Uzbek markets

In every city that I visited while being in Uzbekistan I also spent a significant amount of time by checking out the market places. They are very picturesque and the eye-catching content screams for attention from every direction.

They can be compartmentalized in three large groups: fresh groceries, traditional souvenirs, and petrochemical blend based garments of high-volume and low durability, originating from the Far East.

The food markets were my favorite. I have no words for how beautiful and rich colored food (and some flower stands) look like. I was taking photos of fruit and vegetables like I saw them for the first time. The markets made me remember what ripe tomatoes should look like.

This is not only Norway’s problem, in many countries the stores are full of vegetables picked weeks before their full ripe stages, in hope they’ll somehow ripe to perfection on the shelves. Everything on these stands looked like it came from photos from agrotechnical books. Every single paprika or tomato is the “after” picture.

There are a lot of traditional products available for very affordable prices. Everything looks so inviting, full of taste and irresistible.

The flowers look amazing as well.

And yep, I came in the strawberry season in full swing. While I was passing by, I could smell actual strawberries. There are 360 different volatile compounds which give them their distinctive smell, including the flagship compounds furaneol. It felt like a perfume cloud. Not even kidding.

The souvenir parts are rich in colors, patterns, textures and incredible handwork. Uzbek people are very proud of their heritage, reaching back to periods of the Silk road, which reflects massively on souvenir garments and decorative pieces, and they all make you want to wear them. The prices are very moderate and almost everything is affordable.

Only stuff like carpets demand a spillage from the wallet, from what I saw, but I also respect the craftmanship and obvious effort invested in making them.

What I also liked was seeing the artists painting the plates, making the carpets etc.; I even did a test and came back a few hrs later and I did see the actual progress. Not everything is made to be cheap in notorious PRC.

I love cruising around, interacting with sellers. Smelling the tea blends, listening to people naming the croatian football team when I answer where I am from, checking the scarves out, complimenting the embroidery (I have a massive crush on the embroidered garments the same way people get all mushy and mellow when they smell childhood’s cookies) and trying out an occasional garment.