Ferghana Valley 1
Looking through, organizing and resizing my pictures today, I realized that I will just have to write several entries to do justice to the whole experience we had in Ferghana. Our guide really did a fantastic job of indoctrinating us into the details of the crafts of the valley's artisans. Each entry will be a detailed version of the silk making process, block printing, leather making, and ceramics. Other aspects will be comments and experiences. Just to give a taste of where I will be going in writing up this trip I am going to begin with a short synopsis and some pictures to whet the appetite of those who read regularly.
The trip was four days long, and began on Monday. We were picked up early in the morning by the driver that our guide and trip organizer Davlat had pre-organized for us. My friend Carol, and her dog Alfie were picked up first and then we joined in fifteen minutes later. The morning trip began cold and wet and we drove through the mountain passes with the mountains shrouded in clouds. The driver was also driving so quickly that I didn't have a chance to take any pictures that would have been worth posting. Ferghana is in the most North Eastern tip of Uzbekistan and is a valley between mountains that separate Uzbekistan from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. We arrived in Ferghana five hours later.
Driving through the small towns of the region it was clear that we had come to a very different part of Uzbekistan. There were more people out and about, the houses and streets were tidier and cleaner, and everywhere you looked something was growing. The valley is not known as the fertile region of the country for nothing.
Davlat met us at the house where we were to stay. He had organized that we would stay there for the duration of the four days. Three generations of Uzbeks live in this home. The people that we met were the husband - who is a silk maker and owns a silk "factory", his wife, his two daughters, his son-in-law, his son, and a six month old baby. They were all very kind and welcoming. We had been placed in the bedroom of the parents, and Carol nearby to us. We were fed both breakfast and dinner daily and the house had all the amenities necessary for us. Although the toilet was Turskish style, it was spotlessly clean, and there was a working shower.
We stayed in the top part of the house. The lower level had a small kitchen and a another room in which the family regularly ate. The inner courtyard is huge, and there was plenty of space for the boys and Alfie to run around.
Here you can see the silk hanging out to dry after dying. the doors on the balcony led to another set of family rooms, and a large room in which we ate daily. Although it was warm enough to eat outside the first evening, the rest of the time it was too cool, and we welcomed the warmth of being inside. Below the balcony, the door leads to the owner's silk workshop.
Our trip really focused on artisans and their crafts. I will write more about each of these, but below I have collected a smattering of pictures to give you a sense of the trip as a whole.
This picture was taken on our first day after our first shashlik meal which cost a total of 13,000 sum for five of us - about $8.00. This the chainika server. He is responsible for keeping the samovars full with water, and needs to continually keep up with the tea orders. Living here we have become accustomed to drinking tea with our meals and will usually go through out least two of the teapots you see on the samovars. I loved the adaptation of the samovars for the necessity of larger consumption.
The following set of pictures was taken in a park that is called the dove park - not sure why doves, because there are mostly pigeons there. But because there are so many birds there it has gained a reputation for being holy also - it is rare to see this many birds in one place in Uzbekistan - even in Tashkent pigeons are few and far between. It is also the entrance to a cemetry, a place of prayer, and it also has a location in which to read and contemplate upon the Koran. Here you see Didzis and Namejs outside the room of contemplation.
Everywhere we went there were blossoms: cherry, apricot, apple...
In the next two shots I was able to capture some women at prayer. The first picture I did not realize I had taken because I was intent on the window more than the people behind it. The second, picture shows the women through the door. I feel a bit guilty about taking the picture in a personal moment, but it really shows aspects of Uzbekistan that I am not able to capture daily.
Here are the guys who served us at lunch our second day. Strangely enough we really needed Davlat as a translator everywhere we went. Almost nobody spoke Russian. I can normally get by with my Russian in ordering food, but these people had no clue what I was saying. They could only converse in Uzbek. It made me start feeling guilty about making the choice not to learn Uzbek. It showed that outside of Tashkent Uzbeks are proud of and live with and in their language and culture.
This is Davlat and our driver - I never caught the full sense of his name, but he is a teacher and we talked about teaching. The two of them made our trip very enjoyable and they were helpful and kind beyond the call of duty.
Alfie was a large part of our trip. He went everywhere with us to the interest of all the Uzbeks. Many people say that because Muslims do not keep dogs for pets that dogs are not liked. Alfie disproved this statement time and again. He would open doors for conversations, and open smiles and people's hearts. In general we were an attraction where ever we went. People took pictures of us, and Davlat continually had to answer questions about us. It was all in friendliness and curiosity, at no time did we feel threatened by the attention. Here you see Alfie sitting on the tapchan, following our lunch.
Ceramics: the main reason I have been dying to go to the Ferghana valley, and the main reason I will return for another visit. Below is a smattering of the works that we saw.
This one is as big as Namejs, and he is not small anymore!
Here is a nice relaxed pose of the boys while visiting the ceramics workshop.
I promise to get to more of this writing later, but I am not sure if I will get it all done this weekend.
The trip was four days long, and began on Monday. We were picked up early in the morning by the driver that our guide and trip organizer Davlat had pre-organized for us. My friend Carol, and her dog Alfie were picked up first and then we joined in fifteen minutes later. The morning trip began cold and wet and we drove through the mountain passes with the mountains shrouded in clouds. The driver was also driving so quickly that I didn't have a chance to take any pictures that would have been worth posting. Ferghana is in the most North Eastern tip of Uzbekistan and is a valley between mountains that separate Uzbekistan from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. We arrived in Ferghana five hours later.
Driving through the small towns of the region it was clear that we had come to a very different part of Uzbekistan. There were more people out and about, the houses and streets were tidier and cleaner, and everywhere you looked something was growing. The valley is not known as the fertile region of the country for nothing.
Davlat met us at the house where we were to stay. He had organized that we would stay there for the duration of the four days. Three generations of Uzbeks live in this home. The people that we met were the husband - who is a silk maker and owns a silk "factory", his wife, his two daughters, his son-in-law, his son, and a six month old baby. They were all very kind and welcoming. We had been placed in the bedroom of the parents, and Carol nearby to us. We were fed both breakfast and dinner daily and the house had all the amenities necessary for us. Although the toilet was Turskish style, it was spotlessly clean, and there was a working shower.
We stayed in the top part of the house. The lower level had a small kitchen and a another room in which the family regularly ate. The inner courtyard is huge, and there was plenty of space for the boys and Alfie to run around.
Here you can see the silk hanging out to dry after dying. the doors on the balcony led to another set of family rooms, and a large room in which we ate daily. Although it was warm enough to eat outside the first evening, the rest of the time it was too cool, and we welcomed the warmth of being inside. Below the balcony, the door leads to the owner's silk workshop.
Our trip really focused on artisans and their crafts. I will write more about each of these, but below I have collected a smattering of pictures to give you a sense of the trip as a whole.
This picture was taken on our first day after our first shashlik meal which cost a total of 13,000 sum for five of us - about $8.00. This the chainika server. He is responsible for keeping the samovars full with water, and needs to continually keep up with the tea orders. Living here we have become accustomed to drinking tea with our meals and will usually go through out least two of the teapots you see on the samovars. I loved the adaptation of the samovars for the necessity of larger consumption.
The following set of pictures was taken in a park that is called the dove park - not sure why doves, because there are mostly pigeons there. But because there are so many birds there it has gained a reputation for being holy also - it is rare to see this many birds in one place in Uzbekistan - even in Tashkent pigeons are few and far between. It is also the entrance to a cemetry, a place of prayer, and it also has a location in which to read and contemplate upon the Koran. Here you see Didzis and Namejs outside the room of contemplation.
Everywhere we went there were blossoms: cherry, apricot, apple...
In the next two shots I was able to capture some women at prayer. The first picture I did not realize I had taken because I was intent on the window more than the people behind it. The second, picture shows the women through the door. I feel a bit guilty about taking the picture in a personal moment, but it really shows aspects of Uzbekistan that I am not able to capture daily.
Here are the guys who served us at lunch our second day. Strangely enough we really needed Davlat as a translator everywhere we went. Almost nobody spoke Russian. I can normally get by with my Russian in ordering food, but these people had no clue what I was saying. They could only converse in Uzbek. It made me start feeling guilty about making the choice not to learn Uzbek. It showed that outside of Tashkent Uzbeks are proud of and live with and in their language and culture.
This is Davlat and our driver - I never caught the full sense of his name, but he is a teacher and we talked about teaching. The two of them made our trip very enjoyable and they were helpful and kind beyond the call of duty.
Alfie was a large part of our trip. He went everywhere with us to the interest of all the Uzbeks. Many people say that because Muslims do not keep dogs for pets that dogs are not liked. Alfie disproved this statement time and again. He would open doors for conversations, and open smiles and people's hearts. In general we were an attraction where ever we went. People took pictures of us, and Davlat continually had to answer questions about us. It was all in friendliness and curiosity, at no time did we feel threatened by the attention. Here you see Alfie sitting on the tapchan, following our lunch.
Ceramics: the main reason I have been dying to go to the Ferghana valley, and the main reason I will return for another visit. Below is a smattering of the works that we saw.
This one is as big as Namejs, and he is not small anymore!
Here is a nice relaxed pose of the boys while visiting the ceramics workshop.
I promise to get to more of this writing later, but I am not sure if I will get it all done this weekend.
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