Some more Central Asian / Uzbek fun facts we came across during our journey:
1. Uzbek people have rows of glistering gold teeth.
2. Tashkent's metro was designed as a nuclear shelter by the Soviets (which means that taking photographs is prohibited) - and each station has a unique design, some of which are truly amazing.
3. In Uzbekistan, you're expected to haggle for everything: in hotels, for taxis, buses, trains, in barbershops, at the market. Fun, but it can be quite tiring.
4. The largest note in Uzbekistan is 1000 sym, which is worth about 0.60 EUR. Changing foreign currency inevitably leaves you with impressive stacks of notes to carry around, making wallets all but useless.
5. The bulk of the Uzbek agriculture exists of cotton plantations (your T-shirts could very well originate in Uzbekistan): the Soviets put up vast irrigation works, tapping water from the Amu-Darya and Sur-Darya rivers. One result of this is the dramatic near-disappearance of the Aral Sea, a massive ecological disaster causing widespread health problems across the region.
6. The 30 km long highway between Khiva and Urgench boasts what is probably one of the longest trolleybus lines in the world.
7. Catching an opera or ballet performance in Tashkent's Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre costs as little as 5000 sum (ca. 2.5 EUR).
Showing posts with label fun facts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun facts. Show all posts
October 6, 2008
September 23, 2008
Kazakhstan: fun facts
We learned by now that most of the fun facts are similar between the Central Asian states (most of them probably ex-Soviet fun facts for that matter), but here are some we came across in Kazakhstan:
1. In bakeries (patisseries), you find pastries, sweets, cakes and... sausages.
2. The Kazakhs queue in a peculiar way: one talks to a person who is already queueing, upon which he/she is allowed to queue behind the person he/she started talking to. Leaving your place in line doesn't mean you lose your place: it's very common that someone claims to have been here "much before you"...
3. Ordering coffee without explicitly mentioning you don't want sugar, leaves you with a mug of sugar with some coffee in it. The Central Asians like their coffee extremely sweet!
4. Miss Universe 2008 will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan - and it's quite easy to understand why: there are a lot of gorgeous women in the streets of Almaty. (Of course, travelling together with Miss Finland makes Floris a mere observer of this fact...)
5. In marshrutkas, people hurriedly give small notes to the driver when being pulled over by the police, to pay for the "traffic fines" (/bribes). But fair is fair: these bribes are deducted from the taxi fare.
6. Everyone in the whole of Central Asia seems to carry plastic bags with the marking "A&C Aygen Collection - styled in Italy".
7. Despite decades of Soviet rule, it's quite common to see people wear T-shirts with "CCCP" on them or hear Soviet Anthem in ringtones.
1. In bakeries (patisseries), you find pastries, sweets, cakes and... sausages.
2. The Kazakhs queue in a peculiar way: one talks to a person who is already queueing, upon which he/she is allowed to queue behind the person he/she started talking to. Leaving your place in line doesn't mean you lose your place: it's very common that someone claims to have been here "much before you"...
3. Ordering coffee without explicitly mentioning you don't want sugar, leaves you with a mug of sugar with some coffee in it. The Central Asians like their coffee extremely sweet!
4. Miss Universe 2008 will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan - and it's quite easy to understand why: there are a lot of gorgeous women in the streets of Almaty. (Of course, travelling together with Miss Finland makes Floris a mere observer of this fact...)
5. In marshrutkas, people hurriedly give small notes to the driver when being pulled over by the police, to pay for the "traffic fines" (/bribes). But fair is fair: these bribes are deducted from the taxi fare.
6. Everyone in the whole of Central Asia seems to carry plastic bags with the marking "A&C Aygen Collection - styled in Italy".
7. Despite decades of Soviet rule, it's quite common to see people wear T-shirts with "CCCP" on them or hear Soviet Anthem in ringtones.
September 11, 2008
Some fun facts on Kyrgyzstan
Having left the Kyrgyz Republic, this is a good time for a few general impressions and facts on the country.
1. In Osh, Jalal-Abad and Bishkek, the roads and pavements are littered with uncovered holes and sewer-entrances. Not a nice place for blind people, and frustrating for car drivers.
2. Kyrgyzstan must be one of the few countries in the world to have a a currency denomination of 3 som.
3. The flag of Kyrgyzstan displays a tunduk (seen from below), the crown of a yurt, the traditional nomadic house of the Kyrgyz people.
4. Most of the vans, minibusses and trucks in the country are second-hand models from European countries: it's very common to see a truck, marked with "Schmidt Obst und Gemuese, Hannover, Deutschland" crawling up a mountain pass.
5. Inter-city taxi drivers stop at seemingly random places along the way to buy large amounts of tomatoes, melons and other greenstuff, which they sell to merchants in the city of destination.
6. Alcohol is dirt cheap. A bottle of vodka costs about 180 som (ca. 3.5 EUR), a beer being relatively more expensive at a price of 60 som. The results of this are obvious: the streets and parks are littered with drunkards.
7. Any car on the road is a potential taxi, but negotating prices is a cumbersome experience. A rule of thumb to estimate the price to pay is as follows. Calculate the distance, multiply with ca. 10 l gas per 100 km and multiply with the price of gas per liter (about 35 som); then add about 200 som for the service. Divide this with 4 seats, and you have your price per seat.
1. In Osh, Jalal-Abad and Bishkek, the roads and pavements are littered with uncovered holes and sewer-entrances. Not a nice place for blind people, and frustrating for car drivers.
2. Kyrgyzstan must be one of the few countries in the world to have a a currency denomination of 3 som.
3. The flag of Kyrgyzstan displays a tunduk (seen from below), the crown of a yurt, the traditional nomadic house of the Kyrgyz people.
4. Most of the vans, minibusses and trucks in the country are second-hand models from European countries: it's very common to see a truck, marked with "Schmidt Obst und Gemuese, Hannover, Deutschland" crawling up a mountain pass.
5. Inter-city taxi drivers stop at seemingly random places along the way to buy large amounts of tomatoes, melons and other greenstuff, which they sell to merchants in the city of destination.
6. Alcohol is dirt cheap. A bottle of vodka costs about 180 som (ca. 3.5 EUR), a beer being relatively more expensive at a price of 60 som. The results of this are obvious: the streets and parks are littered with drunkards.
7. Any car on the road is a potential taxi, but negotating prices is a cumbersome experience. A rule of thumb to estimate the price to pay is as follows. Calculate the distance, multiply with ca. 10 l gas per 100 km and multiply with the price of gas per liter (about 35 som); then add about 200 som for the service. Divide this with 4 seats, and you have your price per seat.
September 6, 2008
Retrospective: 10 fun facts about China
Some "weird facts" about China, as seen from a Westerner's point of view.
1. You can get hot drinking water nearly anywhere, but getting cold water is much more difficult.
2. Hotels seem to believe that every customer is a potential thief: a deposit of (often) double the room rate is requested and on leaving, the room is thoroughly checked before returning the deposit.
3. In advertisements, sexy Lolitas don't lick a lolly pop, but chew a chicken foot.
4. Older people do all kinds of funny exercises while walking on the street: they make swimming movements with the hands or clap them alternating in front of and behind their back. People also dance in the street, both to traditional and modern music.
5. The "One China" policy means that there is only one time zone for the whole country (Beijing Time), meaning it's still light at 22:00 and still dark at 8:00 in Xinjiang, the westernmost province.
6. All Chinese television programmes are subtitled, as there is one written Chinese language, with many spoken dialects.
7. People run around in their nightgowns (sometimes including slippers) on the street, so you can easily spot a man wearing a teddy bear imprinted pyjamas in a cafe. The Chinese even seem to export this habit: we saw Chinese people in Osh doing exactly this.
8. Small children don't wear diapers, but trousers with an opening in the middle. Children freely do their toilet everywhere on the street.
9. On markets, living animals are sold by the kilo: fishes, frogs, tortoises and prawns are scooped up from their containers and put in plastic bags.
10. Every now and then, you can spot a whole squadron of waiters and waitresses standing in position, receiving orders at the start of their duty. This sometimes includes a run around the block in formation, the waitresses of course wearing high heels...
1. You can get hot drinking water nearly anywhere, but getting cold water is much more difficult.
2. Hotels seem to believe that every customer is a potential thief: a deposit of (often) double the room rate is requested and on leaving, the room is thoroughly checked before returning the deposit.
3. In advertisements, sexy Lolitas don't lick a lolly pop, but chew a chicken foot.
4. Older people do all kinds of funny exercises while walking on the street: they make swimming movements with the hands or clap them alternating in front of and behind their back. People also dance in the street, both to traditional and modern music.
5. The "One China" policy means that there is only one time zone for the whole country (Beijing Time), meaning it's still light at 22:00 and still dark at 8:00 in Xinjiang, the westernmost province.
6. All Chinese television programmes are subtitled, as there is one written Chinese language, with many spoken dialects.
7. People run around in their nightgowns (sometimes including slippers) on the street, so you can easily spot a man wearing a teddy bear imprinted pyjamas in a cafe. The Chinese even seem to export this habit: we saw Chinese people in Osh doing exactly this.
8. Small children don't wear diapers, but trousers with an opening in the middle. Children freely do their toilet everywhere on the street.
9. On markets, living animals are sold by the kilo: fishes, frogs, tortoises and prawns are scooped up from their containers and put in plastic bags.
10. Every now and then, you can spot a whole squadron of waiters and waitresses standing in position, receiving orders at the start of their duty. This sometimes includes a run around the block in formation, the waitresses of course wearing high heels...
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