Bukhara

Historic Town of Monuments

To get a taste of the historic monuments in Uzbekistan, Bukhara is the place to visit.  Compared to Tashkent, it has much more of the mysterious veil of a medieval city that was the centre of the Silk Road and has been kept much more intact.

One of the key highlights when viewing Bukhara from a rooftop is the Kalyan Minaret.  Standing at 47 metres tall, this minaret has been standing for nine centuries.  This was actually a tower of death at one point and only was closed to the public after a tourist fell off by accident.  With strong foundations for earthquake proofing, it’s only one of very few structures that have been left intact.  Built by Karakhanid ruler Arslan Khan, it was mainly used to summon Muslims to prayer five times a day.

Chashma-Ayub means Job’s Spring in Persian.  There is currently a museum that contains a wealth of information about water sources in Uzbekistan in addition to the well that was found by Job.  I didn’t realize the dramatic impact cotton farming has had on Uzbekistan until I saw the map of the shrinking Aral Sea.  With the pesticides being used in cotton carried by the wind, the land and water near the Aral Sea are heavily contaminated.  The other highlight is Job’s well.  According to legend, Job visited this place and found a spring of water by hitting his staff on the ground.  Before the days of the Soviet Rule, the main sources of drinking water came from the numerous ponds in Bukhara.  The profession of water carriers was even organically created to transport water from the ponds to people’s homes.  But these were also the ponds that carried around diseases.  One of the remaining ponds is in the area of the Lab-i-Hauz complex.  Locals hang out under the mulberry trees playing chess, smoking from water pipes and enjoying themselves in the company of friends and drinks.  The complex also includes the largest madrasah in the city-the Kukeidash Madrasah.  The numerous madrasahs in Bukhara help to nurture the imams that become religious leaders in mosques.  Most live and go to school at madrasahs and tuition is quite affordable at US$500 per year with accommodation and two meals provided each day.

There are plenty of bazaars selling an assortment of handicrafts ranging from carpets and embroidery to knives and scissors.  I could easily spend hours going through the shops!  After a shopping spree, I was in much need of some great food.  I highly recommend Doston House-a hidden gem serving excellent homecooked meals, especially the dulma, which are rolls of cabbage, bell peppers and vine leaves stuffed with meat and well cooked rice.  There are no signs, so only those who know the restaurant would know how to locate it!  Originally built by a Jewish and passed down to his son, the house was bought by a Muslim.  Today, there is a small population of Jews with only a couple thousand remaining as most have left during World War II.  The niches in the walls are packed with trinkets, painted mosaics and beautiful traditional ornaments.  

Samarkand

Timur’s Hometown

If you look at postcards from Uzbekistan, Sarmarkand’s Rajestan Square can always be found.  This signature site in Timur’s hometown was where royal proclamations and public executions took place.  There are also three madrasahs that were centres of education of Islamic thought.  Surrounded with minarets, the madrasahs are two-stories, containing dormitories and classrooms for education.  From 1370, Timur built numerous structures in his capital, encouraging the work of great artisans and craftsmen.  In addition to lecturing at Rajestan Square, the great scientist and astronomer Ulugh Beg created the Samarkand Observatory but it was destroyed for religious reasons by 1449.  It was an important site of a sextant used for studying celestial movements and calculations such as the length of a year and the earth’s tilt were extremely accurate.  Today, only a small part of the sextant remains at the observatory site.

The day we visited the Shakhi Zinda Necropolis, which contains a street of mausoleums, it was Qurbon Hayit, a day of sacrifice that takes place 70 days after the end of Ramazon.  This is the time when pilgrims from all over the world go on the Haj to Mecca.  This is the day when a lamb is slaughtered as sacrifice, which we saw plenty of, in Uzbekistan.  People visiting the necropolis were dressed in their best, especially women.  Visiting the necropolis is equivalent to visiting Mecca.  The main mausoleum is the imaginary grave of Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, Kusama Ibn Abbas, also known as the Living King.  The complex contains the mausoleums of women who were royalty.  Each one is made up of a square building with a dome.  

Gur-e Amir Mausoleum contains the remains of Timur and his male descendents.  With meticulous attention to detail, the artisans of the mausoleum decorated the walls with beautiful Arabic calligraphy and inscriptions such as Allah and Muhammad.  Flowers and gardens were included in the walls to symbolize the garden-like nature of the city.  Blue is a colour that most used in the mausoleum to represent the wealth of the city, as it represented a rare resource-water and it was also Timur’s favorite colour.  

The power of Timur’s reign is also demonstrated by the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, built by Timur’s favorite wife to celebrate his return from India.  The mosque that still stands today is a modern version of the one that has fallen apart.  Created for Bibi Khanum, Timur’s wife, the mosque had 450 marble columns which were moved by elephants that Timur brought back from India.  The architect who built the mosque fell in love with Bibi and both Bibi and the architect were sentenced to jump off from the highest of the mosque as punishment.  Due to the haste and lack of care in the construction of the mosque, it quickly fell apart.  The ruins of the older mosque still remain at the back of the new one.  

Delicacies of Middle Asia

A Taste of Uzbekistan

Breads or non, of all shapes and sizes are the main staple in Uzbekistan.  From the round, chewy and nut-filled breads in Tashkent to the crustier versions that resemble pizza crusts in Bukara, I quickly got addicted to dipping them into fresh sour cream that can be found along with appetizers at every meal.  A range of cold dishes like diced beetroot and potato salad, marinated eggplant with bell peppers and Greek salads and oven baked samsa beef pockets keep my tummy filled before we even got to the mains.  Soups, also known as shurpa, are popular and often have an assortment of vegetables or chewy beef balls with noodles.  A special miniature dumpling with mutton filling, or manti, is quite popular.  There are plenty of restaurants to choose from and mains are quite affordable at around US$6 to 8.  But eating in Uzbekistan is more about the ambiance, especially when there’s live music in the evenings.  There’s nothing like sinking one’s teeth into the meaty lamb and chicken kebabs barbequed on metal skewers.  Another meaty dish is beef stir fried with onions.  Pavlov is a type of stir fried rice mixed with onions, carrots, raisins lamb, beef and even horsemeat sausage.  The fresh figs, grapes, watermelons and melons in Uzbekistan are the sweetest ones I’ve ever had.  I wish they could come home with me!  

Tashkent

Uzbekistan’s Capital

A mix of modern architecture, tree-lined streets and parks can be found in Tashkent, a city of 2 milion.  There’s little evidence that it was a major Silk Road city.  Much of the city’s historical buildings have disappeared since Uzbekistan’s independence in 1991 and following a destructive earthquake in 1966.  Remains of Soviet architecture can still be seen, but major monuments such as Stalin’s statutes have been replaced by those that more represent Uzbekistan, such as the golden globe featuring Uzbekistan in Independence Square and the weeping mother and eternal flame at the War Memorial commemorating 450,000 Uzbeks that sacrificed themselves to join the Russians in World War II.

The History Museum of the People of Uzbekistan is a worthwhile spot to visit to get a better understanding of Uzbekistan.  Like all the other sites and museums in Uzbekistan, a photography fee is charged (more expensive than the entrance fee) if you want to take pictures.  From the tools used by Neanderthals in Central Asia and Zorastrian burial sites way back in history to the artifacts left from the time when Uzbekistan was ruled by Persian empires.  In the 8th century, Arab Muslims took over the region, bringing a Renaissance of science and the arts to Central Asia.  Following the Mongol conquest under Genghis Khan in 13th century and Timur’s sweeping powers across Central Asia in the 14th century and later on Russia’s rule in the 19th century, it wasn’t until 1991 that the country became independent.

Other than the airport and subway system in Tashkent, there wasn’t too much police surveillance, but our guide warned us not to take any pictures.  Pictures aren’t allowed since the airport and subway stations are considered to be military installations.  The subway stations are pretty grand with massive pieces of art and plenty of marble, much like the ones in Russia and North Korea.  It is only one of two subway systems in Central Asia, with the other one in Almaty.  Built in 1977, there are 29 stations in total.

The best kept secret in Tashkent is probably the Samarkand Kufic Quran-earliest written copy of the Quran, which has been kept in Uzbekistan since 1924 after journeying to Samarkand and St. Petersburg (taken as a war trophy).  This piece of work commissioned in 651 by the third caliph Uthman is kept in the inconspicuous Hast Imam library in the Telyashayakh Mosque.  While no pictures are allowed of this major religious artifact, it puzzles me why there’s little surveillance of the artifact.  Perhaps the safest places are the ones that are least watched?

Taking the 2-hour train called the Afrosiyob high speed rail to Samarkind was a joy.  The modern luxury of a comfortable rail car definitely beats hours of bus ride.  Onward to Samarkand in my next blog!