The Plan B Adventure

Moving through India on our world tour was planned as just that….moving through. We knew we wouldn’t have enough time to explore even a fraction and we had less than a week since we had extended and added on time in previous countries. So what would we do in country this rich in history and so big that we could barely view a slice of it??? Well we decided to focus on a few towns. The first being Amritsar just a few miles from the border and the home to one of the most accepting religions on earth, Sikhism. The second city would be Agra for a view of the Taj Mahal. Finally, the third would be a two or three day jaunt in Jaipur, the pink city of India, which was recommended by a few fellow travellers we have met along the way.

Well, the plan started off well, kind of. As we previously mentioned we crossed the border with ease. Even while encountering 115F+ heat we joyously lugged our bags into the closest taxi knowing we wouldn’t run across any Chinese roadblocks…..seriously, that’s the last unkind word. And that’s when the hilarity started…..the 90 year old man driving our taxi pulled over to switch to an alternative tank of gas and never got the car to restart. Thankfully for us he had chosen the opportune location of a cattle grazing field to pull over at…..so with 115F heat and enough flies to feed all of India and China Jeff helped to jump start the car while Becca sat composed (yea, right!) in the vehicle fending off the swarms of flies and pleasant smells of muddy cattle. Needless to say…the car never started so Jeff flagged down an autorickshaw for a ride to town. Not so fast! After 20 minutes of attempting to fix the taxi, the driver still wanted us to wait or pay him the entire fare. How bout 1/4 of the fare for 1/4 of the trip? Nope, that makes too much sense. Instead let’s tie the broken taxi to the tiny autorickshaw and drag it to the mechanic so it could be fixed and then continue the journey. While we had no intention of continuing the journey with the broken taxi, we still agreed to help him to the mechanic where the fun continued. At the mechanic we were told 5 minutes….No thanks we will just give you the 1/4 fare and take the rickshaw to town. Ok, easy enough? Once we sat down in the rickshaw the driver decided to triple our fare!! Apparently rickshaw drivers don’t understand the simplest economics because there are only 1 of us and thousands of them. Jeff proceeded to hold an Ebay style auction with 5-6 rickshaw drivers on the side of the road. After agreeing on the previously quoted fare with another driver, our old driver said “OK, I’ll take you”. UGH!!! Does anyone see why we just paid for a month of organized transportation??? Fortunately, we hadn’t had such an experience in a while so we played along and ended up getting to the hotel room (10 lbs lighter from the sweating) in just over 2 hours for a 20km trip…..Welcome to India!

Over the next few days we enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells (definitely a lot of them) around Amritsar. We were pleasantly surprised with it’s ‘Indian’ quaintness. Now it can’t be as quaint as the arrondisements of Paris but Amritsar has a charmed quality to itself. Not at all what others had been telling us to expect of India. Now there are definitely a LOT of people but they were all very endearing, willing to help educate, and not as scammy as we had been warned. The major sight in Amritsar is the Golden Palace. This place is really something….a complex built entirely of white marble and gold which sits in the middle of a holy pond and houses the holy book of the Sikhs. The palace is free to enter (an anomaly worldwide), issues free guides on religion and sights (another anomaly), and provides a free meal and 3 days lodging (yet another anomaly) to all pilgrims as well as tourists. And the food….ahhh Indian cuisine……Dhal Makhani, Garlic Naan, Jasmine Rice, and a new vegetarian favorite (give it a try Haase), Navratna Korma. We indulged and days later ended up paying for it.

As many of you know we have been very lucky with our health on this trip. Well, as we made our way by train to Delhi to meet Jay Singh, our driver, for a trip to Agra….we felt the rumblings begin!!! Uh-oh…the 115F degree heat combined with the dreaded Indian food attack. Thank God (or Allah, or Krishna, or Guru Nanak, or Buddha) we made it off the train and the three hours to our hotel in Agra before all hell broke loose. WHEW! Knowing that things weren’t going to be fun we decided to pony up for a plush place in Agra with an actual working generator since in Agra the power can’t be trusted to last for more than a few minutes at a time and most smaller hotels don’t cough up the cash for decent generators. That’s about all we will say on that topic except that as we document this a week later we are still feeling the effects.

We faced the reality that we couldn’t possibly travel to Jaipur with our tummies as they were so we opted for a day of rest in Agra and then an early return to Delhi for our flight out of the 13th. Good choices! We saw the Taj Mahal the next evening for sunset and really enjoyed comparing it to the Islamic structures we have seen over the last month. It’s quite a grand sight sitting in the middle of God-forsaken Agra. It rises from the river bed in all it’s white marble splendor and provides a great view as it sits at the end of a reflecting pool of water. Just so you are ready when you get there……there are people everywhere!!!! Really try to view at sunrise if you can but just seeing it is worth the journey. The next morning we travelled back to Delhi and viewed a few of its sights (Delhi Gate, Gandhi statue, Main Bazaar, governmental building) by car. It’s really tough to see anything during the middle hours of the day in India when it’s that hot and we’d prefer to come back on our own timetable and enjoy the sights without having to think about the closest bathroom!! Thanks to Jay Singh for a great, albeit brief tour…..we hope to employ his services again sometime.

Good bye speed India….Hello speed Turkey. Well, we knew this would happen. Getting to a city that we were just passing through and falling in love. Istanbul is that city so far. In the simplest explanation take the narrow cobblestone streets of Europe and combine them with the hills and waterfront of San Francisco…..now give it an Islamic Eastern European flair and you have Istanbul. That’s a very novice description as we have had less than 72 hours here but we really believe this city AND this country should be on everyone’s Top Ten List for international travel. We took the advice of veterans (thanks Val and Russ) in order to get the most of our time and our relishing our time spent here. Just a little insight, if you are coming to Istanbul stay in the Eminonu area and make sure to give yourself enough time to get lost in the small side streets of the city. Simple advice but it will make your journey even more memorable. Yes, the sights (Aya Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace) and history are amazing but having Turkish tea on the waterfront, bargaining with rug salesmen at the Grand Bazaar, and eating doner kebabs makes the journey the experience.

Finally, we are present day on our blog (most of you wouldn’t have guessed Becca was weeks late with updates) and very proud of ourselves!!! Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers (Em…that means you too!!) reading our blog. We are off for Jordan for 10 days and are looking forward to a completely new experience. Hope everyone is enjoying our writing and stay tuned for the Middle East!!!

WOW! Northern Pakistan and the Hunza Valley are out of this world!! Being from a place (the US) where the Western media dominates what many of us know of a country and their people we weren’t quite certain what to expect during our trip to Pakistan. The far north of Pakistan which borders China, Afghanistan, and India is quite different from anything you (and we) had ever envisioned. With it’s 8000-meter snow capped peaks, luscious green river-lined valleys, and almost European looking people (descendants of Alex the Great….isn’t everyone?!) you really do feel like you are in another country altogether. Well you almost are!! The Northern Areas including the Hunza Valley receive no federal assistance, pay no government taxes, and have a Royal Family all to themselves. In fact, according to our local guide, Abbas, they don’t really consider themselves Pakistanis…….All of this stems from a very long, tumultuous history and we would much rather spoil you with the current beauty than the lengthy past.

We spent our first night in the small northern village of Gulmit which lies in the shadows of the Passu Peaks. The locals call them the Cathedral Mountains and as we wake up and open our curtains we see why. This is, by far, the most picturesque “Room with a View” we have ever had. Yes, something can be said for a place on the beach and waking up to the sound of the ocean but this is other-worldly. Giant black, white, and orange-colored peaks glistening from the morning sun while you listen for any sound possible and strain to even hear the Hunza River rushing below. When in the Hunza Valley you will find out that the walks, treks, whatever you want to call them (based on intensity level) are really one of the major reasons for being there. Exploring this ‘undiscovered’ land by foot is really THE best way to soak up the topography, geography, and thousands of years of history. After taking breakfast in the shadow of the mountains Abbas takes us on a walk around Gulmit, a town of not much more than a few thousands inhabitants. The walk is a great introduction to this ‘lost world’. We crossed large suspension foot bridges (Jeff: Yikes!), explored the different rocks and minerals of the mountains, dipped a finger into the icy waters of the Karakorums snow, and best of all met the 3rd and 5th grade girls of the local Gulmit primary school. They were learning all about the local bridge that day which is used as a means of commerce (tea and potatoes) for the locals but all they really wanted to do was learn about Becca’s hair and how it got that color!!

After our AM walk in Gulmit we hopped in our Jeep and headed off to see the rest of the Hunza Valley. Already regretting tht we didn’t allot more time for this section of the trip we talked with Abbas about adding an extra day. He said, “No Problem” and we proceeded to spend the next few nights in the capital of Hunza, the town of Karimabad. What a smart choice!!! Karimabad is really a town built on a mountain. For any of you who have explored the hill towns of Europe….this is a ‘mountain’ town. Literally a town built into the side of the Karakorum peaks, even a small walk through the city is an uphill hamstring workout which is probably the reason the locals live well into their 90’s and 100’s!! Karimabad (old name Baltit) is famous in the region for its mountaintop, perched Baltit Fort as well as a planning point for alpinists attempting to conquer K2, Mt. Rakaposhi, and some of the other 7000M and 8000M peaks in the area. Obviously, this is something yours truly are not into but this is Abbas’ speciality so any of you out there that want to experience that type of adventure contact Abbas (his email and company’s link on side bar) and make his day! With us less adventureous types, Abbas was relegated to showing us the sights as well as a few simple hikes which he did with much zeal. We walked (rather hiked) through the city streets, perused the Baltit Fort and its rich history, enjoyed the local chappati bread and dhal, and on our last day in Hunza experienced a 5 hour hike to the Ultar Meadow. Wow…..what an uphill journey! We hiked over boulders, glaciers, around sheep, and finally found ourselves at the foot of Ladyfinger Peak. After some tea at the loneliest eatery in the world (try 3 hours uphill a mountain for a commute) we made it down in half the time and Lil’ Ms Surefooted ended with only a few scrapes and bruises.  

Well….as many of you know our plans in travelling the world are fairly ambitious from a time perspective so after a few very fulfilling days we all piled into a minivan and headed out to conquer the final 500kms of the Karakorum Highway. 500kms = Two full days of driving!!!! As we found out the roads are tight, turns even tighter, landslides frequent, and the constant threat of plunging into the river 8,000 ft below reminds you that slow is good and we are happy no matter how long it takes as long as we make it in one piece. In addition to the entertainment of watching Jeff grip his chair and lean away from the window as our van careened around turns there was a lot to see on the KKH. We followed and crossed the great Indus River, stretched our legs at the intersection of the world’s three greatest mountain ranges, and passed through many a Pakistani town which is always entertaining. Many of those towns are now home to the refugees and relief efforts of last year’s giant earthquake in the Kashmir region. We saw very little of the physical destruction as the EQ happened on the other side of a large mountain range but we saw much of the human damage as the region is just now starting to wake up from the long winter. There are tents and camps scattered on any open space and people queued up for hours in an effort to petition relief organizations for jobs, financial, or building assistance. Positively, the relief efforts look to be overly abundant with many of the world’s countries as well as the UN and WHO offering much assistance.

Our journey on the Karakorum Highway came to an end a few hours short of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan and we trekked the rest of the way to our resting point and got ready for a Pakistan that was completely different from the North. The next few days were spent in moving toward the Pakistan-India border of Wagah and partially viewing the cities of Islamabad and Lahore. Besides the weather inching over 105F the cities are much different from the enjoyable Hunza Valley. We visited the giant national Mosque in Islamabad, saw the city from atop, rambled through the famous fort in Lahore (quite a cool sight) and then with the grace and ease of a non-Chinese border crossing Abbas dropped us at the border and we easily passed into India…ending our 25-day Silk Road guided adventure.

When we last left you we had finally had overtaken the evil Chinese boardguards, conquered the brutal roads of Kyrgyzstan and received more education than a full 4 years of public high school. We are happy to say things have gotten much easier (except for one final encounter with Chinese borderguards) as we entered Kashgar, China; jumped on the Karakorum (KKH) Highway and found ourselves among the enchanted mountaintop villages of Northern Pakistan.

As our 20-hour day concluded we settled into the friendly confines of the Qinibagh Hotel, which use to serve as the British Consulate during the Great Game days. We had three days in Kashgar…a welcomed break after an enjoyable yet exhausting last few weeks. Our guide, Abdul Rehman, wanted to show us many of the sights but we had to do half days as our ‘old’ bodies were weary and we needed the rest before our long trip through Pakistan.

Kashgar is famous for two things. Firstly, the city is home to the largest Muslim (local name: Uighur) population in China. As we absorbed this Uighur influence we found Kashgar to be one of our favorite Chinese cities, rich with delicious, different foods and smiling, friendly people. We sampled local cuisines like laghman-noodle soup, Chinese soft serve (ice in a bowl with sour yogurt…YUM?) and mutton intestines and lung. We wandered the handicraft markets of the main Muslim Quarter where you can buy anything from giant copper-engraved ‘hope chests’ to industrial-sized dumpling steamers. Secondly, Kashgar was (and still is) known across the world as having one of the largest Silk Road Sunday Markets. After seeing a gazillion markets in the last few months we have seen almost everything….but Kashgar impressed us with it’s uniqueness and ginormous scale!!!

Early in Sunday morning, we visited the Livestock Market which is probably one of the most memorable experiences of our trip thus far. The farmers, animal breeders, and middlemen of neighboring towns all come together to fill a giant arena where cattle, sheep, donkeys, goats, and horses are all poked, prodded, test-ridden, and negotiated over in a pursuit that has been happening for over 1000 years. It is fascinating to stand back and watch (with your guide translating) the process of middlemen joining buyer and seller while the seller’s son tries to keep all the sheep from scattering across the arena. Really, a most unique experience! Next, we visited the massive Sunday Market (without livestock) where the locals say you can find everything in the world except for Rooster’s milk. Due to the sheer volume of participants (over 100,000) this market consumes 60-80% of the city streets as well as its original building. Being that we are on a fixed income we were looking more for the cultural experience rather than a full blown shopping experience. Although we dabbled in a few purchases the culture was more than fulfilling. The colorful shop owners, ‘huckster’ 13-year olds, adorable Uighur children filled up our camera with a lifetime of memorable photos. The funniest, by far, had to be the Viagra bonanzas which included every man over 50 screaming and pushing as if they were Christmas-Eve shoppers trying to last available Furby doll. The culture, sounds, activity, and personality of both the bazaar and the Livestock market make them a 10 out of 10 on the ‘Worth It’ scale.

Our final day in China was spent setting foot on the famous Karakorum (KKH) Highway. As we wound through the end of the Pamir Mts and beginning of the Karakorum Mts we began to see the enormity of the landscape we were going to encounter for the next week. Over the next week, the KKH, the world’s highest navigable road way will us up to 16,000ft from Western China through three mountain ranges into Central Pakistan. Before we get to Pakistan, though, we must encounter the highest driveable border crossing in the world…..Khunjerab Pass and an even more insurmountable task, a final encounter with the Chinese border patrol. Many of you must be getting tired of our rants against the Chinese authorities so won’t belabor it but after another disorganized 3 hour wait (thankfully, this time with fellow travellers) we reached Pakistan by public bus and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery and wildlife as we stood eye-level with the clouds.

In our opinion, the KKH is really the most awe-inspiring, picturesque international highway in the world. It has everything from ibex and marmots going about life…to sheer, snow-covered mountain faces standing at 20-26,000 feet. The ride is a bit hairy (at least in Jeff’s eyes) as you view the 3000-ft drop-offs which sits less than a few inches away from the not-so trusty wheels of your Chinese public bus….as your driver avoids the recently cleared avalanche without the need to have the bus in gear!!! YIKES! Oh, well he’s done it a million times, right? Well, as we get to the Pakistan-side in Sost we find we are the first travellers to conquer the border crossing this year. Glad our driver shook off the rust and got us there safely. Our new guide, Abbas, was patiently waiting for us at Pakistani Customs and as he moved us through the friendly Immigration and Customs which out much delay we knew we were in for a great time.

May 8th – As our Silk Road tour has continued we have found internet access sparse. Sorry about the delay in posting and we hope you are all still enjoying. Please find two ‘new’ posts below and look forward to our Western China, Pakistan, and India adventures coming soon.

Our last day in Kyrgyzstan started at 3AM. Have you (minus Jenni and Russ) ever had to set your alarm for 2:45AM? Not fun….ugh! But we were excited and off to conquer the newly-opened (2 years) Irkeshtam Pass. Through the mountains and across the plains we ventured in the pitch dark travelling in the back of our private minibus. Once the sun arrived Jeff (fearing heights) was stuck by the window for a harrowing ride up 18 serpentine-like turns to 12,000 feet and then down which in his eyes is even more frightening.

This journey is really like no other we’ve experienced. The ride from Osh to the Kyrgyz-Chinese border at Irkeshtam is only 260 KMs (162 miles) yet takes 8 hours. You must start at 3AM in order to leave the Kyrgyz highway (if you can call it that) by noon as they close THE WHOLE ROAD!! for repairs. In addition to this minor inconvienence you also must buckle in for the bumpiest ride of your life. This trip wasn’t as bad as the southern Chinese bus experience of Jan 2006 because we were smarter this time and hired our own transportation. This is the only way to do it…trust us!! Even though you’ve got six seats between the two of you get ready to use them all. The twists and turns….the bumps and bottoming out….the offroading into pastures and streams were all taken in unexpected comfort due to our great driver, entertaining guide, and luxurious minibus. We’ve been trying to find a way to describe the road condition but it seems impossible to articulate. As a reference to only a few of you…remember the road under the powerlines off 70th by LWHS that all the jeeps (and Findlay’s Fiesta) offroaded on?? Try that road for 8 hours!!! It was an adventure…..but that’s not the half of it!!

Arriving at the Kyrgyz side of the Irkeshtam border you can see that things aren’t going to be simple. From the requested bribe by the gate guard to the insanely, novice international commerce that is taking place you can’t possibly imagine moving through Customs and Immigration to China in under a few hours. Well..more like 7 hours! Get ready for this one….story for a lifetime. The border at Irkeshtam has three sections as far as tourists are concerned. The first is the Kyrgyz military or trade commerce only side. The second is a 2km Kyrgyz-Chinese neutral zone, which only one military can occupy at a time. And the last is a 5km stretch for Chinese military or trade commerce only use. The reason we explain this is your guide just can’t escort you to the border and introduce you to your next guide. In reality you need to patch onto a trade truck through both country zones and hopefully the receiving military will give you a lift in the neutral zone. Of course…with the Chinese you have no such luck. After Elnura tried adamantly to arrange for a smooth crossing the best we could get was a Kyrgyz military escort to the neutral border sight. From there we waited for the Chinese to finish lunch and then an hour later they arrived. Oh good..this looks positive especially as the Kyrgyz received beer and liquor from the Chinese in an apparent trade for us, some valuable American tourists.

Guess again…as we went to load our bags into the Chinese military truck they drove off laughing without us. Oh well, we should just have to hike our bags a few minutes to Chinese Customs and that will be that, right? Of course not! Nothing is that easy with the Chinese. As we attempted to walk into Chinese territory we were rudely pushed back into neutral territory and told to wait three hours. Apparently, people at Chinese Customs don’t work for lunch or the three hours after it. They had plenty of time to practice guitar, and stare into nothingness with their binoculars as we watched them….but apparently not enough time to give us a stupid little stamp to get into their god-forsaken country. Just us out there in the middle of the desert between giant mountains with no idea if we would be allowed in China….? As our nerves were beginning to fray and faces beginning to burn (literally) Becca looked skyward and witnessed a glorious (Old School reference) sight….the great American bald eagle was gently soaring overhead. Of course it was there as a sign for us (right?) and not searching for the multiple rodents that had been scurrying amidst our feet. At this point we will take anything…any sign! After “the sighting” it was only a short 3 minute wait and the gates were up. We got our entry stamp, passed along some friendly obscenities (you know, swearing with a smile), and looked for a trade truck to deliver us to Customs, only 5KM away. Oops, wrong again. No trade trucks were running into China due to some unexplainable upcoming 9-day holiday but needless to say after some comedic banter we had smiles on our faces and were off….

PG Version

Becca: I’m never coming to this country again.

Jeff: But what about the Olympics?

Becca: Jeff! I’m never coming back!

Jeff: What about our next Great Wall adventure?

Becca: Looks like it will be YOUR next Great Wall adventure!

Both of us: (Laughing at the absurdity of the situation and relishing the opportunity to relate it on the blog)

After a short 3k jaunt with full gear we arrived at Chinese Customs and into the arms of Abdul Rehman, our guide for the next few days through western China. Just a short 260km drive (this time 4 not 8 hours) later we arrived in Kashgar and settled into bed after our 20 hour (3AM…remember) adventure. Isn’t travelling the world fun?!! Most of the time, YES….sometimes, not so much. Well at least we know others on the Silk Road have endured much worse to experience its grandeur.

With our Western Uzbekistan education complete the next leg of our scheduled journey took us through the interesting Eastern section of Uzbekistan…….over the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border……into the city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan for a few days……then over the Irkeshtam Pass bordering Kyrgyz and China and onto Kashgar, China the center point of the Great Silk Road. Due to our ambition plans covering three countries and two under-utilized border crossings would be completed in under a week….Stressful, not really, but tiring, definitely. Whew…..we are tired!!!

So after a great time with our guide, Bobur for over eight days, we parted ways and picked up Tehir, a veteran guide whom would take us through the culturally and artisan rich countryside of Eastern Uzbekistan. It’s amazing to leave Tashkent, UZ’s biggest city and after just minutes find yourself amidst glowing red fields of poppies; giant, brown tracts of cotton fields; and moving down the highway alongside a guy asleep on a donkey cart. This is Eastern Uzbekistan in all it’s glory. Very rich in agriculture and as we moved further into the mountain villages of the Fergana Valley we come to find extremely rich in natural resources (iron, gold, silicon, coal) and livestock (cattle, sheep, goats, horses) as well. Fergana Valley has made it’s name through the ages as the home of the “Heavenly Horses”, which enticed the Chinese to advance their path along the Silk Road as a means for obtaining these powerful horses instead of the wimpy, (cheap shot, but later you’ll understand) little traditional ones that they had. The Fergana Valley is home to many towns and actually stretches all the way into and across parts of neighboring Krygyzstan. Being that many of the towns have many different crafts and customs, Tehir recommended we visit Margilon (home of handmade silk products for hundreds of years), Rishdon (home of handmade ceramics for thousands of years) as well as Andijon and Kokand for a look at the final frontier of the evil Khans in far-reaching Eastern Uzbekistan.

After such an intense look at history, religion, and architecture over the past few weeks, we loved getting a first hand look at some of the local crafts that made the Fergana Valley famous throughout time along the Silk Road. These crafts and unique features are really what attracted all types along the famous Road. First, we stopped at Rishdon and the home of a ceramic master whose family has been creating beautifully, handcrafted ceramics of all kinds for 15 (yeah, that’s a long time) generations. We hadn’t seen Westerners in so long it was a shock when we ran into Clausens from Fort Wayne, Indiana in the same little small ceramicist’s house. Actually, they aren’t located in Fort Wayne currently they are living in a far-reaching village of Uzbekistan working for an NGO and training local nurses on caring for the community at large. Quite admirable work and we really enjoyed sharing some tea with them and their two daughters before heading off to Margilon.

This city (Margilon) has been making handwoven silk products since the early days of the Silk Road. We were allowed an inside look at the process from the creation of the dyes through all-natural products to the rooms of young women painstakingly constructing rugs, scarfs, and local Suzanes. Seeing the step-by-step process is fascinating especially since they are still using tools and products that have been successfully making silk products for hundreds of years. However, the best part was the silk worms. Each April the government breeds a set number of silk worms and distributes to businesses as well as locals that wish to make a few extra bucks. These worms are no bigger than a centimeter at the beginning of their lives and through 30 straight days of eating mulberry trees, branches and all, they grow to be the size of your pinky. Shockingly, individual families monopolize up to 80% of their living space in order to breed these worms. Once bred the families deliver (for a modest fee) the worms to the local businesses whom take care of the harvesting process on a large scale. Great tour if you are ever in Margilon, just don’t go crazy on an end-of-tour shopping spree like yours truly!!

After a few more sights (palaces, museums, etc) we hopped in the car and headed off for the last few kilometers of open road in Uzbekistan. Our Uzbek guide Tehir and our new guide, Elnura, made a perfect hand-off at the border and we were very excited things went so smoothly. Just a few KMs down the road and we had arrived in Country #7 and its cultural capital of Osh.

Kyrgyzstan has a rich history yet since the country is essentially scissored between two giant mountain ranges (90% of country is mountainous) it often goes unexplored. Due to the lack of tourists the sights are quite underdeveloped yet still offer some amazingly rich historical documentations. For instance Mount Suleiman (named for Prophet Solomon) contains 3000 year old petroglyphs on the original rocks!! We won’t go into many more of the sights as Elnura, our guide, provided much more excitement and information than museums could ever provide. We received a local’s perspective on politics, female rights, the Islamic faith, feeling towards America, and being a woman entrepeneuer!! That’s right at the ripe age of 27, Elnura is starting her own travel agency (Kyrgyz Nur Traveling Co.) in a male-dominated society and we are so excited for her future success. Our discussions and conversations with Elnura were the highlight of our short 3-day trip through Kyrgyzstan….well that is until the last day!!!

Wow….the Silk Road and it’s amazingly rich history is really fascinating. This is an area of the world you just don’t learn enough about in Western history classes and we both feel that’s very disappointing. Central Asia, the Silk Road, the power shifts, religious influences, and assimilating cultures all present an opportunity to learn about a truly unique part of the world. Over the past two weeks we have been in awe of depth of this region and look forward to sharing that with each of you.

After our glorious jaunt through golden Samarkand we pointed our camel (well, car) out west to Bukhara, the religious center of all Central Asia. But before we reached Bukhara we made a quick stopover in Shakhrisabz, the hometown of Timur, who is proudly honored in Uzbekistan as the ruler of the vast “Kingdom between Two Rivers” after the fall of Jenghiz Khan’s descendants. Timur is credited with bringing together the many fallen empires to the people of Central Asia and they are extremely proud of his Central Asian origins. The town itself can be seen in the middle of green meadows as you descend from the Zarafshon Mountains and was popularly known as Timur’s summer getaway. It consists of a very small population but the tourist trade is alive and well with proud Uzbeks coming from all over to honor their past leader. The sights are a bit sparse as many of the building, monuments, and mosques where razed by egomaniacal Khan’s after Timur’s descendants lost power in outerlying regions. However, due to the hordes of local tourists you get quite an opportunity to see Uzbek life in a relaxed state. Something we really enjoy is interacting with these local tourists, answering the “Hellos”, and snapping photos of some of the adorable children.

Additionally, the shopping bug finally bit us in Shakhrisabz. As many of you can imagine it is almost impossible for us not to buy everything but we have been budgetarily responsible for too long. In travelling through the old Silk Road towns you can’t avoid the beautiful Suzanes (hand-crafted silk embroidery). Each of these masterpieces has it’s own regional designs, bright colors, and many of the women selling them have had them in their family’s homes for decades. To handcraft a Suzane each family from certain artisans in town take the responsibility of sewing a piece and the a ‘master’ puts them together in their final design. Ceramics, artwork, knives, jewelry, carpets, hats…..they are everywhere you turn and meticulously hand-crafted, locally designed and brightly colored so you can’t possibly avoid them forever. We found that “unavoidable” Suzane just outside Timur’s Crypt and Becca enjoyed playing with the seller’s children while Jeff negotiated the price. Can’t wait to show it off to all of you when we finally have a home of our own, again!

As we have previously mentioned Bukhara is Central Asia’s holiest city and one of the seven Noble Islamic cities of the world. We didn’t have the foggiest idea about those facts and were amazed with the depth of education we received here. Just a few hour jaunt from Shakhrisabz on the famous Silk Road Bukhara seems to be teeming with activity just as it was centuries in the past. While many famous sights were built during Timur’s period in his capital of Samarkand, Bukhara contained (and still does!!) a mosque or medrassah on almost every corner as the Islamic faith entered this region in the early 9th century far before Timur’s and, even, Jenghiz Khan’s rule! Fortunately for us the man’s tomb whom is credited with popularizing Islam as well as studies like art, science, and mathematics throughout Central Asia had been covered by sandstorms before Jenghiz’s armies marched through Bukhara. This allowed us to view one of our favorite architectural structures of the entire trip. Ismail Samoniy’s tomb is delicately constructed with terracotta bricks in creative directions so that the look of the building changes as the sun shifts. We could have stood there and watched it for hours but the rest of Bukhara’s fascinating history was calling us. As we moved through the city we encountered the Great Ark, where the evil 17th-18th century Emirs lived and the Ark plaza where the Emir would employ brutally public executions……we marched up the hundreds of stairs inside the Kalon Minaret to view Bukhara from above….and strolled through many a mosque as Babur educated us on the inner workings of Islam. The evenings in Bukhara allowed us the opportunity to explore the old town with it’s quiet corridors and lively children as well as enjoy the fabulous cuisine of Uzbekistan, Bukharian style.

After a few days in Bukhara we saddled into the camel (or car) again and were off again on the Silk Road to Khiva. As we knew in advance, the trip to Khiva was not a short one. The trip takes you down a tight stretch of highway in the Khorezm province, which is neatly situated between two mighty desert. The drive itself is interesting as you get a chance to view Turkmenistan over the drying Amu Darya river as well as thousands of desert turtles that are slowly negotiating there way across the bumpy highway. It’s quite something to think that many an explorer did this on camel or horse back during the treacherous winters and dry hot summers of Central Asia or to think of the many nomadic herders whom still spend their time frocliking among tumbleweeds and desert snakes.

Khiva is an extremely sleepy town with many different customs from the rest of Uzbekistan as it lays far to the west and was controlled by many different cultures during its history. We arrived fairly late in the evening and settled into our medrassah-turned-hotel (cool, huh!) for the night. In the morning we were introduced to Khiva and its UNESCO-protected, old city of Ichon-Qala. This is a very interesting place in comparison to the other old cities of the Silk Road we have encountered. The Khan of Khiva in the 1800’s decided to relinquish his town to the Russians after much subterfuge in order to spare many of the historical relics. This act saved the beautiful Khivan monuments from the complete demise of many of the other city’s monuments. Additionally, the Russians found it a wonderful money making opportunity during their reign over these lands. The ancient inner city is completely restored and well cared after by the locals. The past and current governments have limited city-dwellers to only those families who have resided there for previous centuries so the streets are empty until the tour buses empty out at the western city gate. And on Sunday afternoon that they did!!! The streets were packed with school kids and teens and as usual we stuck out like two sore thumbs. Now, if you ever want to know what it feels like to be a celebrity enter a scenario such as this. You are constantly bombarded with stares, snickers, and unsolicited photos. Frequently, teen age girls and guys will giggle while they try to figure out how to ask for a picture with you. We enjoy being as accommodating as possible and offering to take a few pictures with ‘our fans’….especially Jeff when he is swarmed by the local harem. As we only had a solo day in Khiva we made it worth it by enjoying a great local meal for lunch, viewing the city from far above in the Minaret (yes, another climb!!), meandering through the Khan’s old harem quarters where four wives and forty concubines resided, and finally hearing about the local legend of patron saint, Pahlavon Mohammad, a Khivan champion wrestler who lost his only match in order to appease his opponent’s dying mother.

The history lesson finished and the western Uzbek section of the Silk Road fully explored we jumped a plane back to Tashkent and met Tahir, our guide for the onward journey to Eastern Uzbekistan and the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border of Dostlik.

We realize our writings have been a bit deliquent but we have returned to the world of high-speed internet access and the friendly confines of a Russian-run internet cafe to relay the stories, sights, and education we have experienced over the past 10 days.

Our Silk Road Adventure started April 16th in luxurious style (apricot juice in champagne glasses on arrival) at the Markazy Hotel, smack dab in the middle of Tashkent. Now, we had already experienced quite a bit of Tashkent including the National History Museum, Tashkent Tower, and Friendship Square so we were ready for something new. Courtesy of C.A.T.S., our local Uzbek guide company we hooked up with Babur (of previous mention) and begin our 25 day catered adventure. Yea…that’s right, no dissecting city streets, confused ‘Language Barrier’ looks, unknowingly stepping into a crappy dining experience, or finding various modes of transportation….we paid the money and were ready to be waited on. Babur and our driver, Mr Abdur Rashid exceeded expectations!!

Our first order of business was getting a look at old city Tashkent, the real Tashkent, before departing on the Silk Road. Babur introduced us to the dominant religion of Tashkent and Uzbekistan with a trip to the Islamic Institute, a viewing of one of five original Osman Korans (7th century) and Kukeldash Medrassah, one of two working National medrassahs. This was quite an different educational endeavor after months and months of Buddhism. The Kukeldash Medrassah actually has a public relations director that meets you as you enter. He generously takes the time to walk you through the educational process of the school, from computer classes to Koran studies. Afterwards, Babur enlightened us with his knowledge of traditional Muslim architecture from minarets to medrassahs to mosques as well as the different styles of artistic design from different historical periods…more to come on this later!! Most fascinating was our trip through the Chorsu (English translation:Four Roads) Bazaar which was our first encounter with an actual Silk Road reality. The people, the colors, the smells, the commerce……wow!! After some of our other Asian bazaar encounters this was a CLEAN, unintrusive undertaking that we relished as we sampled and purchased many of the tastes that made this trade route so famous. Next stop (and the last in Tashkent) was Gulnara B and B for a true home-cooked Uzbek meal.

Let’s take some time to introduce you to Uzbek cuisine. Start with a platter full of multiple fresh salads that you can choose from. Everything from the best tomatoes you’ve ever tasted to mayonaisse-cumin mixed julienned veggies to fresh stalks of dill and coriander. At the same time you also get to sample endless amounts of regionally-specialized bread. Uzbekistan is not for the Atkins dieter. The bread is really unavoidable and since it varies from region to region you have to try it all, right? Next, soup!! We can’t say that we had any soup that didn’t have a chunk of mutton in it…..well, wait a minute maybe one, nope ALL!! These are very tasty soups even with the mutton….they include anything from fresh giant yellow carrots to crispy potatoes to dumpling filled with what else…..mutton. Region to region they are all fabulous and again…you’ve got to try them all!! After soup it’s usually a choice of three things….plov (rice with veggies and mutton), shashlyks (meat BBQ’d over a thin rail of hot coals) or samsas (giant bread envelopes of meat and veggies)……sometimes ALL THREE!!! Yes, we are eating well! and packing on the LBS to prove it, check the photos. Thanks to Babur are introduction has been all-encompassing and we are happy to say this food rivals any other cuisines we’ve tasted even if mutton is ever-present. We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the bevvies as they each add a distinction of Central Asian culture. Black tea to warm up, green tea to cool down, vodka at every meal, and regional beer…..YUM….don’t forget the world’s second most recognized (1st..NY Yankees) brand, Coca-Cola!

Okay…now that you are hungry let’s get on the road to Samarkand, cultural capital of Uzbekistan. Ah….mystical Samarkand, home to one of the most coveted sights in Central Asia, the Registan Square, as well as many other historical sights to see. In structured education style Babur first took us to visit the tomb of Uzbek hero, Emir Timur, to begin our Central Asian historical lesson. Timur is to Central Asia what Alexander the Great was to Macedonia and Jenghis Khan to the Mongols. In fact, Babur’s (our guide) namesake is Timur’s grandson whom installed the Mughal Dynasty in India for a 300-year reign. Obviously with a stature like this the nationalist Uzbeks and all Central Asians allow Timur to dominate the sights of almost every Uzbek city. After seeing many of Samarkand’s sights (we won’t list them all) we were awe-struck with the artistic design, architectural enormity, and completely unique international style. A few of our favorites were Shakhi-Zinda…a underground necropolis built for Timur’s female dynasty, and the Sherdor (Lion) Medrassah with its towering domes and gorgeous Timurid-style 16th century mosaics.

We tremendously enjoyed soaking up all the history and information especially the dynastic changes and religion. We were shocked at the breadth of world powers that wanted into Central Asia…why?? What is here?? Well, mountains filled with gold, marble, and endless supplies of gypsum….plains encrusted with oil, salt, and fresh subterranean water…and most importantly for world conquering armies, miles upon miles of green grass and vegetation for those hungry horses and soldiers. The history is extremely long but begins with Alexander’s entry in 300 BC continues with Arab invasions, Persian occupation, Jenghis Khan, Timur, Turkic rulers, and all the way up to the giant Khanates that ruled before the Giant White Army from Tsarist Russia took it all away. All though each culture added to the historical depth of this area we were really saddened to see what destructive armies do to regional treasures when conquering lands. Most of the sights have been restored delicately but really the only way to avoid destruction is to either build below land or hope the sand swallows up your structure before the invaders arrive….guess you can’t do that with a 45 meter high Minaret.

Additionally, the religious transitions and adoptions has been amazing. But enough of our historical brain dump (Can you tell we have been learning new things non-stop for 10 days?) for now….we will wait on our religious diatribe for when we reach the religious capital of Central Asia (as well as one of 7 noble Islamic cities)….Bukhara!

What an arrival into Uzbekistan!!! The lovely state-run Uzbekistan Airways flew us in on a gorgeous Boeing 777-ER (Thanks for such a comfortable ride, Dad!) over the breath-taking Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges. It’s really quite shocking to continue to look out your window hour after hour and see giant, snow-capped mountains and enormous spanning deserts. All in the same area…..WOW!!

We got off the plane expecting to see someone with a sign and our names but there were some miscommunications and we were on our own. Now….after this much travelling we should be able to handle this just fine, right? Well, it’s always a new adventure and we had to fend off a few shady Russian taxi mobsters before successfully talking a taxi driver down from $20 to $5. Not knowing the city is always a bit stressful when getting into an unknown taxi, so it was even a bit more stressful when the taxi didn’t start, our driver had to do a push-start, and we had to coast through stop lights due to a completely burnt out clutch. Not too stressful and quite funny!! We got to our hotel unscathed and after confirming only overpaid for the taxi by about $2. Hey….well at least we didn’t pay $20 (good reconnaissance, Becca!!) 

Our home for the next week…Hotel Raddus JSS…located in the modern section of Tashkent built after the 1966 earthquake. It was quite a nice stay and included breakfast but cost $40 a night….gosh we wish we were still paying SE Asia prices. Positively, the hotel was located in a quaint neighborhood with beautiful homes featuring gorgeous Central Asian woodwork and a cozy courtyards. It was also a few blocks from the Metro (you know how we love public transport) and we used that to our advantage since picking up a taxi in Uzbekistan is a bit different than anywhere else in the world. Just a quick synopsis….you walk to the side of the road, wave your hand, and ordinary cars line up to negotiate with you. These aren’t taxis, folks, they are just guys driving around the city doing nothing and figure why not pick up someone and make a few bucks. Now..imagine you speak no Russian or Uzbek (they all speak both)…how would you communicate without a map? Yea…it’s tough. One piece of advice….find the nicest hotel, walk inside like you live there, and ask them to arrange a taxi for you. It worked a few times but really the train is much better! We were tremendously impressed with this Metro system. Although not as modern as Hong Kong or efficient as The EL (yea…right!) this is true Soviet engineering mixed with beautifully crafted subway (each of the 36 honors a specific Uzbek whom is famous for something) stations, of course by the Uzbeks not Russians. These stations are so beautiful in fact, that you can’t take pictures….well, that’s not really the reason as they were initially built as subterranean bomb shelters in case of (you know) WW III. Guess they still want to keep people guessing so they still won’t let you take pictures.

So our main objective of being in Tashkent a week prior to the start of our Silk Road Adventure was to obtain the necessary VISA’s for the rest of the Silk Road countries. We had two on our list, Kyrgyzstan and China. Working with both Consulates would turn out to be an eduation in the polar opposites of bureaucracy.  Initially, we enlisted the help of our soon-to-be (more personal info to follow) Silk Road guide, Babur. This is really a necessity (no matter what the guidebooks say) in obtaining paperwork in a city like Tashkent. OK….let’s tackle an additional entry into China first. After shuttling around to multiple would-be locations with Chinese flags we finally made it to the Consular Section. Can you imagine if we had to accomplish this without native speaking assistance? Upon arrival we are issue the formal Chinese response….complete paperwork, return paperwork, wait 7 days, then receive VISA. Wait a minute we are Americans….we will pay more for everything…can’t we just increase the fee and get it sooner??? Sure that will be a 200% increase for one-day service…..OUCH!! While we are filling out the paperwork let’s shuttle over to the Kyrgyz Embassy and see what their process entails. After two quick stops and the time it’s taken you to read this sentence we had our Kyrgyz Visa for under $50 a person. After the Chinese Consulate counted our small fortune paid we had our final Silk Road VISA and could relax knowing that we won’t (crossing our fingers) have to obtain another stressful VISA for a few months.

As we finally got to take a breath and experience the city of Tashkent we were pleasantly surprised by many things. First, the diversity of this city (let alone Uzbekistan as a whole) is quite something and as we will (you will too) come to learn its history, we now know why. Persian, Arab, Chinese, Mongolian, Turkic, and European cultures have all passed through this crossroads of the world and left their indeliable mark. You see it in the eyes, hair, language, and religion of everyone that passes you by. This is by far the most diverse culture we have experienced thus far in our Asian journeys.

Secondly, the style of the city took us by surprise!!The Soviets have, unfortunately, left these gorgeous people stuck in the 1980’s. Don’t get us wrong….it’s not just the architecture because Uzbekistan has done a tremendous job of revitalizing their national pride in buildings and monuments since their independence in 1991…in all actuality, its the fashion, hairstyles, music and cars… all frozen in time since the days of Marty McFly. Picture some of the prettiest women you’ve seen walking down the street with teased bangs, black-and-white stockings, and layered neon tank tops. Now…picture very attractive men with over-gelled bangs, Risky-Business sun glasses, and dark acid-washed jean jackets…that’s a pretty good snapshot of what is currently(!!) dominating the fashion trends here. We have to admit it is primarily the 1 million Russians still residing in Tashkent that are contributing to this phenomenon. Through our interactions with many native Uzbeks by the time we return (who knows when that will be?) we anticipate dramatic improvements…As a self-deprecating side note…it’s not like the zip-off, parachute pants and hiking boots that we are wearing are helping the situation…..HAHA!! Last but not least, we were completely excited about our initial forays into Uzbek cuisine (descriptions to come later) and really looking forward to experiencing the gamut of shashlyks, soups, salads, and breads as we took off on the road with our trusty guide, Babur and steady driver, Mr Abdur-Rashid. Let’s get on the GOLDEN ROAD OF SILK!!!

Wait a minute….. First, we had to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary in true Uzbek style. How about a trip to the local ballet? What a great idea and a budgetary decision as it only cost us a total of $3….yea, we know….cheapies!! The ballet was held in the Alisher Navoi Theater, a gorgeous structure built with local Uzbek materials of marble, gypsum, and stone. The love story acted out was very appropriate (only kidding) as it was a love triangle documenting the history of Afrosiab (now called Samarkand), a city we would be visiting very shortly. Interesting performances and elaborate set designs more than provided enough romance for us after what has felt like a short 4 years……although the last 3 months…well, enough said!!

Hello readers…..

As we have been documenting our trip on this blog we have also been posting additional pictures on another website. The link to that website is located on the lower, right-hand side of this page under the title Our Flickr Photo Blog. Jeff has been linking a few of the pictures to the blog postings but not all.

If you have been missing out please click here and bookmark our photo page as well. You won’t be disappointed…Jeff is getting quite crafty with the Sony camera.