Hello Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane is the sleepy capital of Laos, a smallish city with a rich patina of history and a sprinkling of modern amenities sprouting. Let's take a look around.

One of the impressive icons of the city is the mighty gold Buddhist stupa pyramid, Pha That Luang. Bling, bling.

Mighty Patuxay, Victory Monument. A little ode to French influence by way of diverted USA war funds. Mysterious That Dam stupa.

Sleepy town with lots of reclining Buddhas. Golden.

The modern world is arriving. Soon, stay at the fancy Hilton, slurp at the fancy Starbucks.

Ruling class. A big statue of King Anouvong looms over the Mekong river.

The Tashkent Aviation Worker's Palace

The Soviets liked to divide up neighborhoods by vocation and give the people what they want. Or at least build them what they need. In the area of Tashkent that used to be a hub for aircraft building, the government. built the area residents a nice community hall. The place could hold classes, social events, arts performances, rousing political meetings. Comrade, get together and rejoice!

After the fall of the Soviet Union, so went the fall of the Aviation Palace. The place is kind of closed, falling into disrepair.

Nice tile mosaic, nice ceiling woodwork. One of the lobby floors.

The main performance auditorium.

Another floor, another lobby area. Bringing the glass bling.

The caretaker. 

Enjoying The Beauty Of The Tashkent Metro

One thing the Soviets knew how to do is build beautiful subway lines. The stations are unique, fancy works of art. Marble, murals, themes, all sorts of features to brighten one's commute. The metro in Tashkent opened in 1977 with one line and nine stations. It now consists of four lines and 50 stations. The art keeps moving.

A typical metro station, all clad in marble, fancy columns and a prominent, unique art feature.

The station is Pahktakor and the mosaic tile work on the walls is an abstract cotton design. Props to one of the main crops in Uzbekistan. The Chilanzar station features about a dozen colorful genre scenes.

At Almazor station, a tribute to heroes of the Great Patriotic War. A memorial to those soldiers is near the station. Nice cross promotion.

Fancy tile design and luxurious marble work on a lighting column are features at the Hamid Alimdjan station. How about endless candelabra lighting? Just head to the Pushkin station.

The human struggle is real. At least in the Soviet socialist realist style. An impressive mural frieze at the Buyuk Ipak Yuli stop.

In Search Of Fabric At Tashkent's Chorsu Market

Chorsu Bazaar is the main place in Tashkent for buying food. Endless vendors for your veg, meat, eggs, ingredients. Hellotalalay has partaken.

It's also a place for household goods, school supplies, shoes and fabric. If it can be carried, chances are you can find it at Chorsu bazaar. Let's go look at cloth.

The clothing section is a whole separate area, full of shops selling everything one needs for a nice outfit.

Getting down to business. A merchant shows off some vintage Soviet silk fabric. The women are on a mission for traditional ikat designs.

Three graces, showing off headscarves.

Mannequins, in need of a little dressing.

Exclusive shop, top secret designs. What's so special about party boxes?

Wedding Plov In Tashkent

Uzbeks take weddings seriously and the right of passage is a multi-day, strictly followed ordeal. One of the important events of the overall wedding is a morning plov. Plov is a rice pilaf dish and morning is the early part of the day. Just to be clear.

Arrival. The plov ceremony is for men only. In modern Tashkent, the event is held in a party hall.

Typical table setting for a party. One could nosh. It's mostly for show, a backdrop for the coming plov. Eating commences. Although framed as a party, the feeling is more eat and run.

Entertainment. Lonely.

Dais. Flowery. Unoccupied. Ok, the plov has been consumed. It's been real. And brief. The men chow and bow. The whole event takes about half an hour.

The star of the party. Gutted.

Behold The Museum Of Olympic Glory!

Such a modest museum. Throw a little javelin, jerk a bunch of weights, bring home some bauble made of gold. Tashkent has a museum dedicated to the wonder of the olympics, both for Uzbek achievements and athletes worldwide. Go gaze at the glory.

Cool building. A circular example of classic, midcentury modernist Soviet style architecture.

Inside, a procession of displays and artifacts. Gotta celebrate the construction of the museum. Is building not a sport? Getting closer to athletic achievement, a display of ceremonial torches used for various games. In the middle, Moscow 1980.

Display of general 20th century Olympic games history.

Personal glory. Strongman detail from a heroic mural. "Lift that rock!" A more modern, delicate champion: Nadia Comaneci.

A weightlifting exhibit. Uzbeks are strong (ahem) in the brute competitions of boxing, weightlifting, whatever MMA-like sports are currently included in the games.

All Aboard The Tashkent Railway Museum

Where to park all those old, Soviet era locomotives and trains? How about across the street from the train station? Put a fence around them, charge admission and, Bam!, it's a railway museum. And kind of cool.

Front entrance. Introductory locomotive.

Trains galore. Coal and diesel, green and blue. Climbing aboard encouraged. Definitely the Red Star line.

A coal cab. Heavy metal.

Another Soviet badge, nice detail work. Coal fired, steam powered is not for casual riding. You can never have too many bolts for engineering solidity.

Big wheels, no longer turning. Still, looking good.

Seeing Suzani Embroidery In Tashkent

Suzani is a traditional Uzbek style of embroidery that's been practiced for generations. It's done by hand, by women, frequently as part of a bride's dowry. There was a nice show in Tashkent recently, showing off the fine work and process of the artist Madina Kasimbaeva.

Glorious stuff. Some beautiful examples.

Where to begin? The exhibition had a nice section, detailing the steps from drawn design on blank fabric to finished, color piece. Once you're done drawing the pattern, it's all embroider by color.

Seeing the progression, a march of more color and more decoration.

Getting close to the final example. Bam, going all in. A detail of a finished piece.

An overview of a large throw. Trippy.