Crossing the Kyzylkum Desert ...

After an hour or so enjoying the scenery at the Zoroastrian tower, we are back in our minibus and on the way to Khiva.
It's about 150 km on a highway ... at least that's what our driver said.

Along the way, we are crossing the vast Kyzylkum desert, which lies between the two (once upon a time) great rivers - Syr Darya and Amu Darya.
The Kyzylkum desert (meaning 'red sand' in Turkic although it does look anything but) is one of the most extensive deserts in Asia.

The crossing of the desert was an important stage on the Silk Road - Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane all passed through here, as did British and Russian spies in the 19th century, often disguised as holy men and horse traders, during the secret stratagems of the 'Great Game', when Russia and England were vying for influence in the region.

Most of the way we see scrappy looking shrubs and sand, interspersed with miles and miles of fields growing cotton and strangely plenty of rice fields.

I certainly did not expect rice being planted in an area that struggles with water supply. Timur, our tour guide, explained that the two main rivers (Syr Darya & Amu Darya) are actually originating in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and both countries starting to build dams for hydropower cutting off even more of the water supply. Water that is already scarce because of the irrigation system introduced during Soviet time for growing cotton which has resulted in the environmental disaster of the Aral Sea. Water security is certainly a big topic in the region.

But back to our journey ... highway?
It has been a very bumpy 2.5 hour ride and we were all very happy when we finally reached Khiva.

There we were awed by the beauty of the place we are staying at - an old Madrassa.

It's true Silk Road feeling!Read more