The 5-stans of the Middle East

ci will be happy to see the photos as per usual!

Easy Travels to you & Enjoy!

Hello from Bishkek. This part of the Silk Road is pretty well developed; many remains from the Russian period still influence the architecture and artworks. The people are friendly, and the idea that American travelers would be in danger of violence is not realistic; no more so than any large "third world" country.

I was sick yesterday with some unknown 24-hour illness, but lucky for me, we have a physician in our group who provided me with medical advise and some meds. I took it easy today, and refrained from going to the national park after lunch, but three others also skipped it.

Many handsome looking people in this part of the world; Eurasian faces are common here.

I'll try to bahave myself from this day forward; stay healthy, and make every effort to keep good notes of the sites we visit, with my reflections for them.

Until the next time, I'll say sayonara.

HI CI - nice to hear from you while you are away.

Sorry to hear you didn't feel well but, glad to hear it's better and you can be of and running again.

We are now in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The majority in our group went to visit a carpet factory, but I'm not interested in buying another carpet, so stayed behind at the hotel.

We visited Tajikistan this morning just for a few hours to visit the archaeological site and a bazaar; it was one of the most expensive foreign country visit in all my travels. The VISA cost $192, and we spent literally only about three hours there.

More later; this computer is very slow, and I wanted to write my wife an email.

A short "hello" from Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Much fascinating history in this party of the world, not only because of the Silk Road, but because there is so much more history including Genghis Kahn, Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, and Japan.

I worried a little that my Asian face would stick out like a sore thumb in this part of the world, and some 50-percent of the people have Asian faces!

It's not only safe here, but most of the places we have visited are very clean, and the people polite; young people stand up for elders in busses and trains.

Many of the children say "hello" to us, and most are smiling.

A lady we met today comes here almost every year and spends four months in Bukhara. She's from VA.

Will post another report if we find internet cafes at our other destinations.

A short, last, note from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. We're on the last leg of our journey in Central Asia. It's been a great experience with a good group of travel companions. Today is our visit to the best museum in Central Asia. Two more nites, and we're on our way home, but we're leaving here at 1:30AM for our flt to Frankfurt. UGH. Later. c.i.

Ah -- there you are!!! I'd missed this thread up 'til now, ci. Enjoy the rest of your trip -- we'll look forward to stories and pics when you get back.

bm

EDITED June 1, 2008:

Finally arrived home yesterday after 2PM. However, our home is still under major renovation, and living out of boxes with no computer access except at the public library (where I'm posting from).

Please be patient; I'll try to get my computer up and running within the week - or two.

I've now completed my first draft of the travelogue, but still do not have the ability to download my pictures.

I was wondering if it would be okay to post the travelogue without pictures for now, and post the pictures at a later date?

What do you think?

Of course it would be okay, C.I. We're looking forward to both.

17-days in Central Asia

Sorry, but photographs will have to wait until I can get my desktop computer working. We're now under major renovation of our house, both interior and exterior, and we're literally living out of cardboard boxes. My laptop is available, but I don't have the necessary tools to download my photographs onto this computer.

With the blessing from O'Bill, I have decided to post my somewhat long travelogue, but it's still cryptic to a fault. Therefore, I'll open it up for questions you may have concerning this journey.

It's been five days since our return from our journey to Central Asia, and I needed to record what still remains in the recess of my mind, or they'll be lost forever, even with cryptic notes taken during the tour.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, May 9, Fri: Our first destination was Almaty, Kazakhstan, (the largest city in Kazakhstan) arriving late in the evening. Our Tour Director, Jama, met us at the airport, and escorted us tired denizens to the hotel for much needed rest, arriving at our hotel after midnight.

DAY 2, May 10, Sat: Our morning tour of Almaty, thankfully, had a mid-morning start. We had two local tour guides (by local law), and two drivers. Beginning at St Nicholas Cathedral which was followed by our visit to the State Central Museum. We were supposed to visit the Museum of Musical Instruments, but it was closed for the day. We were then coached to the small Almaty Gorge, 5,577 feet above sea level, to a Mongol tent restaurant where we were treated to lunch, and home to the Medeo Sports Complex with its Olympic-sized ice rink below the dam. We saw many apple orchards in the area.

We then visited Panfilov Park where we had a bird?'s eye view of the city, and took the cable car down to street level. Our final visit was at a local bazaar where we saw horse heads and other animal parts not seen in the states.

We were stopped several times by the police for some creative infractions of driving laws of Almaty. The driver is asked if he had any drinks of hard liquor - today, yesterday, or during the past week. The "fine" for the infraction is negotiable, but we were stopped three times on this one day's tour. So much for police corruption - or another way to fund the police department.

ISSYK-KUL, Kyrgystan, May 11, Sun : We had an early departure for our drive to Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan. We drove through unpaved roads to the 50-mile Charyn Canyon, a small brother to the Grand Canyon with similar looking colorful strata. We enjoyed a bag lunch at the Charyn River. We had an early evening arrival at our hotel on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, so some of us went for a walk through the huge park behind the hotel to the lake. It was too misty for us to see the Tien Shan Mountain range this evening, but we were treated to a beautiful morning scenery with the snow-capped mountains and lake before breakfast the following morning.

BISHKEK, May 12, Mon: Today was our morning drive to Bishkek, but I came down with some strange 24-hour virus that knocked me out for the day. My interest in tour info was nil, and I just wanted to lie down someplace and sleep. We were fortunate to have in our tour group a physician from Rochester, NY, who provided me with consult and some meds. We had a stop at the Buryan Tower, the only existing watch tower remaining from the old Silk Road. They also have a small museum that I missed, because I didn't have the energy or interest that day for any tourist activity. Our group enjoyed a Kyrgyz Manas cultural performance with their dinner, but I stayed in our hotel room to rest.

DAY 5, May 13, Tue: Our exploration of Bishkek included visits to Victory Park, the Frunze House Museum, the State Museum of Fine Arts featuring embroidery, jewelry, and felt rugs.

Although we were supposed to fly to Teshkent today, flights were cancelled, so we spent another night in Bishkek.

DAY 6, May 14, Wed: The Dostuk Hotel in Bishkek was one real bad hotel with very small rooms.

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 15, Thu: Before our early morning flight to Teshkent, our Tour Director had to pay a bribe to the porter to get through the security gate. Bribes in this part of the world is a normal practice of the police and any person who thinks they have some authority. I wouldn't recommend traveling to this part of the world on your own.

The Bishkek International Airport also has a US Airbase with about a dozen, mostly, transport airplanes.

Teshkent is the capital of Uzbekistan

After our short flight to Teshkent, we were treated to a local tour of the Opera House, the City Hall, the madrassas (Islam schools, but most often converted to bazaars), and their subway system that tries to replicate the Moscow subway system, but falls a little short. We were not allowed to take pictures in the subway. We were supposed to spend two nights in Tashkent, but our one day delay in Bishkek cut our visit to this interesting capital city. The earthquake in 1966 leveled most of the city, and many of the buildings built after that time still retains the Russian architecture. The Alisher Navol Opera and Ballet Theater, built by Japanese prisoners in 1947, survived the 1966 earthquake. Also the Shahid Memorial Complex with its blue-domed rotunda, the Courage Monument. Also the Shahid Memorial Complex with its blue-domed rotunda, the Courage Monument, Independence Square with its parade of names; first the Cathedral, followed by Red, then Lenin, and finally Independence on (October 26) 1992. We also had the opportunity to visit the local bazaar to spend some Uzbek sym (pronounced some).
With an exchange rate of 1200 sym to the US dollar, we were all millionaires. We also visited a ceramic master's studio to see some clay and artworks. Our one day visit to Teshkent was too short. The one day delay in Bishkek was a big sacrifice, but we must continue to remind ourselves that flexibility is a necessary component of world travel with some unforeseen disappointments along the wat. At least some in our group was able to visit the American University of Central Asia.

SAMMERKAND, Uzbekistan, May 16, Fri: We had an early morning coach ride along the ancient Silk Road to Sammerkand - about 289 km or 173 miles from Tashkent. There are many checkpoints along the highway at the entrance to each municipality to control the transport of drugs, but our tour bus had a special license to pass through. . Sammerkand has much to offer in addition to the four star hotel without air conditioning (turned on every year on May 30th), no matter how hot. We were provided with a coach ride to Registan Square, although it was within walking distance from our hotel. Our "discovery" visit to Registan (means sandy place) Square, the centerpiece and most important landmark for visitors. Three madrassashs that surrounds the square was the center of Sammarkand from ancient times as a public square and market place.

After dinner in the early evening hours, my roommate and I went for a walk not far from our hotel, and ran into a young man who approached us and started to talk to us. In addition to his perfect English diction (sounded like American English), he speaks seven languages. What ran through my mind as we spoke to him was what sort of opportunity he has to use his language skills in a country that seems to lack international commerce and industry.

PENJIKENT, Tajikistan, May 17, Sat: Today was our journey to Tajikistan for a three hour visit that required a long, red-tape, crossing of the Tajik border to Penjikent which was founded in the 5th century. However, the archaeological site excavations that began about 50 years ago by Tajik and Russian archaeologists have produced very little for their efforts. The two Zoroastrian temples, the citadel, and homes of "wealthy" families are but remnants of dirt formations and some brick works. The Rudaki Museum of History and Regional Studies is a small, one-room, exposition with barely a few remnants of questionable origins. We were also treated with a visit to the local bazaar that was a bit more interesting than the archaeological site. We had to cross the border back to Sammarkand before 1PM when it closes.

Our VISA for this three hour"journey" was $192.00 plus the cost of our passport-type photos and processing fee. OUCH! This one really hurt.

At least we can claim we visited another "country" on this tour. Most of us will recommend that Road Scholar cut this from their future schedules to Central Asia.

May 18, Sun: We resumed our tour of Sammerkand this morning. Sammerkand was wonderful, because it offered some great sites. Not in this sequence, but we visited to Registan, Ulug Bek's (Tamerlane's son) observatory, the Bibi Khanum Mosque, the Gur-Emir Mausoleum, and the local bazaar that provided us with the variety and history of the Silk Road that pleased the senses, and our curiosity about this part of the world from centuries past.

The mosque and mausoleum, most from the 13th and 14th century, with so many of the past famous and infamous required our full attention if we wanted to see and learn about this part of the world's history. The row of tombs and mausoleums collectively called the "place of a living king" overwhelms with so much architecture, decorative tiles, names, and dates, although some are very plain with no decoration. All who visits will climb all the stairs to the oldest tombs at the far end (some older folks being supported by their adult children or spouse), but the place is blessed with many shady and cool places to linger along the way to watch the people of the world pass by. Photo ops here are endless; an active cemetery with gravesites dating back to the 9th century to the present day can keep one busy for days…

BUKHARA, Uzbekistan, May 19, Mon: We continued our journey on the Silk Road to Bukhara today, our Tour Director, Jama's, home town where he has a hotel that presently has five rooms and in the process of expanding to ten. The "boutique" hotel where we stayed was the most beautiful in all of Central Asia - or anyplace else I've ever had the pleasure to occupy. Each room is uniquely decorated with plaster-molded, colorful, décor, as is the dining room.

Upon arrival in Bukhara, Jama took us on a short orientation walk around Old Town's central pool surrounded by restaurants, and the 16th and 17th century madrassas.

BTW, our three night accommodations in Bukhara were spent at Sasha & Son B&B. They also have a hotel in Moscow.

DAY 12, May 20, Tue: The Lyabi-Hauz plaza is the center of Bukhara's old town today as it was in the old days. The mulberry trees surrounding the central pool are hundreds of years old as testified by the signs on the trees (1477).

I was immediately attracted to this town's ambiance, but I?'m not sure I can explain why.

Our first morning tour was to the Ark Citadel that dates back two thousand years or more, although it has been built and rebuilt on this same site throughout its history. This castle served the Emirs of Bukhara as residence, audience hall, and protection against neighboring enemies. We were then taken on a very short coach ride to the prison where they have various shackles and small round holes in the ground where several prisoners were held for days without food or water.

After our tour and a short break period back at the hotel, we were also treated to dinner at Jama's friend's hotel-restaurant with similar interior decorations of colorful hutches with various artworks in them. The one thing noticeable in Bukhara is that the word "competition" is missing from their vocabulary; everybody helps and promotes each others business whether in the same trade or not.

Some history on Bukhara homes. The homes were built with two sections; one for men, and the other for women. The women's section of the home had more ornate decorations. Only the man of the house had access to the women's section of the home.

DAY 13, May 21, Wed : A short coach ride to the Summer Palace built by Russians at the turn of the century for the last Emir included the Museum of National Crafts that held treasures from China and Japan. After lunch, we visited the USAID-UNESCO Handicraft Development Center where many crafts people were creating their wares. The craftspeople demonstrated how they made dyes from plants, and colored the mostly cotton fabrics. During our free time, I had time at an internet café not far from the center or our hotel to send some emails to my wife and a2k.

KHIVA, Uzbekistan, May 21, Wed: We departed Bukhara at 8AM for Khiva, one of the best preserved city along the Silk Road, with a picnic lunch at a restaurant with our own food. Jama paid the owner to use their facilities. After our late afternoon arrival at our hotel, Jama took us on an orientation walk in the walled-in city of Khiva, a short distance from our hotel.

DAY 14, May 22, Thu: The exploration of Khiva with an expert local guide of the monuments of Old Town, the Tash-Hauli Palace (Stone House), the Dzhuma Mosque with a forest of carved wooden pillars (113 of them if I remember correctly), the Kunya Ark (the residence of the Khans), and the ancient well of Khievak which made settlement here possible. But a one day visit to Khiva was not sufficient for independent exploration - and shopping. The day turned out to be a blurr with so much to see and absorb.

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 23, Fri: We had an early departure for the drive to the Uzbek-Turkmen border crossing that required time-consuming customs formalities on our way to Tashauz for our short flight over the Kara Kum Desert to Ashkabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, and our last Central Asia destination for three nights before our return home.

However, this was also the opportunity for our group to drive through the 6th country or -stan on this tour during our long coach ride from Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan; Karakapagstan has its own parliament and capital, Nukus. There was no formal border crossing, or another stamp on our passport, so we had to rely on our Tour Director that we had indeed visited another country.

DAY 16, May 24, Sat: Our guided excursion of Ashgabat included visits to the mosque, the Turkmen-Turkish cultural and spiritual center, the National Museum of History and Ethnography with its collection of carved ivory drinking horns from Nisa, a carpet store, and a drive past the Lenin monument.

DAY 17, May 25, Sun: Our first destination this morning was to the site of the ancient capital of Nisa set on the foothills of the Kopet-Dag Mountains, only a stones throw distance (about 12 miles) from the border of Afghanistan. One dynasty replaced by another until the 13th century when the Mongols arrived. Our next visit to the mausoleum, then to the neighboring new, very huge, mosque built by the French with stained glass windows was "interesting" to say the least. This was the second mosque we visited in Central Asia with stained glass windows (found typically only in Christian churches).

After lunch, we visited the Tolkuchka Oriental Bazaar, Central Asia's largest, and considered one of the most exciting open markets. The first section with a camel market was in extreme contrast to the modern city of Ashkabat where construction cranes covered much of the city's landscape (reminded me of Beijing on my visit there last November), but their architecture lacked creativity compared to Beijing. Most buildings were similar in design with huge pillars, rounded façade, and a dome on top. After seeing so many with similar design, I found them
to be tasteless, unattractive, and ugly to a fault.

We celebrated our farewell buffet dinner at what seemed like a private home's somewhat large yard that included some entertainment and a costume show where I purchased a locally designed colorful jacket for my wife.

It was early to bed for most of us, since we were departing for the airport at 10PM for our 1:15AM flight to Frankfurt. I was sitting in my living room after 25-hours plus of travel time from Ashkabat to home. I was first to be home in our group of 19, even though some lived on the East Coast. I flew straight from Frankfurt into San Francisco, while others had to take more flights after arriving in the US.

Looking back on this journey to Central Asia with Road Scholar, there are some things I would eliminate and others extended with more days and self-exploration, but overall, I'm very satisfied with the experience of seeing that part of the Silk Road that remains, and what has changed both polically and economically.

Most of the people we came in contact were friendly and conversant in excellent English; many spoke six or seven languages.

Many have a misconception of the Middle East/Central Asia, because most are Muslim countries, but some have laws against promoting their religion in public or trying to influence government policies from their religious' beliefs.

Most of us on our tour had personal contact with several people on the streets and bazaars in the cities we visited, and most were friendly towards us - even after we told them we were from America.

I'll fill in some of the historical figures and sites we visited when I post my pictures.

Your comments and questions will be welcomed.

I have my computer in the repair shop, and if all goes well, should be able to download pictures by tomorrow evening. If that goes well, I can transfer the picrtures to my laptop and post the pictures here - from a photo-share site; photobucket.

Okay, I'm now back on my desktop computer, and also have access to the internet through another wireless system. Going to download my pictures, and probably begin posting them tomorrow.

Thanks for the reports, ci - waiting for the photos now (but take it easy!).

I've spent the last few hours downloading and editing some of the over 2,000 photos I took on this journey. However, this is the picture that is the title of our travels through Central Asia. This is only a "teaser," and I will be posting more photos tomorrow.

CI,

JM & I saw an Anthony Bourdain episode filmed in Uzbekistan, and the thing that struck me the most was the widespread consumption of vodka, beer, and other forms of alcohol. Any ideas how that's possible in a muslim country, and is Uzbekistan unique that way or did you run across alcohol elsewhere in your trip?

yitwail, Alcoholic beverage is prevalent in Central Asia; vodka is the cheapest of all the beverages at about US$1.50 - even in restaurants. We had a restauranteur from North Carolina who consumed 3-5 glasses of vodka with almost every meal, and he was spared whatever ailed some of us with diarrhea, vomiting, and headaches. All the local beers were good, but some of the local wines were terrible.

Although many of the Central Asian countries religion are Muslim-Islam, most are secular, and some have laws against public promotion of any religion including Islam. Some women wear burkas, but most do not.

About Uzbekistan, I hope you gonna tell more and show pictures of Samarkand...