All the articles I had read in my pre-trip research always
described Uzbekistan as the "Jewel in the Silk Road's Crown", usually
under a strikingly beautiful photograph of the Registan in Samarkand, a square
which bordered by three turquoise tiled Medressah's ( For anyone who doesn't
know a Medressah is an Islamic school). Needless to say I knew we were going to
be in for a treat in terms of the sights we would see in Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan is a country which was considered to be of the greatest importance during the time of the Silk Road. It was considered to be the crossroads which connected Asia and Europe. Therefore it was unsurprising that Asian conqueror Tamerlane chose to rule from this land and leave a large architectural legacy behind.
Our first town on the itinerary after our visit to the Aral
Sea, which Malcolm described in our last blog, was Khiva. A walled city which
proved a challenge to enter for our big overland truck, after driving around
it's perimeter a few times we eventually found a gap in the wall and arrived at
our traditional guest house. In spite of the nearly 40 degree heat, we managed
to do a sightseeing tour with our golden toothed guide who enthusiastically
took us around the many sights of Khiva, from palaces to minarets, each had
meticulously hand tiled walls and ornate ceilings.
Like Khiva, the famous silk road cities of Bukhara and
Samarkand did not dissapoint. Bukhara's peaceful square and relaxed atmosphere
made a good base for us to catch up with our fellow overlanders from African
trails (Ok maybe we ruined the peace a little). Meanwhile Samarkand's Registan
provided an overwhelming display of Islamic architecture and how stunning it
could be. I don't feel that any of my descriptions of these sight's will give
them justice, so I have tried to include as many pictures as possible.
Sadly the price to pay for such beautiful sights is the extensive
work the government is doing to preserve the sights for tourists by moving the
day to day life of the local people further away from sight. While this has yet
to happen in Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand had whole sections of the city being
walled off while new building was happening all around us which the government had
ordered in order to "compliment" their beautiful architectural
sights. The effect was a slight loss of atmosphere due to our inability to
interact with the locals and get lost amongst their sprawling 'old town'. That said, interactions with locals were
still possible you just maybe had to do a bit more work to have them, the Uzbek
bazaars provided many an opportunity to barter with the locals for a bag of
pick and mix biscuits and restaurants filled up in the evenings with people
getting their Plov fix, a dish of buttery rice with chunks of meat mixed in.
So did it live up to the name of being the jewel in the Silk
road crown? The blues of each Medressah and Mosque we saw could certainly be
compared to a big fat sapphire. The buildings wowed us and it provided us with
some amazing photos to share with you and although slightly harder to find than
in say Iran, the hustle and bustle of Uzbekistan life also provided us with
some awesome experiences.
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