2 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, […]
Uzbekistan
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2 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 […]
Ayaz Kala, Qaraqalpaqstan – desert fortress times three
2 The Registan (which means place of sand) is the focal point of the ancient silk road city of Samarkand; it’s one of the most recognisable […]
The Registan, Samarkand, Uzbekistan – place of sand
2 To say there are many petroglyph sites in Central Asia is a stupendous understatement. There are 150 known rock art sites in Uzbekistan alone; and […]
Sarmish-say, Uzbekistan – 4,000 petroglyphs in dramatic gorge setting
2 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 […]
Toprak Kala & Qyzyl Kala, Qaraqalpaqstan
2 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 […]
Kalyan Minaret, Bukhara, Uzbekistan – the magnificent Tower of Death
2 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 […]
Gur-e-Amir, Samarkand, Uzbekistan – Tomb of Timur
2 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 […]
Khiva, Uzbekistan – silk road city, desert oasis, hub for ...
2 Before visiting Nukus (by the way it’s pronounced No’kis, rather than Nookoose, as I first thought), the only information I had on the city was […]
Nukus, Qaraqalpaqstan – Cultural wasteland? I think not.
5 ‘He is gypsy boy. He wants money. Do not give it to him.’ Two young men, university age or thereabouts, have just seated themselves beside […]
Samarkand, Uzbekistan – turquoise-tiled capital of the Timurid Empire
6 A level, nondescript hilltop, in the midst of the sprawling, labyrinthine neighbourhoods of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The hilltop is paved, swept clean on an hourly basis, […]
The Ulugh Beg Observatory, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
4 You can see Chilpik from so far away. You crest an insignificant rise in the desert and there it is, on the horizon; flat-topped, vertical sided, […]
Chilpik, Qaraqalpaqstan – Zoroastrian Tower of the Dead
2 It’s stifling in the back of the troop carrier. The windows in the front of the car are down, as are those in the second […]