Caught a taxi out to the shared taxi park a wee way out of Bhukara where we were ushered into the last two seats by the waiting driver. A very pregnant woman and a young tired teenager shared the ride to Khiva.
There was not much to see along the way. It is desert with military posts and the odd petrol or gas station. Out taxi ran on CNG so when he needed to refill we had to get out of the vehicle , exit the gas station and find a shady spot to wait with other vehicle's passengers. John saw one camel in the distant and the odd herder with his sheep and goats. As we neared Urgench we saw several oil and gas refineries in the haze.
Urgench is a transport hub and where the train stops as there is no connection with Khiva. We also had to transfer to another taxi and were joined by a Spanish guy to Khiva. He hadn't booked any accommodation so managed to get a bed at the same place as us.
A mobile pie and bread oven at the taxi stop.
The hotel is pretty big and we asked for a quiet room and luckily got one with an external window. It has its own bathroom and a fridge which was nice as temperatures hover around the high 30 Deg's here. The hotel can hold 80 guests and some are in a nearby building but we all meet between 7 and 9 am for breakfast.
Khiva was founded when Shem, Noah's son, discovered a well here. In the 8th century it was a minor fort and trading post on a side branch of the Silk Route. Later the town became a busy slave market.
Khiva has many historic sites and you buy a ticket to see them all. Some are old medressas and mausoleums for famous Kiva scientists, musicians, and leaders. Over our time in Khiva we have managed to visit all the sites that were open and not under renovation, probably making us the only tourists to have done so, as most are not so interesting or significant to non-Muslims. Every room has a person supervising your visit and trying to sell you souvenirs of knitted wool socks, decorated plates, embroidered cushion covers or silk scarves.
Inside the Juma mosque
Detail of a pillar
Our hotel owner printed out a map for us to find the historic sites. He had listened to numerous guests complain about how difficult it was to find the sites from the tourist office map so he made one with numbers matching the ticket and it was so easy to find our way around. We are staying inside the city walls in the old part so it is a short walk from one end of the old city to the other.
City gate
We noticed a sign up advertising a music festival and after a visit to the tourist office we were told that it would run for three days. Every day there were small groups of musicians playing in different parts of the city. For two nights we assembled at the Ark where dance groups from different regions of the country presented their items.
On the final night the square was set up for the presentation of carpets to the winners in different categories. A television presenter interviewed me on what we had learnt about Khiva and what we thought Uzbekistan could do to improve. She said she would send the film clip to us, so we shall see if that happens. Some male teens were watching and giggling and she soon gave them a growling putting them in their place.
Most people do not stay long here as everything can be seen in a full day. We met a German man we had met in Bhukara and he took a full day tour to visit the Aral Sea. He said it was a long hot drive and had spent most of the time in the car so did not recommend it. There is not much to see there other than a dried up lake bed and fishing trawlers marooned as a result. The Aral Sea was once the world's fourth largest lake. It is now recognised as the world's worst man-made ecological disaster after the rivers feeding it were diverted for irrigation purposes.
The USSR's central planners wanted to boost cotton production for the textile industry and they planted more fields of poor desert soil and increased irrigation with unlined canals. By the 1980s the annual flow into the Aral Sea was a tenth of the 1950,s supply. The two main fishing ports were abandoned and the 60,000 people who lived off the industry are almost all gone. The 173 animal species who used to live there are now only 38. The climate changed to longer hotter summers and longer colder winters as a result. The salt and dust are blamed for cancers of the throat and oesophagus. The drinking water is implicated in typhoid, hepatitis and dysentery; increasing infant mortality rates. Cotton is still grown and needs high levels of pesticide and fertilisers which are now found in water, human and animal milk, as well as in fruit and vegetables.
Local women
We read that the Uzbek government was going to stop the currency black market in 2018 so were surprised to find that they had indeed stopped it on 5 September 2017. The black market rate was double the official government rate but now it is the same as it.This means we are getting more value when we spend but the poor locals have to pay double to get foreign currency. Overnight money exchange buildings have popped up in the city in tiny dark hot rooms. Previously we got 1,000 and 5,000 som notes and now we have brand new 10,000 and 50,000 (equals to $6 US) ones. No more backpacks full of notes when we change money!
Previously we had to pay for our hotel in US dollars but now we must pay for it in soms so we have had to work out how many som we need and get just enough to see us over our last few days in Uzbekistan. Their new President is making changes quickly.
A local dish of mutton stew and noodles made with dill
Knotting carpets of silk
A mosaic used in the design for local carpets
Mud brick houses of the old city
Next stop - overnight in Bhukara and then onto Mary, Turkmenistan
There was not much to see along the way. It is desert with military posts and the odd petrol or gas station. Out taxi ran on CNG so when he needed to refill we had to get out of the vehicle , exit the gas station and find a shady spot to wait with other vehicle's passengers. John saw one camel in the distant and the odd herder with his sheep and goats. As we neared Urgench we saw several oil and gas refineries in the haze.
Urgench is a transport hub and where the train stops as there is no connection with Khiva. We also had to transfer to another taxi and were joined by a Spanish guy to Khiva. He hadn't booked any accommodation so managed to get a bed at the same place as us.
A mobile pie and bread oven at the taxi stop.
The hotel is pretty big and we asked for a quiet room and luckily got one with an external window. It has its own bathroom and a fridge which was nice as temperatures hover around the high 30 Deg's here. The hotel can hold 80 guests and some are in a nearby building but we all meet between 7 and 9 am for breakfast.
Khiva was founded when Shem, Noah's son, discovered a well here. In the 8th century it was a minor fort and trading post on a side branch of the Silk Route. Later the town became a busy slave market.
Khiva has many historic sites and you buy a ticket to see them all. Some are old medressas and mausoleums for famous Kiva scientists, musicians, and leaders. Over our time in Khiva we have managed to visit all the sites that were open and not under renovation, probably making us the only tourists to have done so, as most are not so interesting or significant to non-Muslims. Every room has a person supervising your visit and trying to sell you souvenirs of knitted wool socks, decorated plates, embroidered cushion covers or silk scarves.
Inside the Juma mosque
Detail of a pillar
City gateWe noticed a sign up advertising a music festival and after a visit to the tourist office we were told that it would run for three days. Every day there were small groups of musicians playing in different parts of the city. For two nights we assembled at the Ark where dance groups from different regions of the country presented their items.
On the final night the square was set up for the presentation of carpets to the winners in different categories. A television presenter interviewed me on what we had learnt about Khiva and what we thought Uzbekistan could do to improve. She said she would send the film clip to us, so we shall see if that happens. Some male teens were watching and giggling and she soon gave them a growling putting them in their place.
Man with a traditional hat
Most people do not stay long here as everything can be seen in a full day. We met a German man we had met in Bhukara and he took a full day tour to visit the Aral Sea. He said it was a long hot drive and had spent most of the time in the car so did not recommend it. There is not much to see there other than a dried up lake bed and fishing trawlers marooned as a result. The Aral Sea was once the world's fourth largest lake. It is now recognised as the world's worst man-made ecological disaster after the rivers feeding it were diverted for irrigation purposes.
The USSR's central planners wanted to boost cotton production for the textile industry and they planted more fields of poor desert soil and increased irrigation with unlined canals. By the 1980s the annual flow into the Aral Sea was a tenth of the 1950,s supply. The two main fishing ports were abandoned and the 60,000 people who lived off the industry are almost all gone. The 173 animal species who used to live there are now only 38. The climate changed to longer hotter summers and longer colder winters as a result. The salt and dust are blamed for cancers of the throat and oesophagus. The drinking water is implicated in typhoid, hepatitis and dysentery; increasing infant mortality rates. Cotton is still grown and needs high levels of pesticide and fertilisers which are now found in water, human and animal milk, as well as in fruit and vegetables.
We read that the Uzbek government was going to stop the currency black market in 2018 so were surprised to find that they had indeed stopped it on 5 September 2017. The black market rate was double the official government rate but now it is the same as it.This means we are getting more value when we spend but the poor locals have to pay double to get foreign currency. Overnight money exchange buildings have popped up in the city in tiny dark hot rooms. Previously we got 1,000 and 5,000 som notes and now we have brand new 10,000 and 50,000 (equals to $6 US) ones. No more backpacks full of notes when we change money!
Previously we had to pay for our hotel in US dollars but now we must pay for it in soms so we have had to work out how many som we need and get just enough to see us over our last few days in Uzbekistan. Their new President is making changes quickly.
A local dish of mutton stew and noodles made with dill
A mosaic used in the design for local carpets
Mud brick houses of the old city
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