Khiva
This last week I had the opportunity to travel to Khiva. I flew from Tashkent together with two friends from work, and spent four relaxing, and fun days in the city. J and M. J is a teacher from India, and her presence on the trip made for an extra interesting experience. Uzbeks love Indians, and we were continually asked to stop for pictures, dance for married couples and in general J had to give many blessings. M and I were a bit overwhelmed as we are not used to this type of attention, but it all ended up being quite fun. :-) A parent at school who is a travel agent was kind enough to organize the trip, and got us a fantastic deal on the stay and the guide we had. Here are the three of us at a desert fortress.
Historically Khiva was also a stop on the Silk Road, and specialized in the slave trade. It has a bit of different cultural aspect to it than the rest of Uzbekistan with its Khans who ruled and wore the huge Cossack like sheepskin hats and wore long swords. It is also said to be the location where the stories of the 1001 Nights were told. Who knows, maybe I saw the room where the wife of the King slept and told her stories. I certainly saw many palaces with separate women's areas for the harems. Differently than other locations wood is used in the decorative aspects of the culture, and wooden pillars are most common here. Additionally, they don't eat much lamb and the food tends more towards beef.
What is most unique about Khiva is that during Soviet times the old city was rebuilt, some areas fixed, others built anew. Most of the people living in the inner city were forced to move to the outer city. The few remaining almost seem to have become a part of the tourist attraction as well. As a result of this though we have an ancient city preserved in a form that can be felt and experienced.
The area itself is very green and has a large amount of water accessible. Houses have to be built over a period of years to allow for building settlement and check that it will not cause the water to rise below it. Before arriving I had fully expected a desert location, with no green. To my surprise we found a green oasis.
Minarets, palaces, mosaics, pillars all abound in Khiva.
I will be posting several sets of posts with pictures and comments, and writing less about them. I seem to lack the time to write in great detail lately. One will be about doors, one will be about pillars, and another about our day at the fortresses. I am overwhelmed by the 300 plus pictures that I took and my computer keeps crashing when dealing with the pictures, so here I will start with some of the best, just to whet your appetites.
Historically Khiva was also a stop on the Silk Road, and specialized in the slave trade. It has a bit of different cultural aspect to it than the rest of Uzbekistan with its Khans who ruled and wore the huge Cossack like sheepskin hats and wore long swords. It is also said to be the location where the stories of the 1001 Nights were told. Who knows, maybe I saw the room where the wife of the King slept and told her stories. I certainly saw many palaces with separate women's areas for the harems. Differently than other locations wood is used in the decorative aspects of the culture, and wooden pillars are most common here. Additionally, they don't eat much lamb and the food tends more towards beef.
What is most unique about Khiva is that during Soviet times the old city was rebuilt, some areas fixed, others built anew. Most of the people living in the inner city were forced to move to the outer city. The few remaining almost seem to have become a part of the tourist attraction as well. As a result of this though we have an ancient city preserved in a form that can be felt and experienced.
The area itself is very green and has a large amount of water accessible. Houses have to be built over a period of years to allow for building settlement and check that it will not cause the water to rise below it. Before arriving I had fully expected a desert location, with no green. To my surprise we found a green oasis.
Minarets, palaces, mosaics, pillars all abound in Khiva.
I will be posting several sets of posts with pictures and comments, and writing less about them. I seem to lack the time to write in great detail lately. One will be about doors, one will be about pillars, and another about our day at the fortresses. I am overwhelmed by the 300 plus pictures that I took and my computer keeps crashing when dealing with the pictures, so here I will start with some of the best, just to whet your appetites.
Comments