Blogs from Khiva, Uzbekistan, Asia

Viele Reisende, die wir bis jetzt getroffen hatten, haben uns von Chiwa vorgeschwärmt… Und so waren wir also schon sehr gespannt, was uns hier erwarten würde. Die Taxifahrt von Buchara nach Chiwa durch die Wüste war abenteuerlich und es war vor allem sehr mühsam, einen Taxifahrer aufzutreiben, der uns einen einigermassen anständigen Preis nach Chiwa fahren wollte. Die Taxifahrer haben leider das Geschäft mit den Touristen entdeckt und verlangen einen x-fachen Touristenpreis vom üblichen lokalen Preis für Einheimische. In Chiwa ist die Zeit stehen geblieben. Die Lehmhäuser der Stadt sind gut restauriert und in standgehalten und man fühlt sich mehr den je in einem Märchen aus Tausenduneinernacht. Wenn man gegen die Sonne blinzelt, kann man fast die Karawanen sehen, die hier ein- und ausgegangen sind…. Hier kann man sich einfach treiben lassen und in diese orientalische ... read more

Uzbekistan has a lot to live up to - Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva; just hearing the names of its cities conjures up such strong images of the Silk Road, of traders from India, Persia and China all mingling and bartering goods, of Alexander the Great capturing the Sogdian Empire, of Genghis Khan raising the cities and of Timur's near mythical rebuilding of Samarkand to be his capital. Its all so exotic in my imagination. Luckily I liked Uzbekistan the second we crossed the border. It has a wonderful lived in feeling and is such a contrast to the almost sterile white marbled Turkmenistan. Neat brick built, mud rendered, white painted houses line the road. The front gardens are all neatly tended vegetable patches with structures for growing vines. For sure it is much poorer than Turkmenistan, there ... read more

Left Moscow, in the rain and cold...par for the Russian summer if the last week is anything to go by. Their weather may be unreliable, but the metro and rail network are as efficient as you could want. And getting a train to the Airport was a doddle compared to the 45 minute frustrations with the automatic machine in St Petersburg. Never got to see blokes dancing round with their Nutcrackers out, the Balshoi was a bit too expensive for our budget (cheap seats had sold out) but did see St. Basil, Lenin (ok, just the outside of the mausoleum - who wants to queue for an hour to see a man dead for 85 years and who hasn't changed his underwear for 2 years?) and Putin and Stalin (alright, they were lookie-likies, but good ones). ... read more

Flew into Urgench on a Russian plane crossing both the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya which was quite interesting. The irrigated land is a channel of green in a sandy desert which stretches as far as the eye can see. I met Rafael and Claire two French travellers and we shared a taxi to Khiva from Urgench. The town itself is pretty amazing but with so much restoration and the quite numerous tourists it feels a bit clinical and a bit like disneyland. But that said there are quite a few gems in if one lets their immagination fly its possible to bring up thoughts of caravans arriving with busselling bazaars and madrassahs. We left the old town for Lunch and ended up finding an old Minaret to the north west. The local guy is ... read more

The next day I finally have an easy border crossing and enter Uzbekistan. I stay in the historic town of Khiva, inside the ancient city walls. After Turkmenistan it feels really nice here - people are friendly, relaxed and interested, and of all the muslim countries I've been to, it's by far the one that ahs best integrated the religion into their lives without it interrupting it. I walk the streets of the old town, taking lots of photos of mosques and madrassas. I was sorry to only spend such a short amount of time here, but did have my first experience of the Central Asian cullinary delight that is Plov - a greasy fried rice dish containing carrots, with a few pieces of mutton on top - the first of many in the region, no ... read more