The Walled City of Khiva

Yesterday was an all-day drive from Bukhara.

But it was worth the wait to see Khiva, a 2,500-year-old oasis city near Uzbekistan’s border with Turkmenistan. It was once a crucial trading post on the Silk Road. Its walled inner city is a UNESCO World Heritage site filled with restored architecture, minarets and palaces. We felt like we were walking in a movie set.

Today was a no-bus day, so we were able to spend the whole day wandering through the narrow streets of the walled city. We visited a couple of museums that were once mosques or schools; had a mid-morning cold beverage break from the 90/100 degree heat on a terrace overlooking the inner walled city; spent time in a royal residence; and spontaneously stopped in to a wood-carving workshop where Abdu knows the family.

We also learned about Ármin Vámbéry, who was a 19th-century Hungarian explorer who traveled through the territory of modern-day Uzbekistan in 1863. Disguised as a Sunni dervish, he was one of the first Europeans to explore the closed khanates of Central Asia. He couldn’t be caught making notes, since discovery as a European or a spy meant almost certain imprisonment or execution. So he had to memorize an immense amount of religious, cultural, and linguistic information before he could publish his findings upon his return. His book provided the Western nations with vital geographic, political, and cultural insights into the region.

As we walked along the mostly pedestrian streets, we came across a couple of women making large, flavored flatbread (tomato, herbs and onion) for their family in a communal oven. They insisted we stop to watch them make it, and gave us one to share. They also whipped out tea cups and started passing tea around to us. It was very kind and generous of them. Abdu left some money for them under a pot on the counter, as they never would have accepted payment.Read more