Blogs from Uzbekistan, Asia - page 2

03 Nov: Starting the day at break of dawn was not everybody's cup of tea but I loved it! A one hour flight got us to Urgench from where we drove to Khiva, a small, walled city with labyrinthine alleyways and dazzling turquoise-domed mosques. Enroute was the cotton fields, then modern Khiva , nice clean roads and no frill apartments. THEN we entered the gates of Khiva! Wow! Inspite of all the pictures we had seen, I wasn't prepared for the sheer magnificence of the huge minarets,impeccably-preserved gigantic madarassas and mosques . The brown mud fortress is a stark contrast to the exquisitely intricate facade of the buildings and you get the feeling of being in a surreal world! The whole atmosphere is like a bustling movie set with local music, wedding dances, colourful shops and ... read more

11 Nov: Finally the Uzbekistan sojourn has come to an end. Yesterday was a day trip to Chimgan , a mountainous region 2hrs away from Tashkent . Enroute, lake Chorvak- beautifully set amongst the mountains ,the misty weather , chill in the air, a chairlift ride to the top, SNOW on the mountains - all made the day pleasent and exciting . But the best was yet to come! The breakup party! 11 days of fun and frolic was made memorable by vodka filled dizzy veterans and Divas setting the dance floor on fire! As I look back on these 11 days, I feel Uzbekistan is a country like no other! It's a yo yo feeling between past and present, the acceptance of cultures that have impacted its existence and absorbing the flavors of the Turks, ... read more

It is already our last day in Samarkand. I was hoping to step into a desert scene, complete with camel caravans, colorfully wrapped traders, and a bustling marketplace. We found two out of three. Mostly what Samarkand is today is a large and vibrantly modern city. The population in these cities in Uzbekistan is slowly growing; as it was in Turkmenistan, new construction is everywhere. So many cars, fine restaurants, young students, beautiful city parks with fresh green grass and flowering trees can be seen, but also old blocklike USSR buildings dot the streets; all this is Samarkand today. But one can also see domes, mosques, tombs, mausoleums and minarets in Samarkand; it is an ancient city that, like Bukhara, was totally destroyed by Genghis Khan in the 13th century, and rebuilt to become the capital ... read more

Riding six hours in a new bullet train from Khiva to near Bukhara was an experience. The cars were new, the wide and comfortable assigned seats were new, but the bathroom in car #2 was as smelly as any poorly kept outhouse. Our tour director, Anait, cleverly circumvented part of the potential problem of boredom leading to complaints by offering us "morning coffee": paper coffee cups filled with vodka and juice, heavy on the vodka. It certainly mellowed people, and predictably led to many of us falling asleep for a long morning's nap. Still, a few of us were ready to deboard much earlier than the train trip's end. Watching the desert as we rode along was the first time I felt we were in Silk Road countries; that train route truly follows the Great Silk ... read more

aus völlig unerfindlichen Gründen, hatte ich keine Lust, zu schreiben. Siehe gestrigen Eintrag.... Hier eine Kurzzusammenfassung. Tag 32, 22.05.17, nach Khiva, Grenzübergang Turkmenistan/Uzbekistan wir brauchten sieben Stunden für die Abwicklung. Unsere Prinzessin flippte aus und begann die Grenzbeamten zu beschimpfen. Weil die Dame ja aus Neuseeland kommt, ist sie der englischen Sprache mächtig. Einige Grenzbeamten auch. Daher kam es zu einem diiplomatischen Konflikt, denn die Männer waren zu Recht grantig. Sie machten halt einfach ihre Arbeit. Und die dauert halt. Kann man nichts machen. Die Gruppe war alles zwischen sprachlos und wütend. Trevor, ihr Wärter, zwang sie dazu, sich zu entschuldigen bei allen. Und nun beten wir, dass sie die Sache nicht nochmal kompliziert. Tag 33, in Kiva, 23.05. eine der wichtigen Städte an der Seidenstraße. Die gesamte Altstadt ist ... read more