Khiva

The history of the Uzbekistan desert region is complex – too complex. There were the ancient Persian Empires, Alexander the Great, the Western Turks, the Arabs, Genghis Khan, the often forgotten English Empire and finally the Russians, all left their traces. These foreign powers changed the political boundaries and influenced the rivalry of the Silk Road cities. It will take us a while to understand it all. In the mean time we stick to William Cowper’s quote ”a dunce that has been sent to roam excels a dunce that has been kept at home”  or “Ein Dummer auf Reisen wird manchmal zum Weisen, ein Dummer zu Hause bleibt sicher Banause” and enjoy the historic sites. 

And Khiva is indeed amazing, and we understand why the Italian fellow we met back in Tashkent raved about it. The old city is well preserved. It is walled by a thick, high clay wall running all around it with decorated gates to all four directions. Of course the West gate, which points to Mecca is the main entrance and most decorated. The whole city is built of yellow mud bricks and the mosques and ancient madrassas are decorated with blue tiles varying from deep ocean blue to bright turquoise. The most prominent of all monuments is the Kuhna Arc, a fat, turquoise tilted minaret. The story behind this emblem of the ancient slave trading outpost is pretty funny:  The minaret is actually unfinished. It was supposed to become the highest minaret in the Orient permitting the ruling khan to see all the way to Bukhara, some 7 hours away. But when the khan died so to did his wealth and hence it became the world’s most famous (and probably the only) stumpy minaret. The advantage of its current form of course is that it fits on all postcards. 

 

Frozen in time amid the desert Khiva reminds us of an open air museum, which becomes a bit lifeless in the evening hours, once the tourist busses have left. These are the hours when Boris and I get active. From 11am to 5pm it's siesta time. The sun burns down so hard that it is absolutely impossible to wander around outside. But when the sun lowers its stand we start hunting: For best rugs at best prices, for the most famous monuments, for the best photo shots and afterwards for the best dinner. We found some really nice small, local places, which serve super Uzbek food in a cosy atmosphere.