Along the Silk Road

The next six nights were spent in the ancient, awesome, and beautiful Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, and in (not awesome or beautiful) Urgench, from which we visited Khiva, which was. At the time Khiva had been largely depopulated (remember who’s boss) so that the city could undergo massive restoration works with the pesky local people out of the way.

What can I say? The architecture, the history, the vibrancy of the bazaars and markets, the chaikhanas, donkeys transporting goods in the streets, braziers offering skewers of lamb and goat and chicken, men in long robes and turbans, women in outrageous silk attire… total overload.

Wisely (or maybe because of limited language skills) Larisa and the other tour group minders sort of left us alone for big chunks of time. We could wander the streets, sit in a chaikhana while old men played backgammon as they’d done for centuries, the hot green tea serving to cool one from the stifling air. We visited the markets, bazaars and caravanserais that had been in continuous operation for a thousand years or more. We bought delicious baked goods from street vendors…

The history was everywhere – the giant minaret in Bukhara from which opponents to the ruling emirs were thrown, but which was now occupied by a family of storks. The Gur-e-Amir mausoleum (rivaling the Taj Mahal IMO) Tamerlane’s tomb and the mind-blowing Registan Square in Samarkand, on and on.

But also the back streets and alleys with intricately-carved doorways, scenes of people bartering and laughing in the markets, mountains of melons… Take my hand, I’m a stranger in Paradise…

Rather than describe specific scenes or events, I’ll just let some pictures do the talking.



































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