Souvenir Chronicles: KHIVA, UZBEKISTAN

We left Khujand, Tajikistan, in the late afternoon and headed west to Uzbekistan. During the night we had a smooth border crossing, and when we woke up, we had breakfast on the train. We disembarked after covering about 600 miles.

The usual unusual welcoming committee greeted us at the train station. This particular group sounded a lot like my kids playing the kazoo and other instruments when they were little. There didn't seem to be any melody; it was just a matter of making a noise. There were also some dancers this time, and a few of our fellow travelers even got in on the act.

Our destination was the city of Khiva, about 35 miles from the train station. It has the distinction of being the most northern area in the world where cotton is grown. It is also known for its old walled city that has an unusual number of madrasas, 60 to be exact. Here is one of them:

Khiva is a mix of the old and the VERY old. Some structures may date as far back as the 6th century.

From some angles, it looked like a giant sandcastle:

Not your average coke stand:

The Silk Road used to come right through Khiva. These days Khiva is a World Heritage Site, but not yet as well-known as Samarkand and Bukhara, which was nice for us because it wasn't crowded.

We had identical twins in our group who both work in math-related fields. They were particularly thrilled to be able to pay homage to Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, The Father of Algebra. This mighty man who figured out how to solve quadratic equations by completing the square was born in Khiva in 783 AD.

The brothers were star-struck:

We saw this cute little boy all dressed up on our way in. He had an entourage with him and was being treated like royalty. Our guide told us later that he doesn't know that this is the day he is going to be circumcised. Poor kid.

Walking through a portal to another time--what would we see first?

Shopping. What else?

I could do a whole post on shopping in Khiva.

There were all kinds of things for sale:

In fact, looking at my pictures makes me wish I could go do a little more shopping there:

Some of the crafts are even made in Khiva. See this camel? No, that's John on the right; the camel is on the left. He looks like he has had a shave recently (the camel--well, John too):

Right in front of him a MAN was knitting with camel wool. I do believe this is the first male knitter I have ever seen. He was very good.

He was making socks, scarves, and a few things that I couldn't identify:

Another man was selling carved wooden boxes, plates and Qur'an stands:

The collapsible Qur'an stands are made of a single piece of wood. The larger and more complex the stand, the more positions it can be folded/unfolded into. This one has nine positions. (Yeah, I wish I had bought one.)

My favorite stalls were the fur hat sellers, and there were a lot of them:

Our guide Yulia models one of the products:

Bob couldn't resist:

Or should he buy this one? It was a tough decision.

I think this fella might be modeling hats for GQ. Yeah, I'm sure that's it:

Perhaps the best-known symbol of Khiva is the Kalta Minor Minaret, a squat, turquoise-tiled structure that achieved only one-third of its height before the guy behind its creation, Muhammad Amin Khan, was killed in battle in 1855. It has a diameter of 47.5 feet and a height of 95 feet. It was supposed to be somewhere between 230 to 360 feet tall, tall enough "to see all the way to Bukhara" (a neighboring rival city) according to legend, a distance of almost 300 miles. To give some perspective, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is 191 feet tall.

Most of the buildings in Khiva are the color of dirt and sky (on a sunnier day, of course).

With its maze of narrow streets and frequent stairs, Khiva reminds me of Fez (Morocco):

So much to see (and so many photos):

I can't remember what this is, but it looks scary:

And as always, the women make such good photography subjects! No boring black ensembles that are so common in Europe for Khiva women. They love color:

Measuring 185 feet, the Islam Khoja minaret, next to the Khoja Mosque, is the tallest structure in Khiva. It was built in the early 20th century.

I'm quite proud of myself for climbing the claustrophobic, twisting stairs to the top, where, judging by my hair, the force of gravity no longer applies. There were only 118 steps (yes, I counted), but they had 18" to 24" risers, and very little light came through a few tiny windows:

The panoramic bird's-eye view from the top couldn't be beat, but it was windy, the space was tight, and there was no railing to keep spectators from taking a step backward into the stairwell. I didn't stay long.

Time to check out a mosque:

Looking up at the dome interior. We seemed to have an endless supply of reasons to *gasp!* on this trip:

Wood patterns on the floor:

The mihrab:

Detail of the wall tile:

Aha! His Royal Highness is still on tour!

Back outside, we stopped to see an interesting troupe of men in the marketplace:

Don't you love the expression on the proper blue-suited man on the left?

More GQ models? Yes, I'm sure of it:

Just in case you were wondering, YES, there are public toilets, and NO, there aren't seats:

Next stop, the Tashauli Palace (aka Tash Khovli Palace), a complex built in the 1830s that includes a large dozens of harem rooms encircling a soccer field-sized central courtyard:

The ceiling of the porch in the above picture:

There are first floor and second floor suites--plenty of room for the Khan's collection of women:

The Khan's old room has been re-decorated and refurbished:

A well in the center of the courtyard provided bathing and drinking water for the Khan and his wives and concubines:

Looking down into its murky depths:

Zooming in--amazing how clear my reflection is!

As beautiful as the first mosque we visited was, the Khiva Djuma (Friday) Mosque is perhaps more unique and interesting. It was built in the late 1700s and is distinguished by its lack of doors, cupolas, and yards. In fact, it doesn't really have walls:

The mosque is one large room with a flat ceiling supported by a forest of 215 carved wooden pillars that were gathered from various places throughout the country.

Twenty-one of the columns date as far back as the 10th to 12th centuries, but most of them were carved in the 18th and 19th centuries. The carving is different on each one:

The bases and ceiling connections also vary:

There is what looks like a miniature mosque in the center of the room. It is built of stone and has no ornamentation. We couldn't figure out was it is used for. It almost looks like a child's playhouse: