I decide to make a slow circumambulation of the Bibi Khanym Mosque, before entering the complex. The sleek, overtly manicured, and somewhat kitschy facade of […]
The most famous Uzbek cities are the Silk Road outposts of Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva; the very names conjure up images of camels crossing deserts, […]
Ayaz Kala, a mud-brick fortress on the fringe of the Qyzylqum Desert in Qaraqalpaqstan, isn’t a particularly easy place to reach. The first time I visited I […]
Toprak Kala, like all the kalas (desert fortresses) of ancient Khorezm, is slowly turning to dust. Rain is transforming the fortress walls into shapeless mud. Wind […]
Genghis Khan came face-to-face with the Kalyan Minaret when he arrived in Bukhara in 1220 CE. His Mongol army had just decimated the capital of the Khwarazmian […]
Timur, whose remains lie entombed within the aquamarine-domed Gur-e-Amir, was one if the most fearsome men to ever live. In terms of empire building he’s up there with Genghis […]
Sand. Sand, sand, sand. Then this, rising up from the desert. A city: Khiva. Full of houses, public squares, minarets, madrasahs, mosques; all the trappings of a […]
Ulugh Beg Observatory, Samarkand A level, nondescript hilltop, in the midst of the sprawling, labyrinthine neighbourhoods of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The hilltop is paved, swept clean […]