Everything Under the Sun: Chorsu Bazaar, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Ah, the Silk
Road—path of perfumes and porcelain, silks and spices, tea and gunpowder, all
purveyed by camel-riding merchants apparelled in turbans and flowing robes.
There is, of course, a romance about it, and we shouldn’t ignore the cultural
exchange the route facilitated alongside commerce. Today, a visit to an Asian bazaar
(a Persian word meaning ‘marketplace’), with its hustle and bustle and its many
stalls selling almost anything and everything one could want or need, evokes
those fabled interactions of the past whilst offering a wonderful opportunity for
some retail therapy.
Uzbekistan is
known for having been at the heart of Silk Road trade due to its Central Asian
location. Its capital city, Tashkent, is home to Chorsu Bazaar, which,
according to some sources, dates back 2,000 years and certainly since
Mongol rule began in 1220. ‘Chorsu’ is a Farsi word meaning ‘four streams’, indicating the bazaar’s literal and figurative position at a crossroads of
trade routes. Much of the bazaar is now housed within a building constructed
during the Soviet era. Covering it is the largest dome in Uzbekistan,
apparently 80 metres in diameter, built in 1980. This impressive structure reflects
typical and traditional Uzbek blue architecture and is rather attractive. Inside,
you are greeted by something of a sensory explosion as an astonishing array of
herbs, spices, nuts, fruit and vegetables, dairy products, sweets, and meats jostle
for attention in a whirl of colour and distinctive, mingling aromas. The sheer
scale of the place is difficult to take in straight away, and there are more
stalls outside. You can buy just about any foodstuff here, along with clothes
and household items. I think what struck me most were the butchers’ stalls with
their hanging carcases and axe lying in wait for action. I’m far more used to
the sanitised supermarket version of a butchery. A few days later, I saw
(though was sadly unable to photograph, since we were in a moving vehicle) some
similar meat stalls by a roadside on a morning trip into the mountains. By
lunchtime, as we returned, all their fleshy, hanging wares were gone and the stalls packed up.
At Chorsu, as with other bazaars I visited in Uzbekistan, you can try before you
buy (I’m not talking about the meat, by the way, which is mostly raw!), and you
could probably end up having a not inconsiderable meal if you sampled
everything offered. Haggling is expected, although not something I’m very good
at (I know some people love it).
above: Nuts galore.
above: Lots of treats.
above and below: Traders inside the bazaar.
above: Meat stall. Note the axe in the top left of the photo.
It was a
great place to visit and marvel at the merchandise ranging from the exotic to
the everyday, and it wasn’t rammed with tourists (though there were a few of
us). A site of connections between places, people, past and present, Chorsu Bazaar
is a great symbol of culture and continuity, and I enjoyed feeling momentarily
part of it.
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