Yangiabad

What is it, what is Yangiabad, or is it Yangiobod?

It is my favorite place in Tashkent,

Some would seek out one of the many “choyxanas” (Tea House), or coffee shops for wonderful people-watching, others would pick one of the many public parks or metro. 

Yangiabad Bazaar is my place to people-watch and search.

It is my favorite bazaar Bazaar. Chaotic, raw, and overwhelming are just a few of the adjectives that come to mind. It is the closest to too much and I can’t get enough. 

Chickens and rabbits, you can find them. A Soviet-era Tanker’s uniform, it’s there, from cap to boots. Rugs, jewelry, cell phones, kettlebells all the way to live fish, smoked fish, and bicycles. This place is the one fleamarket to rule them all. 

I pass by the metals, gears, nuts, bolts, and vices that are intermixed with railroad lights, restored wristwatches, and electric motors. Books and cooking implements are jumbled with old exercise bicycles and uniforms. The baby gear and strollers are convenient to one another but also close to the dried fruit and nuts and old radios. 

While this bazaar is definitely divided into different sections, I can’t figure it out. If you find your way into the building you will be able to find old busts of Lenin, cut glass crystal, or Abba and Beatles records with jackets in Cyrillic. Way back in the building you will even be greeted by a few stuffed bears surrounded by rugs!

The hours tick by while I get lost in the madness and I only see a portion of this market. I am still looking for the other guy that sells cameras. I lost where I first found him and he had a functioning Zorki 4K, and a Soviet copy of a Leica 35mm camera from the 1970s. Ohhh, maybe he has the Kiev-60 this time, my last white whale! …for now.

More to come…..