Shakrisabz
I have been trying to get to this task over the last week, but it just has not happened. I am going to try my darndest to finish it today.
After eating dinner in the mountains on Wednesday evening, we continued the drive to Shakrisabz. There we were welcomed into our homestay. We stayed with an Uzbek family who moved in together in different rooms throughout the large house/complex so that all of us would have a place to sleep and eat. You can see in the pics below that the boys were comfortable and we had a very nice set up for the meals that they made the entire time we were there. The family welcomed us kindly and we watched as the lone male (the 70 something older man in the pictures) worked to ensure that all of the women and children in his household were cared for. His own son had gone to Moscow, and somehow the fathers of the children were not present - I am not sure why. But the women were kind, helpful, and the food was healthy (except for the pre-ponderance of cakes at breakfast) and delicious. When were served lunch the next day Didzis and Namejs each ate 4 helpings of the delicious plov with cherries.
During our first day of seeing Shakrisabz we started with the White Palace. The White Palace is the largest palace that Amir Temur built. It said to have covered two hectares of land and if you look at the pictures you can imagine the enormity of it if it were still there. There was an attempt to restore the archway - the space between the two towers pictured - but today's architects could not figure out how to make the structure so that it would be sound, as the arch distance is wider than any arch built today. To make it even more amazing, it is said that a swimming pool was built right above the arch with plumbing leading up to the pool. This all during the time that Europeans were living with the sewage going through their streets and no indoor plumbing whatsoever...
This building is interesting in that although it is one of Temur's largest wonders it has not been restored, and you can see the ravages of time more so than on the the other buildings that have had some restoration and upkeep on them. The only remants of the palace are these towers, the foundation stones which are huge! and the mosaic tiles of the garden pools. We also climbed up the tower and the scenic pictures you see are panorama shots of Shakrisabz.
The story of the destruction of the White Palace is that there was a hun leader who was so tired and hungry as he was traveling, that he was glad to see the white palace in the distance, and expected to arrive soon. After a day he had still not arrived. In two more days he had still not arrived. Once he finally arrived his anger was so great that he had the entire building destroyed because of its ability to fool his senses.
Following the White Palace we went on a tour of the market place which is said to be one of the oldest in Shakrisabz. We continued to two more mosques. On the way we saw how the Uzbek tablecloths are sewn with a sewing machine today rather than the old handmade versions. Thus, if you come and visit don't believe it when the sales people tell you: handmade, handmade...
The first Mosque we visited is where Amir Temur had buried his two sons who had died early. He had also built himself a crypt here, but no one knew where. During Soviet times, a young boy, playing soccer in his garden fell through a hole and found the crypt. The crypt does not hold the remains of Temur as those are in the Mausoleum mentioned in a previous post. The second Mosques was another Madrassa, but once again, even in this small town selling Uzbek handicrafts had created a less than inviting the sceene. The salespeople were almost to the point of obnoxious and rude (not a normal Uzbek trait) in competing with one another.
Another site that was fascinating was the old city wall that has been reconstructed. The outer protrustions are enormous, and it is easy to imagine how intimidating this city was. In one of the pictures you see the comparison of the ancient to the modern again.
Besides all of these sites we also were able to have an interesting experience. Shakrisabz has a bath house that is over 400 years old. Julie and I had long thought that it would be nice to be able to experience the bath house. When we went to see it originally it was men's day, so only the men and the boys got to go in. We asked if it would be possible to organize a time for the women and children to go in together. It was and in later on that evening we were able to have a sauna. The sauna was clean, but smelled its age. As Alex so aptly put it later, it was a sauna where sweat had been recyling itself for over 400 years. But it wasn't that bad once our senses adjusted. The sauna had a large round central area where people could lie down or sit to cool down, and also wash. There was a large circular slab in the middle, and small nooks an crannies next to the many doors that led to different places. The sauna itself was small with hot, hot tiles, and nooks in which to sit again. There was a room next to it that was just an empty room where it seemed to be hotter, and one could just stand. The sweat dripped off us excellently.
Then there was another room where we filled basins for washing. The room had slanted floors that allowed for the water to drain to the larger room where we would wash. We poured the buckets over our heads, soaped ourselves up and poured the buckets over ourselves again. An hour and a half later we entered the cool evening warm and clean.
Leaving Shakrisabz was sad. Our hosts had been so warm and friendly. The man who led the family even came out and hugged us all. The girls all came to the door to bid us farewell. What a different experience to the mountain location! I hope that we have the chance at some point to return to this location in the future.
After eating dinner in the mountains on Wednesday evening, we continued the drive to Shakrisabz. There we were welcomed into our homestay. We stayed with an Uzbek family who moved in together in different rooms throughout the large house/complex so that all of us would have a place to sleep and eat. You can see in the pics below that the boys were comfortable and we had a very nice set up for the meals that they made the entire time we were there. The family welcomed us kindly and we watched as the lone male (the 70 something older man in the pictures) worked to ensure that all of the women and children in his household were cared for. His own son had gone to Moscow, and somehow the fathers of the children were not present - I am not sure why. But the women were kind, helpful, and the food was healthy (except for the pre-ponderance of cakes at breakfast) and delicious. When were served lunch the next day Didzis and Namejs each ate 4 helpings of the delicious plov with cherries.
During our first day of seeing Shakrisabz we started with the White Palace. The White Palace is the largest palace that Amir Temur built. It said to have covered two hectares of land and if you look at the pictures you can imagine the enormity of it if it were still there. There was an attempt to restore the archway - the space between the two towers pictured - but today's architects could not figure out how to make the structure so that it would be sound, as the arch distance is wider than any arch built today. To make it even more amazing, it is said that a swimming pool was built right above the arch with plumbing leading up to the pool. This all during the time that Europeans were living with the sewage going through their streets and no indoor plumbing whatsoever...
This building is interesting in that although it is one of Temur's largest wonders it has not been restored, and you can see the ravages of time more so than on the the other buildings that have had some restoration and upkeep on them. The only remants of the palace are these towers, the foundation stones which are huge! and the mosaic tiles of the garden pools. We also climbed up the tower and the scenic pictures you see are panorama shots of Shakrisabz.
The story of the destruction of the White Palace is that there was a hun leader who was so tired and hungry as he was traveling, that he was glad to see the white palace in the distance, and expected to arrive soon. After a day he had still not arrived. In two more days he had still not arrived. Once he finally arrived his anger was so great that he had the entire building destroyed because of its ability to fool his senses.
Following the White Palace we went on a tour of the market place which is said to be one of the oldest in Shakrisabz. We continued to two more mosques. On the way we saw how the Uzbek tablecloths are sewn with a sewing machine today rather than the old handmade versions. Thus, if you come and visit don't believe it when the sales people tell you: handmade, handmade...
The first Mosque we visited is where Amir Temur had buried his two sons who had died early. He had also built himself a crypt here, but no one knew where. During Soviet times, a young boy, playing soccer in his garden fell through a hole and found the crypt. The crypt does not hold the remains of Temur as those are in the Mausoleum mentioned in a previous post. The second Mosques was another Madrassa, but once again, even in this small town selling Uzbek handicrafts had created a less than inviting the sceene. The salespeople were almost to the point of obnoxious and rude (not a normal Uzbek trait) in competing with one another.
Another site that was fascinating was the old city wall that has been reconstructed. The outer protrustions are enormous, and it is easy to imagine how intimidating this city was. In one of the pictures you see the comparison of the ancient to the modern again.
Besides all of these sites we also were able to have an interesting experience. Shakrisabz has a bath house that is over 400 years old. Julie and I had long thought that it would be nice to be able to experience the bath house. When we went to see it originally it was men's day, so only the men and the boys got to go in. We asked if it would be possible to organize a time for the women and children to go in together. It was and in later on that evening we were able to have a sauna. The sauna was clean, but smelled its age. As Alex so aptly put it later, it was a sauna where sweat had been recyling itself for over 400 years. But it wasn't that bad once our senses adjusted. The sauna had a large round central area where people could lie down or sit to cool down, and also wash. There was a large circular slab in the middle, and small nooks an crannies next to the many doors that led to different places. The sauna itself was small with hot, hot tiles, and nooks in which to sit again. There was a room next to it that was just an empty room where it seemed to be hotter, and one could just stand. The sweat dripped off us excellently.
Then there was another room where we filled basins for washing. The room had slanted floors that allowed for the water to drain to the larger room where we would wash. We poured the buckets over our heads, soaped ourselves up and poured the buckets over ourselves again. An hour and a half later we entered the cool evening warm and clean.
Leaving Shakrisabz was sad. Our hosts had been so warm and friendly. The man who led the family even came out and hugged us all. The girls all came to the door to bid us farewell. What a different experience to the mountain location! I hope that we have the chance at some point to return to this location in the future.
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