What to do in Uzbekistan in the Fall
Business and Economics, UzbekistanNo Comment
Translation of mursya’s post (RUS)
This was the question addressed by blogger bellamar, who shared his point of view with neweurasia.net.
It’s a pity that we’re in the middle of a crisis. Or maybe it’s even for the better…
Here in Uzbekistan, for example, you can open a pretty decent tourist business.
Tours to the country are expensive right now, but this doesn’t stop travelers from Europe, the USA and Asia from coming in droves. The only deterrent is expensive air travel and an inefficient visa policy.
If I were a hotshot in the tourist business, or any rich investor, I would hire a dozen of the aircraft that are standing around in airports like the one in Nevada.
There are plenty of two to four-star hotels in Samarkand, Bukhara, Tashkent, Hiv, and Ferghana. I’m not even talking about the endless B&Bs, and apartments and houses for rent. Besides, any self-respecting hotel in Tashkent, not to mention cafes and restaurants, is equipped with free Wi-Fi.
So, we take the planes, make a deal with the Navoiy Free Industrial Economic Zone and charter tourists from all over through there. Buses can then take them to cities and villages. We can fly directly to and from Bukhara and Samarkand, too. The most important step is raising the daily rate for the tours to, say, $40.
The weather here is great right now. The markets are full of relatively cheap fruit. Artists like Sting and Vladimir Meladze have held concerts here in the past, not to mention the DJs, singer-songwriters and various other minor touring artists who are regularly brought in by the Goethe Institute, The British Council, Alliance Francaise, and other cultural and diplomatic organizations.
Theaters have been pleasing crowds with solid performances. Tourist cities have plenty of local shows: from dances and folklore to street performers and tightrope walkers.
And what about the mountains? Everything is beautiful and blooming up there. In the words of the poet, the air is clean and fresh as a child’s kiss. Tours are available to the goldmines at Murtunau. Fishing in rivers and lakes is an option, too. You can even make a day-trip to the cotton, melon, or watermelon fields. Cooking workshops in traditional cuisine, like pilaf, shashlyk, samosas and manty can be offered. Another beautiful attraction are the sunsets and sunrises over the Karakoum and Kyzlykoum deserts.
I haven’t mentioned various artisan shops, where you can hold workshops in making and playing traditional musical instruments, dolls, ceramics, wooden and other household objects… the list is long, and naturally includes dying silk and carpet weaving, plus some exotic spectacles, like cock and ram fights…
There’s a range of possibilities here that excites the imagination. Only, they say, kerosene is expensive…
Photo credit: zongo69
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