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GEEO Multi-Stan
  • Stephanie Gordon
July 2017

GEEO Multi-Stan

A 25-day adventure by Stephanie Read more
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  • Trip start
    July 2, 2017
  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Almaty

    July 3, 2017 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    At Almaty's green market. Sprawling 2 floor, full block complex of interlocking buildings. We enter through the fruit section, berries, cherries, oranges, peaches and melons. Each area it's a different product group, with each product sold by a different ethnicity. The Russian's control the milk/ cheese and meats, the Uzbeck import nuts and dried fruits, Koreans have salads and pickled vegetables, there's also a whole floor of cheap Chinese goods.Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Arrive in Almaty

    July 3, 2017 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Arrive in a blur at 4:40 am local time. 17 hours of transit spread over 2 time changes, Moscow and then Kazakhstan passport control. Aeroflot no problems, two dinners served at 3 am and then 2 am . Met the car service and make it to Hotel Otrar by 7 am. Meet Chris on security control line and share taxi in with her. Quick refresh in the room and then we're off. We go to the El Doro cafe for a quick breakfast, feels like my 10th meal in 48 hours. Weird interaction with a woman sitting next to us who keeps insisting we should try the pizza for breakfast. Then a young man joins her and begins staring at us, unclear what he wants, but feels like he wants to sell us something. Waitress comes back and moves us to the other side of the terrace. I do order the pizza and it hits the spot. Discover and verify over the course of the next few days, coke light is not a thing here. First we head to the Russian Orthodox Church and enter while a service is in session. It's deeply moving with a full chorus behind a screen, two priests and an assortment of women in Babuskas who enter, some getting down onto their hand and knees. We head out and start to walk towards the cable car, stopping at the hotel Kazakhstan, then finding the elusive Coke zero at a Burger King.  We get to the cable car in time for it's 10 am opening, and get to the top of kok tobe. We walk around and admire the views, it's a bit early but we see all the amusement rides, we go through a handful of souvenir shops.  We meet an interesting Canadian who is a wanderer, working his way through the Stans.  We find the Beatles statue and take pictures. Head down and begin to walk across town in search of the central state museum.  Eventually we find it, enter the impressive cement dome that contains a golden man replica.  We walk through the exhibits, the most interesting being the costumes and ethnography exhibit.  Now tired, and hot, we eat at Trattoria -a high end Italian restaurant. Exhausted, we take a bus back to the hotel and crash for a bit.  We then head out and find a pub like place for dinner.  A good, long dayRead more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Walking Almaty

    July 4, 2017 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Go down to breakfast at the hotel Otrar and discover a circular room with walls lined with carpets and scenic pictures, suggesting a yurt night club.  Meet additional group members, Esther and Emily.  Make plans for the day. With Chris and Emily, set out for Central mosque about 10 minutes from hotel.  The mosque is only 20 or so years old and can hold 3000 worshippers.  We gain access through the  women's side and enter the main sanctuary which is empty except for a man sleeping on the floor, a single man worshipping and a handful of cleaning women chatting with each other.  Bright turquoise blues and greens. Dramatic chandelier.  Very peaceful. In the afternoon I had contracted with Dennis through trip advisor for 2 local tours.  He takes Canela and I back to the green market for a more extensive tour.  We start on the lower level in a hand pulled noodle shop and listen to the whack of noodles being slapped against the counter.  We share  spaghetti like noodles mixed with Chinese leeks and spices and general Tso like dish of chopped and woked noodles.  Discover compote - an cross between I've tea and cold fruit juice.  We talk Kazakhstan history, ethnicity, general state of affairs.  Then head up to the main floor to converse with individual vendors and sample some products.  Honey vendor has products from every step of the process, from bee pollen, to honey with dead bees.  Each food group is dominated by one ethnicity.  Move to dried fruit and nuts , spices from uzbeckistan, meat slabs - mostly pork which seems somewhat surprising with muslim  population, milk vendors have found unique way to turn goods into products with long shelf life. As we leave the market, the scent of chocolate is in the air. There is a Willy Wonka-esque factory bordering the market area that supplies most of the Stans. On to part 2, we meet sisters from Slovenia and board a local bus top visit M the first neighborhood of Almaty, about 15 minutes from the center of the city. We first visit the Russian Orthodox Church that is the first to be built in the area, 150 years ago. We learn that RO churches don't have pews or seating, worshippers stand and will get on hand and knee and kiss the ground.  There's is a wall of icons, most Russian but a few local touches.  After leaving the church, we walk through the local market - vendors of fresh produce, fruits, kid toys.  We walk through the neighborhood of original wooden houses. Many are hidden behind fences and walls that were built in a period of violence in the late 80's.  Next we head back to the main street and learn about Kazak taxis.  It's like Uber without an app.  You stand on the street and hold your hand slightly apart from your body and wiggle your fingers.  Anyone driving past you can decide to pick you up and you negotiate a price and hop in.  There is a general level of understanding what the price should be.  Dennis has a conversation with our driver and then tells us about the driver and that the driver has invited Dennis to join him sometime up in the mountains.  The locals are always in inviting and offering you what they have.  We make it back for the GEEO kickoff meeting , 10 of us in all and head for a local Kazak restaurant. Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Almaty city tour

    July 5, 2017 in Kazakhstan ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    After another breakfast in the Disco yurt, we head out as a group on a city tour. We start out walking to the church and learn that it is built completely out of wood, as earthquake protection.  During the communist years, the church was turned into the museum of atheism, then a theater, now restored to it's full glory. The church has a completely different feel from when the service was going on.  We walk to the eastern part of the park and see the massive war memorial, mother Russia and the 15 republic's.  Sheer strength.  The memorial also has an eternal flame. We walk out to the street and board the bus and drive through a series of memorials and fountains.  With independence, Kazakhstan searched out local heroes to honor and built monuments in the Russian style.  We drive back to the hotel and I set out with Canela and Anne for lunch.  We dine at an Israeli street food shop, which has a complete israeli menu and feel minus any actual Israelis.  Food is delicious, salads, Shwarma, and falafel and hummus.  For Canela's sake we walk to Almaty's first Starbucks, complete with cute barista who speaks English - a rarity in our experiences. I walk into the hamam and contemplate a massage but instead opt back to the hotel for a short rest.  I had out at about 6pm and sit in the plaza by the church, it is quite a scene.  There are many families, toy electric cars that they can pay to ride, a small train, cotton candy vendor, bubble makers, and feed for the pigeons. I hang for awhile, then head back, pick up canela and we sit at an outside terrace - American style food shop that serves sushi and burgers.   I get fried rice along with a milk shake topped with an Oreo, Carmel corn and m&M'sRead more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Karakol

    July 7, 2017 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    we wake to a cool breeze and birds chirping in our delightful guest house.  We are ringed by mountains and surrounded by flowers.  We sit for a communal table filled with fresh berries, baked goods and are served porrige, a fried egg, blinis and a fried cheese curd.  Delicious.  We set out for quick photo shoots at the wooden Russian Orthodox Church and Himalayan Temple like mosque, then it's off to the Nikolai Przthevalsky museum honoring a great Russian explorer.  The grounds are beautiful and we visit a statue honoring him as well as his grave site before climbing through a hole in the fence for a sweeping panoramic view of the surrounding countryside with the lake in the distance.  We step inside the museum and it's like a Russian Explorer's club, circa 1860. Blue silk walls, photos ring the room that contains a giant globe and one wall has map showing the routes of his expeditions.  A guide gives us a very detailed overview of his life.  We then begin the drive to kochkar via the lake that caused the border delay yesterday. A few hours into the ride. We stop and head to a rocky beach.  I dip my toes while others opt to swim.  Eat a picnic lunch which is fine except for the ants.  Head back in the van and stop to see a yurt making display.  We are taken through all the steps. From carving the wood, to shaping the posts. We give some assistance attaching the beams, then watch as the outside layers are added.  Our yurt builders are champions at the nomadic life world games.  We finish up and head to our homestay, passing a group of camels running by us.  We arrive at the delightful homestayRead more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Making a yurt

    July 8, 2017 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We watched a pair of brother's show us all the steps in making a yurt, from shaving the wood, to assembling the frame, then to covering the outside in frame

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Kochtar

    July 8, 2017 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    Wake up in our multi share. This is more house like, with a series of bedrooms and one bathroom for the ten of us. We have a quiet morning to relax, then head out at 11:30 for the market and then our women's co-operative felt making work shop. The market is a bit chaotic, almost like a Manhattan supermarket with crowded narrow aisles and locals trying to push you along so they can finish their shopping. From the market, we drive a few minutes to the co-operative and are shown to a shared area outside in the back. First a women with sword like instruments shows us how the sheep's wool is sliced down, almost like fruit ninja to tame it. We all give it a go round. Next, pulling the tufts, it is pulled in horizontal rows to make a rectangle. A set of vertical rows of tufts is layed on top of that. Then pieces of colored wool are layed on top to make a design. The design is rolled up like a sushi roll. A burlap cloth is rolled onto the roll and a strap tied around it. At this point we have been joined by a smiling, cherubic older woman who hugs each one of us. She demonstrates how water is poured on top of the roll, then picture Lucy and Ethel in the grape vat, we alternate dancing on top of the mat to squeeze out the water. This goes for a few rounds until the flattened felt is laid out to dry. We are then served a delicious lunch inside a yurt, soup, eggplant and tomato, dumplings, other courses. It's time to head up to Song Kul. We start up a mainly narrow dirt road, dodging pot holes and motorcycles and start through a series of switch backs as we climb from 5000 to 12000 feet. We take a few photo stops, see a few yaks, before reaching the yurt camps, preceding to ours at the base of lake song kul.

    Stunningly beautiful and peaceful, surrounded by yurts, horses and cows, wild flowers covering the Meadows in purples and blues and yellows. We divide into 2 yurts and are given some free time to wander and take pics. We have afternoon tea in an elaborately set table that we've become used to, with candies, dried fruits, breads and jams, cookies yak butter, honey and other assorted goods. More free time to wander then dinner and time to watch a spectacular sunset and rise of a full moon.    Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Song Kul

    July 10, 2017 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    Happy Birthday to me. Wake up after a night glamping in Yurtville. Quite comfortable mattresses on the floor, coal stove and blankets. We gather for breakfast of porrige and fried eggs. A short rest then time for horseback riding. We saddle up and stay closely together to the guide while heading through the Meadows towards the hills through fields of wild flowers. Our horse Shepard dog trots ahead of us and circles back for us. We circle back and do a short stretch along the beach. Relax until lunch. After lunch, we take the short walk to the lake and pop in for a quick dip. The sand floor of the lake is like quick sand, and each step you can feel you for sinking in. The rest of the time in by the yurts is delightfully relaxing, watching the horses migrate along the pasture, a rainstorm blows in for a few hours then clears spectacularly. Another spectacular sunset.Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Chong-Kemin to Burana Tower

    July 11, 2017 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We leave Song-Kul and retrace our steps down the switchbacks of the mountain. The wildflowers are stunning and we come across a herd of yaks getting out for a photo-stop. We stop at a roadside cafeteria that has a huge assortment of hot and cold selections. I opt for lentil soup, yogurt-compote and moussaka like dish. We then drive to our guest house in Chong-Kemin, a national park area. It is delightful with a second floor terrace that feels like a tree house, cool breezes, surrounded by green mountains, and a courtyard that our room opens onto that is populated by Turcic Balbas - gravestones. We take a quick walk but otherwise relax the rest of the day, eating dinner on the terrace. The next day we are off to Bishtek - the capital of Krygstan, by way of the Burrata tower. The tower dates from over a 1000 years ago and originally served as a lighthouse - guiding the way for those going between kharavistas - trading outposts. The original tower was reconstructed by the Soviets. More interesting to me is the gathering of Turcic gravestones that are placed near the tower, not original to this site but dating from the 5 - 9 centuries. The gravestones have faces and are holding cups that symbolize what kind of life they lived. They're also all male. Then off to Bishtek.Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Bishtek

    July 12, 2017 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    After checking in at our hotel, we leave for a 5pm city tour, the heat of the day now diminishing. We start at victory square and see the eternal flame for fallen soldiers. Many of the memorials use women figures, here a woman holding a cup representing a mother servicing the nation's sons. We walk a few minutes to TsUMs, the famed Soviet national department store. We rode the escalator 5 flights to the souvenir level. It's hot, with a bunch of stalls selling Soviet kitsch, felt products, t shirts, slippers, and other underwhelming choices. I head out to the plaza in front for a lovely street scene of fountains and people enjoying the afternoon. I'm shocked to see several of the Soviet era drink machines, with plastic cups, still in use, dispensing drinks. We walk through many more monuments, past the Kryg Queen who made the original pact letting in the Soviets in the mid 19th century, past the women's liberation monument dedicated to when women freed themselves from wearing the head scarves in 1917, past Lenin, relegated to the back of the State historical Musuem which is under renovation, past the monument to the student uprising of 2010, past stately buildings and wide boulevards, eventually stopping for dinner at a beautiful restaurant with very slow service.Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Day 9-10 Dushanbe

    July 12, 2017 in Tajikistan ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Enjoy a relaxing morning in Bistek and leave for the airport for our flight to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. Airport is very smooth, get through security and spend remaining currency on massage chairs, about 20 cents for 2 minutes. We are flying Tajik Air, other than obviously old planes very professional. We are served dates and then a sandwich lunch and drinks on our 70 minute flight. We drive a short distance to Hotel Lotus, a brand new, business class hotel. The green market is a short walk from our hotel and I head over with Canela. As we've entered Tajikistan, we have noticeably moved away from the Soviet influences. Tajikistan is 95% Tajik / Uzbeck. Many more people are in traditional garb, women are wearing head scarves. The look is less Asian, more Persian. This green market is considerably more exoctic feeling too us, there is still a mix of fruits, breads, meats, Chinese imports. It is quite a sprawling market, and quite hot outside. I opt not to take pictures as we are the only non locals within eye sight. We walk into one building and it is literally a giant table filled with carrots and women shredding carrots. We make our way back to the hotel and rest for a bit before setting out in our SUVs for a delightful outdoor restaurant on top of hill with a panoramic view of the city. It's magic being outside as the sun sets and the lights come on. We can see the 2nd largest flagpole in the world towering over the city. The food, shish kebabs, french fries is delicious. A wonderful nights sleep with air conditioning. We wake up to a deluxe breakfast waited on by our handsome Tajik young men. Then we set out in the morning for a city tour. First stop, the Musuem of ethnography. We are given a tour and taken through 3 to 4 thousand years of history with an amazing set of relics, tools, jewlery, statues, . On the second floor, taking up an entire room is a reclining a Buddah - restored. There is much on the history of the movement of the different tribes and the silk road. From there, we drive to the main square of the city with a towering statue honoring King Solmone - the 10 th century king who united all the tribes and was the father of the country. Close by, there is another statue honoring Rumi - the poet and storyteller. We have seen many statues honoring him in other countries. Through lovely plazas and the national monument surrounded by fountains, we then reboard the SUVs and drive to the Central mosque. While only a few decades old, it has an impressive courtyard, lovely interior. We are given an informative tour by a local guide. Off to a local supermarket to replenish our snack supply and we get ready for our drive to the Fann mountains.Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Fann Mountains

    July 14, 2017 in Tajikistan ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Words and pictures cannot convey the experience of leaving Dushanbe, entering a toll road and literally driving through tunnel after tunnel ( the longest being 3 miles long) as we snake through mountain passes and watch the rivers by our side running parallel for a time of the road. The first 60 or so miles are on a well paved road, built by the Chinese with the long tunnel built by an Iranian company. After some photo stops, we reach a turn off and leave the paved road for a 24km stretch through a narrow rock/dirt road with switchbacks and other assorted hazards. We eventually reach Iskadurallake, named for Alexander the great. It is glacial turquoise, and we go for a short hike along a path that is next to a river, with the river eventually developing into rapids. There is a waterfall up the path but the path becomes quite rocky, so I turn back, satisfied with the walk. We get back in the van for the last 8km stretch that borders the lake, then seems to head straight into the mountains on narrow switchbacks. Thankfully, we have excellent drivers. We drive through a small village and then reach our guest house, a castle in the sky surrounded on all sides by mountains and rivers. It is stunning and remote. I ask Farid, our local guide about who lives in such a remote place. They are farmers who produce some crops, milk and cheese and then transport it back down to Dushanbe to sell. We enjoy dinner in the communal room of the guest house, tomato salad, satisfiying chicken noodle soup, and a dish of potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and meat. We turns in early. The next morning we wake up to a hearty breakfast of fried eggs, bread with fresh made butter and homemade jam. We then start out on a hike to the summer village, where a handful of families live in original mud, stick houses. We start out walking but the road is very rocky and a light rain has started. Some of us opt for SUV transport that winds it's way further into the mountains until we reach the point where the vehicles can't continue, as there is just a handmade set of bridges , up a rocky, mud hill to a collection of small huts and wonderful women who welcome us into their homes. The children sing their national anthem for us. We spend some minutes trying to express gratitude for being welcomed into their community.Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Fann Mountains-Khojand City

    July 15, 2017 in Tajikistan ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We head a short distance from the guest house to the bigger village and enter a first house with several local women who are there to give us a cooking demonstration. We sit on floor mats and the first woman gets on her knees and starts rolling the dough for dumplings. She expertly rolls and stretches it till it is quite thin. Then we take turns filling the dumplings. Next up, bread. Again mounds of dough are kneaded and plumped into individual loaves. A series of women and children alternate into the room we're in, then we go outside and enjoy the beautiful scenery in the valley of the mountains. A separate room holds the tandoor over. Our host dons potholders made from the legs of jeans, builds the fire in the oven, tamps the flames down once the proper temperature is reached, and sticks the loaves to the side of the oven to bake. The perfect loaves that we sample after a few minutes. Next, we have the pleasure of going to the village school and meeting 7 of the 10 faculty, all men who have come out on a weekend afternoon to greet us. We learn a bit about their school that serves k-8 grade, with bigger kids having to leave the village to continue their schooling. It is clear the teachers take a great deal of pride in what they do and are highly respected by the community. We leave the next morning for the drive down out of the mountains. We, blissfully stop by the lake with the sun at the perfect angle, unobstructed by clouds, creating a magnificent set of reflections of the mountain ranges that ring it.Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Tashkent

    July 16, 2017 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We leave Khojand City and drive a few hours to the Uzbeckistan border crossing. A short line and the only hassle being the need to roll our luggage approximately 5 football fields in length to cross the border and pick up our new transport on the Uzbeck side. A few hours later and we arrive at the Hotel Uzbeckistan, a Soviet era concrete hotel that faces Tashkent's central square. At 6 we head out for an orientation walk and pass by many monuments starting with the statue to Amir Timur in the park across from our hotel. The city has a collection of 19th century Cszarist buildings from when Russia initially arrived and used Tashkent as an Outpost. We pass by the house of an exhiled Romanov Prince, the statue of the weeping mother, a WW 2 memorial, the statue of Uzbecks's symbol, other monuments, wide boulevards, beautifully landscaped and then we go to an outdoor restaurant that is lively with local families, they even have a projector and start playing an outdoor movie. One of the house specialties is rose shaped potato dumplings with tomato sauce, which turn out to be huge plate filling monsters. The next day is a free day, so I head out with Canela and Chris and we take a taxi to the Russian Orthodox Church. Minor problem as our non English speaking driver takes us to the Catholic Church (who knew there was a Catholic Church) , I show him the picture and we set out again and enjoy a moment of camaraderie when we arrive. We enter the church with a service in progress. The music from the choir is very spiritual, there are a few woman in the main sanctuary, devotedly praying to icons with the service proceeding on the side sanctuary. We sit in the courtyard and listen and are joined but a Russian women who seems fascinated by us. Eventually we leave and play taxi roulette again to head to the Musuem of Applied Arts, set in a 19th century Romanov mansion, the stunning interior has a display of quilts, ceramics and other local artisan creations. A few of the interior room are simply stunning in their tile work. Next we walk the ten minutes to the metro and experience the Musuem quality Cosmonaut Station. The metro is wonderful, clean, beautiful stations, not overcrowded but filled with locals who all offer us their seats. We get off by Choszu Bazaar and check out the Madrrassa that is now used as a learning center. We head back by metro to our hotel and a young women offers to guide us through the train transfer. She is studying English and when I tell her I'm from NY, she says that's her dream - to visit. This is a response I got through out Tashkent when telling people where I'm from. After a rest, we head for a session with students from the elite English school, where they tell us about their program to supplement their English education. The students average age 16 and are all eager to show their progress. We return to the hotel in time to witness the entrance of a wedding, a huge affair that is taking place in the hotel ballroom. Beautiful seeing how stylish everyone looks. Dinner for some of us at Assorte restaurant - choices of Sushi, Korean, European and Uzbeck.Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Samarkand

    July 19, 2017 in Uzbekistan ⋅ 🌬 31 °C

    Arrive mid afternoon and after a refresh head out on our city orientation. We get our first glimpse at the Registon, three glorious tiled Madrrassas that comprise one of the main squares. There is a musical festival going on, so the square is closed now but we look over it and watch the rehearsal with dancing performers filling the square. It's really quite a spectacle with the shear mass of the buildings. We take a short ride to our restaurant, Planken, and are seated outside the restaurant in a 19 th century building. I have pita, toasted with cheese and garlic, lentil soup served with cream and an orange wedge and chicken Kiev, all delicious. Next day, wake up for our city tour. We start at Amir Khan's tomb. An impressive entranceway leads to a courtyard and the fluted dome of the tomb. They're it's a crypt under ground that holds the bodies but there are gravestones on the main floor to view. Amir Khan has a blackish Jade Stone that is the 2nd largest carved Jade block in the world. He is flanked by his grandson, who was his chosen heir but was killed young, and other relatives. The highest and most impressive Stone belongs to Timur's teacher. There is an unmarked Stone somewhat separate from the others that is for the Sufi devoted worshipper who would worship at the gravesite. Next we walk through the bazaar which is bustling. And come out on one side of the Registon, walking along it past the Bibi Mosque and some higher end souvenir shops. We enter the Registon and learn of the Madrrassas, schools for young men that were built in the 14-15 hundreds. We tour each, many of the small individual study Chambers are now artisan shoppes. There are impressive mosques and inner courtyards. Really all stunning. While listening to our guide, a group of local women beckon me over to join them for a picture. Members of our group have all experienced being asked to pose with locals for their photos. We finish the tour and some of us stick back to visit one of the shops and buy silk robes. We eat lunch at a tea House, Uzbeck spaghetti - noodles with a vegetable tapinade. Then we walk to the alley of mausolems, along the old graveyard, up a steep flight of stairs, there is an equisitivley tiled set of individual mausolems to members of the royal court. Individual antechamber are all unique, there is an open octagonal one as well. Beck down, catch a taxi with an animated driver who shouts places at us, Brooklyn, New York, Moscow, Tashkent ..A short rest and we are of to a local house for a Plov demonstration and dinner. Plov is the national dish, it's a layered dish of carrots, garlic, spices, rice and meat. We are seated at a table in the houses inner outdoor courtyard, surrounded by a small herb and vegetable garden. We are served a feast - eggplant fritters, pickled eggplant, carrot salad, fresh greens, soft cheese spread with bread, samosa of meat and zucchini then Plov. Delicious. A quick stop where we started to see Timur's tomb light up at nightRead more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Traveling to Bukara

    July 21, 2017 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We leave in the morning for a day off travel through the desert towards Bukara. Many hours in the bus, passing through mostly scrub growth on flat lands, interrupted by goats crossing the road. We are traveling in our big bus mostly on 2 lane roads. We pass occasional towns but mostly just vast tracks of land and lots of goats. At around noon we arrive at Nurata and visit the remains of the military Fortress of Alexander the Great & Holy Chashma (Spring) of Nurata. The fortress is an outcropping on a hill that overlooks the spring. The spring has a pool with fish that are thought to be touched by the holy water. About ten years ago, there was an incident of the fish glowing and that has led to pilgrimages to the site. There are local tourists and vendors selling picture pacts where they'll take your pic with the spring. You can also buy springs of vegetation to ties into the pool for the fish. Lunch is at a local house, Ms. Sayde, lovely salads, soup and then dumplings. After lunch we are taken to a room filled with embroidery to shop. Then we drive for another few hours and stop at a desert lake. We change on the bus for a quick swim and the water is refreshing. Then we proceed to Aydar Kŭl Camp, our desert you're camp, located in the Nurata mountain range. The yurts are surrounded by scrub and sand dunes. After an hour to explore , we go for a short camel ride that gives us a sense of the landscape. Decamel in time to watch sunset over the dunes, then dinner - lots of salads, a beef stew served with potatoes, it's about 9:30 pm, the Stars are beginning to light up the sky and we sit around a campfire to hear a soulful singer playing a stringed instrument. We all eventually get up and dance, it really does feel magical. The night sky was like experiencing a planetarium show. Thanks to traveling with science teacher, we could identity all of the constellations, red stars looked red, the milky way was clearly visible. We even saw a satellite moving across the sky. Feeling very blessed to have been there. I wake up early and an doubly blessed to experience the sunrise, watching from the dunes.Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Bukara

    July 22, 2017 in Uzbekistan ⋅ 🌬 36 °C

    We arrive around 2 pm and check in to the New Moon hotel. We are right near Lyabi-Hauz, a delightful pool of water surrounded by ancient mulberry trees. We are all kind of hot and groggy, and it's quite hot near 100. A few of us head for lunch and we dine at the cafe that borders the pool of water, happy to be inside with ac, an English speaking waiter, and Coke zero. We eat Langan - Uzbeck spaghetti. Hits the spot. I take off by myself and wander into the Jewish quarter to try and find the synagogue. I find a pair of Australians who deliver me, it is inside a Court yard and would have been easy to walk by. An old man interrupts his Domino's game to escort me inside. I remove my shoes and enter the room size congregation. Although he doesn't speak English, he communicates, using a calculator, that the congregation was once 30-40 thousand but it now in 400-500. There are 3 Torah's that are in a locked case that he pulls the curtain back to show me. He shows me pictures of Hillary and Madeline Albright from their visits. Next I wander back to lyabi-hauz. Even in the heat of the afternoon, it is pleasant in the shade. I sit on a bench and watch, mostly local tourists. There is a statue of a wise fool on a horse that all the locals are taking turns taking pictures with. Some even soothing on the horse which is at least 8 get high. Then I am delighted to watch a wedding couple taking pics and then a group of 10 to 15 older woman, all smiles, having their pics taken. Then they retire to a bench and one of them spontaneously starts chanting. Soon a handful start dancing, I join in for a few rounds. Back to the hotel for a refresh.Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Bukara con't

    July 22, 2017 in Uzbekistan ⋅ 🌬 37 °C

    We head out as a group for our city orientation.  Along Lyabi-Hauz, past the Madrrassas, some ruins being excavated, through the ancient caravarsi, domed markets with a mix of carpet swaths, stork scissors, silk scarves and clothing, random tcotckes,  up to the minaret and the dual facing Madrrassas, domes dotting the sky. We eat at an outdoor terrace restaurant, complete with misters.  As we walk back to the hotel, it's like an outdoor street party, the small motorized cars are out for kids, lots of families are walking around, very festive.

    The next morning we head out for our city tour, starting out on the bus.  We are headed to the Samanid Mausoleum but pull into an amusement park parking lot.  The Mausoleum is through the amusement park in an adjoining park.  Interesting stone work in the design.  Next we drive to an older mosque with the front flanked by a series of columns and colorful woodwork ceiling.  There is a reflecting pool out front that doubles the number of columns.  We learn that the wooden decorative ceiling is designed to look like the books in a library, so babies looking up are surrounded by the idea of knowledge.  From the mosque, we cross the street to enter the Ark Citadel, the original city fortress.  The complex has a series of small Musuems that fill different courtyards, plus open air plazas.  We leave there and head to the Minaret Kalyan complex, learning that the minaret is 40 meters talk, with an unseen 10 meters underground that allowed it to survive for the last 1000 years, through Ghengis Khan and other Invaders.  We stop back at the carpet store and see the girls weaving on the looms in back, sit down at the silk road tea House for a sampler of 3 teas and some sweets.  Back to the hotel to rest before Hamam time. 

    Just before 5 we head to the hamam for our appointments.  The bath house is 600+ years old.  We change into plaid sheet coverings and are led through arched hallways to a circular steam room where we are asked to stand.  We spend about 10-15 minutes there, generating a layer of sweat before we are individually taken by our hamam boys, slender men in the same plaid towel.  We start out seated on the stone slab as different body parts are lifted and scrubbed with a loofah mitten.  Then buckets of cold water are poured over our heads, a mix of exhilarating and feeling like I'm drowning.  Next we are instructed to lie down on the stone slab and receive a massage and stretching of our limbs.  We stand up and are given a ginger rub, front and back and led to another circular room to lie down on heated stone slabs, where the ginger becomes a deep penetrating massage. This is shear bliss, followed by more buckets of cold water.  We are given the option of an additional soft oil massage and a few of us gladly say yes.  Back to individual rooms where we are gently massaged with oil.  Quite an experience.  Glowing, we head of to dinner at another outdoor terrace restaurant where we can watch the sun set.  I have medallions of beef in a cream sauce, one of the best meals so far.  It's Saturday night, and the carnival scene still pervades the area around Lyabi-hauz.    Read more

  • Stephanie GordonGEEO Multi-StanStephanie Gordon

    Khiva

    July 24, 2017 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    We are told it will be a 10 hour drive to Khiva, so we start off in the bus at 8, pit stop for desperate people, rest stop at a tea House, more driving and we arrive around 4:30 in the afternoon.  Our hotel is within the walls of the old city.  A few of us head out for a short hop before our orientation walk, we see the minarets, find the carpet workshop from the book, Carpet Ride to Khiva, then sit down for a refresh at a Tea House and sample the local speciality, dill noodles topped with potatoes and carrots.  Back to the hotel and head out as a group for the orientation walk, down the main East-West street that connects the gates, past the stumpy minaret, by the statue to the father of algebra, past vendors selling funky lambswool  hats, around some of the covered domes.  Dinner is at the same place as we had our snack, so I opt to head out by myself and climb the stairs in the watchtower in the Ark complex to watch the sunset.  Magical feeling as the light makes all the buildings glow. This town is much smaller than Bukara, and the vendors all shut down with the sunset.

    I wake early and take advantage of the cooler morning to capture the sunrise from the terrace of the hotel and then walk through the town as it wakes up.  There is the sound of birds cooing, a handful of street sweepers out, and it is delightful to be able to walk through and experience this as the light is beginning to make all the buildings glow.  Back for a delicious breakfast, fresh made french toast, fry bread, meat pastries, and other treats.  We then head out on our city tour and pick up a guide.  Starting by the West gate, we tour the Madrrassa that is now a hotel, walk to the arc citadel and it's courtyards and mosques.  Through to a different Khan palace complete with harem section, to a fascinating mosque containing 213 interior columns, some over 1000 years old. Through the Musuem of photography, with it's people frozen in time, through the applied art Musuem with it's costumes and silks.  The tour finishes and we do a quick final walk, have a quick refresh at the Tea House, then set off for the 17 hour train ride to Tashkent.    Read more

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