I can't believe this is Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 my first 24 hours!

Auto-captioned from the film, lightly cleaned. Elena's words, not edited prose.

And they're off. We made it, everyone. We made it. We took a plane from Paris to Estambul to Bkara. Now we're exploring the old town. We are in Usbakistan. We have no business being here. Nope. We have done our Wikipedia research. I've listened to several podcasts and watch a YouTube video or two and that's about an extent of our knowledge, but excited to learn a lot more. And I have always been fascinated by the Silk Road as well as Central Asia cuz it's just this like kind of seemingly let's not get hit by a car.

It's this part of the world that feels a bit untouched for us. We've done Middle East, we've done Europe, we've done Asia, but never this part of the world. It's such an interesting cultural intersection between like the Middle East and Asia and Russia. And Russia. Yeah. People here have such an interesting look that is like so clearly a blend of those different areas. Yes. And which goes all the way back to Silk Road which is so fascinating to me. Yes. We've been hearing Russians, Taji, and Tajik is similar to Fars which our mom speaks.

So today we're starting with a quick stroll around Oldtown and then we're going to do a food tour. So stay tuned. Usbekistsan sits at the core of central Asia and for centuries it was the heart of the silk road. Empires rose and fell here. Alexander the great controlled the region after the Persian Empire. The Samina dynasty turned cities here into centers of Islamic learning. And then came the Mongols. Gangghaskhan's armies devastated the region, but his descendants later rebuilt it into a thriving hub of commerce. And today we're in Bkara, an oasis town along the Silk Road.

When Genghaskhan's army swept through Central Asia in the 13th century, destroying nearly everything in their path, the Kan mosque here was miraculously spared. Legend says Genghaskhan was so impressed by the towering minouette that he decided to let it be. For centuries, the region remained a patchwork of tribes and towns, and the idea of a unified Usbekiststan didn't really exist until the early 20th century when the Soviet Union drew new borders and established the Usuzbck Soviet Socialist Republic. The Soviet Union as a subject of international and geopolitical reality no longer exists.

After gaining independence in 1991, the country entered a new era. First under somewhat authoritarian rule and more recently under gradual reforms. Today is opening to the world, embracing tourism, reviving its cultural heritage, and navigating what it means to be a modern nation rooted in ancient history. World beautiful sounds. I'm kind of starruck by this mosque over here because it looks just like photos of mosques I've seen in Esvahan, which is where our grandfather's from. And we haven't had the chance to go. And I feel like I'm getting to see a piece of it.

So, it makes me cool. What kind of soul is it? This is fascinating. This is, I think, my 48th country, and I have never been anywhere quite like this. So far, I am very impressed. First impression, I would say Bukar is so clean. The airport was clean. The downtown city is clean. The buildings are beautiful and so wellkept. And I feel very safe. I feel super safe. And I feel very chill. Like, no one's in a rush. It's not that. We already made two solo female traveler friends just this morning alone.

So clearly this is a place where women can come by themselves and you know feel okay for the most part. I will say it's hot as hell. It is hot. We can deal with that. It's true. A little bright sign. Wow. Oh my gosh. Those are beautiful. This is silk pattern color change. Just looking. Oh wait, how the how did you do that? Magic. It is magic. It's a magic carpet. Very very soft. You can feel how soft it is. You can feel the silk. Like it feels so good on the skin.

What's this material? Wool. This is wool. Okay. Yeah. We've stopped at a little cafe and we found these chicken lava shraps. They both were only $2 a piece, which we love. Taste test. I don't know what exactly they've done, but the lavage is so crispy. It has this like light spice to it. We got chicken, tomato, lettuce, a little bit of mystery sauce. M delicious. We're in this like medieval castle. Not a window in sight. This is our view. Cute. peaceful. What do you think? Hi, welcome to my cave. It's very reminiscent of Moroccan Riyads.

This kind of like structure of architecture where like the rooms are all centered around a courtyard which also means there's very little natural light but you know it's cozy and it's cool which is nice cuz it's very hot today. Hi. What am I supposed to be in a cliff? Let's go over. One thing about Usbekistan, even in May, is that the temperatures in the middle of the day are around 95° to 100°. I highly recommend doing your activities in the morning as well as the evening. Now, we're taking a little midday AC break.

We got in at like 7:00 this morning and like ran around the town, and then it got unbearably hot, getting ready to go back out on the town. One of the most important parts of making videos for me is choosing good music to really capture the essence of the place I'm in. like being here in Usbekistan and that's why I'm so excited to partner with Musicbed. I genuinely cannot make the travel videos I do without Music Bed because music truly transforms a video. It sets the tone. It explains the vibe depending on the where in the world I am.

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So, Music Bed has truly made my job as a creator so much easier. And if you want to check Music Bit out for yourself, you can click the link in my description below and get a 14-day trial for free. Going to go sit in like the central pond area. Hopefully get a drink, some snacks. We met a little traveler gal at our hotel and I think we're going to try to find her and say hey. It is so beautiful here in the evening. There's this like cool breeze, a golden hour type of energy coming through.

Look at this. The vibes are immaculate. Oh, it's going to be really hot. Maybe I'll I'll crack her open. Oh, there's something. Oh, it's a surprise. I'm nervous about what this sauce is. What's in there? Good. Have like a tanky tomato situation here, I think. Lots of onion, but very refreshing. Really good. Okay, we have some kind of dumpling here. We don't know exactly what's in it. And I have no idea what this is. It looks like whipped cream or like a butter tower. Should I taste test this first? Yogurty.

Interesting. Moment of truth. Oh, that's good. There's something in there. There's some kind of spice. I don't quite know. It's like pork onion. The yogurt powered surprisingly really good. Refreshing. Maybe not refreshing, but It's our new friend Karina. Hello solo traveler. Did we miss a turn? This way. This way. Okay. Wow, look at that. Their first peak of the mosque. I'm so excited. It's like all the photos I've seen come to life. Oh my gosh. I can't believe I'm seeing it with my own eyes. This is crazy. Serene have two cute little kids playing soccer or football.

So, it's finally cooled off. We're about to head into Kalan Mosque, which is absolutely stunning. First impressions, the city is so chill. Saturday, so peaceful. I think I was expecting this to be like a hearty like travel experience, but it feels like vacation. I keep saying this, but truly, it's so wellkept. It's very quiet. Coming from Paris and New York, so I'm very impressed by the cleanliness. Not that many tourists. Like, there are some, so I don't think I'm standing out. Like look at this. So, I feel like my first observations of this area is just how peaceful it is.

For one, there's not a lot of tourists, which is nice. But beyond that, there's something about the way the light is hitting the buildings. The way that the sun is setting is unlike anything I've quite experienced. Even with like kids yelling and playing in the background, it feels so incredibly peaceful. And I can only like begin to imagine people coming here to worship like in the 1500s and how they saw like the same sky and the same sunsets. To see something like this majestic, how that must have felt in the time.

I love trying to think back to what that was like. It's blowing my mind. This is so cool. We're topping off the night with one more restaurant. We're going to like a more local spot, not as much in the touristy area. So, I'm excited to see how it tastes. When I said on my Instagram story that I was coming to Isbekistan, they actually have quite a few people from here, which is super fun. And they recommended trying some local dishes, which you have to do when exploring a new country. It's called what?

Lakm going in. I could be totally incorrect here, but it feels like a really interesting mix of like Middle Eastern and Asian cuisine. So, let's see how this goes. Interesting. Getting a lot of cilantro. It's a mix of like different cuisine flavors that are being put into one. Get in there. That's a confusing explanation. It's nice. It's okay. You're not See, I said what do you think? It's to get um cold weather food.