country. Cotton grown on Uzbekistan land was recorded nearly 2000 years ago by the Chinese.

We stopped along our journey to Bukhara to see cotton growing and picking. We had the opportunity to pick cotton. What a hard job.

Uzbekistan is the 8th largest producer and the 11th largest exporter of cotton in the world.Up to 2017, the industry was state-controlled on a national level. About two million people were involved in the harvesting of cotton every year. Many of them were forced to work in the cotton fields, receiving little or no pay.

In March 2022 the Cotton Campaign ended its call to boycott Uzbek cotton. This follows extensive reforms in Uzbekistan by president Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has pledged to outlaw forced labor in Uzbekistan since coming to power in 2016. In 2022 the International Labor Organisation, ILO, announced that the Uzbek cotton industry is free of child and forced labor.

We arrive in Bukhara, the former capital of the once powerful Emirate of Bukhara. It is located on the Silk Road. It has long been a center of trade, scholarhip, culture and religion.

We are walking through a market area in the old town prior to going to dinner. Here we see a local cleansing the air.

Aziz is explaining the process of the cleansing and its meaning.

This shop in the Bazaar looks like it has many services available.

Bukhara rugs were first made by nomadic tribes, especially the Tekke tribe, who roamed this region and Central Asia1,3,4,5. Bokhara rugs have geometric patterns and rows of guls, which are octagonal motifs3. They were highly loved and used in prestigious empires and temples.

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