We are heading out of Ulaan Bator tomorrow to start our 19-day camping trip. Internet will be very limited so I can't promise to check in with much regularity. You can follow along by going to this link and clicking on the itinerary tab...
http://www.imaginative-traveller.com/trips/aamw
I have just added some information under the 'Samarkand' and 'Detour' postings as well as some posts about our time in Kyrgyzstan. Enjoy!
.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Wild horses
(July 14 and 15)
We organized a two day trip out of UB to see the wild Prezhwalski horses in Hustai National Park. These are the only herds of wild horses left in the world and I have wanted to see them since I was a horse-crazy little girl.
photos of our trip to Hustai to see the wild horses...
And a video...
We organized a two day trip out of UB to see the wild Prezhwalski horses in Hustai National Park. These are the only herds of wild horses left in the world and I have wanted to see them since I was a horse-crazy little girl.
photos of our trip to Hustai to see the wild horses...
 |
| Wild horses |
And a video...
Mongolia's Naadam Festival
We arrived in Ulaan Bator late on July 10, exhausted after travelling for 22 hours from Tashkent to Seoul and onward. The annula Naadam Festival started the next day so we had to hit the ground running. The festival celebrates the three 'manly' sports of wresting, horse racing and archery.
I haven't got much time now to describe everything we saw. But here are a few photos to give you a bit of the flavour...
And some videos...
I haven't got much time now to describe everything we saw. But here are a few photos to give you a bit of the flavour...
 |
| Mongolia's Naadam |
And some videos...
Around Lake Issyk Kul
(July 2 to 7)
Izzyk Kul is the world’s second highest alpine lake after Lake Titicaca. It is slightly salty and never freezes. The lake is fed by 80 streams but it has no outlet. It is 60 km x 170 km and 700 m deep. And it is really beautiful.
We spent 4 nights at different towns as we drove around the lake. Snowy peaks formed the background wherever we looked including Karakol Mountain at 5216 m. In the town of Kochkor we visited a felting workshop and had a demonstration of the technique they are using. We passed many large road-side sculptures of wild sheep, snow leopard, ibex, eagle, and deer, erected during Soviet times to emphasise the protected status of each animal. We celebrated Barney’s birthday with dinner and a current cake at Luba’s guest house in the village of Tamga. During a stop at the animal market in the village of Kyzyl Suu I was asked the question I’m sure many local people have wondered...“why you take pictures of animals?”
We visited the Prezhwalski Museum, investigated Scythian burial mounds dating from 8th century BC, wandered through a field of petroglyphs, and swam in the lake. We also visited the Burana Tower built in the 11th century and roamed a nearby grassland full of standing ‘balbals’ – stone markers erected as battle monuments by the Turkic tribes from the 6th to 10th centuries AD.
We spent our last two nights back in Bishkek before flying back to Tashkent for one night and the end of the tour. We loved Kyrgyzstan – its people, landscape, food and horses. Perhaps a nice long horseback trip next time.
Photos from our travels around Lake Issyk Kul...
Izzyk Kul is the world’s second highest alpine lake after Lake Titicaca. It is slightly salty and never freezes. The lake is fed by 80 streams but it has no outlet. It is 60 km x 170 km and 700 m deep. And it is really beautiful.
We spent 4 nights at different towns as we drove around the lake. Snowy peaks formed the background wherever we looked including Karakol Mountain at 5216 m. In the town of Kochkor we visited a felting workshop and had a demonstration of the technique they are using. We passed many large road-side sculptures of wild sheep, snow leopard, ibex, eagle, and deer, erected during Soviet times to emphasise the protected status of each animal. We celebrated Barney’s birthday with dinner and a current cake at Luba’s guest house in the village of Tamga. During a stop at the animal market in the village of Kyzyl Suu I was asked the question I’m sure many local people have wondered...“why you take pictures of animals?”
We visited the Prezhwalski Museum, investigated Scythian burial mounds dating from 8th century BC, wandered through a field of petroglyphs, and swam in the lake. We also visited the Burana Tower built in the 11th century and roamed a nearby grassland full of standing ‘balbals’ – stone markers erected as battle monuments by the Turkic tribes from the 6th to 10th centuries AD.
We spent our last two nights back in Bishkek before flying back to Tashkent for one night and the end of the tour. We loved Kyrgyzstan – its people, landscape, food and horses. Perhaps a nice long horseback trip next time.
Photos from our travels around Lake Issyk Kul...
 |
| Around Lake Issyk Kul |
Friday, July 16, 2010
Kyrgyzstan Alpine
Tash Rabat and Lake Song Kul
(June 28 to July 1)
The repeat of our journey was just as slow and tedious as it had been 3 days before with multiple passport checks and appalling road conditions. At the Chinese/ Kyrgyz border we were once again handed over to a new guide, Regina, and driver, Valery. It was a long day of bouncing around the bus but eventually we turned off onto a 15 km road to Tash Rabat. We followed a narrowing valley flanked by steep velvet green corduroy slopes, yurts, and livestock pens until we reached our camp for the next two nights. It was suddenly cold and windy and everyone had to pull out the warm clothes that had been looked upon incredulously during the hot days of Bukhara.
The camp was composed of several yurts and an old Russian trailer that served as the kitchen centre. It was run by Zoya and Yuri who were fabulous hosts.
The origins of the building called Tash Rabat are obscure and debateable. There is evidence that the building was constructed as a Nestorian monastery. It’s not likely that it ever functioned as a major caravanserai being too small and too far off the main route.
Barney and I spent l hours hiking further up and down the valley, watching fat marmots bounce across the pastures as they scrambled to reach the safety of their burrows. We saw horses of every colour – pintos, greys, palominos, appaloosas, roans, duns, and bays – all wandering freely, graciously. The horses from this region were called Heavenly Horses by the ancient Chinese Emperors because of their size and beauty. They were highly desired and became much sought after in the east where the smaller Mongol ponies were all that we available.
Yuri had built a sauna at the camp. Barney and I had a good wash up but Yuri insisted on taking Barney back inside to give him a proper ‘Russian’ sauna. The treatment consisted of super hot steam, flaying birch branches (including the leaves) on Barney’s back to stimulated bodily circulation and a dunk in the cold mountain river. Barney lived to tell the tale and slept very soundly.
Our next stop was for two nights in another yurt camp at Song Kul Lake, 3015 m high. En route we crossed the Syr Darya River which once flowed to the Aral Sea but is now all diverted to irrigate cotton fields in Uzbekistan. To get over the pass to Song Kul we had to manoeuvre around 11 narrow switch backs. All around us were meadows of wild flowers and mountains covered in fresh snow. The valley of Song Kul is much broader than at Tash Rabat with wide vistas of mountain peaks and smooth green pastures dotted with livestock and yurt camps.
We celebrated Canada Day with a hike and a late afternoon ride. At dinner we taped my Canadian flag luggage tag to a stick and stuck it in a wine bottle to grace the table. As we ate our mushroom soup and fresh fish from the lake we had many toasts of wine and vodka, followed by a round of everyone’s national anthem. The Kyrgyz guests sang some additional national songs and we concluded with a round of happy birthday to one of their number named Bucket. The finally entertainment for the evening was a soccer game.
***
The wheel that supports the roof of the yurt is called a tyndyk. This wheel can be seen on the Kyrgyz flag with its 40 spokes that represent the country’s forty tribes. It is these founding tribes that give the country its name- Kyr (forty) gyz (women) stan (place, land).
***
Regina told us the story about what had actually happened at Osh two weeks previously. The family and supporters of the former President (who was kicked out in May) initiated the violence by paying several young men $5000 each to start the shooting. They were given free licence to do whatever they wanted. So they started in the hospital where they shot all the Uzbek women and children. The Uzbeks retaliated. Three days of burning, looting and violence followed. Regina emphasised that it was not a case of ethnic conflict. Kyrgyz and Uzbek have lives as neighbours for centuries. It was all political motivated.
The Kyrgyz referendum on the new constitution was conducted peaceful. The interim government has been official installed and elections are set for the fall.
Photos from Tash Rabat...
Video - yak herd at Tash Rabat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zLrEbUy7SM
Photos from Song Kul Lake...
Video of milking the cow...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGmrCcajpTI
(June 28 to July 1)
The repeat of our journey was just as slow and tedious as it had been 3 days before with multiple passport checks and appalling road conditions. At the Chinese/ Kyrgyz border we were once again handed over to a new guide, Regina, and driver, Valery. It was a long day of bouncing around the bus but eventually we turned off onto a 15 km road to Tash Rabat. We followed a narrowing valley flanked by steep velvet green corduroy slopes, yurts, and livestock pens until we reached our camp for the next two nights. It was suddenly cold and windy and everyone had to pull out the warm clothes that had been looked upon incredulously during the hot days of Bukhara.
The camp was composed of several yurts and an old Russian trailer that served as the kitchen centre. It was run by Zoya and Yuri who were fabulous hosts.
The origins of the building called Tash Rabat are obscure and debateable. There is evidence that the building was constructed as a Nestorian monastery. It’s not likely that it ever functioned as a major caravanserai being too small and too far off the main route.
Barney and I spent l hours hiking further up and down the valley, watching fat marmots bounce across the pastures as they scrambled to reach the safety of their burrows. We saw horses of every colour – pintos, greys, palominos, appaloosas, roans, duns, and bays – all wandering freely, graciously. The horses from this region were called Heavenly Horses by the ancient Chinese Emperors because of their size and beauty. They were highly desired and became much sought after in the east where the smaller Mongol ponies were all that we available.
Yuri had built a sauna at the camp. Barney and I had a good wash up but Yuri insisted on taking Barney back inside to give him a proper ‘Russian’ sauna. The treatment consisted of super hot steam, flaying birch branches (including the leaves) on Barney’s back to stimulated bodily circulation and a dunk in the cold mountain river. Barney lived to tell the tale and slept very soundly.
Our next stop was for two nights in another yurt camp at Song Kul Lake, 3015 m high. En route we crossed the Syr Darya River which once flowed to the Aral Sea but is now all diverted to irrigate cotton fields in Uzbekistan. To get over the pass to Song Kul we had to manoeuvre around 11 narrow switch backs. All around us were meadows of wild flowers and mountains covered in fresh snow. The valley of Song Kul is much broader than at Tash Rabat with wide vistas of mountain peaks and smooth green pastures dotted with livestock and yurt camps.
We celebrated Canada Day with a hike and a late afternoon ride. At dinner we taped my Canadian flag luggage tag to a stick and stuck it in a wine bottle to grace the table. As we ate our mushroom soup and fresh fish from the lake we had many toasts of wine and vodka, followed by a round of everyone’s national anthem. The Kyrgyz guests sang some additional national songs and we concluded with a round of happy birthday to one of their number named Bucket. The finally entertainment for the evening was a soccer game.
***
The wheel that supports the roof of the yurt is called a tyndyk. This wheel can be seen on the Kyrgyz flag with its 40 spokes that represent the country’s forty tribes. It is these founding tribes that give the country its name- Kyr (forty) gyz (women) stan (place, land).
***
Regina told us the story about what had actually happened at Osh two weeks previously. The family and supporters of the former President (who was kicked out in May) initiated the violence by paying several young men $5000 each to start the shooting. They were given free licence to do whatever they wanted. So they started in the hospital where they shot all the Uzbek women and children. The Uzbeks retaliated. Three days of burning, looting and violence followed. Regina emphasised that it was not a case of ethnic conflict. Kyrgyz and Uzbek have lives as neighbours for centuries. It was all political motivated.
The Kyrgyz referendum on the new constitution was conducted peaceful. The interim government has been official installed and elections are set for the fall.
Photos from Tash Rabat...
 |
| Tash Rabat |
Video - yak herd at Tash Rabat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zLrEbUy7SM
Video - livestock herds at Tash Rabat
Photos from Song Kul Lake...
 |
| Song Kul |
Video of milking the cow...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGmrCcajpTI
Kashgar
(June 25 to 27)
We were handed over to a new guide (Abdul) and driver at the top of the Torugart Pass. The landscape was noticeably drier as we descended along the slow dirt road, stopping four times for passport checks.
In the Chinese immigration and customs hall we were met by a huge billboard displaying uniformed border workers (clean, crisp, and saluting) that extolled the new ‘principles’ of the border service – Faster, Sincerer, Stricter – Efficiency, Sincerity, Strictness – Humanity, Professional, Safety. As the sign was in English I assume it was put up to reassure the tourists.
The drive from the pass to Kashgar is 160 km and took us 5 hours. The population of Kashgar is 350,000. The city is over 2000 years old and has always served as an important silk road crossroad – one route heads to the north and west through to Russia via Kyrgyzstan; one west through Uzbekistan and onto Persia and the Mediterranean; one south to India.
Kashgar lies in the western part of Xinjiang Province, the traditional homeland of the Uighur people whose total population is estimated as eight million. The Uighur population was once 90% of the Province; now it is 50% due to mass migration initiatives undertaken by the Chinese government. Xinjiang Province holds one sixth’s of China’s oil reserves.
We stayed at the Chini Bagh Hotel which is on the site of the former British Residency, famous through the era of the “Great Game” - a time when Russia and Great Britain jockeyed for influence in the region through a mixture of spying and diplomacy. The old residency building itself sits in a dismal courtyard, encased by ugly high-rises and constructions sites. Some effort has been made on the inside to restore its late Victorian glory but the results are more Chinese kitsch that British upper class.
The first night in Kashgar we witnessed a dust storm that darkened the sky and bent the trees to a dangerous angle. The next day everything was covered in dust and grit. However, it didn’t take us long to realise that Kashgar is always covered in dust and grit.
Kashgar functions in two time zones – Beijing (the official time) and Kashgar (the local time). Beijing time is two hours ahead of local time. Whenever we made any arrangements with Abdul to meet and go somewhere he would give us two times – one local, one Beijing – just to have all his bases covered and make sure we didn’t show up at the wrong time.
We had two days in Kashgar to explore the sites, including the Id Kah Mosque (built in 1442) with enough space for 20,000 worshipers and the Abakh Hoja Tomb, last resting place of the ‘Fragrant Concubine’. We wandered through the streets and alley ways of the Old Town with its Uighur shops and stalls displaying a variety of goods including dried lizards, musical instruments, plumbing fixtures, hats, spices, luscious mulberries, and tattered Marco Polo sheep horns. We even passed by a sordid looking shop that sold dried bear paws and other assorted wildlife parts. The narrow alley ways are lined with adobe houses, with the size and pattern of paving stones distinguishing the through ways from the dead ends. The old town wall sits 10 m high and over 500 years old. Uighurs are Muslims and we noticed that many of the women covered their faces – even when speeding along on their electric motorcycles.
The main attraction of Kashgar is the Sunday markets – the animal market and the general market. Until recently the two were in the same place but the Chinese government separated them a few years ago, moving the animals to the outskirts of town. We’d read a lot about the impact of recent Chinese policies that have led to the bull-dozing of much of the old city and changed the way the Uighur population lives. We saw massive sprawling construction projects everywhere as the Chinese government strives to modernize the city. We wanted to get to Kashgar before too much change was implemented but in many ways I think we were too late.
Never-the-less, the animal market was fabulous, if reduced in size. Donkeys, goats, fat-tailed sheep, mules, horses, cattle are brought to the market place every Sunday to be sold. There was only one beleaguered camel for sale that already looked like he’d made too many trips to the market. The camels and yaks spend their summers in the high pastures and aren’t brought to market till the fall so we missed out on seeing them. Later in the afternoon we went to the general market. Given is reputation as the biggest market in Central Asia is was a disappointment. Yes, it was big but no more bustling or crazier than many of the other markets we’d been to so far.
Early Monday morning we began to retrace our route back to the Torugart Pass and on to Kyrgyzstan.
Videos from the Kashgar Sunday Animal Market...
We were handed over to a new guide (Abdul) and driver at the top of the Torugart Pass. The landscape was noticeably drier as we descended along the slow dirt road, stopping four times for passport checks.
In the Chinese immigration and customs hall we were met by a huge billboard displaying uniformed border workers (clean, crisp, and saluting) that extolled the new ‘principles’ of the border service – Faster, Sincerer, Stricter – Efficiency, Sincerity, Strictness – Humanity, Professional, Safety. As the sign was in English I assume it was put up to reassure the tourists.
The drive from the pass to Kashgar is 160 km and took us 5 hours. The population of Kashgar is 350,000. The city is over 2000 years old and has always served as an important silk road crossroad – one route heads to the north and west through to Russia via Kyrgyzstan; one west through Uzbekistan and onto Persia and the Mediterranean; one south to India.
Kashgar lies in the western part of Xinjiang Province, the traditional homeland of the Uighur people whose total population is estimated as eight million. The Uighur population was once 90% of the Province; now it is 50% due to mass migration initiatives undertaken by the Chinese government. Xinjiang Province holds one sixth’s of China’s oil reserves.
We stayed at the Chini Bagh Hotel which is on the site of the former British Residency, famous through the era of the “Great Game” - a time when Russia and Great Britain jockeyed for influence in the region through a mixture of spying and diplomacy. The old residency building itself sits in a dismal courtyard, encased by ugly high-rises and constructions sites. Some effort has been made on the inside to restore its late Victorian glory but the results are more Chinese kitsch that British upper class.
The first night in Kashgar we witnessed a dust storm that darkened the sky and bent the trees to a dangerous angle. The next day everything was covered in dust and grit. However, it didn’t take us long to realise that Kashgar is always covered in dust and grit.
Kashgar functions in two time zones – Beijing (the official time) and Kashgar (the local time). Beijing time is two hours ahead of local time. Whenever we made any arrangements with Abdul to meet and go somewhere he would give us two times – one local, one Beijing – just to have all his bases covered and make sure we didn’t show up at the wrong time.
We had two days in Kashgar to explore the sites, including the Id Kah Mosque (built in 1442) with enough space for 20,000 worshipers and the Abakh Hoja Tomb, last resting place of the ‘Fragrant Concubine’. We wandered through the streets and alley ways of the Old Town with its Uighur shops and stalls displaying a variety of goods including dried lizards, musical instruments, plumbing fixtures, hats, spices, luscious mulberries, and tattered Marco Polo sheep horns. We even passed by a sordid looking shop that sold dried bear paws and other assorted wildlife parts. The narrow alley ways are lined with adobe houses, with the size and pattern of paving stones distinguishing the through ways from the dead ends. The old town wall sits 10 m high and over 500 years old. Uighurs are Muslims and we noticed that many of the women covered their faces – even when speeding along on their electric motorcycles.
The main attraction of Kashgar is the Sunday markets – the animal market and the general market. Until recently the two were in the same place but the Chinese government separated them a few years ago, moving the animals to the outskirts of town. We’d read a lot about the impact of recent Chinese policies that have led to the bull-dozing of much of the old city and changed the way the Uighur population lives. We saw massive sprawling construction projects everywhere as the Chinese government strives to modernize the city. We wanted to get to Kashgar before too much change was implemented but in many ways I think we were too late.
Never-the-less, the animal market was fabulous, if reduced in size. Donkeys, goats, fat-tailed sheep, mules, horses, cattle are brought to the market place every Sunday to be sold. There was only one beleaguered camel for sale that already looked like he’d made too many trips to the market. The camels and yaks spend their summers in the high pastures and aren’t brought to market till the fall so we missed out on seeing them. Later in the afternoon we went to the general market. Given is reputation as the biggest market in Central Asia is was a disappointment. Yes, it was big but no more bustling or crazier than many of the other markets we’d been to so far.
Early Monday morning we began to retrace our route back to the Torugart Pass and on to Kyrgyzstan.
Videos from the Kashgar Sunday Animal Market...
Photos from Kashgar...
 |
| Kashgar |
Friday, July 9, 2010
Real time update -7
We are just leaving Tashkent tonight - heading for Ulaan Bator (Mongolia) via Seoul. It was really hard to find Wifi in Kyrgyzstan so I'm getting behind. I have just added a few new postings without much text which I will add as soon as I can. Meanwhile enjoy the photos and videos!!!
Detour
(June 23 and 24)
The wake-up call came at 2:30 AM for our flight to Bishkek. With the trouble in Osh the border to Kyrgyzstan was closed and we had to make a detour through to the north and then southeast of the country in order to get to China.
On the runway at the Bishkek airport we taxied passed a line of 14 US KC135 tanker transport planes that are used to aid operations in Afghanistan.
We were met by our new Kyrgyz tour leader, Tatiana who led us to the 15-seater bus that was to take us to the Chinese border. Driving into the city, the contrast of Bishkek to Tashkent was immediately apparent. The streets were busy with every make of car – Mercedes, Toyotas, Hondas, Audis – in contrast to Uzbekistan where all we saw were Uzbek-made trucks, buses and cars. The city was full of students, statues of socialist and Kyrgyz heroes, broad streets and lush green squares with huge elms. Tatiana explained that not one statue of Lenin or Marx was destroyed after the fall of the Soviet Union because the Kyrgyz people had been happy as part of the USSR. We visited the excellent national museum and a beautiful Russian orthodox church. We also drove past several building that had been burnt during the ‘popular’ uprising in April that forced President Bakiyev to leave the country.
We headed out of the city the next morning along one of main roads through Bishkek that translates as ‘silk road way’. It follows the trade route all the way to China. We drove for awhile alongside the border with Kazakhstan through lots of small villages and past the road side yurts selling fermented mares milk. Each town had its war memorial, all dated 1941 to 1945 (1941 being the date when Hitler invaded Russia). The first check point we came to was embellished by a tank parked by the side of the road.
Tatiana explained that there was still a lot of tension in the country after what had just happened in Osh and with the upcoming referendum on changes to the constitution. She made it clear that she believed that life had been much better in Soviet times when government policies forced people to live in ethnically mixed villages.
We saw lots and lots of livestock grazing in open pastures -horses, donkeys, sheep, yaks, and goats. Kyrgyz are outnumbered 2 to 1 by their livestock; two thirds of the population lives in rural areas.
Video of Kyrgyzstan herd...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkHebZ-tjuw
The mountains were sprinkled with fresh snow as we climbed higher on our second day on the road. We passed grave sites dating back to the 5th and 10th centuries and crossed velvety smooth pastures that were painted with wildflowers. We crossed four passes – 3038m; 3100m; 3574m; and finally the Torugart Pass (the border with China) at 3752 m.
Video of a 360 view along the road...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPICdG7tg_Q
Pictures driving through Kyrgyzstan to China...
The wake-up call came at 2:30 AM for our flight to Bishkek. With the trouble in Osh the border to Kyrgyzstan was closed and we had to make a detour through to the north and then southeast of the country in order to get to China.
On the runway at the Bishkek airport we taxied passed a line of 14 US KC135 tanker transport planes that are used to aid operations in Afghanistan.
We were met by our new Kyrgyz tour leader, Tatiana who led us to the 15-seater bus that was to take us to the Chinese border. Driving into the city, the contrast of Bishkek to Tashkent was immediately apparent. The streets were busy with every make of car – Mercedes, Toyotas, Hondas, Audis – in contrast to Uzbekistan where all we saw were Uzbek-made trucks, buses and cars. The city was full of students, statues of socialist and Kyrgyz heroes, broad streets and lush green squares with huge elms. Tatiana explained that not one statue of Lenin or Marx was destroyed after the fall of the Soviet Union because the Kyrgyz people had been happy as part of the USSR. We visited the excellent national museum and a beautiful Russian orthodox church. We also drove past several building that had been burnt during the ‘popular’ uprising in April that forced President Bakiyev to leave the country.
We headed out of the city the next morning along one of main roads through Bishkek that translates as ‘silk road way’. It follows the trade route all the way to China. We drove for awhile alongside the border with Kazakhstan through lots of small villages and past the road side yurts selling fermented mares milk. Each town had its war memorial, all dated 1941 to 1945 (1941 being the date when Hitler invaded Russia). The first check point we came to was embellished by a tank parked by the side of the road.
Tatiana explained that there was still a lot of tension in the country after what had just happened in Osh and with the upcoming referendum on changes to the constitution. She made it clear that she believed that life had been much better in Soviet times when government policies forced people to live in ethnically mixed villages.
We saw lots and lots of livestock grazing in open pastures -horses, donkeys, sheep, yaks, and goats. Kyrgyz are outnumbered 2 to 1 by their livestock; two thirds of the population lives in rural areas.
Video of Kyrgyzstan herd...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkHebZ-tjuw
The mountains were sprinkled with fresh snow as we climbed higher on our second day on the road. We passed grave sites dating back to the 5th and 10th centuries and crossed velvety smooth pastures that were painted with wildflowers. We crossed four passes – 3038m; 3100m; 3574m; and finally the Torugart Pass (the border with China) at 3752 m.
Video of a 360 view along the road...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPICdG7tg_Q
Pictures driving through Kyrgyzstan to China...
 |
| Detour |
Ferghana Valley
(June 21)
After returning to Tashkent, we were supposed to drive east through the Ferghana Valley and into Kyrgyzstan through Osh. As the route was now closed to all traffic our plans had to change. We left Tashkent early in the morning and drove to Kokand. Security on the road was heavy due to the trouble in Osh and we had to stop twice for passport checks. The Ferghana Valley is a more conservative part of the country which becomes apparent when you see the how the women are dressed. After visiting the requisite mosques, museums and palaces in Kokand we headed further east to spend the night in the town of Ferghana.
Next morning we drove to a small town called Margilon to visit a silk ‘factory’. The town has been manufacturing silk products for over 1500 years. We were given a tour through the entire process from the unwinding of the silk from the cocoons (each cocoon is made up of one kilometre of silk!!!), to the dying, spinning and weaving. The factory produces hand-tied silk rugs and hand-made as well as machine-made bolts of multi-coloured silks for scarves and decorative use. The machines used for weaving clanked and clattered like something out of a movie on the industrial revolution.
Silk weaving by hand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v_9p7rj80Q
Silk weaving by machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8SXbY4opzs
Our next stop was the town of Rushtin, famous throughout Central Asia for its ceramics. The clay in this area is so pure that no additives -other than water- are needed. We also stopped by the Rushtin market where we became very popular with several people asking to have their photos taken with us.
Photos from the Ferghana Valley...
After returning to Tashkent, we were supposed to drive east through the Ferghana Valley and into Kyrgyzstan through Osh. As the route was now closed to all traffic our plans had to change. We left Tashkent early in the morning and drove to Kokand. Security on the road was heavy due to the trouble in Osh and we had to stop twice for passport checks. The Ferghana Valley is a more conservative part of the country which becomes apparent when you see the how the women are dressed. After visiting the requisite mosques, museums and palaces in Kokand we headed further east to spend the night in the town of Ferghana.
Next morning we drove to a small town called Margilon to visit a silk ‘factory’. The town has been manufacturing silk products for over 1500 years. We were given a tour through the entire process from the unwinding of the silk from the cocoons (each cocoon is made up of one kilometre of silk!!!), to the dying, spinning and weaving. The factory produces hand-tied silk rugs and hand-made as well as machine-made bolts of multi-coloured silks for scarves and decorative use. The machines used for weaving clanked and clattered like something out of a movie on the industrial revolution.
Silk weaving by hand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v_9p7rj80Q
Silk weaving by machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8SXbY4opzs
Our next stop was the town of Rushtin, famous throughout Central Asia for its ceramics. The clay in this area is so pure that no additives -other than water- are needed. We also stopped by the Rushtin market where we became very popular with several people asking to have their photos taken with us.
Photos from the Ferghana Valley...
 |
| Fergana Valley |
Samarkand
The Golden Road to Samarkand
– James Elroy Flecker (1913)
Sweet to ride forth at evening from the wells,
When shadows pass gigantic on the sand,
And softly through the silence beat the bells
Along the Golden Road to Samarkand.
We travel not for trafficking alone;
By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned:
For lust of knowing what should not be known
We take the Golden Road to Samarkand.
(June 18 and 19)
Samarkand was probably founded in the 5 century BC. Alexander stopped here in 329 BC and described is as more beautiful than he had ever imagined. As a key Silk Road city, Samarkand prospered as an important trade centre from the 6th to the 13th century when its population was bigger that it is today. Its rulers included the Western Turks, the Persian Samanids, the Karakhanids and others until the city was destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1220.
In 1370 Timur decided to make Samarkand his capital. Over the next 35 years under his leadership the city became the epicentre of Central Asia’s economy and culture. It is filled with mosques, minarets, medressas and mausoleums – but they are all more imposing, more decorative and more structurally complex than anything we’d seen so far (thanks to the substantial reconstruction efforts of the Soviets and the Uzbeks). And we were far more excited about being there than anywhere we had been before.
Video of Registan Square...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9I6vwO19Nc
We also visited some great workshops in Samarkand, including a fashion designer (where we given a fabulous fashion show), a carpet factory, and a paper making workshop.
Video of the water wheel at the paper making workshop - Samarkand...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9FqX3WLAbw
Samarkand means ‘Strong Sugar’
***
Our guide Rustam is 47 years old. He is from Khorezm State near Khiva. This is the area where some of the oldest settlements are found in Uzbekistan. When I asked him how long his family had lived there he said he could trace back seven generations but that they had been there longer than that. He also told me that he knows a family that can trace back 122 generations. “They came to Khorezm in the sixth century, from Persia” He laughed and added, “But they are all snobs.”
Toward the end of our tour in Uzbekistan, Rustam was looking a little weary. He said he had been working non-stop since early January – as a translator and actor on a Russian movie, as a teacher, and as a guide. He was really looking forward to going home for a month. “I need to be Uzbek!” he said.
He led us on and off the bus, in and out of museums and mosques, back and forth to our hotels, and up and down streets and alley ways to restaurants for lunch and dinner. Whenever we would arrive at our destination he would say, “We are coming now. Let’s go. Slowly, slowly.”
***
Our first night in Samarkand Rustam left us on our own for dinner. Six of us when off together to a lovely beer garden, surrounded by roses and lush tall trees. It was a bit cooler (about 32) so we were all feeling frisky and so excited about being in Samarkand. We decided to break free from kebabs and headed to an Italian restaurant. The following interesting dishes were listed on the menu...
- Spaghetti with bitter meatwads (spaghetti, onion, tomato juice, soya sauce, meatwads, chillipepper, double cream, cheese)
- “Three Pigs” (their quotation marks) (pork, pine apple, Bulgarian pepper, spices)
- Fri
- Chicken hip filled with mushrooms
- Salad “Woman’s Caprice” (their quotation marks)(ham, servelat, salami, mayo, nuts)
- Salad “for darling ladies” (cabbage, grape, potato, carrot, mackerel, pickle, cucumber, onion, spices, mayo)
Pictures from Samarkand...
– James Elroy Flecker (1913)
Sweet to ride forth at evening from the wells,
When shadows pass gigantic on the sand,
And softly through the silence beat the bells
Along the Golden Road to Samarkand.
We travel not for trafficking alone;
By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned:
For lust of knowing what should not be known
We take the Golden Road to Samarkand.
(June 18 and 19)
Samarkand was probably founded in the 5 century BC. Alexander stopped here in 329 BC and described is as more beautiful than he had ever imagined. As a key Silk Road city, Samarkand prospered as an important trade centre from the 6th to the 13th century when its population was bigger that it is today. Its rulers included the Western Turks, the Persian Samanids, the Karakhanids and others until the city was destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1220.
In 1370 Timur decided to make Samarkand his capital. Over the next 35 years under his leadership the city became the epicentre of Central Asia’s economy and culture. It is filled with mosques, minarets, medressas and mausoleums – but they are all more imposing, more decorative and more structurally complex than anything we’d seen so far (thanks to the substantial reconstruction efforts of the Soviets and the Uzbeks). And we were far more excited about being there than anywhere we had been before.
Video of Registan Square...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9I6vwO19Nc
We also visited some great workshops in Samarkand, including a fashion designer (where we given a fabulous fashion show), a carpet factory, and a paper making workshop.
Video of the water wheel at the paper making workshop - Samarkand...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9FqX3WLAbw
Samarkand means ‘Strong Sugar’
***
Our guide Rustam is 47 years old. He is from Khorezm State near Khiva. This is the area where some of the oldest settlements are found in Uzbekistan. When I asked him how long his family had lived there he said he could trace back seven generations but that they had been there longer than that. He also told me that he knows a family that can trace back 122 generations. “They came to Khorezm in the sixth century, from Persia” He laughed and added, “But they are all snobs.”
Toward the end of our tour in Uzbekistan, Rustam was looking a little weary. He said he had been working non-stop since early January – as a translator and actor on a Russian movie, as a teacher, and as a guide. He was really looking forward to going home for a month. “I need to be Uzbek!” he said.
He led us on and off the bus, in and out of museums and mosques, back and forth to our hotels, and up and down streets and alley ways to restaurants for lunch and dinner. Whenever we would arrive at our destination he would say, “We are coming now. Let’s go. Slowly, slowly.”
***
Our first night in Samarkand Rustam left us on our own for dinner. Six of us when off together to a lovely beer garden, surrounded by roses and lush tall trees. It was a bit cooler (about 32) so we were all feeling frisky and so excited about being in Samarkand. We decided to break free from kebabs and headed to an Italian restaurant. The following interesting dishes were listed on the menu...
- Spaghetti with bitter meatwads (spaghetti, onion, tomato juice, soya sauce, meatwads, chillipepper, double cream, cheese)
- “Three Pigs” (their quotation marks) (pork, pine apple, Bulgarian pepper, spices)
- Fri
- Chicken hip filled with mushrooms
- Salad “Woman’s Caprice” (their quotation marks)(ham, servelat, salami, mayo, nuts)
- Salad “for darling ladies” (cabbage, grape, potato, carrot, mackerel, pickle, cucumber, onion, spices, mayo)
Pictures from Samarkand...
 |
| Samarkand |
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A break in the mountains
(June 17)
We escaped from the heat of Bukhara and we drove north into the mountains of the Nuratau-Kyzylkum Biosphere Reserve for a wonderful break in a village called Sentab. On the way we stopped to see the remains of a fortress built by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC near the town of Nurata. All that still stands is a thick tawny-coloured sand wall that gives little indication of its history or legacy.
With the help of UN Development Program funding, several families in Sentab have set up ‘home stay’ type accommodation as part of a community-based tourism project. Sentab is home to about 250 families (2500 people). It is spread out along a river valley that has been inhabited for 2500 years.
Our place for the evening was run by a young Tadjik family that were wonderful hosts. Tadjik is one of the country’s four main languages and is of Persian origin. (The other languages -Uzbek, Russian and -are all part of the Turkic language group.) Our meals were served on a low table in a covered area next to the river, a short walk through an orchard from the guest house. We were treated to an evening of Tadjik dancing that Barney took to with all the zest of the local people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3AMpxOHJNs
The following morning we went for a hike up the valley and were passed by many nimble donkeys carrying overflowing loads of mountain grasses to feed the livestock below. The air was filled with the scent of apricots. We were lead to a number of petroglyph sites and through the ruins of a smaller village that had been forcibly abandoned during the early Soviet days. The villagers were smiling and friendly, curious and shy.
We left Sentab just before lunch and at last found ourselves on the golden road to Samarkand.
Photos from Sentab...
We escaped from the heat of Bukhara and we drove north into the mountains of the Nuratau-Kyzylkum Biosphere Reserve for a wonderful break in a village called Sentab. On the way we stopped to see the remains of a fortress built by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC near the town of Nurata. All that still stands is a thick tawny-coloured sand wall that gives little indication of its history or legacy.
With the help of UN Development Program funding, several families in Sentab have set up ‘home stay’ type accommodation as part of a community-based tourism project. Sentab is home to about 250 families (2500 people). It is spread out along a river valley that has been inhabited for 2500 years.
Our place for the evening was run by a young Tadjik family that were wonderful hosts. Tadjik is one of the country’s four main languages and is of Persian origin. (The other languages -Uzbek, Russian and -are all part of the Turkic language group.) Our meals were served on a low table in a covered area next to the river, a short walk through an orchard from the guest house. We were treated to an evening of Tadjik dancing that Barney took to with all the zest of the local people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3AMpxOHJNs
The following morning we went for a hike up the valley and were passed by many nimble donkeys carrying overflowing loads of mountain grasses to feed the livestock below. The air was filled with the scent of apricots. We were lead to a number of petroglyph sites and through the ruins of a smaller village that had been forcibly abandoned during the early Soviet days. The villagers were smiling and friendly, curious and shy.
We left Sentab just before lunch and at last found ourselves on the golden road to Samarkand.
Photos from Sentab...
 |
| Sentab |
Bukhara
(June 14, 15, 16)
Surrounded by the Kyzyl-Kum desert, Bukhara is a true oasis. The guide books describe it is Central Asia’s holiest city. It is also one of its oldest having recently celebrated its 2500th anniversary. It is full of centuries old mosques, medressas, mausoleums and minarets that have been exquisitely restored to their former brilliance– some by the Russians (during the era of the USSR) and later by the Uzbeks (after independence). The oldest medressa in Central Asia is found in Bukhara. Built by Ulugbek (Tamerlane’s grandson and renowned astronomer) in 1417, it is still waiting its turn for restoration. The current population of the city is a little over a quarter of a million.
Among the many stunning examples of Islamic architecture that we visited was the very large 16th century Kalon mosque. At one end of the courtyard is a small stone structure called the Mausoleum of the Children. When Genghis Khan stormed through the region in the early 13th century, he sacked Bukhara and killed many of its citizens, including children. The remaining town’s people buried all the slaughtered children in one place and built the mausoleum as a memorial. The mosque and its surrounding courtyard is now filled with over 10,000 people during Islam’s two largest festivals.
The nearby Kalon minaret was built in 1127. It stands 42 m high and was so well made that it has only needed minimal cosmetic repairs over its 850 year history. It has 14 distinctly different ornamental bands that include the first glazed blue tiles used in Central Asia. Genghis Khan was so impressed by its beauty that he ordered it spared from destruction.
When not trying to make some sense of the city’s ancient and complex architectural, economic and intellectual history, we wandered around the covered markets and along many narrow laneways, exploring tiny cavernous shops that held everything from carpets to silk scarves to spices. We discovered one of the remaining caravanserai (literally ‘camel route palace’) that is now home to the sellers of plastic toys, plastic flowers and wedding dresses. Enough remains of the original structure to easily imagine it filled with camels and traders who used the space to rest and replenish on their Silk Road journey.
Our two days of wandering about the city were incredibly hot with the thermometer reading 45 C in the shade late in the afternoon. The evenings brought some relief and we were able to enjoy rich dinners of kebabs, four or five different types of salads, apricots, watermelon, green tea and beer. One evening we ate by a pool built in 1640, surrounded by mulberry trees; another on a roof top as we watched the sun set over multiple tiled domes and minarets.
Photos of Bukhara...
Surrounded by the Kyzyl-Kum desert, Bukhara is a true oasis. The guide books describe it is Central Asia’s holiest city. It is also one of its oldest having recently celebrated its 2500th anniversary. It is full of centuries old mosques, medressas, mausoleums and minarets that have been exquisitely restored to their former brilliance– some by the Russians (during the era of the USSR) and later by the Uzbeks (after independence). The oldest medressa in Central Asia is found in Bukhara. Built by Ulugbek (Tamerlane’s grandson and renowned astronomer) in 1417, it is still waiting its turn for restoration. The current population of the city is a little over a quarter of a million.
Among the many stunning examples of Islamic architecture that we visited was the very large 16th century Kalon mosque. At one end of the courtyard is a small stone structure called the Mausoleum of the Children. When Genghis Khan stormed through the region in the early 13th century, he sacked Bukhara and killed many of its citizens, including children. The remaining town’s people buried all the slaughtered children in one place and built the mausoleum as a memorial. The mosque and its surrounding courtyard is now filled with over 10,000 people during Islam’s two largest festivals.
The nearby Kalon minaret was built in 1127. It stands 42 m high and was so well made that it has only needed minimal cosmetic repairs over its 850 year history. It has 14 distinctly different ornamental bands that include the first glazed blue tiles used in Central Asia. Genghis Khan was so impressed by its beauty that he ordered it spared from destruction.
When not trying to make some sense of the city’s ancient and complex architectural, economic and intellectual history, we wandered around the covered markets and along many narrow laneways, exploring tiny cavernous shops that held everything from carpets to silk scarves to spices. We discovered one of the remaining caravanserai (literally ‘camel route palace’) that is now home to the sellers of plastic toys, plastic flowers and wedding dresses. Enough remains of the original structure to easily imagine it filled with camels and traders who used the space to rest and replenish on their Silk Road journey.
Our two days of wandering about the city were incredibly hot with the thermometer reading 45 C in the shade late in the afternoon. The evenings brought some relief and we were able to enjoy rich dinners of kebabs, four or five different types of salads, apricots, watermelon, green tea and beer. One evening we ate by a pool built in 1640, surrounded by mulberry trees; another on a roof top as we watched the sun set over multiple tiled domes and minarets.
Photos of Bukhara...
 |
| Bukhara |
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