The Plan B Adventure

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!!!

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 ... [Continue reading this entry]