Intourist was my host for the trip through the Soviet Union. I was advised when booking the trip in Kabul that it was more appropriate to be a student than a broadcast engineer.

On my guided day trip around Tashkent I discovered that the city was home to the inventor of television. I was also able to watch some of the joint US/Soviet space mission on television in my hotel. It is remarkable how much better the NASA video was than that produced by the Soviets – despite the difficulties of doing the conversion from NTSC to SECAM.

This park scene leaves no doubt that the photo was taken within the USSR.

Uzbeks don’t need to subscribe to the paper to read it. Pravda and Izvestia are available in this functional open air display. Save a tree!

This photo captures the spirit of life in the city of Tashkent in 1975.

After Afghanistan, this sort of display of water was mind boggling. Here water was so abundant that it could be sprayed into the air in a public area.