Potpouri to finish

We are sitting in Seoul (Incheon) Airport waiting for the connection home. We took a transit hotel room as we had a 12hr stopover. This was a great idea as it allowed for two naps and a shower. We strolled around town (see photo) amidst a profusion of of live seafood and BBQ restaurants, and coffee shops.

Back to central asia

We spent the last day in Tashkent and visited a local market. This was several permanent building covering several acres open 7 days. It was all fresh food.

We visited the on site bakery where they cook thevloaves of flat bread by plastering thevdough on the sides of the dome shaped oven.

Before heading to the airport we visited a beautiful park where brides (and their parties) promenade for photos.

Iconic images

How people live

The country reminds me of Turkey and ethnically a majority of central asian people are "Turkic".

The capital and city centres are shining clean and stately. The country side is mud brick and mud and straw houses. Everyone grows vegetables. There are people of all ages walking and public transport is frequent  Old men ride bikes and some people travel by horse and cart.

The state still owns all land and leases back to residents who can own the buildings. New estates like the one pictured are common.

We see young and old, men and women on the streets and many women dress in very colourful clothes. The your are slim and look healthy with less obvious smoking than many countries.

Mountain fortress and yurt camp

We have left Khiva and travelled overland to Nukus where we will visit a museum and access an airport tobfly back to Tashkent. We have been travelling very close and parallel with the border with Turkmenistan. I have asked our guide about that country and it seems that it is not a preferred topic of conversation.

The route was arid scrub with some desert and some irrigated farmland. The country averages 4mm of rain per year.

On the way we stopped at an ancient fortress and had lunch in the nearby yurt camp.

Khiva

We have left Samarkand via the fast train to Tashkent and we then took an internal flight and bus to Khiva.

We are staying inside the walls of the old city which started in about the second century BC . This is the most intact ancient city as you will see from the photos. The main reason is that it has been raised to the ground several times and what we saw was mostly built in the 18th and 19th Century AD.  The city has had many rulers including Alexander, Genghis Khan and Timur. What we see was largely built by Uzbek Shaybanids as a slave trading town.

In the 18th and 19th century Tsarist Russia showed interest in the town and in 1873 finally sent a conquering army.

Khiva

We have left Samarkand via the fast train to Tashkent and we then took an internal flight and bus to Khiva.

We are staying inside the walls of the old city which started in about the second century BC . This is the most intact ancient city as you will see from the photos. The main reason is that it has been raised to the ground several times and what we saw was mostly built in the 18th and 19th Century AD.  The city has had many rulers including Alexander, Genghis Khan and Timur. What we see was largely built by Uzbek Shaybanids as a slave trading town.

In the 18th and 19th century Tsarist Russia showed interest in the town and in 1873 finally sent a conquering army.

Translation