Footsteps. 48 hours in Ferghana

Famous Russian writer Nukolay Gogol in his novel "Dead souls" wrote: "Which Russians do not like the speed?!" No need to rephrase his words, but I can just say that in Uzbekistan all the people like to go from one town to another by bus, private and office cars or taxi. Sure, in Uzbekistan the speed is in favour! Probably, it is cheap, but I think it is not only reason. In a moment, you will understand everything. I left from Tashkent taking the car at the parking nearby the Kuilyuk bazaar. Here, in any time, day or night, you can take a car to the cities of Fergana valley Andijan, Namangan, Kokand, Rishtan, Marghilan and, certainly, to Fergana. Price for one person in "Nexia" is 6-7 thousand sum. Time about 4 hours. Well, let us start. The road to Akhangaran and Angren is good and straight, so the car can easily run 120-130 km an hour. Talking with the driver and listening to music you do not notice how the time is flying. We are passing storage reservoir.

The road is gradually going upward. Outside the window hills are becoming higher and higher, and finally real mountains surround our car. They are actually splendid! White stripes of snow cross the green slopes, bushes in blossom add the yellow colour to the landscape with miniature trees and snowy tops smothered by grey clouds. It seems to that some mountain reminds an old man with grey hair dressed in a dark green livery with gold stripes and white plastron. Indeed, the Nature is the best among artists! The road is winding, but pavement is perfect. Workers in orange waistcoats maintain it. The mountain pass is waiting for us ahead. You can feel some unpleasant pressure in ears but if to chew bubblegum or to talk a lot (as usually I do this is one of my vices), this discomfort can disappear or you do not even notice it. The mountain pass of Kamchik. Here there is no flora; the air is absolutely clean and free of any smells. After the second tunnel the road is declining.

The grey sky becomes azurine, almost white. The sunrays are breaking the clouds. Along the road, teenagers are selling wet fish, tulips and curt (small, desiccated balls of curds). We decided to have a short stop. The stands are selling mineral water Nestle and sodas, which in plenty are produced at Fergana plants. There are jars with honey on the tables. It is said that bees sip this honey at mountain flowers. Some man offers honey from cotton flowers, strange by its smell and consistence. Our driver advises not to buy honey here - it could be artificial. Bees fed with sugar syrup produce such artificial honey. On aivan some man is doing his evening praying namaz. Sitting on the rug, he is bowing low and whispering words of praying. We are driving on. Big letters from concrete crown one of the hills around "Uzdonrobita". Unusual advertisement! We are passing through some villages.

Everyday life of ordinary people is running before our eyes some woman is driving two cows, the girls are skipping using a thick rope linked of some pieces, two little boys as musketeers are fighting with sticks, some man is plastering the fence with mixture of clay and cut straw. The air is pure and sweet from smell of blossoming trees. This is djida in blossom. If somewhere on the earth exists the paradise, it is in Fergana valley! We are driving through Kokand and stop nearby the women selling water-biscuits. Hot water-biscuits have very appetizing gloss. Before baking their surface is smeared with milk, which gives this gloss. It is 5:00 p.m. We decided to have a rest here. In chaikhona "OMONJON OTA" the women in clean white robes serve quickly and carefully. Such neatness is a rare thing even in Tashkent. Going on, we are driving through Marghilan. It is getting dark. Finally, we are arriving at Fergana. Along brightly illuminated street, we are driving to "Asia Fergana" Hotel. Price of staying includes cost of breakfast and dinner.

The restaurant has rich menu including 8 sorts of pizza and 1 sort of spaghetti. The next morning, after good breakfast I am going to "Club 777" Hotel. The hostess is my friend. We have not seen for a long time as she visited Tashkent not too often. She has good news the new pavilion of 16 rooms is under construction and very soon, in August everything will be ready for guests. There will be one suite too. Here I was lucky to get the invitation to the lecture of Alexander Kuprin. He gave the lecture for young hotel guides about history of Fergana valley. Indeed, Alexander is an excellent lecturer! He told that in history of this region was a significant Eastern-Iranian period, that is why the word "Fargona" is not Uzbek and means - "land among mountains". More than two million years ago, the valley was bosomed in dense walnut forest. Centuries were passing. The forest was vanishing, becoming construction material and burnt to clear a space for gardens.

In our days, such relict forest has remained just in Kyrgyzstan. As it happens, world known walnut should be correctly called "Fergana walnut". Some other plants, for example tulips, onion and garlic have their home in Central Asia. The first Central Asian finds of paleontologists are also related to Fergana valley. Famous all-over the world, black and white Uzbek tyubeteika is from the valley, Chust town. Actually, now in the West, the people know about coloured Boysun's, Shahrisabz's and some other tyubeteikas, but 20-30 years ago, the foreign guests were given just black and white tyubeteikas. Unfortunately, till now in Uzbekistan there is no museum of tyubeteikas. Just some private collectors collect and preserve them. In his lecture, Alexander touched upon the subject of Uzbek dances and music. The idea of famous Russian composer Skryabin that definite music correlates with a definite colour found its realization in Uzbekistan much earlier, in the 15^th - 16^th centuries.

Bakhshi performed each makoma (lyric song) sitting on takht decorated by carpets and kurpachas of definite colour. Starting the next song, he moved to another takht having correspondent decoration. Lunchtime has come. I decided to have a lunch in the center of the town, at Dilobar cafe, where besides of national meals you can have European meals. I had a nice lunch in the shadow of trees. After lunch, I went to Marghilan to the factory producing famous Marghilan satin and other silk fabrics. For the notes about this factory, please, refer to page... By the way, moving over the town I preferred to take taxi that was rather cheap, from 300 to 1000 sum. I had dinner in Askiya cafe (nearby Zyiorat hotel). This is a good new cafe. In Fergana the evening time can be spent variously. I think, ritzy Hollywood Restaurant is very cozy.

Songs of world pop stars, from Madonna to Joe Dassin, are sounding quietly, the public is respectable, the hall is softly illuminated. Very romantic atmosphere! If you prefer to have jolly evening, you can go to Club of Julian (nearby Zyiorat) or to popular among teenagers Loguna Club (5 minutes of walking from Asia Hotel). Nearby Zyiorat Hotel there is a summer square for dancing, Setora. I liked it more. In wintertime, disco Setora moves to the house of culture at the textile factory. There are no local sorts of beer in Fergana. Mainly, they sell Russian beer in bottles and sometimes some beer from wood, which I did not taste. I visited the factory and talked with its director. He assured me that in August they would launch German beer production line and would produce beer from German components. Fergana is a modern town but the population is not numerous as many people have left for a job in bigger cities or Russia. In the town there are hairdresser's and photo salons, small polygraph offices, stationer's and CD products shops. As for me, I did my nails at the salon of Zyiorat Hotel, and bought CD at Express Poligraf.

Next day I went to bazaar where you could buy everything you want: food products, footwear and clothing. Prices are much cheaper than in Tashkent because of local people import everything from neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, cutting corners and escaping from all taxes. By the way, if you are invited to visit Shahimardan, be ready to get exit visa in your passport and when you are back to the town you will get entry visa. Thus, your Uzbek multi visa (which you have obtained with difficulties) will be reduced by one time. This is only unpleasant moment, which is waiting for you if you are going to mountain land of Shahimardan, which by its beauty is really equal to mountain Switzerland. At the small exhibition hall in Khojent street (behind Asia Fergana Hotel) I enjoyed the exhibition of works done by local artists, A. Uzlov, L. Panchenko and B. llyin, which was arranged by Kabul Kasymov, businessman from Andijan, in memoriam of these artists.

The exhibition presented 54 works exposing Fergana valley in the period of Soviet industrialization in the 1950s. Many works were devoted to Quvasai, a small town located not far from Fergana. I was walking along the streets and looking on the life of the town. Opposite to the exhibition hall there is summer cafe BRAVO. The people were sitting and drinking beer. In the window was seen some old radio reproducing Russian chanson of the last century in performance of Vertinsky. Going slow, I reached the boulevard and park favourite places of citizens for walking. Summer tables were set in air and Russian pop music was sounding everywhere. The singer performing modern Uzbek song on the porch of some building drew my attention. The people were dancing to this accompaniment. By the way, neighbouring town of Andijan is known in many countries thanks to its fiery dance "Andijan polka".

There is located Central supermarket in the boulevard is of the town. No need to visit it, nothing interesting. However, beside it there is Fargona Universal Shop where you can buy everything you can need. Very good shop with rich assortment of various goods. It is said that if you want to know better the citizens, read notices on walls and fences. I read some of them. The one informed that at the Club SUCCESS had been rock-concert with participation of Conquistador and Excalibur bands, and at the Russian Theatre of Drama had been given the legend "For soul saving". In one of the streets, I was amazed at some strange bicyclist. Well, the man was normal, but his bicycle had very strange design: treadles were fixed on the axis of front wheel, the saddle (or seat) was set low at the level of tread les and the man actually was almost lying on his bicycle.

The man was a teacher from the child club of technique. During my walking, I saw many interesting details and scenes. May be, it is professional habit? On the other hand, may be, this is attention of the person having to hurry nowhere? For example, for my first two days in Fergana I had passed many times nearby cafe-bar Alovuddin but visited it just an hour before my departure. The cafe was opened only 2 weeks ago. By its interior, the cafe can be related to art-cafes. When I told it to the owner he was very surprised "What art, this is just cafe". Not knowing about similar cafes in Tashkent he just wanted to create something original. We can speak about Fegana for hours and my story is too short to describe everything I was lucky to see. In the next number of the journal I am going to speak about the other streets, cafe, restaurants, hotels, resorts, parks and nature of Fergana valley, news of culture, social and political life. On the back way to Tashkent, we visited the factory bottling mineral water "Oltyarik".

The water is taken from the natural source. In the Soviet period, here existed sanatorium, famous all over USSR. In our days, there is JSC "Shokhimardonsoy", bottling mineral water. In 2002, in Geneva the factory was awarded the international star for high quality. Cool water was really nice! I was drinking and could not stop as in Fergana the water was not tasty. Again the road. We were passing by the new building with sign on - "Fermerlar Uiy" "House of farmers" and leaving it behind. The sign gives the evidence for English becomes more and more popular in Uzbekistan. Earlier this house was called in Uzbek "Dehkonlar Uiy".

In the suburbs of Kokand, Dankar there is a summer banquet hall locating close to the road on our way. Its name is simple Kukon (Kokand in Uzbek). Here, outdoor the soup with small pieces of dough (mamlar) and green tea seemed wonderful. So strengthening our forces, we went on. Along the road were growing bushes of hedge roses. What nice flowering and aroma! First in my life, I saw special plantations of hedge roses. The sign on the road informed that we were passing through the village of Gagarin. Interesting is that in Uzbekistan, in each region or district there is some village named after the first Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin.

For the last ten years many towns and villages have been renamed. However, the name of Gagarin has been kept. I think, that it is some grotesque. In the mountain and steppe land, the people farming dreamed about stars and cosmos. The mountain pass is ahead. Having accommodated to the driver I was singing loudly. This is very useful in high mountains to reduce pressure in ears. The road was rushing towards us with a speed of 130 kph and very soon, in the evening we arrived in Tashkent. In the next number, we are going to continue notes of short (2-3 days) trips over Uzbekistan. Write to us, what town are you interested? May be, Djizak? Or Rishtan? OrShahrisabz?