KHUJAND, TAJIKISTAN: PART 1 (Around Town and The Citadel Museum)

After finishing up in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, we took a little detour into Tajikistan. We had started our visit to Uzbekistan in Tashkent (green arrow) and then meandered down to Samarkand (red arrow). From there we headed back east to Khujand, Tajikistan (blue arrow). After a day in Tajikistan, we would go back into Uzbekistan to visit Bukhara (yellow arrow). It didn't seem to be the most efficient route, but we were following train tracks. Besides, who needed to be efficient? We were nomads on the Silk Road, right?

The jaunt into Tajikistan turned out to be one of our most dramatic and at the same time one of our smoothest border crossings of the trip. Tajikistan is a major port for drugs coming from Afghanistan and then being dispersed to the rest of the world, and our tour company had heard some horror stories about people crossing the border into Tajikistan and being arrested for a single pain pill in their possession. They had us gather up ALL our medications (prescription and non-prescription) and anything that looked like a drug (vitamins, etc.) and put them in a bag marked with our name. They left everyone's bags in Uzbekistan with our trip doctor's brother. (Yes, we had a local doctor traveling with us. He was kept quite busy.)  He would meet us when we came back across the border into Uzbekistan at another location and return our drugs to us.

Not quite sure what was ahead and a little nervous, we went to bed and our train headed towards the border. Someone came by our rooms at 12:30 AM to get our passports so that we could leave Uzbekistan, and then someone came back a few hours later to get our visas that would allow us to enter Tajikistan.  To our knowledge, no local military personnel boarded the train, and it was nice that for once the border patrol did not come in our rooms to take pictures of our groggy faces.

Much ado about nothing, apparently, but better safe than sorry.

In the morning after breakfast on the train, we were met in Khujand, the second-largest city in Tajikistan, by an eight-man band playing traditional instruments that sounded like the most annoying horsefly you can imagine buzzing around and around and around your head. I wouldn't call this music, but it was entertaining to listen to:

Off to the side, three young ladies were holding welcoming stacks of concentric circles of bread drenched in honey:

It was beautiful but sticky and not particularly tasty:

This city was named Leninabad during the "Soviet Era" (1936 to 1991), and we could see the Soviet influence, even though the Russian population today is only 3-4%.

SAMARAKAND, UZBEKISTAN: ST. DANIEL'S MAUSOLEUM

I have one final post about Samarkand, one of the most amazing cities we have ever visited. The last place we stopped on our way out of town was St. Daniel's Mausoleum--yes, THAT St. Daniel, he of lion den fame and a prophet recognized by Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike.  However, eight other places around the world also claim to be Daniel's mausoleum. Wikipedia, for example, places Daniel's burial site in Susa, Iran.

On the other hand, the Uzbeks have a pretty good story, and guess who is involved in it? None other than Amir Timur, World Conqueror. The story goes that Timur, frustrated by his failed attempts to conquer a small city in Asia Minor (now known as *ta-da!* Susa, located in Iran), heard from one of his ministers that Daniel, a figure from the Bible who lived about 2500 years ago, was buried there and protected the land. Aha! Problem solved! One version says Timur sent an army to Daniel's burial place, disinterred the body after a fiery battle, and brought at least some of the remains back to Samarkand. Another version says he negotiated for part of the relics, and that is what was brought back to Samarkand. A third version says he brought back some dirt from Daniel's grave. (Now, does that sound like Timur to you?) Then he went on to win the battle, or maybe he did all this after he won the battle. No one knows.

In any case the remains/relics/dirt were re-interred on the shore of Siab, a small tributary of the Zerafshan River, which is one of the major rivers in Uzbekistan:

Another version of the story says that these are not the relics of that Daniel, but rather of Daniyor (or Danier), an associate of the prophet Muhammad's cousin Kussama ibn Abbas. Yet another version says the remains were brought here by early Christians. Even what is contained inside the tomb is contested. Some say it is the body, others say an arm, and yet others say it is only soil from the actual grave in Susa. No one seems to be bothered with the ambiguity, and the site attracts Jewish, Muslim, and Christian pilgrims.

In the 19th century, a large mausoleum was built on the top of a sandy mesa, but visiting this site is not all about the mausoleum.

SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN: BIBI-KHANYM MOSQUE

One of the most important monuments in Samarkand is the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, begun in 1399 and completed in 1404 and named after Timur's favorite wife. 

It is said to have been the largest building of the East in its day, and certainly the largest mosque. At least 15,000 people could fit in it. (Timur wanted the entire city to be able to pray together here simultaneously.) Timur had it built next to the bazaar (the same one we visited), and supposedly used 97 teams of elephants that he brought back from his India campaign to build it.

Sadly, the engineering of this mosque didn't measure up to its grandiosity, and soon after completion, the building began to collapse. From day one, it was what we would term a "money pit," and by the late sixteenth century, current  rulers were tired of draining their coffers to repair it and so ordered that no more restoration work be done. 

That anything remained at all by the 20th century amazes me. This photo was taken sometime between 1905-1915:

From Wikipedia

Reconstruction of the mosque started in 1974 under the auspices of the Soviet government, and continues to the present day.

The beautiful ribbed dome has been re-created:

SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN: GUR-E-AMIR, AKA THE AMIR TIMUR MAUSOLEUM

By the time we got to the Gur-e-Amir, which is Persian for "Tomb of the King" (and which is also known as the Amir Timur Mausoleum), we had seen dozens of gasp-inducing, mind-bending, pinch-me-am-I-really-seeing-this edifices. You'd think we would have been jaded after all we had already seen. Judging by the number of photos I have of this Mausoleum, however, I still had room for a little more awe.

Some of this architecture was, by this time in the trip, very familiar--the huge vertical slabs used as portals to courtyards, the wide towers topped by azure domes, the unbelievably intricate details--but this mausoleum of the most powerful conqueror of Middle Asia was truly over the top, adding even more design features and ostentatious bling to architecture that I had thought could not be made any more elegant.

For example, take a look at the picture below. See that sidewalk leading up to the main entrance?

Here are two better views. Absolutely stunning.

Here is a better look of that vertical panel that frames the portal. Even a close-up shot can't really capture how magnificent this is. Let me remind you that we are talking TILES, not paint.

SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN: SLEEPING, WALKING, SHOPPING, AND EATING

Our tour group spent two full days and two nights in Samarkand. After several days on the train and a crazy-busy itinerary, it was a relief to have a some unscheduled time in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We stayed at the Registan Plaza, a nice hotel located within walking distance of Registan Square:

Samarkand celebrated its 2,750th birthday . . . ten years ago. Yeah, it is OLD:

The Samarkand coat of arms shows a winged lion (At first I thought it was a leopard, but that is a lion's tail) . . .

. . . that made me think of the winged Lion of St. Mark of Venice:

Picture from here

Or even more, this image, for which I can't find the source (I had it; I lost it.):

Our hotel was great--not the nicest hotel of the trip, but still at least four stars:

The best feature of the hotel was its location. One morning we had a few hours to kill, so Bob and I set out on a walk from out Hotel to Registan Square, a distance of about 1.7 miles. It was a very entertaining stroll.

SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN: LUNCH, SILK CARPETS UZBEKISTAN, AND MEROS PAPER FACTORY

After all the intense sightseeing we were doing in Samarkand, a good meal was in order. It's possible to get an American meal even in Uzbekistan. Crazy.

But why would we go there when we could go to a restaurant with this lovely statue of a girl in shorts and a tank top greeting us? (I wonder what Muslims, who comprise about 93% of the population of the country, think of her choice in clothes?)

The inside was quite a bit more traditional than the statue led us to believe:

I love the way the bread in this part of the world looks--so much more complex in design. Note the pinhole pattern in the center. However, I wouldn't rank it among the best breads in the world. When it was hot, it was good, but when it was cool, it tended to be dry and a little flavorless.

SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN: MAGNIFICENT REGISTAN SQUARE

We have visited many of the world's great "squares"--Red Square in Moscow, Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Times Square in New York City, Wenceslas Square in Prague, St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Plaza de la Constitucion in Mexico City, and Trafalgar Square in London, to name a few. They are all majestic and beautiful and historical. Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, can hold its own (and more) in that elite crowd.

I think I would even put it near--or at--the top of the "Squares" list. It is a true gem.

As I look at my pictures now, I realize that they don't capture the magic of this huge square. It's hard to see how massive those three portals are, how brilliantly colored the tile facades, how spectacular the architecture. 

Before these buildings existed, however, this was just a broad, flat area ("Registan" means "sandy place" or "desert" in Persian)  surrounded by caravanserai (inns for travelers). It was used for public gatherings, public proclamations, and public executions. 

Alexander the Great conquered Samarkand in 329 BC. After changing hands several times, Genghis Khan's Mongols captured it in 1220. Marco Polo wrote about it in the early 14th century. The great Temur made Samarkand his capital and used it as his base for conquering a vast empire in the late 14th century. His grandson Ulugh Beg ruled from here.

In its heyday, all the main roads of Samarkand led to Registan Square, which lies midway between the European and Asian trading routes.

It was a natural place to build what was the 15th century equivalent of a university, a madrasa, and in 1417 the well-known astronomer and mathematician Ulugh Beg ordered the building of the madrasa on the left as you face the square from the street. It is named after him: the Ulugh Beg Madrasa:

Two centuries later, Yalangtush Bahadur, the emir of Samarkand, ordered his own madrasa to be built across the square and facing the Ulugh Beg Madrasa. Completed in 1636, it is known as the Sher-Dor Madrasa.