Boysun and Termiz, Uzbekistan

Finding myself with extra time in Uzbekistan, and having also tired of Tashkent (in which I made a third stay, due to bureaucracy), I took a train to Termiz, again just on the edge of the Afghanistan border, fence visible and 60 km from the major city of Mazar-i-Sharif. (Nope, still not crossing.) Its former history as the southern limit of Soviet control does mean that there’s a large ethnic Russian population, which was a bit of a surprise.

But to be honest, it really just felt like a time-killer, and checking out the sites felt more draining than rewarding. While a perfectly fine and normal city, Termiz isn’t really a place worth going out of your way for. On top of that, travel fatigue is a thing, and having been on the road for quite some time now, I felt unmotivated and lethargic, and also pretty tired of the “prescribed” checkbox-ticking tourist trail in Uzbekistan. Remembering a throwaway suggestion from another traveller, I decided to just head to Boysun, with no info other than it being a pleasant town I might be able to kill a few more days in.

That turned out to be a serendipitous choice, as I couldn’t have predicted the wonderful experience I had, seeing a whole different side of Uzbekistan! But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Termiz may have been a bit dry on spectacle, but that’s not to say there’s nothing of interest.
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Chennai, India

Getting out of the airport felt… familiar. Back on India time, two hour luggage wait and all. Back to haggling for a ride. Back to the chaotic traffic and honking and lane-ignoring auto-rickshaws and nearly being run over every time I cross the street. A lot may be different down south, but it’s still India, and it feels good to be back after four years.

I’m here this time for my NUS friend Dhiviya, who’s getting married. She’s connected me with a few of her other friends living in Singapore who are also here for the wedding, Jayasri and Deepika, who are more than happy to explain everything that’s going on, and Therese, a non-Indian who has never been to an Indian wedding. Now this’ll be fun.
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