Sanatorium Ferghana
written by wil6ka
on September 14th, 2008
(2 votes)
Uzbekistan is certainly lacking in infrastructure, especially in the field of tourism. Considering it is so rich in historic sites and have such a great potential they surely are years behind.
I was invited to this camp teaching German, there have been around 40 students and around ten facilitators. And there was basically no other place in whole Uzbekistan to shelter so many people connected to facilitation as the sanatorium in Ferghana.
This region is in the eastern Region of Uzbekistan and it is the most inhabited area of whole central Asia with 10 Million citizens. It is close to Kazakhstan, Tadschikistan and Kirgistan. Therefore the population is very heterogeneity. It is separated by the mainland by huge Mountains and so it is very much in the focus. There had been riots in a town (which i don´t want to name, because otherwise Lomography will probably in focus of the secret service) and the government is afraid that extremists will cut off the connection to the rest of the country in conquering and controlling the mountains. Because of the awkward borderlines, made by Stalin, traveling by train can be a real hustle. You might need 1,5 days to go to samarkand, passing two border. By car you could manage to get there within a third of the just named time.
But lets get back to the sanatorium, which is just perfect. Already the great Persian Leader Timur enjoyed his time in Ferghana and eventually died there. The sanatorium must have been a very privilege and certainly a vivid symbol of the achievements of the Soviet Union. Which were plenty full, no doubt. The area consists of a dozen living complexes, some clinics (which purpose is not so clear), the massive Restaurant and a Theatre.
The whole architecture is from the 50’s/ 60’s, Le grand temp DE communism. The time when Sputnik and Gagarin went into kosmos and the soviet people thought their achievements will last forever. Well, nothing lasts forever, especially not in Uzbekistan, so you better come quickly. On the other hand am I very confident, that the government will use their earnings in the oil-boom for some infrastructural works, I would love to see that.
Links: http://enews.ferghana.ru/
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