The 5-stans of the Middle East

They forgot to use a square when they installed this.

The ladies, all scholars, in our group.

Another section of the wall.

How Khiva looked in the past.

A peek at how it looks today.

A madrassa in Khiva.

A well in the Ark.

Shopping for a hat.

A carpet weaver in Khiva.

I bought a puppet here for our friend's grandson.

Our final destination on the Silk Road was Ashgabat, the "city of love." The first Baha'i House of Worship was built here in 1908, but the Soviets demolished it in 1963. Ashgabat is bounded by the Kara-Kum desert and the Kopet-Dag mountain range which can be observed from many of the new modern buildings on a clear day.

Although the economy's principal industries are cotton textiles and metal working, oil provides much of the funding for its current, major, construction projects.

We had the opportunity to spend some time at the National Museum of History and Ethnography of Turkmenistan during our stay, and saw several (drinking vessels) in ivory with animal-man carvings from Old Nisa (2nd c BC).

Will post pictures this afternoon.

C.I.'s photos from this part of the world are brimming with color.

C.I. goes places that most of us will never visit. We are lucky he shares these travel journals with us.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Our flight to Ashgabat.

This is a scene we saw as we were returning to our hotel after dinner. We had dinner on the fifth floor of this building the following evening.

The Turkmenistan flag has designs from its five provinces. It's not an easy map to draw.

The desert is being reclaimed, and they're building many fountains and waterfalls in the city, but they continue to build them knowing they are short of water.

Independence and Peace Monument.

Monument to horses.

A Turk warrior.

Some of the "new" buildings.

Ashgabat is really a relatively young city, but it is not far from Nisa, the ancient capital of the Parthians and the ruins of the Silk Road city of Konjikala.

Our group visited the old Nisa archaeological site, but I remained behind in the shade with about a half dozen of our group members. After the disappointment at Old Penjikent, I preferred to stay in the shade and enjoy the Kopet Dag mountain range that hid Afghanistan from our site - only about 12 miles distance.

The sister city to Ashgabat is Albuquerque. It figures; hot and dry.

Our hotel in Ashgabat.

High school students celebrating graduation.

Lunch restaurant.

Visit to Nisa archaeological site.

The mosque built by the French.

The mausoleum next to "that" mosque. The attendant scolded me for taking notes while inside. Talk about "extreme," this is one of them


Closeup of the mosque. We were not allowed to take pictures inside.

We visited one of the largest bazaars in Central Asia. This was the camel/livestock market.

We saw many Koreans throughout Central Asia. Many sold their salads in one section of the bazaar.

Although there are many vendors outside the gate of the bazaar, this is the main entrance.

There are many vendors of carpets similar to this one.

What I saw walking through the bazaar.

There are many nuts and dried fruit vendors.

Our farewell buffet dinner at a private home.

A short show and fashion show (last minute sales). I purchased a colorful jacket for my wife.




Jama, our Tour Director.
Linda.
Shirley and Jurn.
Marguerite.
Sid.
Karen.
John.
Jack and Peg.
Ken and Gillian.
Dean.
Susan.
Diane.
Al.

We returned to our hotel early that evening. Many of us showered before getting a catnap, up at 9:30PM to catch our bus to the airport for our 1:15AM flight to Frankfurt. I was home from the time we left our hotel in Ashgabat in 25 hours; the same day.
Halfway home over Greenland.

The poster says: Fleitist Santa (Santa the flute player, I presume), po motivach japonskoj narodnoj skazki (after the motives of japanese national fairy tale)

Great trip, CI!

dag, Thank you for the translation; it was a wild guess on my part, because I thought Madam Butterfly was the "only" known opera/show based on Japan.

Do you read crylic, or is that another language?

Aikokul, our guide from Kazahkstan to Krygystan. We also had an "attendant" on our bus, Emil, who really helped our senior group of travelers with all the services of an attendant to our needs - including treating us to drinks. He made our trip run smoothly.

This is the water slide at Lake Issky Kul. The hotel was originally built for high officials of Russia.

Some saw the Charyn Canyon from this helicoptor.

This is a statue to the memorial to women at the Shahid Memorial Complex.

There were many ceilings like this one, but one had to be aware to look up while visiting the sites.

This sign was posted in the front of our hotel in Tashkent.

This is an example of a bazaar in Central Asia.

These wooden window treatments in Central Asia are really wonderful, and I love them.

This train has taken over the Silk Road route.

Another scene at the mausoleum in Samarkand.

Artistic tile work at Registan.

Ulug Bek's observatory sign.

Astronomy instrument house.

This young lady was at the same ceramic factory.

Bukhara's Kukaldosh madrassa (16c), one of the largest in Central Asia.


Central Asia alcove.

Emir's throne?

The unusual buildings of Ashgabat.

Khiva's north entrance (main).

Road signs during our coach ride.

Dinner restaurant in Bukhara.

As I've mentioned earlier, Bukhara was the home to many Islam scholars who wrote their treastise and copies of the Koran.

Incredible pictures, Tak. They get better and better. Did you buy one
of these beautiful rugs? Gosh, I definitely would have

CJ, We already have two persian rugs; one was a gift from our son when he was stationed in Saudi Arabia during the first gulf war, and the other, my wife and I purchased in Turkey when my brother, his wife, my wife and I cruised the Aegean Sea many years ago. I try not to buy too many "things" for our home, because we're trying to get rid of so many of our huge furniture and pictures.

It's always a great pleasure to follow your travels, c.i., when you're back and with your photos.

Great pics again!

What Walt said.

That's the coolest looking (non wedge shaped) hat I've ever seen. I want one!

O'Bill, I still have a contact in Central Asia, and can get you one if you really want to "buy" it. The shipping cost is probably more than the cost of the hat.

I seriously doubt the shipping would be more than that hat, which is probably well out of my budget for novelty items anyway. Thanks for offering though! And thanks again for taking the time to take us with you on your travels.

If I remember correctly, I think a similar hat goes for about US $5.

I wanted to post this one for posterity; it had 777 hits and 77 responses as of the last post.

Look at your post count, dude!