Kazakhstan & Grand Canyon's little brother
27 de setembro, Cazaquistão ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Today we made our way to Kazakhstan, the last country of our whirlwind tour through the Five Stans.
We drive through the beautiful Karkara Valley before reaching the border checkpoint. The route at an altitude of almost 2000m is very scenic, with broad grassland, mountains and traditional summer grazing areas.
We see plenty of herds - mainly horses - being driven down to the winter pastures and looking closely, we spot the first signs of autumn colours 🍁 🍂
After about 90 minutes, we reach the modern international border in the middle of nowhere. It's a small, less busy crossing which will be closed after the summer/autumn season.
And it's nothing like any of the other borders we passed through. We are done in 15 minutes, gain an hour too 🕙 and pick up our guide Alyona.
Todays activity is to walk through the Charyn Canyon but it's at least another 90 minutes drive before we get there.
To keep us on our toes, Alyona shares with us some information about KZ. It's
☝️the largest country in Central Asia, the 9th largest country in the world and the world's largest landlocked country.
☝️more than twice the size of the other four Central Asian countries combined. It stretches all the way from Siberia to the deserts of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
☝️a country of extraordinary landscapes: vast steppe, desert and semi-desert, the Caspian coast, forests, lakes and the mountains of the Tien Shan and Altai
☝️It's rich in natural resources: oil, gas, uranium, coal and many other minerals being major parts of the economy.
Also,
☝️It has an extremely low population density - just six people per square kilometer
☝️the world's first human spaceflight began here. Yuri Gagarin launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in 1961. The facility is still used for space launches.
The time passes quickly and we reach the famous Charyn Canyon, in time for lunch and our first introduction to Kazakh food.
Charyn Canyon is one of southeastern KZ's great natural landmarks. It was formed by the Charyn River cutting through layers of sedimentary rock over millions of years. The canyon system is around 154 km long, with cliffs reaching roughly 150–300 m in places and sometimes referred to as 'the Grand Canyons little brother'.
The way down starts with 256 wooden steps into the canyon. Looking down from the top, the scale was already impressive, but nothing really prepared us for being inside it. As we descended, the towering walls seemed to grow around us, revealing layer after layer of warm reds, oranges and golden-brown rock.
We followed the canyon for about 2.5 km, walking deeper into the famous Valley of Castles. The name quickly made sense. The rock formations rise into strange towers, turrets and walls, shaped over millions of years as the Charyn River gradually carved its way through layers of sedimentary rock, with wind, rain and temperature extremes helping to sculpt the dramatic forms.
It was one of those walks where we kept stopping to look up — every bend seemed to reveal another extraordinary shape. The colours changed constantly with the afternoon light, and the sheer walls made us feel very small against the landscape.
By the time we reached the Charyn River at the base of the canyon, we felt we had a lovely walk but we're glad tha they way up was via an old Soviet truck, nicknamed 'loaf of bread' even if it was a bumpy ride.
It was just absolutely stunning and yes, it does remind us of its big brother 😬
Sadly, time goes quickly and we have to set off for our 3 hour drive to Almaty, the final stop on our tour.
The late-afternoon autumn sun seemed to soften everything — fields glowing in shades of green, yellow and gold, with the mountains quietly following us in the distance. Hay bales lay scattered across the fields, while herds of horses and cattle wandered across the open countryside, guided by shepherds on horseback - just a wonderful peaceful rural landscape ...
... until we hit the outskirts of Almaty and joined a huge traffic jam getting into the city.Leia mais
Gorgeous gorges on the road to Karakol
26 de setembro, Quirguistão ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C
Today is an exercise day! We are going to walk in a couple of gorges on our route further around lake Issyk-Kul.
Incidentally the lake is the world's second largest high altitude lake (behind Lake Titicaca). It is fed by snow and glacier melt from the surrounding mountains, but has no outlet, only evaporation. It is slightly saline with all the minerals from the mountains flowing in.
There were mining companies along the lake during Soviet times - now closed - and we travel along the less developed southern shore but even here lots of leisure developments are starting up. We came at the right time!
Along the way we stop at Skazka Canyon, aka the fairy tale canyon. (As it had been raining and thundering overnight there was some doubt whether the road was passable but our driver coaxed his way through the somewhat unstable sand!)
The canyon is famous for its eroded red, orange and yellow sandstone formations. Wind and water have carved the soft rock into towers, ridges and shapes that supposedly resemble castles, dragons and other mythical figures — hence Skazka, meaning “fairy tale.”
Normally we would have climbed right to the top ridges but with the group, abilities are mixed. We still got some great views though.
We picked up some packed lunches at a nearby cafe and went on to Barskoon gorge. This is one of the most spectacular valleys on the southern shore of Issyk-Kul, cutting deep into the Terskey Ala-Too mountains and only a few ridges away from China.
We went for the waterfalls but it has one very unusual feature - a monument to Yuri Gagarin, first man in space. After his successful flight in 1961, Gagarin spent time recovering in the Issyk-Kul region, and the area became associated with Soviet cosmonauts.
The first waterfall we got to, after a pretty steep climb, was the Bowl of Manas, named after the Kyrgyz hero.
We then gingerly made our way round the mountain on the Gagarin Trail to reach the Tears of the Snow Leopard waterfall.
Both were a little testing to get to but then it turns out we were at over 2300 metres so a little breathlessness was acceptable. And both were definitely worth the effort.
But the exercise doesn't stop there. Most of the roads to Karakol have something missing - the top layer! As such our bones are completely jumbled up until we reach a smoother section where we can enjoy the fantastic scenery without teeth falling out😬
Just as we were nearing Karakol, KGs 4th largest city, we turned off down yet another bumpy, unfinished road towards another gorge! This was the Jeti-Ögüz Valley, famous for its striking red sandstone cliffs known as the “Seven Bulls” (Jeti-Ögüz), a natural formation resembling seven massive bulls lined up side by side. It is a big cultural symbol of KG.
There are lots of legends about this place, the popular one seems to be about two rival khans who fell in love with the same woman. In a fit of rage, one khan killed seven of his own bulls and the woman, whose blood stained the rocks red. The bulls became the seven towering cliffs, symbolizing jealousy and destruction!
We finally made it to Karakol and had dinner out with a show, some traditional dancing and music. If our heads weren't spinning with all we'd seen today they were now, all good but might take a while to process 😀.Leia mais
Big mountain scenery and nomadic traditions
25 de setembro, Quirguistão ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
This morning the clouds have lifted and we can see beautiful snow covered mountains from our guesthouse in Kochkor, a village high in the mountains (1800m) surrounded by lush pastures dotted with herds of sheep and horses and a centre for farming, herding and cattle breeding.
It's a leisurely start to the day and on our way out of the village we are suddenly surrounded by a huge herd of sheep and the shepherds on horseback.
It's another day of majestic scenery where pictures cannot do it justice. We are driving from Kochkor - crossing the Izzyk Valley west to east - towards Kyzyl-Tuu on the southern and less developed side (at least for now) of Issyk-Kul lake with ever changing landscape.
The road winds through the Kyrgyz Ala-Too and Terskey Ala-Too mountain ranges, with huge open slopes, grazing horses and sheep and small settlements scattered across the valleys. The mountains look almost bare and lunar in places, then suddenly become intensely green where there is water.
After about an hour we arrive at Lake Issyk-Kul, which is about 180 km long and 600m deep (!) and where the surrounding snow covered peaks rise dramatically on both sides. In the local language Issyk-Kul means 'warm lake' as it never freezes, not even in deepest winter, due to the high salinity level.
Not long after we arrive at Kyzyl-Tuu.
A mountain village where local crafts people still make the wooden frames and felt coverings used for yurts.
And now it's time to get hands on, at least for a bit, by helping to erect a yurt.
The main materials are wood, felt, leather and woven textiles. We have seen the individual items being made in the different workshops we visited along the way. The wooden framework consists of folding wall sections which are held together with leather 'nails', curved roof poles and the circular crown (tunduk) at the top. Decorative items are hung on the wooden frame which will be visible on the inside before coloured reed mats are added for insulation.
The thick outer felt coverings are made from sheep’s wool. The wool is cleaned, laid out in layers, wetted and rolled or pressed until the fibres mat together into a strong, warm and weather- resistant material. Similar as we have seen in the felt making demonstration yesterday. We also learned that the tunduk, the circular opening at the top of the yurt, is more than an architectural feature — it is an important symbol of home, family and the Kyrgyz people, and appears on the national flag of Kyrgyzstan. And it should be erected by a man, not a woman.
Despite the tradition of yurt making continuing, very few families remain nomadic year-round. The Soviet period transformed the traditional nomadic system into largely settled agriculture. However, today many rural families still practise seasonal nomadism: they live in permanent homes during winter, then take their livestock up to the high mountain summer pastures, usually from around June to September.
Lunch was served by the family owning the yurt demonstration business. Plenty of food as usual just too many wasps to really enjoy it.
After lunch we are off to Bokonbayevo village stopping along the way for another cultural experience - hunting with eagles!
As part of the ancient tradition of hunting, golden eagles are trained to kill hares and foxes (and sometimes even wolves) to provide fur and meat in the cold winter months. Hunters passed down their knowledge from generation to generation and develop a close bond with their eagles - for 15 years.
After that the eagles are let free to find a partner and reproduce. Apparently, it doesn't take long for the eagle to become wild again.
Traditionally, young golden eagles are taken from the wild, often when they are young and just capable of flying. Female eagles are generally preferred because they are larger and more powerful than males. The relationship with the hunter is then built gradually.
When we arrive, we get a great introduction to the process of training and handling an eagle. Training involves:
The hood – a leather hood keeps the eagle calm and prevents it becoming distracted.
The glove – the thick leather glove protects the hunter's arm from the bird's enormous talons.
Food and trust – the eagle becomes accustomed to being handled and fed by its particular hunter.
Recall training – initially the eagle flies only a short distance back to the hunter for food. The distance is gradually increased.
The lure – the hunter teaches the eagle to pursue a moving object, often a piece of fur.
Eventually it learns to respond to the hunter's call and to recognise the type of prey it is expected to pursue. But it's a long process rather than something achieved through a few weeks of training.
And then it's time for the demonstration. And pictures / videos are better than words.
We were also treated to a dog hunting demonstration.
And at the end, there were plenty of photo opportunities 🦅🦅🦅Leia mais
Bishkek and the colder climes beyond
24 de setembro, Quirguistão ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Another long day ahead but we have slightly more civilised start time. First up is a brief tour of Bishkek city centre.
We stop at Victory Square then wander around the old square.
Victory Square commemorates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, particularly the Kyrgyz contribution to the Soviet war effort.
The centrepiece is a striking three-part granite arch/monument, representing three women holding a wreath over an eternal flame. The women are traditionally interpreted as representing wives and mothers waiting for men who had gone to war.
Built in 1985 it is still used for Victory Day ceremonies on 9 May.
Next we go to Old Square, one of Bishkek's historic civic spaces, with government buildings and Soviet-era architecture.
Also in the square there's a large bronze Lenin statue - we've noticed that unlike the other stans KG has not got rid of all of the Soviet icons. Although this has been repositioned here in 2003 it's slightly surreal. That feeling is reinforced further when we walk a few yards into the adjoining park and find another statue, this time of Marx and Engels!
We go a bit further through the park and come to the front of the state museum and find a magnificent statue of Manas, the legendary Kyrgyz hero, on horseback. It occupies the position where Lenin originally stood.
Then we are off for a two hour drive to Burana Tower - one of Kyrgyzstan's most important surviving Silk Road monuments - about 80 km east of Bishkek, near the town of Tokmok.
It was built around the 11th century, probably as the minaret of a mosque, part of Balasagun, a major medieval city of the Karakhanid Khanate. The original tower was probably around 45 m high but earthquakes reduced it to about 25 m today.
Earthquakes are definitely not what you want to be thinking about as you climb the easy metal external steps to get to the entrance. Then it's a narrow, dark (we were rightly advised to wear head torches) and very steep staircase winding it's way to the top. Not for the claustrophobic! The views at the top are great though, although I suspect most people are more thinking about how they are going to get down!
Nevertheless we made it successfully and then wandered around the nearby ancient balbals — carved stone figures used as grave stones associated with Turkic nomadic cultures — plus petroglyphs and other archaeological remains.
Continuing our journey we encountered something we haven't experienced for ages - rain!
We have a brief stop at Orto-Tokoy reservoir and the cold really hits us. Summer is over ☹️.
Not much further on we reach our accommodation for the night - mountain view guest house. Not 5⭐ but much better than a yurt!
The fun is not yet over as we then go to a felt making demonstration. A lady, head of the local cooperative, explained that they get sheeps wool from spring and autumn and mix them. They then beat it for 20 minutes to get all the dust and dirt out. To make the felt they carefully arrange the wool on a reed mat which is then rolled up and boiling water poured over it and stepped on for 40 minutes. She also showed the stitching and handiwork they do to turn the felt pieces into carpets and other items. She also explained the symbolism about the different motives but that took much to remember.
Actually more interesting than I expected, we're certainly seeing an unusual variety of things here.Leia mais
Another day, another border
23 de setembro, Quirguistão ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
It's another early start as we have lots to cover today. The next few days are going to be the same, by the time we get home we'll need a holiday 🤣🤣.
Anyway, we start with a bumpy ride for about 2 1/2 hours to the border with Kyrgyzstan. The checkpoint is called Dustlik (friendship) border. And actually it's the quickest one so far, just 18 minutes!! Not sure I noticed it being particularly friendly since the KG guards all had Kalashnikovs but at least we were the only tourists.
Idina, our guide, greets us just after the checkpoint at the border, then we head off for the Silk Road city of Osh - an ancient city in the Fergana Valley; strongly Uzbek influenced. (Not surprising as it's minutes into the city from the border.)
Osh is Kyrgyzstan's second-largest city and one of Central Asia's oldest urban centres, with a history stretching back more than 3,000 years. It has a population of around 350,000 and is located in the fertile Fergana Valley, close to the Uzbek border.
It's main landmark is Sulaiman-Too, a sacred mountain dominating the centre of the city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. That's where we headed straightaway.
And quite a surprise it was too, as it turned into a vigorous walk up the "mountain"! (KG is 96% mountains but we didn't really expect one in the city centre!) It was probably an elevation gain of about 150-200 metres but over about 350 steep steps and slippery, polished rocks. We made it ok but the others were grumbling 🤣🤣.
We stopped at the main lookout with sweeping views of Osh, passed a couple of rocks that you can slide down and it cures back pain (allegedly 😉) and finally stopped at a nice little museum built into existing caves. It was quite atmospheric but there were more steps ( and grumbling 😁).
Eventually we made it off the mountain and went for another plentiful lunch.
Next was a short stop at the orthodox church in Osh. Constructed in the late 19th century for the few non Islam followers in the city, mainly Russian and Ukrainians who had settled there.
Osh was an important stopping point on routes connecting China, Central Asia and the Middle East. Therefore the bazaar is one of the city's highlights, particularly for spices, dried fruit, bread and local produce.
However, recently the city authorities moved it all out of the city so everything could be bought in one place. As a result it's not as atmospheric as others but we wandered part of the non food market. Interesting to see what the locals can buy, and very cheap.
Unfortunately for Birgit we didn't have enough time to spend there as it was back on the minibus within 20 minutes to get the airport for our flight to the capital, Bishkek.
Kyrgyzstan is a lower-middle-income economy in which services, agriculture, construction and mining are important. Gold is particularly significant, while remittances from Kyrgyz citizens working abroad have historically been an important part of the economy. Recent economic growth has been unusually strong: the World Bank reports 11.1% real GDP growth in 2025.
Thus Bishkek is a relatively modern, leafy Soviet-planned city rather than an ancient Silk Road city. Wide boulevards, Soviet architecture, parks and the spectacular snow-capped Ala-Too range provide its character.
We round off the evening with yet another feast in one of Bishkek's ethnic restaurants..Leia mais
Artisan crafts in the Fergana valley
22 de setembro, Usbequistão ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
With lunch and dessert done, it's back in the minibus for a quick snooze before our next stop in Rishtan, the most famous city in eastern Uzbekistan’s Fergana Valley renowned for centuries- old pottery traditions and the blue and white ceramic.
We are visiting the house of Rustam Usmanov who is considered one of Uzbekistan’s master potters.
The house serves simultaneously as a family residence, an active artisan workshop, a teaching studio, and an open gallery / museum. We are welcomed into the courtyard under grapevines and can observe key parts of the traditional production process: wheel throwing, natural sun drying and freehand painting with goat-hair brushes.
Today, Rustam works alongside his son, Damir Usmanov, and trains apprentices through the traditional master- apprentice system to ensure the craft survives for future generations.
After the demonstration, we are free to browse the items for sale. Almost every corner of the property - from the courtyard walls and entrance facades - is decorated with glazed earthenware, jugs, tea sets, and intricate ceramic tiles. Stunning pieces with a price tag matching the effort that goes into creating them.
Yes, I was tempted to buy some things but then my minimalist mindset won.
The last stop on our tour today is the Yodgorlik Silk Factory in Margilan, near Fergana. It's the last large-scale workshop in Uzbekistan where silk is still made entirely by hand, from silkworm cocoon to finished fabric. It’s a living craft centre, not a museum, but unfortunately by the time we arrived everyone had gone home, can't blame them, it was 5:30pm already.
We weren't too bothered as we had seen silk production before and would have moved on, but our guide Abror (who used to work in this factory) convinced one person to give us a little demonstration. We were all jolly glad he did, as we saw the process of actually unwinding the silk thread from the cocoon and some batik work. All very interesting!
Of course, after the demonstration, there is the obligatory visit to the sales room 😀
Well, to round off the day, we went to a Korean restaurant - there is a sizeable minority of Koreans in UZ - and did some Karaoke 🎤🎤 of all things 🙈
But what happens in a private room in a Korean restaurant, stays in that room 🤣Leia mais
Back to UZ & the old city of Kokand
22 de setembro, Usbequistão ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
After the double measure of beers last night (we just couldn't resist the lovely garden bar at the hotel), getting up this morning was a slight challenge. But still, we are all ready to be 'on the road' again even before 8am.
We are going back into Uzbekistan today - the 3rd and last time on this trip. The border is about 80km from Khujand along another bumpy road.
On the way, we drive past a long stretch of double barbed wire fence. Unbeknownst to me, we are very close to the border to Kyrgyzstan, so close that a 'welcome to Kyrgyzstan' message popped up on my phone.
In fact, there has been a Tajikistan– Kyrgyzstan border dispute near Khujand & Fergana Valley for many years, where overlapping Soviet-era boundaries and mixed ethnic settlements led to violent clashes in 2021–2022. Hundreds were killed and tens of thousands displaced.
On the other side of the road is the Kairakum Reservoir (renamed Tajik Sea in 2016), Tajikistan’s largest artificial lake, created by the Kairakum Dam in the 1950s for irrigation and hydropower and now tied to regional water-sharing tensions between Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
After about 1.5 hours we reach the border with Uzbekistan. Apparently, it's a quiet border and it should be fairly quick and painless (as stated by the tour operator) process.
We expect the same spiel ...
Well, we are used to it by now ...
But indeed, it's less busy and we are the only foreigners and the Tajik border guard is told by his supervisor to process our group first. There is only a short distance between the two borders and after being in a scrum with the locals at the Uzbek border, we are through in less than an hour. Mind you, the Uzbek border guard did take a long time to check my passport 🤷🙈
From the border, it's another hour before we get to Kokand, our next stop for a tour of the city.
Our local guide, Abror, keeps us entertained by sharing some insight about the region
☝️Fergana Valley is Central Asia’s agricultural heartland, fed by the Syr Darya river system, this intensely fertile basin covers roughly 22,000 sq km across eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
☝️The valley is the most densely populated corner of Central Asia, home to over a third of Uzbekistan's entire population despite occupying less than 5% of its land area.
☝️The area is often called Central Asia's "fruit basket," producing apricots, pomegranates, melons, grapes, and walnuts.
☝️The main crop is still cotton. Right now it's high season for harvest and we see plenty of people - mainly women - picking cotton on the fields along the road. However land is increasingly reallocated away from cotton to higher-value, lower-water horticulture—cherries, apricots, pomegranates, and vegetables intended for export to Russia, China, and the Gulf.
We finally make it to Kokand, once the capital of the Kokand Khanate, one of the three major Uzbek khanates (kingdoms) of the 18th–19th centuries, alongside Bukhara and Khiva. It became an important centre of trade in the fertile Fergana Valley and was particularly prosperous in the 19th century
Having agreed to skip mosque and madrassas again, the only item on the sightseeing tour is the Palace of Khudáyár Khan, often called the Pearl of Kokand.
Built in the 1870s for Khudayar Khan, the last ruler of the Kokand Khanate, it was designed as a spectacular statement of royal power. By the early 19th century, under rulers like Alim Khan and Umar Khan, the Khanate expanded rapidly, controlling the entirety of the Fergana Valley, Tashkent, southern Kazakhstan, and parts of modern Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Kokand became a city of wealth, poetry, and religion, boasting more than 300 mosques and dozens of madrasahs.
The palace originally covered around 4 ha, had seven courtyards and more than 119 rooms.
What immediately catches our eye is the extraordinary colourful facade: turquoise, blue, yellow and green glazed tiles, geometric patterns and Arabic calligraphy. The colours make it quite different from the predominantly blue-and-turquoise monuments of places such as Samarkand.
Only 19 rooms and two courtyards survive today after much of the complex was demolished during the turbulent years following the Russian conquest and later Soviet period.
The palace barely outlived its owner: Khudayar Khan was driven into exile in 1875 (just a few years after completion of the palace), and in 1876 the Russian Empire officially abolished the Kokand Khanate, absorbing the Fergana Valley into Russian Turkestan. Therefore, this magnificent palace represents the final flourish of an independent Kokand royal court.
Entering the palace, the first thing we notice are the pomegranate trees in the middle of the courtyard - an abundance of colour. In the reception hall, we marvel at the carved plasterwork, painted ceilings and wooden details — a wonderful witness of the craftsmanship in 19th-century Fergana.
The surviving palace now houses a local history museum where we found an interesting map of the Silk Road, clearly showing the multitude of roads.
Even if it might feel like we had a long day already, it's only lunch time. So we are off to fill our tummies.Leia mais
Goodbye Panjakent, hello Khujand
21 de setembro, Tajiquistão ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Earlyish check out from our hotel this morning. Wasn't the best hotel given the Silk Road could actually be renamed the Dust Road - of which the Panjakent Plaza hotel was the epitome!
The good news was the driving was easy with a comparatively smooth road. The scenery was getting everywhere more impressive as we followed the river valley, green but surrounded by magnificent, dry, sand coloured mountains.
Then we reach another town, around a hairpin, over the river and up. And up. And up. We continue to climb up a fairly narrow but very steep valley. The views we grab are magnificent but not necessarily for the faint hearted as roadside barriers appear to be optional!
To be fair the road is very good. Built by the Chinese it heads up to the Sharistan tunnel which was completed in 2012. At an elevation of nearly 3000 metres and 5km long it's the highest and longest in Central Asia. Just another example of China's BRI (Belt & Road Initiative.
But for now we continue - up and up! Occasionally being overtaken, once or twice actually overtaking. Our driver is very good though, he's clearly done this before.
The tunnel is at the top and no sooner than we are there we are through. The terrain the other side was nowhere near as dramatic. More like driving along the top of an Alpine valley.
A while later we reach Khujand. The plan was to do a city tour before checking in at our hotel. But we got some intelligence that there was an important political delegation in town and fearful they might be commandeering hotel rooms we checked in straight away!
We later found out the president was in town for three days as part of the September independence celebrations.
An hour later we picked up our guide, Sharifa, and headed into the city.
Khujand is one of Central Asia's oldest cities, situated on the Syr Darya River in the fertile Fergana Valley. It was founded more than 2,500 years ago and became an important stop on the Silk Road, linking Central Asia with China and the Middle East.
The city was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC and later became part of successive Persian, Islamic and Central Asian states.
In 1929 (then known as Leninabad) it was ceded to Tajikistan from the Uzbekistan SSR to help Tajikistan reach the threshold of 1 million people it required to become a full republic.
Today it is Tajikistan's second-largest city and an important industrial and agricultural centre. Its main sights include Khujand Fortress, the Panjshanbe Bazaar, the Sheikh Muslihiddin Mausoleum and the large Soviet-era Khujand Palace of Culture. Also known as the Arbob Palace, this was our first stop.
Arbob Palace is an unusual Soviet-era landmark built in the 1950s as a cultural and political centre. It's famous amongst Tajikistan for being the place where Emomali Rakhmonov (since restyled Rahmon) was sworn in as a leader of Tajikistan. That was in 1992 when the brutal civil war made it too dangerous to.hold political meetings in Dushanbe. It was commissioned by Saidkhoja Urunkhojaev, a prominent collective-farm leader. He was a larger than life character who was known to Stalin and Khrushchev and Sharifa referred to him as 'our Big Man'! The architecture of the palace was deliberately grand, with a design inspired by a palace in St Petersburg.
Next we went to the famous fortress. This had seemingly been rebuilt but was closed on the day we visited. Sharifa and Timur did manage to get us into the museum part of it though. Although it was rather underwhelming and we had the impression this city tour was lacking context and focus to understand the purpose of stopping in Khujand. Some of that was our fault as we had elected not to do another mausoleum and mosque.
It seems the only other thing to do was to have a short stroll to the river and look at the Khujand Historical Leaders monument with several bronze busts. They commemorate historical figures associated with Khujand and the wider region, including Queen Tomyris, Abu Mahmud al-Khujandi (astronomer and mathematician), Mahasti Khujandi (poet), and Haji Yusuf Khujandi, a traveller and scholar.
And that was about it. I felt we didn't really get to know Khudjand much although it is clearly now a major metropolis not really showing its silk road history. At least we ended the evening on the side of the river with some beers and good company 😁Leia mais
An eventful day in the Fann Mountains
20 de setembro, Tajiquistão ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
With a 9am start for today's trip to the Fann Mountains, we were looking forward to a little lie-in this morning. Unfortunately, we got woken up 2 hours early by the alarm clock from the room next door, which didn't actually stop for about an hour. The sun wasn't even up yet!
After a questionable breakfast, we are 'on the road again' and travel by minibus to the Fann Mountains, an extension of the Oamir-Alay range which features about 100 peaks, with several over 5000 metres.
After about 1.5 hours, we reach the entrance to the valley where our driver and guide have to hand in copies of their passports ... why, one asks ...
And here, the paved road stops and a full day back massage starts - at least that's how Feistyboy calls it. For us, it's more reminiscent of the drive to the 'Gate of Hell' with a lot more dust thrown in.
No wonder AccuWeather labelled the air quality as 'unhealthy' when I check the forecast this morning. No doubt it's nothing unusual as everything is covered in a fine layer of dusty sand.
After driving through several very poor and dusty looking villages, past a gold mining area - run by the Chinese of course - and a lime stone quarry, also in Chinese hands, we finally reach the entrance to the Shing Gorge with its famous 7 pearls of Tajikistan: Seven mountain lakes - locally known as Haft Kul or Marguzor Lakes - each with its own distinctive colour, microclimate - some are pale, milky turquoise, others deep bottle‑green, colours shaped by different minerals and changing light.
The lakes are stacked like beads along the Shing River valley between about 1,600 and 2,400 metres.
We slowly make our way up the valley and welcome a stop at each lake for picture opportunities and stretching our legs.
The first lake - Karashmai Haftkul (eye-lash) sits at ~1,640m and has
vibrant turquoise-green hues caused by dissolved minerals. There are even some local boys swimming.
The second lake Soya (Shade) at ~1,740m is tucked between steep rock cliffs that keep its waters shaded for much of the day, giving it a dark, moody mirror reflection.
The third one, Gushor at ~1,770 m is a wide, serene lake with a small surrounding settlement and homestays. We stop for lunch here and marvel at the scenery while enjoying the traditional plov (rice dish).
After a decent break we made our way to the fourth lake Nofin (Umbilical Cord) at ~1,820 m. It's a narrow, elongated lake winding through the gorge (almost 3km long) and the rough unpaved mountain road hugs its eastern bank. Interestingly, in winter this lake is almost empty.
The fifth lake, Khurdak (Tiny) at ~1,870m, definitely honours his name. It's the smallest lake and least impressive of the group, located just before the mountain village of Padrud.
There is quite a climb to the sixth Marguzor at ~2,140 m. It's the largest and most dramatic lake in the chain, stretching nearly 4 km with petroglyphs and traditional stone villages along its shoreline.
Of course we stop for more pictures. Just when it was our turn to get our picture taken with the marvellous view, 'disaster' struck and Fergus tripped over a rock. Luckily, he lives to tell the tale and the bruises and cuts will heal. (Fergus: 🙄🤕)
In autumn and winter, only the lower part of the lake is filled with water and we drive through what seems like a dried-up bed to the end of the lake. Until a few years ago, the drivable dirt road stopped here. Nowadays, the Chinese are exploring areas further up in the valley and have built another stretch almost up to the seventh lake.
The original plan was to walk from the end of sixth lake up to the seventh but we are all glad the Chinese did a good job and built a few more kilometres - the road is steep, very narrow, dusty and one would have to share the track with all the cars & minibuses going up & down.
At least we walk the last 900m up to the seventh lake Haft-Kul (thousand Springs) at ~2,400 m which is fed directly by underground mountain springs and glaciers rather than the Shing River itself, giving it crystal-clear, icy water surrounded by high rocky ridges and birch trees.
The lake is at the end of the valley and with a name like 'Thousand Springs' it really does feel like the dramatic finale to the whole Seven Lakes story.
The plan was to have some tea with a local family but unfortunately, they are still at their 'summer residence' higher up in the mountains.
To make up for it, our guide invites us to his family home back at the first lake.
Tajiks pride themselves in their hospitality and it's an invitation we can't turn down (even if we probably have preferred to go back to the hotel for a rest and a proper clean-up of Fergus' wounds).
But as it works out, having tea with Feistyboy's family (male members only) was a very interesting experience and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Our guide lives with parents and the families of his two brothers in a close compound, each with the own house.
There is a multitude of kids who welcome us with louds 'hellos' but only the two older nephews of Feistyboy, his brother and his father are allowed to join us for the tea ceremony.
We talk about some tradition, learn that our guide is actually an English teacher in the local village school and the two older boys (aged 12 & 13) are keen to practice their English with me.
They start with the standard questions - What's your name, where are you from, how old are you ...
Then they rattle through some sentences they have learned by heart about their village, the make-up of their family - how many brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles etc. Then talk about sports (Ronaldo is their favourite player) and they can't understand that I am not a football fan.
An hour goes by very quickly and we have to make our way back to Panjakent for dinner.
We were getting into the minibus when the driver spots a problem with the wheel which takes a little while to fix.
Hence the kids are still entertaining us with their 'hellos' and smiles.
Finally, we are on our way and stop at a lovely place for dinner. It's the usual Central Asian food and opulence.
After 11 hours 'on the road' we are ready for bed but need to get sorted for tomorrow's early start.Leia mais
Onward - into Tajikistan
18 de setembro, Tajiquistão ⋅ 🌙 21 °C
Let's cross the border into Tajikistan, they said.
It's easy, they said.
It's very quick, they said .............
Hmmmmm. About as quick and easy as getting into Turkmenistan (ok, it was slightly better than that). However, we did have the added excitement of a running battle with an unruly bunch of Chinese tourists (the Chinese are so rude!) who were always trying to barge in the queue, or generally barging! In the end severe words were spoken (by me, at them) and I'm pleased to say the battle was won by us 🤣💪😁.
We had only taken about an hour to get to the border from Samarkand but one and a half hours to get through but we finally made it into TJ!
But before we move on, what about the country?
☝️Tajikistan is the smallest of the five Central Asia states with no gas and no oil resources also the poorest. In fact it's 93% mountains. Furthermore, it has over 10,000 glaciers!
☝️It shares borders with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the north and west, China to the east and Afghanistan to the south.
☝️It's the only country of the post Soviet states that had a state religion - 98% of the population are Sunni Muslims. Interestingly the president has introduced a ban on hijabs in schools and universities as he is worried that Islamic fundamentalism might gain a foothold in the country. Well, long beards are also forbidden
☝️It's also the country with the lowest number of Russians in the whole former Soviet Union. While at the same time it's the country that's most dependent on migrant Tajik workers in Russia sending money back.
Meantime we successfully met our guide and driver. Can't possibly spell the guides name but it sounds very similar to "feistyboy", so that's what we'll call him. Our driver is Bobo.
We've travelled for barely 5 minutes and we arrived at the first stop - Sarazm.
Located just west of Panjakent this is a UNESCO WHS since 2010 and is one of the oldest settlements in Central Asia, dating back over 5,500 years to the 4th and 3rd millennia BC.
For years, local farmers had been finding strange ancient objects while working the land — pottery, bronze tools and ornaments — but nobody initially realised the significance.
Then, in 1976, a local man called Ashurali Taylonov, a farmer and Second World War veteran, told archaeologist Abdullojon Isakov about an axe that he had kept at home for about six years. Isakov immediately recognised that it could indicate an archaeological site and organised an investigation.
The following year, the first proper excavations revealed buildings, decorated pottery, grinding stones and other material, confirming that this was not just an isolated find but a substantial ancient settlement.
The most important find to date from this site is the so-called 'Lady of Sarazm', who was buried in the 4th century BC wearing beautiful jewellery of lapis beads and bracelets of seashells.
However, most of the stat finds - including the original jewellery und bronze mirror from the Princess grave - are now in larger museums n Panjakent and Dushanbe, so Sarazm itself feels more like stripped-back stage set than a treasure room
Sarazm was abandoned about 2000 BC although the reasons aren't clear, the current view is it may have been connected to changing environmental conditions.
At any rate it's very impressive and as only a tiny percentage of the 236 hectares have been excavated there's definitely more to be discovered. .
After lunch we headed through the local bazaar and then the obligatory visit to the local mosque....
Next we went to Ancient Panjakent, a major Sogdian city, founded around the 5th century AD and flourishing until the 8th century. It was an important trading and cultural centre on the Silk Road.
The city had temples, palaces, houses, workshops and a citadel, and is particularly famous for its remarkably preserved wall paintings, showing banquets, battles, mythology and everyday Sogdian life.
It was abandoned in the early 8th century, around the time of the Arab conquest of Central Asia. Its ruins provide one of the best insights into the sophisticated Sogdian civilization. The archaeologist is the same one that hasn't finished at Sarazm yet. Apparently Ancient Panjakent is the priority. Maybe he needs some help!
Final stop for the day is at the Rudaki Museum. Founded in 1958, it is really a museum of the history and culture of the Panjakent region, rather than just a museum about the poet Rudaki. Its most important collections include archaeological finds from Sarazm and Ancient Panjakent, including pottery, tools, household objects and some of the famous Sogdian frescoes. There are also displays on traditional Tajik life, clothing, crafts and more recent, Soviet, history.
I thought it was quite a nice little, well structured museum.
Visits all done we headed to our hotel , the Panjakent Plaza. Apparently this is the best in the city - we're jolly glad we aren't elsewhere then (it's not very 5 ⭐). Never mind, got to take the rough with the smooth!Leia mais
The unpolished side of Samarkand
18 de setembro, Usbequistão ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Hooray, another agenda free day!
We take it easy this morning, a little lie-in, a late breakfast with plenty of time to come up with a plan for today.
Samarkand is certainly one of the most touristy places along the Silk Roads but away from the tourist hotspots, it's a big normal working city. So we decide to go and find some local life.
We stroll along University Boulevard, a 'new' public promenade created in 1872 to mark the boundary between the old and new parts of the city.
The new parts are also known as the 'european' part, built during the Russian empire with architecture mainly from late 19th- and early 20th century.
At the entrance to the boulevard, we find the monument to Amir Timur depicting him with a European crown, which is historically incorrect as pointed out by our guide yesterday.
From there we wander through the central park, stopping at a small but uninspiring mall and watching people getting on with life - workers in the park, pupils between lessons and office workers rushing to or from their jobs.
After a rest to avoid the midday heat, we set off to wander around the old Jewish quarter following a suggestion from the Lonely Planet.
We certainly saw a very different side of Samarkand, impoverished living conditions, partly unpaved roads & open water gullies in the road, and life generally hidden behind walls and great gates.
There were a couple of mosques but nothing special. A small synagogue hidden away behind high walls (and hard to find) was the only thing remotely Jewish.
Halfway along the walk we ended up in the dusty building site of the newly expanded memorial complex surrounding the Mausoleum of Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi in preparation for his 1,155th anniversary. The Maturidi school became the primary theological framework for the Hanafi school of Islamic law.
Cutting through the construction site with some help of the workers, it's not far to the end of the walk - the statue of Islom Karimov, the first president of independent Uzbekistan who ruled the country with an iron fist for over a quarter-century from 1989 until his death in 2016.
By then, we were in rather desperate need for some refreshments. Planning ahead, we had already identified a craft beer place 🍻🍻Leia mais
Samarkand - even more magnificence
17 de setembro, Usbequistão ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
We approach today with a lot of excitement and a little trepidation. We are in Samarkand, a former capital of Uzbekistan and possibly the most well known of the Silk Road cities we will visit.
Thus expectations of what to see are high, the concern might be we have a gruelling day of over the top guiding! However, I am pleased to report it was actually a superb day on both counts.
This is a city of two very different architectural worlds: the older Islamic Samarkand and the later European/Russian Samarkand.
The Russian part developed after the Russian conquest in 1868, particularly from the 1870s onwards. It was laid out with wide, straight streets and large open spaces, contrasting with the narrow lanes of the old city.
University Boulevard (formerly Abramov Boulevard) is a good example. It was created in the 1870s and deliberately planted with rows of trees to provide shade in the hot climate.
The 14th–15th centuries are a completely different period: this was the great Timurid era, when Samarkand became one of the major intellectual, cultural and architectural centres of the Islamic world. This is the period associated with Timur, Ulugh Beg, the Registan, Gur-e-Amir and Shah-i-Zinda. Indeed, right opposite our Hotel is a statue of Uzbekistans great hero - Timur ( Our group leader shares his name 😁).
Our guide for the day though is a very affable young man called Bek. Firstly we visit Gur-e-Amir - this means “Tomb of the King” and is the mausoleum of Amir Timur (Tamerlane). It is now one of the many UNESCO sites around the city.
Originally built around 1403–1404 for Timur’s grandson Muhammad Sultan, because he died early (in battle), but it became the Timurid family mausoleum.
Timur himself was buried here in 1405, along with several of his sons and grandsons, including Ulugh Beg.
It really is superb but the actual mausoleum itself is magnificent. A room with several graves (although the bodies are actually buried in the crypt below), Bek told us 40kg of gold leaf was used to decorate the room.
Timur's final resting place is marked with a single slab of jade, said to be the largest in the world. Brought back by Ulug Beg from Mongolia in 1425, it is inscribed in Arabic calligraphy with the following words: 'When I rise, the World will Tremble!
Then, on the night of 21st June 1941, a team of Russian scientists began to exhume Timur's remains. Within hours Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Many wondered if this was Timur's curse. The scientists found him to be a tall man but lame in the right leg. He had also suffered a wound to the right arm. Analysis complete, Timur's remains were reinterred with full Muslim burial rites, and the Nazis retreated!!
Overall a beautiful place as it also had a Madrassa and harem (Timur had 22 wives.....) and although only partly restored it is still impressive.
Next we moved onto the centerpiece of any visit to Samarkand, Registan Square.
- Registan means “sandy place” and was the heart of medieval Samarkand — a place for markets, public gatherings and official ceremonies. The fact it was all built on sand means today a few of the buildings do lean!
- The square is surrounded by three magnificent Islamic madrasas:
Ulugh Beg Madrasa – 3 years to build
Sher-Dor Madrasa – 17 years to build
Tilya-Kori Madrasa – 14 years to build
Their huge blue-tiled façades, domes and towering entrances create the famous ensemble. The most impressive is the golden mosque of the Tilya-Kori Madrassa. It actually used to be a hotel/caravanserai but was converted and the fantastic mosque actually used 60kg of gold in its construction!
- The original Registan developed under Timur and especially his grandson Ulugh Beg, when Samarkand was a major centre of science, learning and Islamic culture.
- The buildings we see today span roughly two centuries, so they aren't all from Timur's own time - and obviously have gone through some renovations too.
Next we had a quick stop outside the Bibi-Khanym Mosque. This was built by a (childless) wife of Timur. Although it's ruined now it used to be the biggest mosque in central Asia (they all say that though 😉). Then a short wander through a nearby bazaar and lunch.
We voted the only activity after lunch was to visit a nearby craft village. The main reason was to see some traditional Samarkand paper production.
Sure enough various demonstrators took us through this process:
The thinnest sprouts of the Central Asian mulberry are cleaned and the bark is removed. It is then soaked and after long-term drying boiled for several hours. The fibrous mass is carefully crumbled up by wooden sticks and the material obtained is dissolved in water. Then it is passed through a sieve; sheets are carefully wrung out and dried in the sun. To complete, the surface of the paper is polished by using a seashell pressing the paper over smooth marble.
Very similar to making rice paper in Cambodia I thought 🤣🤣🤣
We also saw oil making from sesame, cotton, linseed and melon seeds. 5kg of each is ground up for 7 hours to get 5 litres of oil. Just ready for a plov!
We also visited a pottery, saw a demonstration and resisted the temptation to buy 😂.
An excellent day was rounded off with a trip to a dance theatre performance and dinner at a Russian restaurant.
Think it's fair to say we like Samarkand.Leia mais
El Merosi Theatre
17 de setembro, Usbequistão ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
It's theatre time tonight!
Tucked away in the modern Russian- colonial part of the city, the El Merosi Theatre is a small venue that offers a living history session disguised as performing arts.
The show is a fast-paced, 50-minute visual sprint through Central Asian history told through textiles, rhythm, and ritual movement.
We follow the rise and fall of the area's greatest civilizations in chronological order ...
☝️ traditional costumes of the different regions in Uzbekistan some of which are over 100 years old
☝️ Achaemenid Empire (6th to 4th BCE)
☝️ Zorostarian mythology
☝️Sogdiana (4th to 7th CE)
☝️Timurid Golden Age & Tamerlane's court
☝️19th-Century Uzbek wedding ceremonyLeia mais
There is more to Bukhara than mosques
16 de setembro, Usbequistão ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
After lots of mosques and madrassas yesterday, today's focus is on Bukhara's arts and handicrafts scene.
Bukhara is famous for the ancient art of gold embroidery using gold thread and jewellery making.
Wander into Bukhara’s domed bazaars and quiet madrassa courtyards, and one could almost get this Silk Road feeling - the city is alive and in the hands of its master artisans, or masters as our guide calls them. Apparently, these aren’t souvenir shops; they are living lineages of craft, where every geometric tile, beaten copper tray, and woven Suzani carries centuries of patience, pride, and soul.
Bukhara is famous for
☝️Gold Embroidery (apparently
Bukhara is the historic epicentre of Central Asian gold embroidery)
☝️Suzani (needle) & fine silk embroidery
☝️Blacksmithing, Metal Chasing & Knife making - Stork-Shaped Scissors are the thing
☝️Ceramic Pottery
☝️Carpet Weaving (Silk & Wool)
☝️Miniature Painting & Calligraphy
But cynical us, we have our doubts on the authenticity as the objects all look remarkably similar. Or shall I say 'the same'?
Anyhow, this morning we visited the workshop of Uzbekistan's most recognised master in Gold Embroidery- Jumayev Baxshullo Shirinovich - who is formally recognised in Uzbekistan’s National Catalogue of Folk Applied Art Masters. Lots of framed certificates adorn one wall of his workshop.
He represents the sixth generation of a celebrated Bukharan embroidering 'dynasty'. His grandfather served as the guild master of the emir’s royal gold embroiderers. We are all impressed when Jumayev talks about his work to document the art and history of gold- embroidery and his efforts to revive independent artisan guilds after Independence. During Soviet times, he and his wife were working in an embroidery factory. After independence he established the very first private gold embroidery workshop in Bukhara, creating a blueprint for other traditional artisans to operate independently.
His workshop is especially renowned for monumental decorative panels and ceremonial robes. Their masterpiece is the curtains of Tashkent's national theatre (70 x 20m). Just to make the paper pattern for this took two years. 140 people worked to complete the embroidery.
They are the biggest embroidered curtains in Tashkent.
During the demonstration he explains that there are two primary methods of embroidery
☝️zaminduzi - dense, solid background embroidery using gold or gilded-silver threads with about 50 to 60 stitches per 1 sq cm
☝️ gulduzi - relief embroidery over intricate, hand-cut cardboard patterns with about 26 stitches per 1 sq cm
Jumayev is responsible for designing the motifs and preparing the paper pattern which form the basis for the embroidery. His wife, who also has been working in the embroidery factory during Soviet times, is patiently getting on with the stitching.
To produce the gold thread a thin gold metal wire is twisted around a soft silk thread. These days they only use 5pc gold, instead of the 30 pc used at the time of the emirs. But even this supple gold thread is too coarse to repeatedly pull back and forth through heavy velvet without fraying, therefore Bukharan embroiderers never pull it through the fabric. Instead, they lay the gold thread exclusively on the top surface and tack it down with tiny, invisible stitches of ordinary yellow silk - clearly visible when watching the woman demonstrating her work. The results are just magnificent!
After the gold-embroidery, we have a look at the jewellery making workshop of his son - Nodir - next door. Nodir is also highly celebrated as a master jeweller. There are some beautiful pieces but absolutely not my style.
We also watched some metal engraving artists. It's amazing how these artisans can punch intricate geometric and floral patterns into sheet brass or copper with their small steel chisels and a specialized hammer.
After spending the morning at various artisan workshops, we travel 4km outside of Bukhara to visit the summer palace of the Emir.
Sitorai Mohi Hosa aka the Palace of the Stars and Moon, showcases the opulence of the last emirs.
The summer palace was built between 1912 and 1918 and stands out as an eclectic fusion of traditional Central Asian craftsmanship and Imperial Russian architecture with imported materials and furniture from Germany, France and Italy highlighting the cosmopolitan court of the Emir.
The first building we enter holds the emir's reception and living rooms - chess room, banquet hall and tea house. All the rooms have fabulous silk and gold embroidery and display cutting-edge novelties as colour glass, ceramic fireplaces and tiles imported from Germany, chandeliers from Austria and furniture from France and St Petersburg.
The summer palace even used to have a zoo but the elephants and tigers were taken to Moscow Circus in 1923 - only some sad looking peacocks remained.
When Soviet forces took Bukhara in 1920, Alim Khan, the last Emir, fled to Afghanistan, leaving his luxurious palace behind. He eventually died in Kabul in 1944.
After the palace tour, we have enough time for lunch before heading to the train station for our journey to Samarkand.
It's a pretty boring train ride - nothing much to see apart from desert, some mountains in the distance, the odd gas plant and a few goat herds.
We get to Samarkand just in time for dinner, i.e. more food 🙈Leia mais
Bukhara
15 de setembro, Usbequistão ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
Bukhara, another mainstay city on the silk roads, is a compact place where you can walk almost everywhere - the opposite of Ashgabat. What's more, our boutique hotel is right in the city centre perfectly positioned for our tour.
Bukhara is one of the most complete examples of a medieval Islamic city. Much of the historic centre, which is still intact, has been listed as a World Heritage Site by Unesco (1993) and contains numerous fabulous buildings.
Our guide today and tomorrow is Mumin. Another person with seemingly encyclopaedia knowledge and more stamina than a Turkmenistani horse, it turned out!!
Anyway, Mumin started with a mildly convoluted history pertaining to the Ark Fortress which we would see in the afternoon. In the meantime I did pick up Bukhara is about 2,500 years old and its name means "lucky place".
The first stop is almost next door, the 16th century Kukaldosh Madrassa. It looked a carbon copy to the one we stayed at in Khiva, but not refurbished. It was Bukhara's largest madrassa that had 160 students. Today it holds craft shops.
Attached is an old mosque also converted into "shops". One of them was a fabric/clothing place where Mumin showed us how ancient people used to cope with the "output" from young babies, including props!! I think I will leave this description at this point 😲.
Next it's a short hop over the road to another Madrassa. The Nodir Devonbegi Madrassa, a 17th-century caravanserai converted into an Islamic college. Its remarkable animal-and-bird mosaics make it one of Bukhara's most distinctive madrassas. It was renovated in 1985 from photos taken in 1911 (before it was destroyed in revolutionary times in the early 1920s).
Just outside is the Khodja Nasreddin Statue. A clever ordinary man who outwits the rich and powerful through humour and common sense.
By now our heads were starting to spin slowly with all the data Mumin was bombarding us with. So here are just a few other things I remember from the morning session:
- Bukhara had a canal system in the 16th century and ponds to provide a water source. Some are restored today. The Soviets built a water tower in 1953 which today is a visitor lookout.
- There's a tiny Jewish quarter. There are only 150 Jews in Bukhara. There used to be many more but they fled to Israel. Bukhara has the only Jewish school in central Asia though which is thriving apparently.
- We went to a puppet making workshop which was fascinating. Today they are made from papier mache rather than the leather and porcelain of yesterday. The puppeteer gave us a nice demonstration of how the puppets are moving.
- We wandered through trading domes, looked at caravanserais and looked at more magnificent madrassas, mosques and the famous minaret.
Then we had lunch! To be honest all a bit too much as it was also very hot! And we still had the Ark fortress to go afterwards but by this time nobody except Mumin was paying too much attention. And everyone switched off when he started to take us through each object in the museum starting sometime 4th century BCE 😉
Anyhow, the Ark Fortress was Bukhara's royal citadel and seat of government for centuries. Archaeology suggests a fortress existed here as early as the 4th–3rd centuries BC, although it was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt.
By the time of the Emirs of Bukhara, it was effectively a city within a city: around 3,000 people lived inside, with the Emir's palace, throne room, mosque, treasury, arsenal, government offices, workshops and accommodation for officials.
Much of it was destroyed in 1920, when the Red Army attacked Bukhara and the Ark was bombarded, bringing the Emirate to an end.
And by that point we were just about at the end - of our tether!! So we called a halt for the day and wandered back to the hotel. Unsurprisingly we had to stop for a beer at the first suitable watering hole 🤣🤣.
Bukhara has so much and is a fantastic place, better than Khiva in many ways. But it was tough going!
But after dinner we went back to the minaret and sampled the evening atmosphere and lights. We really like Bukhara.Leia mais
Getting out of Turkmenistan
14 de setembro, Turquemenistão ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Today is primarily a travel day as we say goodbye to Mary and head to the border to cross back over into Uzbekistan.
It's another long drive but on better roads and before we hit the highway we have a couple of short stops.
First is the Orthodox church of St Mary. Constructed in 1900 it was turned into a nightclub type venue in the Stalin period. In 1947 permission was granted to revert to it's intended use.
Next we stop at a cotton factory outlet as one of our travel companions, Ian, wanted a couple of shirts. We didn't buy anything (!) but Ian wasn't the only purchaser 😁
Then just before the nice smooth, toll road that takes us most of the way, we stop at a field of cotton. We walk into the bushes and find most seed heads have bloomed and the cotton is ready to pick. It's really easy to ease off the cotton wool. It still has seeds mixed in and these have to be separated, and used to make oil, before the cotton can be processed into textiles.
On the way our driver got stopped for speeding and, we assume, had to pay a big bribe 😂😂 especially as he grumpily had to come back to the car for more before the police were satisfied!
We stopped for lunch at Turkmenabad although Timur and Shelby didn't seem to have organised a venue beforehand. The driver of a separate car with our luggage in basically kidnapped a passerby to show us to a good restaurant 🤣🤣🤣
Eventually we got to the border and it took another monotonous 2 hours of waiting, shuttle buses and passport checks before we were through and on to Bukhara.
Felt like another long day and we were certainly ready for the beers after all that!Leia mais
Merv - one of world's great lost cities
13 de setembro, Turquemenistão ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
It's another early start today (alarm set for 4am) to catch a flight to Mary, a city in the southeast of TM.
There is a slight panic when one of our group isn't even awake 10 min before we want to depart for the airport - and no, it's not one of us; remember, we are the youngsters on this trip. The last two days have taken their toll. But all ends well and we get to the airport in time to make the flight.
Arriving in Mary after a short 40-minute flight, we are in desperate need of some coffee and tea. So why not stop at our hotel, drop off the luggage to top up on caffeine, even though we can't check in so early in the morning. In fact, it would have been great to have some breakfast there instead of the stale takeaway breakfast from the hotel in Ashgabat (which sadly most of us put in the bin anyway ... think some constructive criticism for our tour operator is in order).
The whole purpose for the trip to Mary is to visit Merv, one of the greatest oasis cities along the ancient Silk Road. It connected routes towards Bukhara and China, Khorezm, Persia & Afghanistan.
Merv was part of Alexander the Great's empire in the 4th century BCE but was most powerful during the Seljuk Empire in the 12th century. It was briefly considered the largest city in the world - home to roughly half a million people, famed for its massive libraries and rivaling cities like Baghdad, Cairo, and Constantinople as a centre of science, philosophy, and Islamic culture, before being destroyed by Mongol armies in 1221.
Since 1999, Ancient Merv is a UNESCO World Heritage site containing archaeological layers spanning over 4000 years.
A bit disappointing for us, the desert people did not build for eternity. With the main building material being clay, most of the structures are nothing more than mounds in the sand and no-one knows for certain what lies hidden beneath the ground within the ruins of the city. It may be houses or temples, perhaps even entire palaces.
In fact, Ancient Merv is so vast (roughly 20 square km), that we are driven between the different ruins.
As everywhere, history and legends are plentiful, but only a few things stick in my head at the end of the day ...
☝️The most memorable - shall I say legend that has nothing to do with the ruins is that at several places in Merv we were 'hijacked' by groups of young girls and families to have their pictures taken with us. It almost felt like being minor celebrities.
☝️ Greater and Lesser Kyz-Kala (8th–9th centuries), fortified mud-brick fortresses. While their exact purpose is debated - elite noble residences, fortified manors or storehouses - the architecture with corrugated columns is unique.
According to local folklore, Great Kyz Kala housed a fiercely independent princess, while the nearby Little Kyz Kala was home to young men and eager suitors. The princess decreed that she would only marry a man who could throw an apple all the way from the walls of the men's fortress across the expanse into her castle window.
After plenty of men failed, one clever suitor built a small catapult or sling and successfully launching the apple right into her room. And guess what?
She kept her word.
☝️As-Sahaba Complex. The twin domed tombs commemorate two 7th-century companions of the Prophet Muhammad. According to the legend Buraydah, one of the companions, met Muhammad while intending to capture him for a bounty on behalf of Buddhists, but was so moved upon meeting the Prophet that he converted immediately and became a follower and standard bearer of Mohammed
☝️Erk-Kala (6th century BC), the oldest of Merv structures, a massive circular citadel dating back to the Achaemenid Persian era.
After a steep but easy climb to the top, the view was really impressive, especially over the rounded fortress remains and the surrounding landscape of the desert.
☝️The Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar (12th century) houses the tomb of the last great ruler of the Seljuk Empire. Standing nearly 38 meters tall with massive brick dome and intricate geometric brickwork it is another masterpiece of medieval Islamic architecture according to the experts.
And of course, there is a legend ...
Sultan Sanjar fell in love with a magical winged fairy (or ghost). She agreed to marry him on three conditions: he must never watch her comb her hair, never look at her feet while she walked, and never hug her. Driven by curiosity, Sanjar broke all three: he peeked while she groomed and saw she removed her head to comb her hair. He saw she glided without her feet never touching the ground. When he tried to hold her, he felt she had no spine. Distraught by his betrayal, she transformed into a dove and flew into the sky. Before disappearing forever, she told Sanjar: "Build the highest building in the land with an hole in the roof; every Friday I will fly by so you can see me." Sanjar built the mausoleum with an open central skylight which is now right above his tomb.
☝️ The Muhammad ibn Zayd Mausoleum. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad which gave the shrine particular religious importance.
Just outside the entrance of the mausoleum grows a tamarisk tree. According to folk belief, prayers uttered near the saint's resting place carry special favour. For centuries, visiting pilgrims, particularly women praying for fertility, have tied colourful scraps of cloth to its branches to show their wishes.
It's taken a few hours to get around the ruins and as we didn't have any breakfast, we are all more than happy when it's time for lunch.
As a surprise, we have lunch at a small newly established family business with race horses, camels and plenty of traditional costumes.
Before we sit down for lunch, we learn about the famous TM horse breed, Akhal Teke (but I have forgotten everything already) and about wedding customs & costumes.
In fact, I had to take one for the team and model the traditional costume a bride would be wearing during the multi-day celebration and when moving into the household of the groom.
The bride is supposed to keep her eyes cast downward, maintaining a quiet, humble posture and don't speak directly to the new family. The
bowing I think comes automatically when wearing all the gear that I had to put on as it's bloody heavy (the full regalia can weigh up to 10 kg). The weight comes from layered fabrics and extensive silver jewelry designed to serve as both spiritual armour and financial security.
I was wearing a headdress & cape - a tall, rigid bridal cap adorned with silver plaques, coins, and bells. Draped over the entire head and shoulders is the 'kurte', a heavily embroidered cape or coat that conceals the bride from public gaze.
What's more, following the wedding, the bride practices modesty by covering the lower half of her face with a scarf and refraining from speaking aloud in the presence of her husband’s older male relatives (especially the father-in-law). She communicates through gestures or whispers to young children.
This goes on until eventually the groom’s parents and elder relatives perform the official ceremony to lift the kurte and inner veil. Looking at the bride's face requires paying tribute, so the in-laws offer her gifts of gold, fine silks, or cash before the veil is raised and formally welcoming her as their daughter.
Shelby mentioned that this can take up to 40 days. What a humiliating tradition!
On a more cheery subject ...
We had a lunch - as usual dining like kings and queens with huge amount of food - in one of their yurts.
And this time, the even opened a bottle of TM wine - more dessert wine but not bad.
Guess that was our pay for them to film us the whole time for their advertising on Instagram and Tik-tok. We are definitely becoming influencers 🤣🤣🤣
And don't think our opulent lunch was the last of the food of the day. We had another 'small' dinner in the evening.
... still need to write my 👣 about foodLeia mais
Nisa - the capital of the ancient Parthian Empire
12 de setembro, Turquemenistão ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
From Ashgabat, it's only a short trip to the excavations of old Nisa, one of the earliest and most vital royal strongholds of the Parthian Empire (3rd century BC – 3rd century AD).
While local residents always knew the mounds existed, Nisa was uncovered through several archaeological digs.
In the 1930s, Turkmen-Soviet archaeologists suggested that this might be the seat of the Parthian kings. But only in the 1950s and 1960s, did a TM team unearth the royal palace and other major treasures. Even now, fieldwork is ongoing by an Italian- Turkmen team.
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007, it represents a remarkable cultural crossroads where Persian royal traditions merged with Hellenistic Greek art and Central Asian nomad culture.
The Parthians are famous for:
☝️defeating the Romans, most notably at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC.
☝️their empire rivalling Rome by conquering Persia, Mesopotamia and modern Iraq
☝️ mastering mounted warfare with heavily armoured cavalry and expert horse archers; the origin of the famous "Parthian shot," where riders fired arrows backwards while retreating.
☝️creating a distinctive culture by blending Persian traditions with Hellenistic (Greek) artistic influence, e.g. beautiful ivory drinking horns decorated with scenes from Greek mythology
Turkmenbashi, the first president of independent Turkmenistan, integrated Nisa into his state-sponsored nation- building ideology and personal cult by rewriting history in the Ruhnama - his 'Book of the Soul", a mandatory philosophical text to be studied by every citizen designed to forge a unified national identity.
In it, he claimed that the Turkmen people had a continuous 5,000-year civilizational history directly descending from ancient empires, most notably the Parthians.
In reality, the ancient Parthians were an East Iranian-speaking society, whereas modern Turkmens are of Turkic origin.
Turkmenbashi bridged this gap ideologically, framing Nisa not as an Iranian or Hellenistic relic, but as a monument of Turkmen ancestral genius.
Turkmenbashi was so engrossed in that ideology that he built the Ruhy mosque and his mausoleum in a spot that can be easily seen through the remnants of Nisa's fortress wall.Leia mais
Ashgabat - city of ......
12 de setembro, Turquemenistão ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Whatever words you might use to describe Turkmenistans capital, Ashgabat, there would always be more that spring to mind. Surreal, dystopian, futuristic, fantastical, authoritarian, breathtaking, vibrant, Orwellian..... the list can go on with a wide variety of adjectives.
Its nickname is the city of lovers yet others seem more appropriate: city of contradictions, white city, city of the future.
It's actually a very young city, founded in about 1920 then virtually completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1948, rebuilt by the Soviets and finally, since a "Golden Age" was announced by the president in 2000, the city centre has been transformed by magnificent buildings and giant monuments made of marble. It's in the Guinness book of World Records for the most marble buildings in a city! (We'll gloss over the fact most of the marble is imported from Iran or China...)
Coming from the desert region, our driver has to show his documents before we can drive into the Ashgabat District. What's more, window shades are not allowed, so Birgit has to lower hers and sit in the sun instead. Just before reaching the city, we need to swap cars as the two we have been using in the desert are not allowed to enter the city.
The roads are worthy of an Oil-rich state - four lanes wide in each direction, illuminated by white, specially designed lights. But, hardly any traffic, not exactly a ghost city but the immediate impression is it's over the top for the needs of the normal citizen.
And the buildings are truly awesome. Huge, fantastic designed edifices spread around (this is not a walking city). Most seem to be universities, specialist medical centres or government departments. Indeed, if you work in a government department you also live in a block for civil servants of the department!
The parks are also massive and intricately designed and manicured. The roundabouts all have huge statues or centrepieces depicting something.
It's like no other place we've been to.
After an hour to freshen up we start our tour by going to the National Museum. It's as magnificent inside as it is outside, internally built with Italian marble. Only 2 floors are relevant, the first being all about ancient times, Alexander the Great and origins of the region. The second floor seems more about the current president, Turkmenistan position in the world i.e. a neutral country, and finally, a large section about horses! Somehow they missed out the part of the history of being part of the Russian empire in the 1800's and the Soviet empire in the 1900's....
Anyway, it's back on the bus towards Nisa - post Alexander the Great, the Parthians made Nisa an important royal centre from aenbashisround the 3rd century BC. Our visit there will be covered in a separate post but in the meantime we passed a few interesting monuments.
As mentioned above, TM is very proud of its neutrality. Thus they have a couple of monuments proclaiming that. In 1995, the UN formally recognised TM's status of permanent neutrality. The Monument of Neutrality commemorates this. Originally built in 1998 in the city centre, it is a huge three-legged structure topped by a golden statue of Turkmenistan's first president, Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashi).
Famously, the original statue rotated during the day so that Niyazov always faced the sun. The monument was dismantled and rebuilt on the outskirts of Ashgabat in 2010; the statue is still on top, but no longer rotates. I have to say it looked more like a space rocket to me 😂
Then we had a brief stop at the Independence monument. This celebrates TM becoming independent from the Soviet Union on 27 October 1991.
It's one of Ashgabat's characteristically enormous white-marble complexes. The central tower is 91 metres high with the final top part another 27 metres — therefore a symbolic number referring to 27 October 1991 . (We found out that symbolism is a big part of Ashgabat.) Around the monument are statues of important figures from Turkmen history, landscaped gardens and fountains.
Our final sightseeing stop was just outside Ashgabat for the mosque and mausoleum of Turkmenbashi. He designed it all himself and it was completed in 2004, two years before his death. Located in the village he was born in, it is another magnificent building. It's one of Central Asia's largest mosques, accommodating around 10,000 worshippers - women can pray on the upper floor whilst man use the main floor. Unusually—and controversially—the walls contain quotations not only from the Qur'an, but also from Turkmenbashi's own Ruhnama, his book of spiritual, moral and national teachings. The story goes that the Turkish builders of mosques around TM refused to build it because of this. So instead he found a French company who did it for the right price - not that we know how much it cost!
Just next door is the mausoleum he is buried in with the rest of his family.
Sightseeing done for now we headed for our guides favourite bar/restaurant in an older suburb of the city. It was totally western and the complete opposite of what we had been looking at the past few hours.
Finally on the way back to our hotel (in Ashgabat everything has to close by 11 pm), we admired all the buildings again but this time all illuminated. It was like Las Vegas, but spread over a much wider area.
What a surreal yet fascinating place. I could have easily spent another day there.Leia mais
The road out of hell
12 de setembro, Turquemenistão ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
After a sleepless night on the rather hard camp bed in the yurt, I am up early to catch the sunrise ...
After a quick and unhealthy breakfast and a rudimentary wash at the facilities, we start early to cover the remaining 280 km across the Karakum desert on the way to Ashgabat, the capital of TM.
On the way stop at two more craters, these are also collapsed drilling sites from the Soviet era, each with distinct features — the mud crater emits a strong odour and bubbling gases, while the water crater is filled with liquid where gas bubbles rise to the surface.
The road conditions are pretty much the same as yesterday. So we are shaken around again but we are promised an improvement of the road.
And hurray, after about 1.5 hrs when we reach the end of the desert and start getting closer to Ashgabat it's getting better!
Glad that's over!Leia mais
Driving to 'The Gate of Hell' and back
11 de setembro, Turquemenistão ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
After crossing the border we stopped in Dashogghoguz uz, the capital of the northern province for lunch before embarking on the long and bumpy road to Darvaza in the heart of the vast Karakum Desert, one of the largest sand deserts in the world.
Our destination is the 'Gate to Hell', a gas crater that has been burning for over 50 years and one of Turkmenistan's most unusual and surreal sights - so they say.
It's a journey of 370 km, about a 5 hour drive based on current road conditions. The first couple of hours go by in relative comfort but after that ...
Never have we seen or driven along a road that bad. In fact, it's so bad, that cars and trucks are driving off-road to avoid the worst sections.
The road built in mid-1990s is mainly used for transit from Iran through to Uzbekistan. Normal people wouldn't even use it, they fly instead.
Our driver was telling us that in 2016, it was still possible to cross the desert from Dashoguz to the Iranian border close to Ashgabat (540 km) in four hours - driving as a maniac I guess - now it takes lorries over 24 hours to make the journey. The road hasn't been maintained since 2008 and was definitely not built for the 40t lorries crossing it daily.
After just over 5 hours of being shaken around and feeling slightly worse for wear 😵💫 🫨, we finally make it to the gas crater at Darvaza aka 'Gate to Hell'.
Before 'checking in' at our yurt camp in the desert, we have a look at the famous gas crater. It's rather underwhelming to say the least.
Apparently, the flames are now less than an third they have been and might disappear fully in the future, especially now that the Chinese have started to pump out the underlying gas field.
This crater, set in the middle of the desert, has a diameter of 60-70 metres and is about 30 metres deep and was formed when a natural gas field collapsed into a crater during gas explorations by Soviet geologists in early 1970s. Apparently, it got covered up by the Soviets - our guide compared it to Chernobyl - until it became clear that something needed to be done against the foul-smelling methane gas.
The decision was taken to ignite it with the expectation that it would burn for a matter of days or weeks. Well, more than 5 decades later, it's still going (sort of).
So after a quick walk around the crater, we go to our yurt camp for some rest while our guides prepare dinner.
Having sat for most of the day, we spend some time wandering through the desert marvelling at the sunset.
As soon as the sun sets, it gets cold in the desert so I am quite happy to go back to the crater after dinner. The heat coming up from there is just lovely.
We get bored pretty quickly and after trying my luck on some astro photography, it's time for bed.Leia mais
Off to Turkmenistan ...
11 de setembro, Turquemenistão ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
It's a very early start today - we are up before the sun - to get to the border with Turkmenistan (TM) at Shavat as soon as it opens. It's the only border in this region that is open to foreigners. All foreigners including Uzbeks need a visa to get into TM with the exception of residents of the Shavat region as families are living either side of the border.
After about 40 min drive, we reach the Uzbek side of the border - meaning:
Everyone gets out of the minibus, picks up their luggage and then waits at the iron gates until the border guard lets us in.
Well, we have to hand our passport to the guard who is then leafing through all the pages before we are let through the gates - one at a time of course.
Next, all our luggage has to go through security screening before we join the next queue at border control. There is a short moment of apprehension when both our rucksacks are stopped for further investigation.
It seems we have rather a lot of medication in the bag - but none are banned substances - and they didn't like the shape of my power bank. Suppose to the weary eye, it could look like a bomb or a hand grenade as it doesn't have the typical brick like shape. But all good!
So, we wait for the actual border guards to inspect our passports and the required face screening. And we are almost through when there is a blip in the electricity - there we go, we think - but that's quickly sorted and we get our exit stamp.
One would think we are through now, but no! Take your luggage and walk for another 50m to the UZ gate to no-man's land. And here we go again, hand your passport over ... checking through all the pages before we are finally entering the neutral zone. It has taken us 75 min to get that far.
From here, it's about 1km to the border with TM. Luckily, there is a bus and we don't have to lug our luggage along the dusty road in the late morning heat.
Arriving at the border control post of TM, we are met by our TM guide - Shelby.
There is no way to travel in TM without an official, government approved travel agent.
And here begins the organised chaos. It's a small building with lots of groups - Japanese, Chinese, some Belgian, lots of locals and us congregating in a very small room. It's a bit of a squeeze.
First of all, having handed over our passports to our TM tour guide everyone has to 'park' their luggage somewhere in the room and queue to get a Covid test done while our tour guide queues to officially register our passports to get a bill per person for entering TM.
Done that, she collects the necessary dollars from everyone and queues at the cashier to pay for us to receive formal proof of payment while we wait patiently huddled around our luggage in a corner of the room.
Finally, having received the handwritten paper confirming that we have paid our dues, we are asked to move our luggage to another corner of the room ever so slightly closer to the actual border control booths. The masses in the little room move like tides - every new bus load from the UZ border starts a new wave.
But finally, it's our turn to queue up at border control which actually moves rather quickly. Hand over your passport to the border guard, smile for another picture to be taken and leave your thumb prints. Hey presto, in less than 10 mins we are through.
Actually, no, not yet.
Our luggage has to go through security screening again - well, understandable - and we have to hand over our passports to the guard manning the security screening ... who leafs through all the pages of the passport.
That's it we think and pack away our passports. But hey no!
Leaving the building, we have to handover our passports to the doorman who leafs through ....
It must be it now - surely!
Well, think again. We have to handover our passports to two more guards who...... before we are finally let out through the iron gates and officially enter TM 🙌
All in all it took about 2.5 hours - almost equally split between leaving UZ and entering TM - and handing over our passports 10 times. Apparently, quite a record as Timur, our general guide, said it can easily take 4 hours.
So then, how about the country?
In lots of the books I read, TM is often described as the "North Korea of Central Asia" because it has long been one of the world's most isolated and tightly controlled countries. Not surprisingly having jumped through all the hoops to get our visa to start with and then crossing the border.
However, the comparison is not exact but several features have led to the nickname:
☝️Authoritarian rule: Since independence in 1991, the country has been ruled by highly centralized presidency with very little political opposition. Elections are not considered free or competitive by international observers. In fact, the current president is the son of the previous president.
☝️Cult of personality: The first president, Saparmurat Niyazov (who called himself Turkmenbashi, "Leader of the Turkmen"), promoted an extensive personality cult. His portraits were everywhere. He even declared himself as President for life.
The father of the current President called Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow changed his name to Arkadag, meaning The Protector. An entire smart city built outside Ashgabat, along with television channels, monuments, and a top-tier football club, is named Arkadag in his honour.
The current President is called Arkadagly signifying that he has the backing, protection, and legacy of his father. Also, he has been awarded with
Hero of Turkmenistan status and his portraits are everywhere
☝️ Restrictions on civil liberties:
International watchdogs, United Nations committees, and foreign observers consistently rank Turkmenistan among the most restrictive and repressive countries in the world with strong digital censorship Internet access is among the most restricted and expensive globally. Major social media platforms (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp) and independent news websites are blocked.
☝️Isolation: Our experience confirms that the government tightly controls tourism, visas, and contact with the outside world, making it difficult for foreigners to visit and for citizens to travel abroad. However, with the new President this seems to improve.
In 2025, 40,000 tourists visited TM while the year before it was only 12,000.
Despite these similarities, there are important differences from North Korea. Turkmenistan is proud of it's neutrality, has a much smaller military, maintains diplomatic and trade relations with many countries, exports large amounts of natural gas, and does not pursue nuclear weapons. It is definitely less confrontational internationally.
It will be interesting to spend some time with our official tour guide and hear her views.
Let the next part of our adventure begin!Leia mais
Aimlessly wandering around Khiva
10 de setembro, Usbequistão ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
There is no agenda today, so we wander around Khiva to catch a few glimpses of local life, people and capture some last impressions of Ichan Kala, the walled old town.
We also had a look at the fake tombs outside the south gate of the city. The primary legend surrounding these tombs is that they served as a defensive deterrent against invading Muslim forces and nomadic raiders. In Islamic military and cultural ethics, stepping over or desecrating graves is considered severely sinful and forbidden. The city’s defenders deliberately constructed graves and cenotaph-style mounds along vulnerable approaches and the inner base of the walls, calculating that pious invaders would refuse to charge through, scale, or drive siege equipment across a burial ground.
So farewell Khiva, you gave a fascinating view of life in a different world.Leia mais
The story of Mennonites in Khiva
10 de setembro, Usbequistão ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
We were totally surprised to learn that Mennonites, a unique German- speaking religious community (from Switzerland and Netherland) migrated to Central Asia in the 1880s, settling in a village near Khiva.
So far, we have only come across Mennonites during our trip to North America - perhaps this shows our ignorance 🙈
Their influence on local life, education and even food is quite profound. So much so that there is actually a little museum documenting the community's lasting cultural and agricultural imprint on the region.
Initially, Mennonites moved from Switzerland and the Netherlands to Russia mainly because of religious persecution in Western Europe and the promise of land, religious freedom, and exemption from military service offered by the Russian Empire in the late 18th century. But then moved further eastward after Russia threatened to end their exemption from military service.
Muhammad Rahim Khan II - the Khan of Khiva - invited the Mennonites as they were seen as skilled workers, especially in agriculture.
Our guide told us, that some of the most eaten vegetables in Uzbekistan have actually been introduced by the Mennonites - crops like potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes, and aubergine.
Believe me, we had aubergine 🍆 and tomato 🍅, practically with every meal!!
Mennonites set up schools to teach their skills in carpentry, farming, and mechanics, influencing Khiva’s economy and technology. They even introduced photography - which is actually frowned upon in Islamic culture but the Khan was quite happy to have his picture taken.
Ultimately, the Mennonites disappeared from Uzbekistan with younger generations being either increasingly assimilated into Soviet society or emigration to Germany and North America
Sadly, we weren't supposed to take pictures in the little museum. Cheekily Fergus managed to get a couple.
There was even a picture of the German Bundespresident Steinmeyer with the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev (May 2019), when President Steinmeier travelled to Khiva to explore its historic heritage of the German Mennonites. Unfortunately, we couldn't snap a photo of it.Leia mais
Ichan-Kala's gorgeous bronze sculptures
10 de setembro, Usbequistão ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
We have seen plenty (and frankly enough) of the historic buildings and Madrassas in Khiva.
So for our free day, we were looking for a different sort of sightseeing!
There are a few contemporary bronze sculptures dotted around Ichan-Kala, depicting everyday historical Khorezmian life and creating a modern contrast to the city’s grand Islamic architecture.
So we went on a bit of a treasure hunt to find the most iconic ones.
☝️Camel Caravan Sculpture - Silk Road merchants, loaded camels, and caravaneers are placed near the fortified entrance of the Western gate honoring Khiva's history as a major Silk Road trading oasis.
☝️Elders at the Chaikhana (teahouse) - two older men laughing and relaxing on a traditional wooden daybed. Next to them are tea bowls, a traditional teapot, and a samovar, capturing Central Asian tea culture.
☝️Boys with Watermelon - two boys sharing a massive slice of melon while sitting on a wooden log. One wears a traditional Khorezmian sheepskin hat while the other wears a traditional skullcap. It captures the region's famous melon-growing heritage and local childhood life.
☝️Boy Musician / group of musicians - in traditional garb playing regional instruments, paying tribute to Khorezm’s folk musical heritage.
☝️Kurash Wrestlers - two athletes locked in Kurash, the ancient national belt-wrestling sport of Uzbekistan that dates back millennia.
And finally, we were on the hunt for the sculpture of Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi - a 9th-century polymath born in Khorezm whose treatise gave birth to the word algebra and whose name is the root of the word algorithm.
Well, we were walking around for quite a while and finally gave up!
Telling AI that the sculpture actually no longer exists, it came back with ...
" You are spot on, the original bronze statue from the Soviet era (erected in 1983 for his 1200th anniversary) was dismantled and removed from that main square outside the West Gate back in the early 2010s during city modernization works.
Many guidebooks and travel blogs still list it as if it were standing right by the ticket gates, but the plaza has since been cleared and redesigned"
What can I say 🤷🤷Leia mais