Khiva, Uzbekistan

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.

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.

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

Bhukara, Uzbekistan

After an early breakfast, of which the yummy fruit will be truly missed, we caught a taxi to the Samarkand railway station. When we said goodbye to Farhot, the receptionist, he gave us both emotional hugs and thanked us for being good people. We enjoyed chatting to him and learnt he was a great Frank Sinatra fan and would listen to his music in the office. If people couldn't pronounce his name he called himself Frank. I also introduced him to Dean Martin singing with Frank and he recognised some of the songs as ones he had learnt during his English lessons.When we paid the taxi driver he returned some of the money we had given him, so we think maybe Farhot had told him not to overcharge us.

We expected a major bag inspection at the station but instead were waved through with our passports. The train we were booked on was the Afrosiab, the fast train. Most of the journey was through the desert at 230kms per hour. There were a couple of stops in small towns and the seats had lots of space and we arrived after 90 minutes. There was not much to see other than small sage bushes and broken irrigation channels.

Our hotel was recommended by some Dutch travellers in Tashkent and a little more expensive than we usually get but it was a delight. We had a huge new modern room and staff serviced it everyday which was a real treat. The hotel had a breakfast dining room overlooking a courtyard under a huge ornate wooden verandah. Nearly everyone who came to breakfast would get out their cameras and take photos.

We had a chef who would cook eggs with or without extras. John couldn't resist the omelets. I was up for the curried cauliflower and potatoes.

We were a few steps off the Lyabi Hauz- the main plaza built around a 1620's pool and surrounded by old mulberry trees that have seen the goings on since that time. We were entertained by the children clambering up the huge slippery bronze statue of a rider on his donkey, while family tried to photograph them.

A small group of grey-bearded old men clanked their dominoes down on a table as losers left the group and waiting challengers entered.

A band was playing at a stage set up outside the Nadir Divanbegi Medressa as young children danced along. They were part of the entertainment for Independence Day and sounded nothing like the military band at the rehearsals in Samarkand. Small children were out with their families licking on fast melting ice creams in the early evening. A great place for people watching.

We found a person to change money in the carpet bazaar and after looking at the top 10 restaurants on Tripadvisor chose one with a terrace a short walk away. It filled up with several tour groups as the evening wore on. They get places set for them and then have to eat a set meal while we at least got to choose our repast along with a couple of cold beers made by Carlsberg under licence in Uzbekistan.

An Australian group of tourists arrived at the hotel and at breakfast we met a retired couple who originally came from Tauranga but have now lived 40 years in Adelaide. They had relatives who live not far from our house.

As the temperatures are in the late 30's we like to head off to see the sights in the morning and then sit in the airconditioned room until the late afternoon before heading out again. If we time it right, we get to chat to our family back in NZ.

We visited the Ark, which is a huge spectacular walled fortress dating back to the 5th century BC. It housed the royal suites but today contains museums. In the 1920s, it was bombed by the Red Army so much has been rebuilt. We encountered a group of tourists in wheelchairs here. They had a lot of supporters and even a chair loaded up with ramps and various aides that they may have needed to make their sightseeing easier. There were many steps of varying heights and one side of them was often poorly ramped but they were able to get to the main areas of the Ark.

We visited the Kalon Minaret which was built in 1127 and is 47 metres. tall. Legend has it that Arslan Khan killed an imam after a quarrel. That night in a dream the imam told him to lay his head in a spot where no one can tread, so he was placed under the minaret. It's 10 metre  deep foundations were also filled with reeds as a form of earthquake proofing. Chinggis Khan found it so impressive he spared it from destruction.

Nearby is the Kalon Mosque which was built in the 16th century on a mosque site that Chinggis Khan had levelled. Tradesmen were scrapping back plaster and repainting the arches during our visit. It is big enough for 10,000 people.

Under the Soviets it was used as a warehouse and reopened in 1991. Most of the area around here are being dug up and renovated. The whole outside was a mess of sand, gravel, stones and pavers. The new president is spending a lot of money in Samarkand and here.

We got a text to say our Beeline Uzbekestan telephone number had been disconnected. We have learnt to copy the SMS texts that come in Uzbek and have them translated by Google translator. We hunted out a Beeline shop and joined about 50 other locals with phone issues. I thrust the SMS text in front of the overworked salesman and after paying 6c per day for the next 20 days we were back on line with internet data to see us through the rest of our stay here. It is especially useful when using Google maps to get about, translate in shops, and to use when the internet is slow in the hotel. We have also learnt to tether the phone to the netbook as a mobile hotspot.

Char Minar, a gatehouse to a medressa that disappeared long ago. It was built in 1807.

The domes cool the interior of the bazaar.

Checked out a couple of carpet shops and got the salesman's gen on the differences between cotton and silk carpets and Japanese and Uzbek ones. There were some lovely huge carpets but it is such a complicated business to know which have been handmade and which have been made in factories in China. These things dictate the price so it can be costly for a novice. Everywhere you go someone is trying to sell you ceramic plates or embroidered fabric.

Met up with Jacky from Gran Canaries and found a restaurant with some vegetarian options for her. It ranked highly as a place to eat but we found it only had a small range of dishes but could at least enjoy the cool breeze on the top floor and a pleasant sunset. We have enjoyed getting to know more about her and her plans to go onto Nepal and then Bhutan before spending time in Vietnam and Myanmar.

The last emir of Bhukara, Emir Alim Khan, has a summer palace a short taxi ride from Lyabi Hauz. When we first arrived we couldn't believe it, it too was looking like a construction site. The receptionist was very chatty and seemed to know a lot about NZ from a TV documentary so we had a long chat with her.

Ceiling

Detail of the ceramic front of the fireplace.

The palace had a guesthouse, a harem and a pool. Russian architects designed it and it is a mix of styles. John was especially taken with the craftsmanship of the plaster work. There were many similarities with our hotel's breakfast room and the palace rooms which would have been about the same era. It was sad to see that they do not maintain the outside of the buildings as birds nest in the gutters and damaged timber work. There were lots of staff members keeping an eye on each room but some would have been better utilised working on maintenance to keep these treasures for the future.

The old city wall

We walked around the old town to see the remnants of the old city wall as well as the oldest building in the city being the Ismail Somani Mausoleum.

It was built in 905 and the patterns on the intricate baked terracotta walls are eye catching. It was situated in a children's park which in the 39 DegC heat of the day was very quiet. Other than the tourists, a small group of policemen ate at a table in the shade, and gardeners weeded and watered. It is nice to be able to spend a little of each day visiting sites rather than seeing everything in a couple of days like most of the tour groups.

Musical instruments for sale

A collection of Soviet badges for sale. We remember our first visit to the USSR in 1975 when the children would trade these for chewing gum.

Birds in cages outside the village houses.

Next stop  - further along the Silk Road to Khiva.