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Mellons, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Many people ask why I went to Uzbekistan. The answer? The mellons.

The year before, I had gone to visit a friend in Moscow. She had me taste the most delicious mellons I had ever had. She told me that Uzbeks would drive them up to the city in vans whne they were ripe. They would then sleep in the vans and sell the mellons until they were sold out. They would then return to Uzbekistan and bring more.

Almost every afternoon, I would spend some time at her kitchen table, snacking on mellons and caviar and black bread. It became a ritual of sorts, a moment in the day between touring the city and welcoming her home; a moment before heading back into the city to explore its evenings.

When I was looking for a place to go for three weeks from Beijing, my friend mentioned the mellons in Uzbekistan were in season. Right then and there it was decided where I was to go next.

The above photo was taken in the Chorsu bazaar in Tashkent. It took me a while to find this man. A group of Japanese tourists told me about the man selling slices of mellon that were too sweet. This after I had brought home a mellon they said tasted like a vegetable, it lacked sweetness so. The next morning I found the fruit seller and ate slice after slice, forking over my money like I was paying him to extend my life.

A series of photos I took in Uzbekistan can be found here.