Golden hour and Khiva at night

We only have a short break after our full-on city tour before we are off to catch the golden hour while walking Khiva's city walls.

The ascent begins at the North Gate, where a flight of mud-brick steps climbs steeply toward the parapet. They are uneven, knee-jarring, and devoid of handrails, it's crawling up on all-fours territory.

Once we are atop the ramparts, the first thing we spot are workers replastering the walls, a never ending task as the mud & straw cover doesn't last very long when exposed to the elements.

Walking along you definitely needs to have their wits about you, the ground is uneven, narrow and partly covered in the mud-straw giving off a not too pleasant smell in places.

With the high walls, it's almost impossible to catch the sunset and the few glimpses through the holes are a bit underwhelming - but as Fergus says 'there will be another sunset tomorrow'.

It is at night, when the daytime tourists disappear and the warm, amber spotlights cast long, dramatic shadows against carved wooden pillars, soaring portals, coloured domes and minarets that Khiva begins to look like a scene pulled from the pages of A Thousand and One Nights.

Or in other words - just gorgeous 🥰Read more