The blue tiles and passionate men of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is the one country on the Silk Road portion of my Big Trip that I did absolutely no pre-reading or research about. I knew nothing about it except where it is (vaguely) on the world map. It turned out to be Central Asia at its most exotic. It’s the land of the great Sultanates, the kingdoms that once controlled the trade and cities of the Silk Road, and – above all – of the most amazing cities I’ve seen thus far on this trip. Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva are the Silk Road at its best, the picturesque towns taken straight from the Alladin and 1001 Nights stories. They are beautiful to look at, safe to wonder around and adventurous to get lost in (which is almost guaranteed in the confusing maze of their old city alleys, especially given that they are no street lights and if you’re caught after dark without your flashlight, you’ll need a great amount of good luck or help from the locals to get back to your hotel).

Tashkent: it was the 4^th largest city in the Soviet Union. The old Tashkent was largely destroyed by earthquakes and Soviet planners. Today (at least to me) it still looks like it can’t quite decide whether it wants to be Soviet or Arab. These two influences are randomly mixed with each other in a schizophrenic cocktail of architecture, monuments, people’s clothes etc. But it is clean, safe and the people are so very welcoming. The Chorsu bazaar has the biggest and most picturesque fruit and vegetable market I’ve ever seen. The underground stations are decorated in beautiful paintings, tiles and sculptures – each station in different style - (although taking photos in the underground is forbidden and there are lots of police around to ensure this law is followed). The old city with its maze of mud walls and old traditional houses makes quite an impression (and it’s here, among poor old mud huts, that I stumbled upon a HUGE expensive looking Spanish-style yellow villa complete with a swimming pool, white columns on the porch and white wooden window shutters – it seemed so out of place in this neighbourhood, it must be worth millions and I still wonder which local drug lord owns it).

Samarkand: a romantic spot of the Silk Road. Gentlemen, if you’re ever planning to propose in Uzbekistan, this is the place to do it in style. The centre of the town (and seemingly the spot for a romantic date for all teenagers in town) is the Registan Square where the beautiful Medressas (Islamic schools) are loaded with ornate wall sculpting and the traditional tiles in every shade of blue under the sun. One of the best landmarks in the city is the Shakh-I-Zinda complex, which is basically a street with tombs for Timur’s family where one tomb is said to be that of Prophet Muhammad. Again, the blue tiles and golden walls and ceilings take your breath away. I also had a great opportunity to visit a silk carpet factory where not only one can go on a crazed spending spree buying carpets for many tens of thousands of dollars but also the owner (medical doctor, speaker of 7 languages and ex-employee of Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan) gave us a great tour of how his carpet workshop works, how the recruitment and employment of staff works (he’s a true believer in the saying that happy employees make better carpets, so the people here seem well taken care of with full benefits, including 3 year fully paid maternity leave!). This carpet workshop has been visited by almost every president and celebrity under the sun (including UN officials) and has been internationally recognized for its good labour practises (etc. no child labour).

Bukhara: if the primary colour of Samarkand was blue after its mosque tiles, the primary colour of Bukhara is light brown after the walls of its buildings in the old city. The old part of town is entirely UNESCO protected – and that means the buildings, the streets, the people. If anyone wants to build something new here or extend / change an existing building, extensive permissions are needed to ensure the continuity of historic and architectural styles. The buildings are absolutely spectacular, especially the Ark Fortress, the Ismail Samanid Mausoleum (I’ve never seen such a concentration of blue tile in one place!) or the Kalyan Minaret (aka Death Tower). I also had an opportunity to attend a concert of local music and dance, which was truly enchanting.

Khiva: it’s much smaller than the other great Uzbek cities of the Silk Road but also the best preserved Khanate. The old city is surrounded by the ancient walls and used to provide sanctuary for the Silk Road traders and travellers. To the eye (and the camera!) the old town is a beautiful mix of light brown buildings and the classic azure tiles of the mosques and medressas. And to top up a great day of sightseeing to The Juma Mosque, Islam Hodja Madrassa and many other amazing places, I took a chance to “invade” a very fancy swimming pool in a very fancy hotel (where I was NOT staying) and go skinny dipping J Truly a perfect ending to a great day out...

Oh, I almost forgot. I should probably explain the mention of the passionate men in the title of the chapter J Well, for some strange reason practically everywhere I went shopping or just browsing the bazaars, the Uzbek men were proposing marriage to me! I later compared notes with my other female travel companions and couple of them had similar “adventures”. The Uzbek men were all the time asking me if I have a husband and kids, and then would try to convince me to marry them. No matter that they already had a wife and kids! Evidently that’s not a deal breaker in Uzbekistan...  I did receive a couple of marriage proposals in Kyrgyzstan too but nothing to the extent of the frequency and passion, with which the Uzbek men kept on trying!