My first night in Tashkent was spent in the rather luxurious Tashkent Palace Hotel. Normally I do not stay in hotels of this calibre and find cheaper options but as this was arranged as part of a one week package they probably had discounted rates than what it would have cost me to book.

Uzbekistan is 4 hours behind Korea time. After the rather late arrival at 2am local time I was able to sleep in. Even if I slept till noon Korea time it would still only be 8am local Uzbek time.

The other thing I was very eager to do was turn on the tv and look for Uzbek music channels. I was quite surprised that most of the channels were Russian. I did find one music channel but it was playing Turkish music videos.

That would have to do for now as I wasnt staying long in this hotel anyway. Other channels included Kazakh, BBC, CCTV, as well as Russian.

The hotel seemed quite modern and newly built. Later when I had my Tashkent city tour on my last day my guide explained this was a 1960s Soviet era building that has been entirely gutted and renovated in the last ten years.

It has a prime location close to Independence Square and situated on another square facing the Ballet and Opera house. My room the first night was directly facing the square with the Opera House.

The hotel had very good reviews on Trip Advisor and I specifically asked for this one from my choice of Tashkent hotels.

Downstairs for breakfast there was a vast variety to choose from but was mainly western style. They had some local breads and other sweet pastries.

The dining hall architecture was interesting. Each of the pillars had mirrors but the mirrors had Arabian style artwork of different scenes on each.

I got chatting with the guy at reception asking if they had Uzbek music channels, where to buy cds, and how much they were. He offered to go with me, and to local restaurants but I dont know what shifts he'd be working and I was leaving today at noon.

I was also surprised to know he is studying Korean, has visited Seoul, and wants to return to do his Masters degree. It appears Uzbeks have very strong ties to Korea.

There was also a very nice gift shop but I knew they'd be expensive and I'd wait till I came back at the end of the tour to see if there was anything I hadnt been able to buy during my trip