We had a farewell lunch in Bukhara before a long train ride back to Tashkent. The Australian ladies left in the night, and the two couples were at breakfast, but left shortly thereafter. I took another long walk around town and ended up taking in the amazing water fountain light show in the city park.
In addition to random sites, you can see the circular Interpol offices, the Amir Temur statue, two more karaoke booths, and an outstanding sunset over Tashkent. Go to the Stans, Part 6 and scroll down to see some videos of the light show. Thanks in advance for your patience…
On Halloween day I flew from Tashkent to Khiva. Thanks to Miko, my driver/tourguide, Alimardan, picked me up at the airport and set me up in pretty good hotel in the middle of the old town.
In this batch, I arrive and walk around, including outside the old town (altho’ those streets are also probably equally old). Met some kids, puppies, and old ladies….
Next day, Ali gave me the full tour of Khiva.
Unlike Samarkand and Bukhara, Khiva has an almost completely restored old town fortress, with large walls all around the labyrinth of old mosques, madrasas, museums, monuments, mausoleums, and more.
Like those other two ancient cities, there is a well established tourist trade in similar local goods. What’s different are the big furry hats.
What’s similar is much of the architectural features, and the opportunities the Khans had with multiple wives and numerous courtesans.
As Ali explained, “harum” means forbidden, so no one really knows what happened in the Khan’s “bedroom” – a huge area with rooms the the Khan, his four wives, and the many courtesans…
Note the word “Xorazm” in the map (first picture), this is where Khiva is and note that the Aral Sea just above it has now unfortunately sunk into the desert and evaporated.
In addition to the good view from the second highest viewpoint in the city, there are many pix of etchings depicting the lives of Mennonites who once lived here. One of them (somewhat out of the Luddite nature of Mennonite character) taught the art of photography to a local who then took many pix of other locals. Note the shots of negatives, as well as dioramas, and artisans – other prominent features around Khiva…
One of the mosques was a converted Zoroastrian temple which now features 213 pillars. More of the Khan’s haram, and the work of the prominent (and prolific) photographer, and some miscellany. The last pic is of Ali’s dad giving a tour to some Russian ladies. The whole family is in the tourist biz…
This batch starts with more pix in and around the Khan’s chambers. There’s one shot outside the fortress walls in the vicinity of what was the slave market (not a good story). Then more on the photographer (with his camera), and long corridor of a crafts museum.
Eventually you’ll get to the mausoleum of Khiva’s favorite son, Pahlavon Mahmud. A renaissance traveler, apparently he was good at many things from wrestling and poetry to craftsmanship, leadership, and philosophy. During our visit we were blessed with a song – please read about him in the one pic…
This batch ends with a visit to a master class crafts market. Note some of the miscellany related to past posts…
Ali finished our tour around 3:00, after much walking. We both went home to take naps, then later I walked over to his family’s restaurant, Khiva Moon, for dinner. A long walk home for more napping…
Next day (as I write this), I went for a walk, got a haircut, and then hit some of the spots we missed the day before. Once of them turned out to be my favorite of the town – “The Museum of Scholars” – because not only did it have the displays seen here, there were two great explanatory videos…
The stone road here is over 1000 years old and features grooves cut by cart & carriage wheels over 100s of years! I went to another museum, explored another ancient room or two, then climbed to the highest point, the tallest minaret in Khiva, Islam Khoja. (BTW, the prominently featured green dome is the mausoleum of Pahlavon Mahmud.) Check out the views…
Ooooops, another long one. I was going to try to finish up Uzbekistan with this post, but I’ve got more to do. Flying back to Tashkent and visiting Christiane at the US Embassy before flying to Turkey on Saturday. Stay strong…