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My friend William wrote of the bygone days when he felt he was bulletproof. Although in his case, it was probably live ammunition he was referring to, I understand what he meant. I constantly think about my aching foot, watching where I step, how far to go or even if I go at all. It is like a child I always need to consider and watch, even when he is not misbehaving. Know that others have far worse and I am being a wimp does not help. On the other hand, there are times when I am slowly working my way down steep stairs, that I catch a sisterly glance and smile of understanding, across countries, from other senior women doing the same. One of the special delights in Uzbekistan is watching the people pray at tombs, particularly at the many venerated and beautiful ancient religious sites. They cup their hands during the prayer and then at the end run their hands over their faces as if washing. I do not know the reason: but it is as if they are catching Gods blessing and washing themselves with it. If you come to Uzbekistan, be prepared for squat toilets- modern, porcelain and immaculate clean. So far I have found them in most public restrooms, standard and even some very good restaurants, and even some of better hotels ( although hotels generally have both types). Have seen many signs telling people not to climb onto top of toilet seats and squat on top of them , that must assume that common problem. Fee for most public restrooms, 1000 som or about 15 cents. Often there is an attendant there and sometimes even uniformed “Toilet Police”. Toilet paper is also a common issue but as an experienced traveler, I come always prepared with little packages of tissues. Even in fancy hotels, paper is not to be flushed and instead to put in waste bins. Guess Soviets were so busy building unnecessary marble staircases and massive roads, that they were not able to upgrade the plumbing. Fergana is my first time “off the path”, not that the path has well traveled by tourists here. Supposedly 11,744 persons from the United States visited Uzbekistan in 2018 (less since each visa counts- so visas not used or multiple entries, if not on same visa, would be separately counted). Most do the Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara circuit, sometimes Khiva and/or places a day trip from those, with a few variations . The Fergana Valley is mentioned but usually with “ wanted to go, but didn’t .” It is a section of Uzbekistan that geographically makes gerrymandering look reasonable. In fact, in theory at least, I will have also visited Tajikistan as my train passed through. The international border was handled by requiring the train blinds to be fully pulled down and requesting that we not talk while we were in Tajikistan. Uzbekistan is a Muslim country and the women dress conservatively, but with many variations. One college woman, whose family was government officials, told me that she would prefer covering her hair, but did not do so on fear that it would negatively impact her parents careers.