Around the World in Silver Years

  Visit to Russia........... We had extended our visit to Uzbekistan by including 2 nights at Moscow and another 3 nights at St. Petersburg(earlier Leningrad) which was actually too short a period to cover even the main attractions of these two historical cities but was still an opportunity to explore Russia as much was possible. Tashkent to Moscow........... We were transferred to Moscow by Uzbekistan Airways and had arrived by late evening. The immigration process at the Moscow Airport was rather cumbersome. Over-deployment of security personnel who were guiding the long queues was evident. It took long time to complete the arrival formalities due to excessive rush with constant changing of queues as directed by the security personnel.                           We were accommodated in a huge hotel with suited security personnel(evidently armed also) in pairs at all nooks and corners. It had perhaps the largest dining hall that I have ever seen, of course, with adequate security. Sinc

Why Uzbekistan......... I first heard of Uzbekistan( Tashkent)  way back in 1966 when the then Indian Prime Minister of India Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri had visited Tashkent for negotiations with his Pakistani counterpart after our just concluded war with Pakistan. The then unified USSR had offered to mediate. Unfortunately our Prime Minister had expired during this visit. This visit was covered extensively by media all over the world and the details and controversies related to this visit have been etched in my memory for all time to come. Hence Tashkent had found a place in my Bucket List.  To be frank, being a science student throughout , my Geography was not good enough to know the whereabouts of this almost neighbourly country when I had first heard about this place. Our naval senior batch had visited Uzbekistan and they were all praise for the country for its tourist friendly atmosphere, cleanliness, light on pocket and superb architecture. They had engaged Vayudoot Holidays , Pune