Blogs from Uzbekistan, Asia - page 30

Sleeping late again and reducing my breakfast intake to a sip of Tip Top fruit juice form the nearly deserted hotel bar. We're going to spend the entire day exploring the city of Khiva, some 30 kilometers to the southwest of Urgench, very close to the Turkmen border. Its main attraction is the Ichon Qala, the old city surrounded by an imposing mud wall. It has been preserved and restored like an open air museum, and there are plenty of beautiful buildings around, including mosques, medressas and some major minarets. Although marked a UNESCO World Heritage site some purists would regard it as overly restorated. Personally I really enjoy the feeling of a living, breathing city as opposed to some sandy old walls peaking out from a hillside. We spend the morning wandering up and down ... read more

It is now ten days after the attacks on the twin towers, and the western world has suddenly found itself engulfed in islamophobia. News reporters, self-proclaimed experts, politicians, coffee table rethorics; just about everyone seems to have a view on the geopolitical situation which they are more than happy to share. As people struggle to cope with the new world order many a careless and judgmental axiom spread across the community like wildfire. The self-appointed company security advisor, normally engaged in counting unlocked doors at the office and scouring the shared printers for classified documents suddenly saw his chance to greatly expand his responsibilities. A company wide instruction was sent out to all employees, asking us to refrain from visiting nations loosely defined as "muslim countries". Apart from the regrettable lack of insight it was also ... read more

Photos of Tashkent...... read more