This picture is quite memorable to me for being one of the only two pictures I ever took in Uzbekistan back in September, 1999. I did not dare take any more pictures, the Russian office manager from Osh, Kyrgyzstan, insisted I not take any pictures for my protection. We were in Uzbekistan illegally. I was working for Accels at the time, and we wanted to take a faster route from Tash Kumar, Kyrgyzstan, to Osh, Kyrgyzstan, via Andijan, Uzbekistan. Since the border was closed, our Uzbek driver paid $1 US to get us across the border. Things were fine until we got back to the border just past Andijan.
We got stopped, after about 30 minutes haggling the border guards who were wondering how an American could sneak into Uzbekistan without anybody noticing. In the end, thanks to my diplomatic immunity granted by the Kyrgyzstani Government, we got across the border. We would never do that again. The border guards had guns and rifles.
Sadly, never 4 and a half years later, the Uzbekistan government massacred demonstrating Muslims in Andijan. When I think of this city, beautiful that it is, only bad memories come to my head.