Tag: Uzbekistan

Khiva – saving the best for last

On By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

After a leisurely morning (not common on this trip so made the most of it) we boarded a bus for a 9am departure for our long day of driving to Khiva – around 8-9 hours.  Thankfully, it was a big 30 seater bus for only 14 people, so we had plenty of room to spread out and make ourselves comfortable.

Today’s drive took as through the Kyzylkum desert – Kyzylkum meaning ‘red sand’ in Turkic languages which covers an area of almost 300,000km2 over Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.  It sits between two rivers, Amu Barya and Syr Darya and for some time the road ran along the Amu Barya and we could see the border posts running along the Turkmen side of the river border.

Interestingly there is an autonomous region situated in the desert called Karakalpakstan, the capital of which is Nukus.  The Karakalpaks are closely related to the Kazaks but there is little written about their origins.  Despite being part of the Soviet Union during their occupation it was still considered an autonomous republic and because of this, and its remote location, very few Russians ever visited the region,. For these reasons, the area was apparently used to store ‘forbidden’ art during the Soviet period.  (Forbidden art being images that depicted sad people, cloudy skies, rich people 🤔 🤔 – because of course in the Soviet Union everyone was happy and equal, and the sun was always shining!)

The first 100km of the road was terrible but thankfully it improved after that when we reached the concrete part of the road.  A concrete road seemed odd at first but made a lot of sense as it does not melt in the high heat the desert can experience!  I was also surprised to find clean western toilets at roadside cafés/restaurants – basically in the middle of nowhere 🤔.  This was a very pleasant surprise. 

As with all good road trips in the region, we passed several Ladas, many stacked with so many heavy bags I was surprised they could move at all lol

The final hour took us back on a bad road as the desert turned into green fields as we approached the city of Khiva. 

When we arrived, we had some free time and I took the chance to start to explore.  Our hotel was close to the walls of the old or inner city (known as Itchan Kala) and the route in to the old city took me through a labyrinth of dirt streets with mud walls where people lived and were going about their normal business, children playing and people watering down the dust.  Many of the houses had chillies hanging outside the doors which apparently provide spiritual protection for those who live there.

Once through the houses, you arrive in the centre of the old city where you find the monuments, the traders and the paved streets and I was just in time for sunset so I stopped off for a beer to watch the setting sun – it was definitely worth the wait as it was spectacular behind the famous landmarks.

For dinner we were treated to a well-known Uzbek dish (and a speciality of Khiva) called Shivit Oshi.  Bright green noodles which have been infused with dill, giving them not only their colour but their tasty flavour.  (Clearly you can tell from the photo that I am more interested in eating the food than taking a photo of it!!  The photography is always an afterthought lol.)

The following day, the group walking tour was not starting until 10am so I jumped at another opportunity to get out early to explore on my own.  It was cool and peaceful and for me, the perfect time to be exploring, passing children going to school and street cleaners out and about sweeping the streets. And the best thing – virtually no tourists – I wish all day could be like this 😂🤦🏻‍♀️.  Apparently, the city receives less tourists than other Uzbek cities because of it’s out of the way location, but I think it is probably my favourite city we visited in Uzbekistan.

Khiva started life as a Silk Road caravan stop more than 2,500 years ago and the old city was the first site in the country to be listed by UNESCO on their World Heritage list. 

Legend has it, the city was founded by Shem, a son of Noah (of the Ark fame).  After the great flood, he was wandering in the desert and dreamt of 300 torches.   He believed this to be a good omen so he a dug well and built a fortress.  (Apparently, the well still exists today but it is in someone’s garden!) The name Khiva is said to have come from “Khey Vakh” – meaning “What a pleasure”, which is what people exclaimed when they tasted the water from Shem’s well!

Historically Khiva was ruled by a Genghisid dynasty (Huns who were descendants of Genghis Khan) and in the 17th century, it was home to a large slave market and it is thought that many of the slaves (mostly Persian) were used to construct the city walls we see today.

The current city walls sit around Itchan Kala (the inner city) and it is believed that the foundations were laid in the 10th century, however much of the current day walls (up to 10 metres in height and 6 metres thick in some places) date back to the 17th century.  Our local guide (Maxhfirat) told us that the width of the walls (at the top) was important as they allowed carriages to drive around them and deliver ammunition during battles.

There are 4 monumental gates into the Itchan Kala today – north, south, east and west.  People had to pay tax at the western gate to enter the inner city to sell the goods.  Oddly, this is still somewhat true today as tourists have to pay/purchase entrance tickets at the western gate to enter (though you can just walk through the others without a ticket check lol). 

Khiva was a centre for education so there are many madrassahs within the walls of the inner city, but there are no functioning Mosques or madrassahs today.    Our guide told us about the long process of education at the height of Khiva’s golden years.  It took 6 years of study to become a teacher and 10 years to be a judge!  During the final exam, the students had to ‘invent’ something – if they didn’t, they would have to study another 3 years.  Luckily all these years of education were free!

For our day of sightseeing, it was a pleasant 32c but it can get up to 50 and there is very little rain. (It can also get as low as -20C in the winter!) Most of the main monuments face north to catch a breeze for natural ventilation.

And so we started our guided tour of some of the 50+ historical monuments in the inner city and we started with what is the main symbol of Khiva – the beautiful, but unfinished blue tower (the fat one lol) – official name Kalta Minor (meaning Short Minaret).  It was supposed to be a great minaret, between 70-110m tall depending on your source, but when the Khan (Muhammad Amin Khan) died fighting in Iran in 1855, his brother who succeeded him, did not continue the build so it stayed at 29m and 14.5m diameter at the base.  It is also the only minaret in Central Asia completely covered in glazed tiles which is part of its beauty. 

There are many legends as to why it was not finished and the one our guide told us was that the Bukhara Khan was jealous of the Khiva Khan building the tallest minaret, so he asked the same master to build a taller one for him in Bukhara (in some stories he has already agreed to do this). The Khiva Khan heard about this and said he would kill the master when he was finished in Khiva so he could not build another one.  The master learnt of the threat and escaped the city – never to finish the Khiva minaret, nor to build one anywhere else.

The tiles are in 3 colours – Blue for the sky, white for the pure soul and turquoise for Islam and nature.  It is not a coincidence that these are the same colours on the Uzbek flag.  It was so beautiful and to be honest I don’t believe photos do it justice.  I kept finding myself drawn back to it to see it in different lights, from different actions.

Our next stop was one of the Khan palaces, the earliest one, built in the 17th century.  The palace effectively has 3 walls – the outer city walls, the inner city walls and then the palace walls. 

The grand reception hall was made up of several parts including an area where guests were reviewed and taught how to behave in front of the Khan who sat outside in the summer and inside in the winter.  It even has different entry doors depending on the status of the visitors.  Of course, the Khan had a special door just for him.  He even had a yurt in the outside area where he accepted people from nomadic tribes.

Our guide explained the incredible skill required to build and tile these rooms.  The tiles of these era were made by masters called ‘magicians’ – the tiles are not in line with each other to ensure the weight is equally dispersed but despite this the pattern appears as one – as if like magic!

Did you know that there are two types of mosques?  An everyday Mosque and a Friday Mosque – not surprisingly, the Friday Mosques tend to be bigger and grander as everyone prays together on the holy day, including the Khan. The Djuma (or Juma) Mosque is a unique example of a Friday mosque as it is one of the few Mosques without a domed roof and because it has 218 wooden columns supporting its roof.  As it lacks the domed roof, they used ceramic jars for acoustics so that capacity of 5,000 people could hear clearly!

The pillars are all different as they have been donated by different families/people over the years.  Apparently 4-5 pillars date back to the original 10th century structure, and 8 are from the 12th century.  One in particular (with a ying yang symbol) was donated in the 14th century by a Chinese Silk Road trader. 

There are several really interesting techniques used to maintain the columns throughout the years.   Firstly, the use of camel wool in middle between the column and the and pillar at the base.  Apparently, this not only helps protect the column in earthquakes as it absorbs some of the movement, but it also stops bugs getting into the wood as the camel wool has special smell that insects don’t like!  Secondly, a Mulberry tree is planted in the middle of the open area to help protect the pillars from humidity.

Unfortunately, the Mosque was used as a storage room during Soviet times and all the rice and wheat bought lots of termites so many of the columns have required replacement in more recent years.   That said, it was crazy to me, that wooden pillars from the 10th century are just left for people to touch … if something existed like this at home is would be inside an environmentally controlled barrier!!!

It really is a stunning and unique piece of ancient architecture and a perfect location of another pre wedding photo shoot with another stunning couple.   👍🏻

We next visited another palace and definitely the most elaborate.  Tash-Khauli, the main palace of the Khiva rulers, built between 1830-1838 for Allakuli-Khan.  Legend has it the Khan was not happy that it took 8 years to build as he wanted it finished in 2 years and numerous master builders lost their heads over the delay!

The whole palace is made up of a labyrinth of corridors making it difficult for any intruders to find their way in or out – thankfully, our guide knew her way around!  The corridors are cool, even in the heat due to the thickness of the walls and it was incredible as you keep walking out of the cool dark corridors into beautiful sun filled courtyards.  The Khan’s chambers and harem were reachable by just one secret corridor.  Not surprisingly, the Khan’s room is the largest and most elaborately decorated.

Speaking of the harem, did you know that the Khan could legally have only 4 wives, but of course he can supplement them with concubines (of which he had around 40).  Now that is certainly enough to keep a man busy, especially as he had to give all 4 of his legal wives equal attention as any of their children could be the future Khan!  Apparently, the Khan would choose his successor based on exam results!

The Concubines on the other hand had no rights and nor did their children, but they could study in madrassahs which is something they may not otherwise have been able to do.  Concubines, who were always very beautiful, were only ‘in service’ for 2-3 years on average.  They were very well paid, got expensive presents and in most cases could go on to have a good marriage with an upper class man.  For this reason, parents were often more than happy for their daughters to become Concubines to the Khan.  Concubines were also sourced from the slave market (which finished in 1873), these girls, often from Russia or other parts of Europe and upon the end of their ‘service’ were given their freedom.

From time to time, wives and concubines would get jealous and poison each other if they thought they were getting special treatment, hence why the Khan had a secret corridor to his room so they could not see who he was favouring.  If only the walls could talk in the Khan’s bedroom!

As with the first palace we visited, Tash-Hauli Palace had a large reception hall with separate small rooms for registering guests and teaching them how to stand and speak to the Khan.  Embedded around the interior walls of the courtyards are small green tiles.  These are pre-Islam, dating back to when Zoroastrianism was the state religion – apparently, they were original yellow, but the colour changed to green, so they were not destroyed by Muslims! 

Fun fact – the motto of the Zoroastrianism was “good thoughts, good words, good deeds” – you really cannot argue with that!  Despite being one of the world’s oldest continuously practiced religions, there are only around 120,000 followers of Zoroastrianism in the world today, mostly living in India, Iran and North America.  Did you know Freddy Mercury was a Zoroastrian?

I noticed that many of the doors were very low.  This not only helped moderate the temperature inside the room but as we had seen in the yurts in Kyrgyzstan, the low door frames also mean people must duck as they enter – a sign of respect.

We explored what was a city Mint and came across the Silk money of Korezm.   At the beginning of the 19th century there was a paper shortage and silk was a cheaper medium for printing money! It was also practical as it could be washed when it got dirty.  They also made coins from pure gold, silver and bronze as they did not know how to mix the metals!

In the Mint we also learnt about beard smuggling.  At the time, all men were expected to have beards, but it was found that some would steal gold powder smuggled in their beards!  When this was discovered, the mint workers were made to shave their beards off!  Funnily enough, this is clearly still a smuggling technical as when I googled it to try and find something more about it, a number of articles came up about people being caught trying to smuggle gold dust this way!

There are so many beautiful doors around the old city, and many were made at huge cost – our guide told us that some believe/believed that doors are the faces of the people.  I got a little obsessed with the doors, not just the fancy ones, but also the plainer ones around the small side streets 😂

All that sightseeing and learning, and it was only just lunch time!!  We had the afternoon free, but a couple of the group wanted to go to a particular carpet making shop/factory – one that was featured about in a book called “Carpet ride to Khiva” by Chris Alexander who had lived in the city for many years.  Now I have not read the book (though may have to do so in the future) but the visit was still very interesting.  Did you know it takes 6-8 months to make one rug?  No wonder they are expensive!

Fun-ish fact – Traditional khiva hats are made with sheep’s wool and are also worn in summer, despite them looking very warm (I guess they already knew of that great quality of sheep’s wool for keeping you warm in the winter and cool in the summer)!  Black and brown hats are for younger people and white for older people.   Only a Khan could wear a hat made from lamb’s wool!

And so, we arrived at another evening and another chance to see the sunset – this time from one of the watch towers on the city walls.  It was clearly the place to be as it was crowded and of course there was another pre wedding photo shoot!  The sunset was beautiful – and I took so many photos, there is no such thing as too many sunset photos right 🤔🤔😂😂😂??

Our last night in Uzbekistan was celebrated with another large meal, served in what was more of a family home than a restaurant, with traditional entertainment by a local family – children through to grandparents, singing and dancing.  What a great way to end what has been an amazing time in the country.

Beautiful Bukhara

On By cockneykiwi151 Comment

After an easy and comfortable 1.5 hour train journey, we arrived in Bukhara and meet our new guide Tulkin, before transferring to the hotel for some sleep.

Oh how accustomed I am now to having the internet almost everywhere, so it was a bit of a shock to the system to find out that this hotel only had wifi available in the reception area!  So, instead of being able to catch up on news in bed when I woke up, I had to get up and shower early to get online – I actually enjoyed a quiet 20 minutes or so before the ‘crowds’ arrived with the company of the hotel kitten who quickly became my best friend 😂 and made it worth my while having to sit in the reception lol.

I also had time to take a quick walk around the local area before the crowds and first impressions where that the area looked like a newly built movie set🤔.  Far more Arabic – like something out of Arabian Nights, Aladdin and any other stereotypical Arabian movie you can think of 🤔.  I was interested to see how that impression changed throughout the day. 

As Tulkin introduced us to his city, he explained that Bukhara is a city surrounded by steppes and deserts which leads to it having 270 windy days in a year!  He also explained that it had been a super hot summer this year with temperatures reaching over 50C – I was so glad I had chosen to come in autumn rather than summer!

As with Samarkand, Bukhara has a long history.  In medieval times, it was the capital of the Samanid Empire and as an important Silk Road city was a centre for trade, culture and religion. The historical centre of the city is a UNESCO listed World Heritage site.

It was also the last capital of the Emirate of Bukhara before being overtaken by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.

Back with the group and we started on a walking tour which took us back through the market I had walked through earlier – before any of the shops had opened.  It was now bustling with activity and it was clear that a number of people in my group were very keen shoppers and it was a struggle for the guide to keep them moving (despite the promise of free time for shopping later in the day)!

As well as the shop lined streets, we were introduced to “Taks” or trading domes where shops were grouped together according to their guilds (something that is also seen in Europe).  In Bukhara, 3 trading domes remain from the 16th century (although heavily reconstructed) – the money changing dome, the hatmaker dome and the jewellers dome.  The stone work and design go a long way to keeping the interiors cool on the hottest of summer days.

Tulken knew most of the shop keepers so we took a little time to stop and chat as he told us about their wares before dragging the shoppers onwards to the next site.

Now, I don’t want to keep repeating myself, but again, this city was sooooooo clean! 

The first Madrasah we come to for the day was Ulugbek Madrasah, built not surprisingly, by Ulugbek (the great astronomer we met in Samarkand).  It was built in 1417 by the best architects of the time and although it does not have the most decorative of facades it is still pretty impressive.

At the top of the entrance “gate” there is an inscription from the Koran “the pursuit of knowledge is the responsibility of every Muslim man and woman” – this is often considered Ulugbek’s motto.  His love for astronomy is also clear by the astral designs used.

Opposite Ulugbek’s madrasah is the Abdul Aziz Madrasah, built in 1652 almost 250 years later than it’s neighbour.  It’s exterior gate is far more ornate but much of it’s interior has not been restored.

The next site being the Po-i-Kalyan complex which is the highlight of the city.

The complex is dominated by the Kalyan minaret which is believed to date back to 1127 and is apparently 90% original!  It is also known as the Tower of Death as legend say it was the site where criminals were executed by being through off the top!

Fun fact – the word minaret comes from the Arabic word ‘minara’ which means lighthouse.  It is believed that this may also be an adaption of the fire towers of the Zoroastrian era.  (I can’t remember if I have mentioned before but better twice than not at all right?)

On one side of the square there is the Kalan Mosque which dates back to 1514.  It is vast and can accommodate up to 12,000 people!!  This mosque is unique in that it has 288 monumental pylons supporting the multi domed roofs.

The final monument and youngest in the complex is the Mir-I Arab Madrasah, date which was built around 1535 and is one of the few that is not only still operating as a school today, but was one of the only ones that stayed open during the soviet period.

Just passed this complex and we find ourselves outside the “walls” at the Ark of Bukhara or Citadel, which is a massive fortress around part of the city that was original built around the 5th century AD (though what we see today dates back to the 17th century). That said, the Ark in Bukhara is referred to in texts from 960 and at it’s prime up to 3,000 people lived inside it’s walls.

The walls enclosed almost 4 hectares and range from 16-20 metres in height with the citadel once housing many rooms including store rooms, prison cells and once a great library which was sadly destroyed in one of the conquests for the city.

During the Russian civil war, the Ark was badly damaged by Soviet bombing – apparently only 20% survived.  Rumour also has it that the last Emir, as he escaped to Afghanistan with the royal treasure, ordered the Ark be blown up so it could not be desecrated by the Bolsheviks.

Just outside the fortress walls is the Boloi Haouz Mosque, another unique mosque in the city.  Built in 1712, it served as a Friday mosque right up until the Russian rule in the 1920’s.  The mosque has beautifully painted wooden columns lining the front and is again today a functioning mosque.

It is in Bukhara we met up with Ismail Somoni again, the man who is immortalised in all the giant statues around Tajikistan.  Sadly, we meet him in his mouseleum – which is a perfect example of early Islamic architecture (dating back to the 10th century) and one of the oldest mausoleums in Central Asia. It is completely different to all the other mausoleums we have seen which have been very grand – this one is small, completely symmetrical and made of plain fired bricks (as it was built prior to the invention of glazed tiles).  Despite it’s apparent plain appearance, it is actually a complex combination of numerous (16) intricate decorative traditions e.g. Sogidan, Persian and even classical and was innovative use of the dome support. 

Tulkin told us that at that time, people were not allowed to have mausoleums, however Somoni had this built for him to show that he was not under the rule of the Persian/Arab kings.

Also in this small ancient cemetery we visited Chashma-Ayub mausoleum, built during Temur’s reign.  The name translates as “Job’s Spring”, based on the legend that tells of Job (from the bible) visiting the place and making a well by striking the ground with his staff.  Water from the well is still considered healing.  The mausoleum is unique in having a Khwarazm style conical dome.

After a long morning of working we finally made it to lunch a little out of the centre of town at a “noodle centre” – very similar to the Plov centre we ate at in Tashkent.  Here they sell laghman noodles which originated from China, served with Samsa which were delicious meat pies.  It was incredibly busy, filled with locals and I could see why – it was delicious.  As we left, we passed the small area which they made the samsa in massive quantities – cooked stuck to the sides of a stone oven.  

Our final site for the very hectic day was the Bukhara Synagogue – a synagogue I hear you ask?  Yes, indeed – I too was surprised to see a synagogue here Uzbekistan.  Bukharan Jews have a long history in the city and apparently used to pray with Muslims in a mosque before the synagogue we visited was built in the 16th century.

Even up until the 1920’s, 10% of the population of the city were Jewish and there were 13 synagogues but today, there are less than 300 Jews left in the city with two synagogues.  Many left the city over the years whilst some converted to Islam as they did not have equal rights to trade.  (A similar story of conversion that I had heard in Bosnia where non-Muslims had to pay more tax!)

We had already lost some of the group by this time, either to the shops or their rooms but we finally had some free time (👍🏻👍🏻) to wander around before dinner and then a couple of us went for a a drink in a bar overlooking the Po-i-Kalyan complex which was beautifully lit up (as all good Central Asian monuments are lol).

Just a quick side note – I have mentioned before that Uzbekistan has so many more tourists that the other countries we have visited so far on this trip, but what was odd, is that 80% of tourists and tour groups are over 60 🤔🤔🤔!  I know many of those in my group (all of which were in that same age group) said they had come because they saw a programme where Joanna Lumley (a UK actress in that same age group) travelled along the Silk Road.  Is it possible that all of these tourists had seen the same show??

Swooning over Samarkand

On By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Our Tashkent hotel was lovely but unfortunately, we had no time to enjoy it after arriving at 9pm and leaving the next morning at 6.30am when we set off to the train station.

Everything was so clean and efficient – I saw at least 10 ladies cleaning the streets between the hotel and the station which was only a 15 minute drive! 

The cleanliness and efficiency continued when we got to the train station to catch the wonderful high speed Afrosiyob train.  The train has a high speed of 344 kilometres per hour, but on this leg of the journey it only made it up to about 250km. The seats were huge, with lots of leg room and incredibly comfortable, made even more so on the 2 hour journey by the availability of food and barista coffee!  Really very luxurious.

Samarkand is another clean, beautiful train station and it was easy enough to get everything and everyone off the train and onwards to meet our new guide – Hanifa.  Unlike the other countries where we had one guide throughout the country, in Uzbekistan we have a different guide in each city. Apparently, they need to get qualified as a guide in each city so most just specialise in one.   It was a bit of a shame really as we don’t get the chance to get to know them that well as we did in the other countries, though it does mean they know their stuff (not that the others didn’t lol).

So, to start with a brief history of Samarkand (though I am not sure it is possible to write a brief history of a city so old!!) …  along with Bukhara (which is our next stop), Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia and it was the capital of the Timurid Empire during the 14-15th centuries.  Tamerlane ruled his vast empire with an iron fist, but at the same time he was a patron of the arts and literature and he oversaw the rebuild of much of the city to make it a grand and beautiful city. Luckily, much of his architectural heritage (dating back to the 14/15th centuries) has been persevered (thankfully the Russian’s left it alone) for us to see today – and it is spectacular!

As with many cities and towns along the Silk Road, the city has been the scene of much history and has played an important role in many dynastys with the earliest excavations finding evidence of human activity dating back to 40,000 years! Alexander the Great conquered the city in 329 BC, sparking the beginning of the Hellenistic period which came to an end when it was conquered by the Persian Sassanians around 260 CE.

The early Islamic era started after the Arab conquest of Iran which lead to Turks taking over the city but when their empire collapsed due to wars with the Chinese Tang Dynasty and the city became a diverse religious community for a period of time. Even today there is evidence of Zorastrianism, Buddhism, Christianity religions among others. This period of religious calm came to an end when an Arab garrison and administration centre was established.  Much of the population converted to Islam and the city started it’s development as a centre for Islamic learning.

The Mongols conquered Samarkand in 1220 and pillaged the population of the city, taking with them 30,000 young men and 30,000 craftsmen. Clearly they did not do much damage as Marco Polo described the city in this records from the late 13th century as “a very large and splendid city …”.

The Timurid Empire came to an end in 1500 when Uzbek soliders took control of the city. The capital was moved to Bukhara, leaving Samarkand to fall in to decline but when the Imperial Russian empire turned up in 1868, they started to build their own section of the city which again became a capital city, this time of the Smarakand Oblast of Russian Turkestan (bit of a mouthful!). It became even more important when the Trans-Caspian railway reached it in 1888.

All of that leaves us with the city of three parts we see today – the new town (founded in the 19th century by the Russian empire), the old town (founded around the end of the 13th century after the Mongol attack) and the ancient town (founded 2750 years ago).  With so much to see, we started our sightseeing straight away with our first stop being the Gur-Emir mausoleum, just around the corner from the hotel.  

The mausoleum was completed in 1404 and is the resting place of Mongol conqueror Tamerlane.  It was originally intended to be the tomb of his grandson, Muhammad Shah so it is not as grand as one may expect, but he (after the died unexpectedly), his grandson and a number of other family members were interned there and to be fair it is still pretty grand with the interior walls covered in beautiful tiles with gold inscriptions.  As with most of the sites in Uzbekistan, the mausoleum has been heavily restored, the adjacent madrasa and other buildings have not been rebuilt or restored.

A grand portrait of Tamerlane hangs in the mausoleum.  Nobody really knows what he looked like it, and legend has it, his skull was exhumed so they could try and recreate his appearance – now that is dedication to your art!

We have been lucky enough to have two weeks of very few tourists and almost no crowds – but this all changed in Samarkand!!  We probably saw more tourists in one day than we had in the rest of the trip – still, the crowds were nothing compared to Dubrovnik or other European cities I had visited. 🥴 

The next stop was Registan Square, one of Samarkand’s and in fact Uzbekistan’s most famous landmarks.   The area was a public square where people gathered to hear royal proclamations and it was the hub of the Timurid Renaissance.  (Of course, people are still gathering there today). The square is framed by 3 beautiful madrassas (built between 1417 and 1636) which were Muslim schools up until the revolution in 1917 but these days they are mostly souvenir shops and it has been beautifully restored inside and out.  Photos really do not do it justice.

After a short break for some food, we headed to the Bibi-Khanum Mosque – legend says this building was a gift to Tamerlane by his Chinese wife (he apparently had 9 wives, plus concubines!).  This mosque is one of the most important monuments in Samarkand, built in the 15th century it was one of the largest and most magnificent mosques in the Islamic world.  Sadly, much of the mosque was destroyed in a large earthquake in 1897 but we are lucky today to be able to see much of it reconstructed (as are most of the famous monuments in Uzbekistan). 

Some parts of this mosque were not completed restored, but you can still see some of the original decoration.  I was interested to learn that they only restore areas where they have part of the original decoration to work from i.e., they won’t just make things up. If they do not know what the original decoration was, they will often leave it blank. 

After another long day I had an early night – after two weeks in of intense travel, I was craving a little more solo time so was missing a few dinners to get it!  And finally, the following morning we were not meeting until 10am.  As I always awake early, I took the opportunity to go for a short walk around before joining the group.

I did not miss the opportunity to see the Gur-Emir mausoleum at night, and then again in the morning, as the sun came up from the roof of our hotel – my early morning rising was definitely rewarded.

The second morning in Samarkand started at Shahi Zinda, or the Alley or Avenue of Mausoleums.  It is an ancient cemetery and is one of the longest-running examples of continually constructed buildings in the world, with tombs and buildings ranging from 9th century through to the 19th century.  Legend has it, that one of the prophets cousins, Kusam ibn Abbas, is buried in the complex after he came to the area in the 7th century to preach Islam.

 The alley of stunningly beautiful buildings, most covered in vibrant turquoise tiles and intricate wood carvings was just stunning, particularly in the morning light.   The visit was made even more special when inside one of the small rooms, a man started praying, with the beautiful musical prayers echoing around the small room. 

Next stop was Ulgubek’s Observatory.  Ulgubek (sometimes know as Ulugh Beg) was the grandson of Tamerlane and was a great astronomer and mathematician.  He became ruler of the Timurid Empire in the 15th century and between 1424 and 1429 he built this incredible observatory which was considered to have been the biggest in Central Asia, and one of the finest in the Islamic world.

The original observatory was lost in 1449 (it was a round structure, 3 story’s high outside and 3 stories deep) and its remains were rediscovered in 1908. The original part that we can see today is the underground trench, with the lower section of the meridian arc. When originally built, the walls of the trench was lined with polished marble.

Ulgubek was way ahead of Europeans in understanding the stars, and it is said that  Europeans used his catalogue of stars until the telescope was invented in 17th century.   The observatory was even written about by Babur in his memoirs (a descent of both Temurlane and Genghis Khan), one of the first royals to write with ‘#nofilter’ (so he certainly annoyed some people 😂).

After exploring the museum at the observatory, we headed out of the city a little to visit a mulberry paper factory.   Even today, this paper manufacturer follows the ancient process brought from China in the 7th century (apprently from Chinese prisoners) and Samarkand became famous for paper marking, having the first paper mill in the Islamic world.  Even the infamous Babur memoirs, he also wrote about the very strong paper that came from the city.

The ancient manufacturing process was lost during the Soviet times and but was revived in 1995 by this small manufacturing business.   It was a very interesting, but completely manual process that took days to produce only the smallest amount of paper so not sure how lucrative it would be without the tourists.

In summary you cut the wood, wet it, remove the bark, dry it, boil it (for 5 hours), crush it using the water wheel (the process requires a lot of water), then wet it again, collect the bits from the water and press (with stones) between two sheets of cotton and final rub with a stone to make it smooth.  Just a few steps lol.

The drive back to the city was crazy, the traffic was reminiscent of India or Vietnam, not the easy going Central Asia we had grown used to!

After a late lunch we had out final stop in Samarkand was to see the remains of the ancient part of the city – Afrasiyab.   Afrasiyab was occupied from 500 BC (the Sogidan culture) to 1220 AD but today is just a hilly grass mound on an elevated area.  The site was discovered in the 1920’s but was actively excavated in the 1960’s, and this uncovered some amazing frescoes which are now housed in the Afrasiyab Museum of Samarkand and I can only describe them as wow!  Incredible to see some these arts works from so long ago. 

The best part about them for me, was the insight they give in to the lives of those who lived there and the people who visited, mostly during the 7th century and the Unash dynasty.  One depicts a procession of a king and princess (perhaps the arrival of a royal bride) with camels and birds, and links to the Zoroastrian religion – possibly the main Sogdiana religion (before the Arab invasion).

In another fresco, there is a reception of ambassadors.  Unfortunately, it was not well preserved, but you can still pick out the Koreas (apparently it was restored by Korean restorers who took special care with the restoration of the Korean ambassadors in the image??).  Others than can be identified are described as “Iranian Europoids” and “Turkic Mongoloids” and it describes a confusing time (certainly for me) as the Varkhuman dynasty was Turkic and the local Iranian elite was gradually replaced by the Turkic!

There are images of what looks like Chinese women, floating in boats and another fresco depicts hunters on a great hunt.  There are also images of running dogs (possibly dachshunds), a sacred animal of Zoroastrianism.

I had a brief opportunity to wander around the souvenir shops and market, before an early dinner (though it truly felt like we had just had lunch) and a quick stop to see Registan square at night before we headed back to the train station to get back on the Afrosiyob train to our next destination.