tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29666398214130351072024-03-18T20:13:55.180-07:00A Silk Road AdventureUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-66342965060401544822012-11-20T21:27:00.000-08:002015-08-01T12:37:17.599-07:00Bam: an ancient city, recently destroyed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I first heard of Bam back in 2003, when I read a piece in the International Herald Tribune about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/27/world/powerful-earthquake-in-iran-kills-thousands.html">its destruction in an earthquake</a>. I knew nothing of Iran, and was pretty surprised to learn that such a place as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arg-%C3%A9_Bam">Bam</a>—an ancient citadel with roots as far back as 500 BC, and with most of the surviving mud-brick buildings dating from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iran#Safavid_Empire_.281501.E2.80.931736.29">Safavid era</a> (1501–1736). I promptly forgot about Bam, but I was reminded of it when I started to leaf through my Lonely Planet and trying to figure out what I should see in Iran. And, in truth, the memory of that news report probably gave me false expectations, as in my mind I had conflated the modern town and its casualties with the ancient town, and come away with impression that Bam had been a town where people had continued to live in ancient buildings until the quake. This false memory was reinforced by a rather vague description in Lonely Planet, which describes that the quake's destroyed the mud brick homes in which most people lived, and forced them to build steel-framed buildings to replace them, but failing to mention that these mud-brick homes were less than 50 years old.<br />
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Anyway, the reality is that most of the older buildings below the citadel were in ruined or semi-ruined condition well before the 2003 quake, and that only the citadel itself was in good repair at that time. The same is true for nearby Rayen, which was largely spared in 2003.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
From Kerman to Bam</h4>
The bus station in Kerman is a bit of a mess, as it is unusually spread out, with different ticket offices in different for different companies and destinations. There are also touts outside offices trying to get people onto their buses before they leave, which can be slightly confusing. Buses to Bam run fairly frequently, but I ended up waiting for about an hour for mine to leave.<br />
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Bam isn't a major town, and almost all buses will be running through to Zahedan, so the <i>de facto</i> bus stop is a roundabout on the south edge of town. From there is a a few kilometers to Lonely Planet's highly-recommended place to stay, Akbar Tourist Guesthouse. Akbar's may actually be the best option in Bam, but given the dearth of options I don't think that's saying much.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Mr. Akbar's Tourist Guesthouse</h4>
I arrived at the guesthouse at about the same time as a couple of Iranians who arrived by car, but we were both stymied by no one being there, so we waited in the courtyard. It was well over an hour before anyone arrived, and the Iranian pair checked in first. I received a bit of a shock when I was told that the price the cheapest room was 300,000 rial, as the recent Lonely Planet suggested the price should be about 130,000 rial—clearly he was doing something like Vali and boosting his prices. Of course, this was especially shocking given that the triple room in Kerman had been a total of 270,000 rial.<br />
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Akbar said he would give me a discount to 250,000 rial. If he had been there when I arrived, I probably would have walked away and returned to Kerman in the evening, but it was now late afternoon and I wouldn't be able to see the Arg before it got dark. So I ended up agreeing to stay.<br />
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In all honesty, his place was pretty rough. I know there was an earthquake, but it happened nine years earlier, in 2003. Construction was ongoing and the stairs were completely open on one side, with not even a railing for safety. The rooms were already quite dingy and dirty, with stained carpets. The shared bathrooms had inoperative toilets and showers, and were full of mosquitos. They also lacked hot water, so after I had dropped my bag Akbar let me use one of the bathrooms in a nicer room, but I had to chose if I wanted to use it in the evening or the night. As someone who showers in the morning and the evening, this sucked. In all, it was pretty unimpressive, at any price.<br />
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But whatever. I headed out to see the Arg, which was another three or four kilometers north of Akbar's. Outside of the historical areas, Iranian cities aren't especially attractive, and Bam was even uglier than most. No doubt this is a harsh assessment in light of the 2003 earthquake (but given the Iran's huge population boom—half the population is under 25—and concomitant building expansion, this isn't as unfair as you might imagine), but the area between the Arg and the highway has a very industrial feel. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Arg at dusk. None of the area pictured here was accessible to tourists when I was there.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little later, a little darker. This is about as god a view as you can get of the Arg.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the southwestern edge of the Arg complex. Thee walls are one of the few sections of town aside from the citadel that had been reconstructed.</td></tr>
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The naming of the Arg is a bit confusing, as Arg (or Ark) is usually used to refer to a citadel, but in Bam the entire ancient city complex is referred to as the Arg-e-Bam. The ancient city itself contains a citadel on the northern end, which makes it a little difficult to differentiate whether you're talking about the citadel within the ancient city, or just the entire ancient city complex.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A model of Arg-e-Bam as it appeared before the earthquake. The citadel is at the northern end, on the right. Almost all of the domed structures in the bottom half were destroyed in the quake, though the two domed structures at the upper left have been somewhat reconstructed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black currant Fanta! I love black current, and one of my favourite snacks are <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bissin-Black-Currant-Flavored-Filling/dp/B00N5XL378">black currant wafers</a> that I've only been able to reliably find in one grocery store in Bangkok. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The taste wasn't all that I had hoped, but the bottle design is great—especially in Arabic script. That non-carbonated black-currant drink in Xinjiang was so much better.</td></tr>
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Back at Akbar's I cooked some dinner on my stove, on the dirty floor. You can get a lot of packaged food in Iran, from pre-prepared classics like <i>khoresht</i> stews or <i>fesenjun</i> pomegranate-chicken in cans, to dry soup mixes to sealed packets you can boil in water. They're actually pretty good, and given the difficulty of finding these foods in restaurants they're a decent option. When I first arrived in Iran I was afraid of being ripped off in small shops and kiosks (though in retrospect I wouldn't be ripped off since most people would think I was just a really quiet Iranian), especially since some things that seem like they should be the same price are actually different prices (Cheetos-style cheese snack were 5,000 rials while similar packs of potato chips were 8,000, making me suspect some vendors were price gouging or something). In reality, however, virtually every single packaged food product sold in Iran will have the price stamped on it in small black text. Of course it's in Arabic, but not the Western Arabic numerals we use, but in another form of Eastern Arabic numerals, which are fairly easy to learn. So it's pretty easy to now how much everything should cost. The final complication is that Iran talks about currency in two different ways: in rials and tomans. There are 10 rials to a toman. Because they differ by an order of magnitude, it's usually clear which is meant, but it can throw you for a loop until you're familiar with how much things should cost.</div>
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Anyway, after cooking my dinner I stole a hot shower in one of the rooms with a bathroom, and headed to bed. Some of my soup boiled over onto the carpet, and you could barely even notice any staining from it, layered with dirt as it was.</div>
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When I asked for the key to the room where I was to take a shower, I also asked about changing money. I hadn't changed enough in Mashhad, and now I was running out of rial. Akbar said that there were no moneychangers in Bam (yeah, right) but that he could change some Of course, the rate he could give wasn't that great—about midway between the bank rate and the money-changer rate (moneychangers are legal, so it's not a black market, but they offer a significantly better rate than banks do)—and he complained that he would be losing money if he changed money for me. I figured I would try to find a money-changer the next day, and only change a bit of money with Akbar if I wasn't able to find one.</div>
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The next morning, I met a European couple in the courtyard. They had arrived later the prior night in their jeep, as they were traveling overland to Pakistan (Bam is one of the last safe places before the border, and at the time you were supposed to need an armed guard on the last stretch to the border). I think it's these sort of Pakistan-bound travelers that Akbar's is really best for, as those not headed East are probably best served by seeing Bam as a day trip from Kerman.</div>
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Anyway, after talking to this couple, I discovered that the tow of them were staying in a double room with private bathroom, and the price for their room was 300,000 rial—the same price that Akbar had told me my room would normally cost, if not for my "discount." As the rooms with a bathroom really are quite a bit nicer than the dirty and Spartan shared-bathroom room I was in, this was really disappointing. So it was clear I didn't really receive any discount at all, but simply got a much crappier room in exchange for paying 50,000 less than his initial quote. </div>
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The Arg and surrounding area</h4>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Random earthquake damage in Bam.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the Arg complex. Aside from the reconstruction work on the citadel, most everything below it remains destroyed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are a few buildings which have been somewhat restored, but only a handful.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most of the complex looks like this. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are only a few walkways/paths you are allowed to go on, mostly forming a large "L" around the perimeter of the complex.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can't actually visit the citadel, or even come close to the walls.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few reconstructed domes along the main walkway, as seen from behind them, in the ruins that characterize most of the complex.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks like they are taking the approach of the Chinese at Jiayuguan, where the end result are wholesale reconstructions of the great wall that feel very modern are not nearly as evocative as you would hope.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Arg complex is on the northeastern edge of town, with a (mostly dry) Poshtrud riverbed to the north. Walking around the Arg on the eastern and northern sides is actually more visually interesting than being inside the complex, especially since there are other ruins like this that are outside the main walls of the Arg.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back side of the citadel from the northeast.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Poshtrud riverbed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The area around the Arg is filed with random ruins.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bam is famous for its date palms, and you can buy dried dates everywhere. I don't know if I ever really had dates before Iran, but I had quite a few of them (and figs) there. It's a little surprising how sweet they are.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is north of the riverbed. I have no idea what any of these random ruins are from.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I believe these mud-brick walls probably resemble what the houses of modern Bam looked like before the earthquake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the wast, a couple of construction workers perched on the walls around the ancient city.</td></tr>
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<br />
After visiting the Arg, I headed into downtown Bam in search of a money changer. Many, if not most,<br />
bazaars in Iran are ancient buildings that have been in continuous use for hundreds of years, just like the market in Kerman. In contrast, Bam's market is modern, though it is built in the same style of alleys covered in domes with shops along the sides. And although I was easily able to see banks along the main street, I wasn't able to find any money changers, so after exploring for a little bit I headed back to Akbar's.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Mr. Akbar gets offended</h4>
Having had no success in finding a money changer, I changed a small amount of money with Mr. Akbar when I returned to pay and pick up my bag. I was still annoyed with his lies about giving me a discount on my room, and although I normally would have simply bit my tongue and paid without complain, this time I decided to pay with complaint. I wasn't trying to bargain for a lower price, as I had agreed on his price, but as was giving him the money I asked him why he had told me he was giving me a discount on the room when it was clear from the European couple that a 300,000 rial room would have been nicer and had a private bathroom. He got very upset at me asking him this question, even though I told him I would pay the rate we had agreed to: I just wanted to know why he had lied to me. He started telling me he had been in business for twenty years and had never had a complaint or any problem like this before, and he said that he wouldn't take any money from me and tried to give it back to me. Now, if he had said he would give me a discount, I might have taken his contrition seriously, but by refusing any payment and acting in an exaggeratedly aggrieved manner, it seemed like a grand display of manners—of taarof, where I was also expected to turn him down. And that's what I did: as he pressed the money in my hands followed me in his car and offered to drive me to the highway bus stop, I simply tucked the money underneath his windshield wiper and walked away. The dance of manners satisfied and his honor defended, he stopped and left me alone, and I walked to the highway.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Bam to Yazd</h4>
At this point my plan was to catch a bus to Kerman, then take an overnight bus to Bandar Abbas, on the Persian Gulf. This would let me take a ferry to Hormoz Island and then over to Qeshm Island. One of the main reasons for this plan was that I wanted to go somewhere hot for a while, as the last month or so had been on the cool side, with cold nights, and I wanted to warm up a bit.<br />
<br />
So that was the plan as I plunked myself down next to all the other locals waiting by the roundabout for buses to make their brief stops there. The first couple of buses seemed not to be going to Kerman (don't know where else they would be going, though; possibly they were headed to points beyond Kerman, and didn't want someone who was only going to Kerman), but the third or fourth bus said they were going to Kerman, so I hopped on. Someone else boarding the bus said they were going to Yazd, so after confirming that it would be going to Yazd I bought a ticket to there, instead (I wanted to go to Yazd at some point, and heading there after Bandar Abbas would require a bit of backtracking to get to Shiraz). <br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
November 19, from Kerman to Bam: 470,000 rial</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Samsa: 10,000 rial</li>
<li>Chips, 4 soups, cookies: 70,000 rial</li>
<li>Chips & cheezies: 13,000 rial</li>
<li>Bus to Bam: 13,000 rial</li>
<li>Chips, 2.5 liter Fanta, 2 cans of food, 1 packet of food: 80,000 rial</li>
<li>Room at Akbar's: 250,000 rial</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
November 20, from Bam to Yazd: 250, 000 rial</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Bus to Yazd: 120,000 rial</li>
<li>Snacks: 40,000 rial</li>
<li>Dinner—chicken kebabs: 90,000 rial </li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2Bam, Kerman, Iran29.106111 58.35694428.995119 58.1955825 29.217102999999998 58.5183055tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-29607622433242277652012-11-18T14:04:00.000-08:002015-08-01T23:12:04.505-07:00Kerman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Shortly before arriving in Kerman, my conversation partner invited me to have breakfast with him. I would have agreed, but I had to find the Canadian couple I was traveling with, as they left the bus ahead of us. When I found them, I couldn't find my Iranian friend, and I felt a bit bad. But maybe the breakfast invitation was just taarof?<br />
<br />
Anyway, we took a taxi from the bus station to one of the hotels listed in Lonely Planet. I'm not a taxi person in any culture or country, but I got sucked along with the couple I was traveling with. The small hotel we went to was nice but somewhat basic, and the Canadians were shocked by the price, as it was 270,000 rial for a triple room with a private bathroom, TV, and fridge, as well as a shared kitchen. They thought this was the per-person price, but were surprised it was the price for the room. So, basically it was half the price of Vali's, for much nicer accommodation. In reality, this was the kind of pricing that I saw in most of Iran, as the devaluation really did make most things cost less than half (in dollar terms) of what they would have been earlier in the year.<br />
<br />
Anyway, after stowing our bags, freshening up, and making some instant coffee in the kitchen, we headed out towards the main sight in Kerman: the grand bazaar and Ganj Ali Khan complex.<br />
<br />
We left the hotel together and walked maybe 50 meters to the main street. As soon as we reached the busy main street, however, I realized something was up. Literally everyone we came across would turn to look at the Canadian couple (both of whom were very white and had sandy-coloured hair), with most of the attention being given to the girl. The males would do a good job of not staring until the passed the couple, but their heads would swivel afterwards, while Iranian girls would openly stare without attempting to conceal it. Within the first five minutes we had been approached in English by at least three people who wanted to talk to us. But when I say we were approached, I really mean that the white guy was approached: it would be improper for these Iranian males to directly address an accompanied female, and I was basically ignored (as I would learn later, the locals probably thought I was an Iranian tour guide or friend who was accompanying them, if they even noticed me at all). It was incredibly surreal to see how different our experiences were, and how much attention was being lavished on these white folks while I passed unnoticed even though all of us identified as Canadian, that I had to laugh. But as surreal as it was to me, the Canadians were totally unfazed, as they had been in the country for a while and were undoubtedly accustomed to all the attention.<br />
<br />
We headed down towards the grand bazaar, which was a pretty nice introduction to Iranian covered markets. Unlike in most of Central Asia, in Iran there are lots of mosques, markets, baths, and other buildings that have been in continuous use for hundreds of years. These aren't recently-(over)restored tourist pieces like you see in Uzbekistan, but living and breathing buildings that have been maintained and cared for over the years. Even in places where the Mongols destroyed buildings in the early 13th century,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iran#Safavid_Empire_.281501.E2.80.931736.29"> by the first years of the 16th century the Safavid empire overthrew the Timurids</a> in Iran (which was no slouch in the the architecture department, as Samarkand shows), ushering in "modern" Persia and a prolonged era of stability. And as Iran has never been colonized, as most of Central Asia was by the Russians, there has never been a move away from these traditional buildings.<br />
<br />
As a result, the bazaars in most Iranian cities continue to be the exact same sort of traditional bazaars that have existed for hundreds of years: mazes of inter-connected alleys with small domes forming the roofs—though these are barely noticeable from inside the markets, as you're not often tempted to look up and admire them amidst the bustle. These bazaars feel both exotic and, after a while, surprisingly commonplace and unremarkable.<br />
<br />
Kerman's grand bazaar is located adjacent to the Ganj Ali Khan complex, which contains a large rectangular square surrounded by arched cells (like a madressa), complete with fountains and greenery, and surrounded on the sides with a caravanserai, a mosque, and a <i>hammam</i> (bath).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pishtaq leading to the caravanserai at the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganjali_Khan_Complex"> Ganj Ali Khan complex</a>
in Kerman, built in the Safavid era between 1591 and 1631. Although the large rectangular
square looks like a giant caravanserai, the actual caravanserai is a small
square courtyard behind the pishtaq.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A <i>bagdir</i> (wind tower) along the north end of the square. Yazd is the most well-known center for bagdirs, which work by capturing small breezes and funneling the moving air down to ground level, where it often passes over a small pool of water that further cools it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View down the bazaar, which runs along the southern side of the complex. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smoky streets and grilled bananas at the eastern end of the market. You can see the domed alley of the main market in the background.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More women in <i>chador</i>.
Although pretty much all the women pictured so far have been wearing
the chador (which literally translates as 'tent'), in reality most young
women eschew the chador for a simple scarf covering more or less of
their hair, as well as a (tight) <i>manteau</i> jacket that is just long enough to cover their bum. The chador seems like an incredibly impractical garment, as women always keep one hand underneath it to pull the garment together under their chin.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hammam has
been turned into a museum, replete with wax dummies showing how the
bath may have looked and operated. There are different pools of different temperature, and spaces around the pools to be relax or be scrubbed by an attendant. This sort of display is fairly
common, and there's a similar (but better) museum in Shiraz. Many old hammams have also been converted to restaurants, and we ate at one in Kerman.</td></tr>
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<br />
Perhaps one of the reasons that Canadian girl drew so many stares is that she was breaking the Iranian dress code: although she covered most of her hair with a scarf (depending on where you are in Iran, you can get away with covering more or less of your hair: in Tehran the trend is to push your scarf so far back on your head that 3/4 of it is visible), she didn't have a manteau or long sweaters and consequently had most of her bum visible through her pants/skirt. This wasn't a big deal, but in retrospect it seems pretty odd, given the politics of her boyfriend. You see, as I discovered from his Facebook feed, he's stridently atheist, and anti-Islamic in particular: he's one of those people who believes that there's no such thing as Islamophobia, apparently because Islam really is the worst of all religions and (all) fears and prejudices based on Islamic extremism are entirely justified. He's the kind of guy who believes that Muslim immigrants to countries like Canada should be obligated to give up all elements of their faith that we might find objectionable, and assimilate into local culture. The irony of him, as a European Canadian, saying these sorts of things about how immigrants should conform to local customs and culture is only heightened when you consider that his girlfriend—despite her Caucasian appearance—is actually of First Nations or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9tis_people_%28Canada%29">Metis</a> ancestry. To a certain extent it makes sense and is admirable for an anti-Islamist to travel widely in the Muslim world, but on the other hand it is hugely hypocritical for someone who believes so firmly in assimilation to visit foreign countries and, as a guest or visitor there, to flout local cultural norms and mores. It's especially hypocritical when many of these kinds of people almost feel as though they actually <i>should</i> violate these customs they find morally disagreeable, as though it is actually a moral imperative for them to do so. This often takes the shape of dress code violations or minor provocations—the same sort of provocation they would find offensive in their native countries if done by Muslim immigrants there. I mean, it's illegal to not cover a female's hair in Iran. On the other hand, it's perfectly legal for females to be topless in public in lots of places in the west. Yet western visitors to Iran often feel like they are doing something brave or making a political statement against state-compelled modesty when they intentionally dress immodestly, yet they would find it much more difficult to defend a woman who decides to go topless in the west (even in circumstances where many men do).<br />
<br />
In a huge coincidence, the day after I published this post I happened upon an article on the BBC, describing a protest in Canada over three young women in Ontario who were stopped by the police because they were bicycling topless, and told they must cover up. It has been legal for women to be topless in public in Ontario since 1991. Adding to the irony is that <a href="http://www.womyn.net/pages/about-us">the women were raised Muslim</a>—specifically Ismaili (if you read my <a href="http://silkroadwanderings.blogspot.com/2012/10/one-day-in-khorog-oasis-of.html">observations on Ismailis</a> earlier, their being Muslim will be somewhat less surprising), and having their roots like so many Canadian Ismailis as the offspring of Gujerati merchants expelled from East Africa (Tanzania, in their case). So here we have Muslims being harassed in the west for not wearing enough clothing, with Ontario police taking over the role of the Iranian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basij"><i>Basiji</i></a> (morality police)... except the Basiji actually enforce the law, whereas the Ontario policeman was simply making up the law based on his own personal morality.<br />
<br />
Now, you might think that these young women are especially celebrated in Canada by conservatives: after all, they must be pretty well assimilated as Canadians—and not "Muslims"—if they are willing to go topless, but the reaction is, predictably, the opposite: conservatives seem upset that they don't identify as Muslims, and are asking why they would organize a demonstration for police sexism instead of identifying as moderate Muslims and protesting Islamic extremism. I kid you not. Here's what one of Canada's leading conservative nutjobs, Ezra Levant, <a href="http://www.therebel.media/the_topless_mohamed_sisters">has to say</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
On a hot day this week, three young sisters in Kitchener went for a bike ride -- topless.<br />
<br />
A police officer told them to put their shirts back on but female toplessness has been legal in Ontario since 1991.<br />
<br />
One of the Mohammed sisters is an aspiring musician, so maybe this was a publicity stunt. Otherwise, taking your shirt off isn't much of a bold feminist statement, at least in North America.<br />
<br />
Why not campaign for women's rights in Muslim countries or against honor killings in Canada?</blockquote>
Yes, cycling topless must be a publicity stunt, because this "aspiring musician" (she's actually been nominated for a Juno, which is Canada's equivalent to a Grammy) surely must have known they would be harassed by the police for doing something perfectly legal. And it must be a feminist statement, just like pushing your scarf back on your head or wearing a hijab instead of a chador is a feminist statement in Iran, and going topless as a male is an inherently masculine statement.<br />
<br />
And yes, why aren't these girls protesting against honor killings, or campaigning for women's rights in places other than Canada? You know, like how white folk campaign for equality and reparations in the US, and like how policemen lead the protests whenever a policeman kills an unarmed black person in the US, and how the Civil Right movement was lead by a bunch of white folk. And that's even forgetting that at least one of the girls (the would-be publicity hound) no longer identifies as Muslim, because it's apparently her burden to carry and to hell with her if she won't act the way self-righteous white Christian columnists want them to.<br />
<br />
Anyway, back to Kerman. The Canadian couple and I were soon to part, as they were headed to Yazd the next day, where they planned to stay with some people from couch-surfing, while I planned to visit the ruins at Bam. They had couch-surfed fairly frequently on their trip, and they said that in Iran the attention from hosts could be overwhelming, as their hosts often accompanied them everywhere out of an over-abundance of friendliness and hospitality, leaving them little free time to themselves, which in turn meant that they couch-surfed somewhat less than they had in other places as a way to give themselves a bit of a break. Couch-surfing isn't really a big thing in most of Central Asia, but it's really big in Iran (relative to the number of visitors they have), mainly because many young Iranians have incredible interest in the west and are highly dissatisfied with their government, but are starved for foreign contact.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
November 18, Kerman: 330,000 rial</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Taxi from station: 2,000 rial </li>
<li>Samsa: 10,000 rial</li>
<li>Bed in triple room: 120,000 rial</li>
<li>Oranges: 10,000 rial</li>
<li>Food at hammam-style teahouse: 50,000 rial</li>
<li>2 packs of chips, toothbrush, 1.5 liter Pepsi, cookies: 40,000 rial</li>
<li>Coffee sachets: 80,000 rial</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Kerman, Kerman, Iran30.2839379 57.08336280000003230.064524900000002 56.76063930000003 30.5033509 57.406086300000034tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-69593992079422580032012-11-17T14:31:00.000-08:002016-06-26T16:16:50.780-07:00Welcome to Iran: the holy city of Mashhad, by way of Serakhs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
From Merv to Serakhs</h4>
In the morning, after breakfast with my roommates, I set out to find a taxi to the border at Serakhs. I probably could have squeezed in a visit to the regional museum (which is supposed to be quite good), but share taxis typically leave in the morning and I wanted to make sure I would be able to make it all the way to Mashhad that day. The taxi lot is basically the parking lot in front of the train station, near the bus station, and I was able to find a driver without too much difficulty—we just had to wait for additional passengers.<br />
<br />
I'm something of a Coke addict, so while waiting I bought some samsas from the food vendors next to the station, and also picked up a bottle of Coke. This is a bit of a weird purchase, especially since I was low on manat, but I wasn't sure if Coke, as a western brand, would be available in long-isolated Iran (it turns out I shouldn't have worried, as both Coke and Pepsi have continued to exist since their introduction, likely before the revolution).<br />
<br />
Although Mary doesn't look to be that far from Serakhs, don't discount how much farther things seem when the roads are horrible. Although even the main roads in Turkmenistan are surprisingly bad for a petrol country, the side roads are even worse, with lots of potholes that result in cars weaving from side to side to dodge them. Most of the ride to Serakhs was on exactly these kind of roads, and it took about three hours to get to Serakhs. We were dropped off a short distance from the immigration post, as there was a huge queue of trucks and cars lined up before the border.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Crossing the border</h4>
Leaving Turkmenistan was relatively painless, aside from again-mandatory
border shuttle that we had to take, for the extortionate sum of $2, for
a road that is about 1.5 kilometers long.<br />
<br />
On the Iranian side, things were considerably more complicated, and there a huge number of people in the waiting area. I'm not quite sure how things are supposed to work, but you give your passport to someone, then take a seat in a large waiting area. And then you wait. And wait. And then you'll be summoned, asked a few questions, and then told to sit and wait some more. One of the customs officers—an older, stern looking guy with a grey mustache—talked to himself in Farsi while he looked at my documents, then beamed at me and said "I love you!" before he resumed muttering to himself. I think it might have been the only thing he knew how to say in English, and the contrast between his otherwise grim demeanor and the warmth with which he said it was amusing. He then gestured that I should go sit down again.<br />
<br />
I was eventually summoned into a commander's office, where I answered some questions and was stamped in shortly thereafter—it appears he was out or busy before then, and for some reason I needed to speak with him. In any event, it actually took significantly longer to process me than it did to process locals, and I suspect that if you entered at a busier border that is more accustomed to foreigners things would be substantially easier.<br />
<br />
The Iranian side of the border compound is pretty big, with lots of various buildings and inspection points—much more organized and professional than the rather perfunctory border posts of Central Asian countries. One of the interesting things I noticed was a large steel water reservoir with spigots and on each side, as a kind of public water fountain, with one side for women and another for men. Once I made it outside the border area, I stopped by the gate and fired up my netbook. I had downloaded an old version of the Lonely Planet Iran (this was the first country for which I didn't have a hard copy of LP), and hoped to find some useful information on how to get to Mashhad, but it honestly wasn't of much help.<br />
<br />
Arriving overland usually makes the transition between countries and places much smoother, but in all honestly the difference between Turkmenistan and Iran was even greater than the difference between China and Kyrgyzstan (going between the CIS 'stans is relatively easy in comparison)—or perhaps it is more accurate to say that the differences made it more challenging. In Iran everything looks different. There is no Soviet-style architecture but a lot of narrow, low-rise concrete storefronts with glass windows running the width of them; no Cyrillic, and little Latin, but lots of Arabic script; the people look different, with lots of facial hair for men and hijabs for women; and decent infrastructure with French cars.<br />
<br />
I was to quickly learn that Iranian drivers are crazy, but this wasn't immediately apparent as Serakhs seemed strangely dead when I headed into the city, and I wasn't sure where I should change money. Of course, the fact that most signs were in Arabic script didn't help matters. I wandered around the city for a while, hoping to find a bus station (or a friendly local to offer to help), but no such luck (this is likely because, as I later learned, I pass as Iranian—if you look white or western you'll have no problem attracting copious attention and inquiries), so I walked back towards the border point. Although I hadn't seen an share taxis nearby, I figured that they must congregate somewhere nearby. It turns out that I was correct, as there is a gas station along the main road to Mashhad, across from the park that separates the border point from the city, and cars to Mashhad congregate at the roadside there.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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As in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, Iran subsidizes gasoline. Not to the extreme extent that Turkmenistan did, but it is still very cheap, which has a salutary effect on transportation prices (as did the massive devaluation of the rial that occurred in early 2012—it dropped from about 1,000 rial to the US dollar to about 3,000 to the USD, largely as a result of increased economic sanctions). I had little idea how much it should cost to get to Mashhad, but I was able to get there for the paltry sum of $3. Again, it helped that the driver wasn't a professional driver but just a private individual going to Mashhad and looking to defray costs, and it may have helped that I had to pay in dollars and they seemed unsure of what exchange rate to apply.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
From Serakhs to Mashhad</h4>
The drive to Mashhad is actually pretty picturesque, in a desolate kind of way. There's one ridge of mountains that separates Serakhs from Mashhad (the same range that is south of Ashgabat), with the terrain east of the mountains being dry and desertified, while to the west the slopes are greener. The road also passes by the Serakhs train station, which is actually a fair distance outside of town and not that useful for passengers since you'll basically need a taxi to get there, anyway.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the ride into Mashhad was my introduction to Iranian traffic and Iranian drivers (both of which explain why many of the cars you see there are beat up and scruffy). If there are three lanes marked on a road, people will drive five abreast. Sometimes when you see scrazy traffic patterns in places like Vietnam, it's almost like watching flocks of birds where there is some sort of underlying logic or harmony that underpins the strange patterns you see. In Iran, there is no such logic, but true chaos and a perpetual state of near misses. We were dropped off where the highway to Serakhs intersects with the Ghadir expressway which skirts the eastern edge of town, but I had no idea where exactly we were. I also had no rial, and no maps other than what was on my netbook. I knew we were obviously on the eastern side of the city, so I started to walk into town. Thankfully, after an hour of walking (by which time it was dark), I came across street signs that were in Latin script and which also pointed the way to the Imam Reza shrine, which helped me figure out where I was. It took over two hours to walk the ten-plus kilometers to Vali's homestay, which is rather famous as the place to stay in Mashhad. Of course, it's basically the only place to stay in Iran that is set up to handle foreigners (most of Mashhad's tourism is domestic, as the Imam Reza shrine is of incredible religious importance to Shiites).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the signs on my walk to Vali's. Pretty much all pizza in Iran is indeed sham pizza. </td></tr>
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<br />
The final part of actually locating Vali's was the easiest part of the whole day, and I was relieved when my knocks on his door were answered and learned he did have space for me that night. Despite it being the middle of November, his place was still pretty busy, with all the proper beds taken, meaning I had to sleep on a kurpacha-style mattress on the floor. No matter.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
All about Vali and his homestay</h3>
For the most part, Vali and his homestay enjoys a very good reputation with both travelers and Lonely Planet, and it's easy to see why: Vali is a very charismatic and interesting guy who knows a lot about the area and is very helpful; he knows what budget travelers like, and he caters to their needs and desires quite well; he can help with tickets and arranging Turkmen visas for travelers heading east; he even stocks and sells Lonely Planets for travelers coming from Turkmenistan; his wife is a great cook and dinners there are great; he's also a carpet merchant so he can tell you about carpets and sell them to you, too, letting you pay his brother in Vancouver (if you order while out of the country) and then shipping them to you.<br />
<br />
But despite everything Vali offers, I think that there are also a lot of people who grow skeptical of him and what he offers. After spending only a couple of nights at his place, I don't think it's unfair to say that Vali is an extremely shrewd businessman who understand that the best way to part people from their money is by earning their trust, and that on a personal level he contains the worst aspects of Iranian chauvinism that may make women, especially, feel uncomfortable and even unsafe around him. but lets look at how these things play out, and why I have this opinion of him.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The accommodation is basic</h4>
For one thing, lets start with the actual accommodation. He was charging $6—or 18,000 rial—for a bed in his dorm room, which was basically his basement/garage (his car was parked on a concrete ramp leading down to the basement level). A couple of rooms and a bathroom had been walled off with thin aluminum and glass dividers. Now, this didn't create a lot of acoustic or olfactory privacy for the bathroom, which had a small chamber where a squat toilet was located, and another larger are where the shower was. There's apparently another toilet just off the courtyard, where you can also pay to sleep. The common room in the basement was actually pretty atmospheric, as he stores a bunch of carpets down there. But for the most part, everything was substandard for any type of accommodation in Iran. As another hotelier who was familiar with Vali remarked, how can a place as busy as Vali'snot even make the effort of putting on a fresh coat of paint or putting in proper walls and secure doors on the "private" rooms?<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The prices are high (but the food is great)</h4>
Next, let's look at his prices, which may be the clearest example of Vali's approach to business. When I was there Vali made a point, after quoting people how much he charged, of saying they could check the prices in Lonely Planet to make sure he wasn't overcharging. The problem, as I alluded to above, is that Lonely Planet quotes prices in US dollars (as a hedge against high annual inflation of the rial), and the rial had massively devalued against the dollar. So when LP quotes $6 per night, they really meant that Vali was charging 6,000 or 7,000 rial per night. But Vali was using the $6 rate and converting into a devalued rial, meaning he was actually charging 18,000 rial per night (and you would pay in local currency). Vali is the only hotelier in Iran who did this, and staying at his place was no bargain. I mean, in Tehran I was able to stay in a single room with a TV and a fridge, with breakfast included (it's $2 extra at Vali's), for 25,000 rial per night. And in Kerman I stayed with two other people in a triple room that cost each of us only 9,000 per night. In Yazd, I stayed in a dorm room with an sumptuous free breakfast for 10,000 per night. Vali's makes sense at 6,000 per night, but at 18,000 per night it's highway robbery. Apparently he now charges $10 per bed in his dorm, which is absolutely insane.<br />
<br />
Even worse is his internet pricing: $1 per hour. This is simply ridiculous. At the aforementioned hotel in Tehran I paid 3,000 rial per day for wi-fi. In Yazd and in other places it was free. When I was there a Chinese girl showed up in the evening and asked about the internet, and she left because the internet price was so high, as she needed to be online a lot. Vali defended his price, saying that inflation is really high. Of course, he skipped that part about the devaluation, and neglected to say that internet prices are regulated in Iran.<br />
<br />
Breakfast is also steep at $2. But even with the tripling in value of the dollar, dinner remains a good deal, as his wife is a great cook, and the best meals in Iran seem to be served in the home, and not at restaurants. This is a bit weird, but restaurants in Iran seem to be very fast-foodish, even if it isn't exactly western fast food that they're serving. Authentic traditional Iranian food is surprisingly difficult to find, and you're much more likely to find kebab shops, felafel and sandwich shops, and pizza and burgers. Eat at Vali's and you'll get a number of different courses of delicious food.<br />
<br />
Vali also stocks copies of the Lonely Planet, which he was selling basically for the face value of the book. This meant about $30, and even though I knew he must have paid less than 25,000 rial for them when he bought them, and was now selling them for 90,000 rial—but pretending he was just offering this as a selfless service to his guests—I didn't have too big a problem with it since I knew I would have to pay a similar price if I wanted to buy the LP from a bookshop in the US. <br />
<br />
Now, strange as it may seem, Vali's practice of using US-dollar pricing for all of his services actually allows him to seem trustworthy in another way: he's willing to change small amounts of money for good rates. You'll basically get the same rate as you will at a big money changer—or possibly even a bit better—as Vali knows that by offering a good rate it makes him look honest, and he's already making enough money off of his inflated dollar prices to be able to forego the few percentage points he could make on changing money.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Vali the Chauvinist</h4>
Although Vali's wife is a great cook, she's also pretty conservative and I don't think she's really comfortable with all of the foreigners she's surrounded by. Vali acknowledges this, and also acknowledges that he basically forces her to be more liberal. At any rate, she's exactly the sort of woman that the phrase "long-suffering" was invented for.<br />
<br />
Vali eats with the guests at dinner. His wife serves, and the rest of the family eats separately. During diner the first night, he asked if any of us were doctors. None were, although one person had studied health science. Close enough for Vali, who then proceeded to describe a recent, sensitive operation his wife had undergone, and ask if there was a medical reason for a change in their relationship. I mean, I don't feel good even obliquely repeating what he said on a blog that no one will ever read, but he just laid it out for everyone. I'm glad his wife doesn't speak English, or she would be mortified.<br />
<br />
His teenage daughter, however, does speak English, and the next afternoon I was talking to Vali upstairs by the kitchen (his family lives on the upper level) when his daughter came in to do her English homework. Her English is pretty good, and she was asking some questions on stuff she was having problems with, and Vali's pedagogical approach was to tell her (in English) she was stupid and would continue to make mistakes unless she tried harder. It was really harsh and demeaning, and she understood exactly what he was saying. I felt really bad for her.<br />
<br />
That's not really an example of his chauvinism, but I do think it says something about him. On the other hand, I have heard plenty of reports from multiple travelers about rather suspect things happening around him. Males travelers have spoken about Vali telling them about the practice of "temporary marriages" in Iran—a sort of legalized prostitution, where you temporarily marry someone so you can have sex with them, then divorce them immediately after—and boasting about the number of temporary marriages he had had; females have reported suspect comments and even the door to their private room being jiggled in the night. This sort of behavior is unfortunately fairly prevalent in Iran, based on a few blogs I've seen by female travelers.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Vali the carpet merchant, ticket booker, and visa fixer</h4>
Now, at the same dinner from the night before, Vali happened to talk a lot about carpets. But instead of talking styles or quality, he mainly spoke about all the gusts he had sold carpets to, and how many of them buy carpets based on pictures he emails them, whereupon he sends them the carpets and trusts them to pay his brother in Vancouver (payments directly to Iran being impossible because of sanctions). He also mentioned how lots of them make money by re-selling his carpets in the west.<br />
<br />
This is interesting, but in all honesty I think the number of travelers who can properly value carpets and understand their value is quite small, and I can't imagine buying carpets based on emailed photos alone. Even with my limited knowledge of carpets, I could tell that many of the carpets in his basement were of mediocre quality at best, which perhaps isn't hugely surprising given that most of Vali's carpets are repaired.<br />
<br />
On my first full day in Iran I visited his carpet workshop, but it was perhaps even more interesting because he wasn't there, which gave me the opportunity to wander around and look at the other shops is his, and surrounding, buildings (the carpet shops are mainly in small buildings four or five storeys tall, with small interior courtyards the shops are arranged around: like small, narrow caravanserais that are five stories tall instead of just one or two. You can watch craftsmen repairing carpets, tying new knots to patch up holes, and applying paint or dye with small brushes to faded sections.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I don't know enough about carpets to say whether his carpets were good deals or not, but I do know enough about Vali to suggest you carefully compare his prices with others before deciding whether or not to buy. Given his practice of sticking to US dollar pricing regardless of the devalued rial, and his soft-sell on how many people buy his carpets (and make money off of them!), I think there is reason to suspect his claims. I mean, why doesn't he just send his bargain carpets to his brother in Vancouver, and get him to sell them for the big prices you can apparently get for them?<br />
<br />
Vali also offers other services for a price, from acting as a tour guide (can't comment on this, but I suspect he's probably quite informative and knowledgeable), to procuring tickets, to helping people with their Turkmen visas. On the visa front, I've heard that he doesn't really have any connections, but just facilitates things by acting as a translator and perhaps being pushy, for which he charges $20. On the ticket front, he says he can book train tickets, but in reality he pushes hard for bus tickets and claims the train is sold out. I tried to book the train on my own, but it's actually quite tough since the train station tells you to go to nearby travel agents, and the travel agents were either really busy or closed when I went. I ended up booking a bus ticket with Vali, which involved a booking fee for him... which is probably to be expected, but wasn't disclosed and was simply added to the actual ticket cost.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Vali also has a "partner" who actually seems to be a governmental minder</h4>
When I checked in to Vali's I met another Iranian guy who Vali introduced as his partner or colleague. He also spoke English, but it was never really clear what his job was or what he did. One of the other couples who was staying at Vali's went out to a shisha bar with him, and from their conversation it turned out that he actually wasn't a business partner, but was a government employee who had been sent to monitor Vali. According to him, this was because the government was concerned that he possibly wasn't paying his taxes properly and was conducting his business improperly. It's possible they were actually concerned with what he was telling foreigners, but this seems unlikely since there is very little apparent monitoring of foreigners at other establishments, and I can't imagine any government agency being happy with some of the stuff Vali says to foreigners anyway. It was a bit weird, but certainly gives the impression that Vali isn't entirely trustworthy.<br />
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Okay, so how about Mashhad?</h2>
Mashhad is all about the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imam_Reza_shrine">Imam Reza shrine</a>, which is a huge draw for Shiite religious tourists. Imam Reza was the eighth imam according to Twelver Shiites (Ismaili Shiites only agree on the first seven imams), and today his tomb is the site of a huge religious complex replete with mosques, libraries, courtyards, and, or course, his actual burial site.<br />
<br />
When I was in Mashhad it was also the beginning of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Ashura">Ashura commemoration of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali</a>, which is basically ten days of ritualized mourning and self-flagellation, culminating on the tenth day with the official recognition of his death. In practice, this results in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/gallery/2014/nov/03/iran-ashura-drummers-tabriz-pictures">lots of people in black marching around in somber parades while banging huge drums</a> and carrying black banners, with men often beating their chests or flagellating their own backs (the use of knives and chains to self-injure has been outlawed). It's also a time when lots of people give away free food, with wealthy people picking a day and then basically serving food on an industrial scale in takeout containers.<br />
<br />
Coming from Central Asia, where religion is of relatively minor importance, hyper-religious Mashhad is a bit of a shock. And although it never occurred to me to think of it in these terms, many people in the west seem to think that Iran is some hotbed of anti-western sentiment and violence, but at no time did I ever think there was anything dangerous about any of this. I mean, running the gauntlet between anti-abortion protesters in front of an clinic in the US would be way more dangerous; these were just people expressing their religious beliefs.<br />
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It's also possible that part of the reason I didn't feel any danger was because I can pass as Iranian. I mean, I've passed as Kyrgyz on occassion, but I passed as Iranian everywhere in Iran, and it really wasn't possible to distinguish me from Iranian in terms of dress or hairstyle or anything, either. The first hint of this was on my first morning in Mashhad, when I went to a local money-changer to get some rial. On my way, I was stopped by an Iranian guy asking me directions to somewhere—I guess I looked like I knew where I was going. This was to become fairly common.<br />
<br />
My ability to pass as Iranian really paid off when I visited the Imam Reza shrine, where only Iranians (or Shiites, really) are allowed inside the shrine, and where foreigners are usually rounded up at the entrance and given a guide to accompany them around. At first I was kind of resentful that I wasn't given a guide (even when I went to the information desk, they just gave me some literature, whereas everyone else at Vali's had been assigned a guide/minder with whom they were able to have interesting—if sometimes less than honest—conversations), but I was able to go pretty much everywhere. Inside the actual mausoleum there is a mad crush of people as everyone makes their circuit to Imam Reza's tomb, which is enclosed inside a cage of thick silver bars (this enclosure seems to be pretty common in Iran). Men and women are separated by glass walls and partitions, of course.<br />
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Perhaps the most interesting parts of the complex were some of the side-rooms whose walls were decorated entirely in mosaics made of tiny mirrors that reflected light unevenly, creating not mirror images but strangely sparkling rooms—almost as though the walls were made of chandeliers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On one of the roads leading to the Imam Reza shrine.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two women in the mandatory (for Imam Reza) chadors walk through one of the courtyards.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dress code for men is considerably more relaxed.</td></tr>
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One of the interesting things about Iran is that you see modern buildings built very much in the style of ancient buildings in Central Asia. You have huge pishtaqs with ornate mosaics and majolica, iwans with intricate muqarnas, and there's no pretense that these are old structure. This is very different than in other parts of Central Asia, where modern religious buildings are built in different styles and look decidedly new. <br />
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Other than the Imam Reza shrine, however, there's really not a lot to see or do in Mashhad. And even less if you have the most recent Lonely Planet, as by comparing the new version I purchased from Vali and the old version I had on my netbook, it was clear that they had actually deleted content from the new edition.<br />
<br />
Anyway, after my first day in Mashhad I had decided that Vali was crazy for suggesting that I should spend at least three days in Mashhad, and I decided to join a Canadian couple who were heading south to Kerman the next day.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Buying camping gas: an introduction to taaroff </h4>
I had been traveling with a small camping stove that I had first picked up in the Philippines in 2006. It wasn't a western-style camping stove taking western gas cylinders, but a stove that takes the butane gas cylinders frequently used in small portable burners used in Japanese and Korean hot-pot style cooking.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzHIJZtyykre97uUD4S67zGSO_FZjfXKgRcGIJBeAV44kZy8JjRTwGtQvVSmc2u32_L2RgmSRnm0iUlYR2vX8vvUNh3-o-Pypz8l2IO4_QsUXrLwajseowpudZWW7G7SBv_SDgfbIwLY/s1600/2015-New-font-b-Designed-b-font-Camping-Equipment-Windproof-Portable-Stainless-font-b-Stove-b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzHIJZtyykre97uUD4S67zGSO_FZjfXKgRcGIJBeAV44kZy8JjRTwGtQvVSmc2u32_L2RgmSRnm0iUlYR2vX8vvUNh3-o-Pypz8l2IO4_QsUXrLwajseowpudZWW7G7SBv_SDgfbIwLY/s640/2015-New-font-b-Designed-b-font-Camping-Equipment-Windproof-Portable-Stainless-font-b-Stove-b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My stove. Kind of bulky compared to true hiking stoves, but it fit perfectly inside my pot.</td></tr>
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The benefit of this kind of stove is that the gas cylinders are much more readily available in Asia, and are pretty cheap at one or two dollars. It was hard to find replacement cylinders in Central Asia, but an outdoor shop just down the block from Vali's actually had them in stock. When I went to ask how much they were, however, I got a strange reaction—a kind of a shrug of the shoulders and a gesture that I should just take it. Weird. I was confused, but again asked how much it was. Only after doing this a couple of times did the clerk sell me the cylinder.<br />
<br />
This was my unwitting introduction to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/weekinreview/06slackman.html?pagewanted=all">taarof</a>, which is a sort of ritualized politeness that Iranians take to another level. I mean, we all lie about how cute someone's ugly baby is, or tell people to call us when we have no intention of ever speaking to them, and many Europeans feel deceived by the fake friendliness of Americans, but in Iran it's practically an art. In Iran politeness requires Iranians to offer just about everything, but since everyone knows that offers are often made out of politeness, it's polite to refuse an offer. So clerks will tell customers that they don't have to pay, and customers will insist on paying. Invitations to dinner will be made, and decorum requires that those invitation be refused. It's <a href="http://www.mypersiancorner.com/2013/04/the-art-of-taarof.html">only when an offer is made even after three refusals</a> that you may accept the offer without being impolite. But even Iranians get tripped up sometimes, especially when an offer is made by someone you are friends with, but whom is not making a sincere offer at that particular time. For the most part young children (those that we, in the west, might expect to believe in Santa Claus) and foreigners are not expected to know or follow taarof, but it's such an internalized and common part of Iranian society that there's no doubt tourists will encounter taarof, and accept invitations even when not meant. But on the other hand, Iranians really are incredibly hospitable—especially to westerners—so the offers an invitations will usually be sincere.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The bus to Kerman</h4>
Like China, Iran has lots of people and pretty good infrastructure, which means that they have good, scheduled transportation options. And while Iran does have a decent train network, it's nowhere as comprehensive as China's and it can also be challenging to get tickets, so buses are the biggest mode of transport. And while Iran doesn't seem to have the sleeper buses that China has, they have some some extremely comfortable bus options on highly-trafficked routes. These so-called VIP buses have only three seat across, have lots of leg room, and your ticket generally involves either a meal or some snacks.<br />
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The VIP bus from Mashhad to Kerman was probably the nicest bus I took in Iran, but because it left fairly late at night we didn't get a proper hot meal but received a bunch of snacks instead. The bus was also another reminder of one of the less appealing aspects of Iranian society: gender segregation. A few people were moved around because you can't have male and female strangers sitting in the same row, and you generally want some sort of buffer between rows of men and women. I'm not quite sure what the rules are—perhaps married couples are the buffer that keeps women safe from presumably lecherous single Iranian men?—but the driver and attendant did a bit of shuffling and I had to move from my assigned seat to another.<br />
<br />
With lots of legroom and space to relax, I was able to sleep pretty well, but despite the good rest I woke up around sunrise—and was really glad I did, since the views of the desert were spectacular.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A nice view to wake up to.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not often you see mountains casting such well-defined shadows on other mountains.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most of Iran may be desert, but that doesn't mean it's the boring empty expanses you see in the Taklamakan or the Karakum deserts.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flash-flood riverbed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New mountains rise in the distance.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chugging along.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road ahead.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View to the east.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mausoleum just outside a small village.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Things actually seem to grow on these mountains.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What looks to be an old ruined caravanserai—or possibly a collection of mausoleums—at the foot of a mountain.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
As a result of me taking so many pictures, one of the locals on the bus realized I was a foreigner, and although he spoke almost no English, he came to talk with me (with the help of his dictionary on his phone). Like many in Iran, he was curious as to what westerners thought of Iran, and wondered why the west wanted to punish Iran with sanctions. I told him that the west was afraid that Iran was developing nuclear weapons. He didn't think they were, but he also said that Iran had the right to have a nuclear program, especially from an energy perspective but also from a weapons perspective. After all, he pointed out, India and Pakistan have them, as does Israel. So why does the west insist that Iran cannot have them? I said that the west was afraid that Iran would actually use them, especially since Ahmadinejad had said that Israel should be wiped off the map. I was surprised when he admitted that he had said that, but said that this wasn't really a legitimate threat. Despite the linguistic limitations, this was an interesting conversation, and think it illuminates something that is basically universal about Iranians: they have no problem separating political systems from the people. Maybe it's because so many Iranians feel that the government doesn't represent them or their interests, but you very much get the sense in Iran that everyone loves westerners (and Americans most of all) even if they deeply dislike many things western governments do. This contrasts sharply with the west, as I was honestly pretty shocked to be "warned" by people I know that I shouldn't go to Iran, as the people there would take me hostage or attack me or whatever. Of course this will seem absurd to just about everyone who has ever been to Iran, as the actual people there are very different than their government.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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</div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
November 15, from Mary to Sarakhs to Mashhad: + $5 + 330,000 rial</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Samsa x 3: 2 manat </li>
<li>Taxi from Mary to Sarakhs: 17 manat </li>
<li>Shuttle bus across no-man's land: $2</li>
<li>Taxi from Serakhs to Mashhad $3</li>
<li>Bed ($6), dinner ($3), and internet ($2) at Vali's: 330,000 rial</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
November 16: 430,000 rial + $30</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Lonely Planet Iran: $30</li>
<li>Bread: 5,000 rial</li>
<li>Milkshake & cake: 45,000 rial</li>
<li>Sandwich & cola: 25,000 rial</li>
<li>Coke, chips, and bread: 25,000 rial</li>
<li>Bed ($6), dinner ($3), and internet ($2) at Vali's: 330,000 rial</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
November 17, from Mashhad to Kerman: 568,000 rial</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>VIP night bus to Kerman: 352,000 rial</li>
<li>Chips: 8,000 rial</li>
<li>Chips + rice packet: 38,000 rial</li>
<li>Cheese puffs + bread: 25,000 rial</li>
<li>Camping gas: 50,000 rial</li>
<li>Cough Syrup: 70,000 rial</li>
<li>Taxi to bus station: 15,000 rial</li>
<li>Samsa: 10,000 rial </li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran36.2604623 59.61675489999993336.0557033 59.29403139999993 36.4652213 59.939478399999935tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-63761460072401442802012-11-14T15:46:00.000-08:002016-06-26T16:13:23.835-07:00Modern Mary & Ancient Merv<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The train arrives in Mary at around 2:00 in the morning, and we I pile off the train with a bunch of locals. It's quite cold, and at first I'm a little worried because no one exits through the station building, but from the ends of the platform. On the western edge of the station building is a small, semi-enclosed area full of vendors selling hot snacks, and I stop there to grab a fried pastry.<br />
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Thankfully, the station building was open, and there were lots of people milling about inside, presumably waiting for the next train. I find an empty bench and sit down and lean back to get some sleep, but a security guard approaches me. I figure he's going to tell me I can't sleep here (none of the locals seem to be asleep), but in reality he's just telling me to watch my stuff to make sure no one takes it. I'm a little surprised by his concern, but thankful.<br />
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It turns out that I could have taken an early-morning train to Bayram Ali, which is the town just south of the monuments at Merv, but since my plan was to exit to Iran via Serakhs the next day, I was planning on staying in Mary for the night, as it supposedly had a cheap hotel. A few hours later, when the sun was up, I set out to find the Hotel Caravanserai, which was described in the Lonely Planet. unfortunately, the map of Mary in the LP was almost as bad as not having a map at all, as it included streets that didn't exist, and pointed to the Hotel Caravanserai as being in the wrong location. I ended up wandering around some random streets until I ultimately got within a couple of blocks of where the hotel was supposed to be. When I though I was on the right street I asked some local shopkeepers where it was, but they hadn't even heard of it. Thankfully, a passerby heard my inquiries and told me they would take me there. It turned out to be on a small side street, less than 200 meters from the shops where I had been asking, but it had no sign on the outside and appeared to be just another house. Inside the compound, it was really arranged almost like a modern caravanserai, with rooms around around the perimeter of a courtyard (admittedly this is a pretty common layout in many places in the world).<br />
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I thanked the good Samaritan, and as I entered the hotel to try and find the receptionist or proprietor I was greeted by a couple of guys staying in one of the rooms by the entrance. They invited me to stay with them in their room, and they told me that I could stay with them for free. I later understood that this meant hiding me from the owner, and pretending that I wasn't there, which meant I had to sneak to the bathroom which was located further into the main courtyard. Well, that was fine with me. After dropping my stuff off and having a quick shower, I left to take a look around Mary and go to Merv.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m25!1m11!1m3!1d11399.119554981005!2d61.832004496553644!3d37.5890922389907!2m2!1f0!2f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m11!3e0!4m5!1s0x3f418e33c7ef6923%3A0x7eb8c07658456693!2sAta-K%C3%B6pek+Mergen+K%C3%B6%C3%A7esi%2C+Mary%2C+Turkmenistan!3m2!1d37.5961692!2d61.836807799999995!4m3!3m2!1d37.586230199999996!2d61.8308866!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1436819514529" style="border: 0;" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">How to get to the Hotel Caravanserai from the train station. There are reports that the hotel may be closed, but that may also just be local misinformation.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19652975726/in/album-72157655435788979/" nbsp="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6376 - _DSC6377"><img alt="_DSC6376 - _DSC6377" height="251" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/378/19652975726_688965410e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The local workers (welders) who invited me to stay in their room in Mary.</td></tr>
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I didn't see too much of the town, but I found out from the bus station (just across from the train station) that there was a bus going to Bayram Ali at 11:45. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bus schedule from Mary. The 6:00 bus to Bayram Ali is convenient for those not staying in Mary (the local train at about the same time is probably even more convenient). Gonur is north of Bayram Ali, so those buses probably come close to Merv and may even pass near the entrance gate (but it's also possible they turn north before reaching Bayram Ali/Merv).</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fare
sheet, showing the distance in kilometers followed by the fare in
manat. 400km to Ashgabat is 8 manat (same as the sleeper train), or
about $2.80.</td></tr>
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I hopped on the slow 11:45 bus and we dawdled our way east to Bayram Ali. As we got closer and closer, I was increasingly alert for any signs of old walls or any indication where I should get out. I eventually made the right call and got out just before the bus was about to make a turn into Bayram Ali, not far from the Abdullah Khan Kala (infuratingly, the LP map shows the edge of the Abdullah Khan Kala but doesn't show the adjacent roads which would illustrate just how close Bayram Ali is to the sites).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=fG9zk5Y3MugC&lpg=PR7&ots=E9-9hM7oOd&dq=bradt%20turkmenistan%20konye%20urgench&pg=PA212" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgilWZ2my3htENe1xtriweCg3SNoMFhfH7wxMH1sS2DbbTqg6PCfTZiqNN0pT1UWmJaKIOuuxKfzJtUrRNpHvvqzuL_yZXIB86YgjUrwU4kR_bjBlH26AswHxVnIdCx5Y_ef69uNT8gsjE/s1600/Merv+map+-+Bradt.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once again the
Bradt map trumps the LP version (though it still doesn't show canals
that may impede or prevent progress). The bus from Mary turns right at
the corner by the bazaar, on the road headed to Turkmenabat, and that's
where you should get off. Taxis back to Mary leave from about where the
arrow to Mary is.</td></tr>
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Merv</h4>
Merv owes its existence to the Murghab River (a different Murghab River than the one we say near Murghab, Tajikistan), which brings water from the Afghan mountains and unceremoniously dumps it into the arid Karakum desert near Merv. Because the Karakum is flat, the Murghab River spreads itself into a wide delta here, and this fertile delta is what is responsible not only for Merv but for the even older Bronze-Age site of <a href="http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/merv/gonur.htm">Gonur Tepe</a> to the north (possibly the birthplace of Zoroastrianism, the first monotheistic religion), as well as the modern cities of Bayram Ali and Mary.<br />
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However, because of the flatness of the desert, it's easy for delta channels to dry up and new channels be formed. These wandering channels led to wandering cities, as settlements would follow the water over time, with the result that instead of cities being rebuilt on top of each other, we have a succession of ancient cities being built next to each other. There are two such cities in Gonur Tepe, and five different cities in Merv.<br />
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One of these cities is the <a href="http://eurasia.travel/turkmenistan/cities/eastern_turkmenistan/merv/abdullah_khan_kala/">Abdulla Khan Kala,</a> a Timurid city founded by one of Tamerlane's sons after the end of Mongol rule. Abdullah Khan Kala suffered from a lack of attention after the Timurid king decided on Samarkand as his capital. There's a moat surrounding the Abdullah Khan Kala, which is basically a huge square compound, of which nothing remains except the brick-faced rammed-earth walls: inside there is just a vast expanse of dirt and some hardy weeds, and maybe the odd goat or two. Even less remains of the the Bayram Ali Kala—the last of the five ancient cities of Merv and which was a western extension to the Abdullah Khan Kala—as apparently it was being used as a source of bricks when the Russians arrived in 1885.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The western walls of Abdullah Khan Kala, from near the Bayram Ali bazaar.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe "moat" is the wrong word. It's more like a ditch.</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
Heading north from the Abdullah Khan Kala, you immediately enter a fairly rural area with lots of agricultural fields, and a few houses by the road. If you look at the Bradt map above, or the map in the LP, it looks like it should be a pretty straightforward walk between Abdullah Khan Kala and the Kyz Kala sites—much shorter than following the road and circling back to those sites, not to mention more picturesque as you can cut through green fields instead of walking the hot tarmac. But although the walk is more scenic, you can't actually get to the Kyz Kalas, as there is a canal that runs north-south just to the west of them. In order to cross the canal you've got to walk all the way to the ticket booth (or cross somewhere near or east of the Abdullah Khan Kala, which really isn't convenient), and while you would head there anyway, it does mean you have to backtrack to see the Kyz Kalas up close. Nevertheless, going through the fields remain a more picturesque way to the ticket center than the main road.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19491203288/in/album-72157655435788979/" nbsp="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6384"><img alt="_DSC6384" height="425" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/338/19491203288_46c647b6be_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Houses along the road to Merv sit cheek-to-jowl with ancient ruins. I believe this wall is likely one of the only remnants of the Bayram Ali Kala, other than the heavily-eroded rammed-earth walls opposite the Abdullah Kahan Kala.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19056653264/in/album-72157655435788979/" nbsp="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6385 - _DSC6386"><img alt="_DSC6385 - _DSC6386" height="271" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/387/19056653264_9c78fc274d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Greater and Lesser Kyz Kala ruins and the enormous and magnificent mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar, as seen from a farmer's field.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/geo.php?lang=en&level=3&p_id=742" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcjLInONss6HDuqbcXD_3H_Ux2GUmUq5-u8pQQAs4jVhq5fvop9fvSZ-ApdUG97L80bFRf7FQT-wlbSaV1ns12aqh6z4l7-l9pppXPZ0mf79mVJSqeEKB2dj_oZ1xR1kbeupv5KRcOxo/s640/70.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A similar view from 1911, captured by Russian photography pioneer Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Greater and Lesser Kyz Kalas: fortresses that date to the 7th century. Located well outside the city walls at the time they were constructed (the nearby Sultan Kala city wasn't constructed until the 8th century), they were palatial rural residences.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19058325943/in/album-72157655435788979/" nbsp="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6389 - _DSC6391"><img alt="_DSC6389 - _DSC6391" height="202" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/364/19058325943_b99847cc67_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kyz Kalas show a distinctly Mervian style of building known as <i>khoshk</i>, characterized by monumental earthen half-columns decorating the walls. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19672194422/in/album-72157655435788979/" nbsp="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6397 - _DSC6401"><img alt="_DSC6397 - _DSC6401" height="269" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/546/19672194422_81351f5d33_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lesser Kyz Kala. This was as close as I could get, as there is an irrigation channel separating me from them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The great Kyz Kala. "Kyz Kala" means "Girls Castle," and there are various folk tales explaining the name's origin, including one that has girls jumping off the roof when they saw the savagery with which the Mongols sacked the city in 1221, some six centuries after these buildings were constructed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just across the canal, the guard house for the Kyz Kalas. The signs for many monuments are in surprisingly good and informative English.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/merv" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfQ-_-6zK3iFbaHzYXY9CE3Vsr_l5Q5koYxI64x9wbeinP2bv7SF3L4KmxLQ8hhDA3OjKofdfeia16ECGjXTGfYt1thpRLMfGF_IEt-DAuHDLAKMzbVQn0yfqcuJd9KVV9X7GyL0ymcY/s1600/MervLayoutLg.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A great map of the ancient cities and their dates, from <span id="goog_1375414570"></span><a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/merv">UCL<span id="goog_1375414571"></span></a>. </td></tr>
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Following the inconvenient canal north, I was eventually deposited on the main access road to the archaeological zone, right next to the ticket booth. Apparently it was a slow day, and/or they don't get many visitors on foot who can quietly sneak up on the gate, as the attendant was having a snooze and I had to knock on the glass and wake her up. Right next to the ticket booth is a small museum which contains some artifacts (there are more at the regional museum in Mary), as well as some basic maps and models of the site.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pottery shard from the small museum next to the ticket office.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The museum's map.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A model of the area. Forgive the black triangles: they're the result of knitting together two pictures that really didn't line up very well.</td></tr>
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North of the ticket booth/museum is the mausoleum of Muhammed ibn Zaid, who was a Shiite leader who was killed in 740, and who is not actually buried here. Though not especially remarkable from the outside, it is still the location of considerable religious devotion (the most active religious buildings are frequently the least attractive), and the interior contains some ancient un-restored wall paintings and a well-loved tomb.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sacred tree covered with cloths that represent prayers. Again, seems pretty animist to me, which makes more sense when you consider that this is mainly a Sufist spiritual site, and not a mainline Shia site, despite it being devoted to a Shia scholar. I believe the building behind contained steps down to a well/cistern.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wall is blackened where candles or torches burn.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tomb covered with cloth. Obviously, you only ever see this on tombs that are still the object of considerable veneration.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The remains of old paintings.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dome aperture.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A row of ovens near the mausoleum.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rear entrance to the mausoleum complex.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This unusual structure appeared to be inhabited by a resident scholar or imam, and served as a place of spiritual repose</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the ridge behind the mausoleum, a wind-swept tree overlooks the massive Sultan Sanjar mausoleum on the plains below.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Supposedly this mausoleum is visible across the desert from up to 30 miles away (or was, when the dome was still tiled).</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back over the mausoleum area, over a village along the main north-south road leading to Gonur.</td></tr>
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As I walked along the road to Sultan Sanjar mausoleum, I stopped at the Ahmed Zamchi mausoleum complex, just before crossing an irrigation canal and entering the Sultan Kala walls. These mausolea were interesting in an unremarkable sort of way—a good place to stop and take a drink and peek inside the buildings before continuing to Sultan Sanjar.<br />
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As I was leaving the mausoleum complex, as passing car roared up, stopped in the middle of the road, and a couple jumped out to take a picture with me. They then asked me if I was from California, and they must have been disappointed when I said no, because they promptly jumped back in their car and zoomed off. They didn't even offer to give me a ride! (Clearly I should have said that, yes, I was a a Californian.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The walls of Sultan Kala rise behind the canal.</td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar</h4>
The mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar is, for my money, one of the most incredible buildings in Central Asia. For me, it really ticks all of the boxes: it has an incredible setting, far from modernity, and rising from empty desert; it's almost entirely monochrome (apparently the dome was originally turquouise, however); the design is simple yet highly proportional; and it isn't a crazy, circus-like attraction infested with touts and souvenir shops.<br />
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The mausoleum stands 36 meters high, with a base that is 27 meters square, and it was built before Sultan Sanjar's 1157 death. This places the building within the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljuk_Empire">Seljukid era</a>, which began in the 11th century. Merv was the eastern capital of the Seljukid Empire during this time, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Sanjar">Sanjar</a> was its Sultan. So although we probably associate turquoise domes mainly with the later Timurid styles of architecture, it was the Seljuks who first used turquoise extensively. This ties in with the Bukhara's Kalon Minaret and it's band of turquoise tile, as this was constructed in 1127 by vassals of the Seljukids, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara-Khanid_Khanate">Kharkhanids</a>. Anyway, I probably prefer the way it looks now.<br />
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The Sultan Sanjar mausoleum is inside the walled city known as the <a href="http://eurasia.travel/turkmenistan/cities/eastern_turkmenistan/merv/sultan_kala/">Sultan Kala</a>, which was founded in the 8th century and at its height in the 11th century, which is when the walls surrounding the city were built. Somewhat ironically, it began to decline under the rule of Sultan Sanjar in the 12th century (which is when the Shahriyar Ark section of the Sultan Kala was built), before being sacked by the Mongols in 1221.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mausoleum from the elevated entrance area/parking lot/ticket-checker's booth. I made a conscious decision to not show the right side, as there was a bunch of scaffolding there. In retrospect, this was a dumb decision and I should have taken multiple pictures to stitch together later... you can always crop later. (On the other hand, very few pictures of the mausoleum show the southern side, where the scaffolding/structural support is)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/geo.php?lang=en&level=3&p_id=742" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="635" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisorg-bd-Kw8wjHlVeMKrj1xjCbXb3yDKSiN9pMPxRtO9OzXMDvHVQ9yXMXKyz-hFiN291Svc2hxrss_5wmK93FVDxsUv9NY20mDa6cDefmdhbrWf_cfsm9tXUy_mECylBG6W5ahz3l9Q/s640/72.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mausoleum in 1911. It actually looks more impressive and is more intact than I imagined. Take another look at the picture above and you can verify that all of the darker brick is indeed original.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up at the dome.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interesting wooden beams embedded only above the doorway.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painted geometric patterns—almost all of which are reconstructions—line the dome.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only small patches of original paint survive, but you can also see that the original decoration was much more extensive.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delicately carved balustrades.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local women enter the mausoleum.</td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Shahriyar Ark </h4>
After the mausoleum I kept on walking, but the road is pretty boring so I headed off through the desert towards the Shahriyar Ark, which is a smaller walled area within the Sultan Kala. This area contains another <i>khoshk</i> style building, this one called the Kepter Khana (pigeon house). It's in pretty good repair, and I don't think many people go there due to its distance from the main road.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kepter Khana, as seen through a gap in the walls to the Shahriyar Ark.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at the Sultan Sanjar mausoleum from atop the Shahriyar Ark walls.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dirt track leading to the Kepter Khana.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View through one of the apertures in the Kepter Khana.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at the Suntan Sanjar mausoleum and Shahriyar Ark walls, from atop the outer wall of the Sultan Kala. The Kyz Kalas can be seen in the distance, on the right.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kepter Khana through a hole in the Sultan Kala walls.</td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Mausoleum of Khoja Yusuf Hamadan </h4>
Just outside the northeast walls of the Sultan Kala is the mausoleum of Khoja Yusuf Hamadani—a bustling (at least relatively speaking) religious complex of mostly modern buildings dedicated to the Sufist Khoja Yusuf, who lived in Merv in the 12th century under Sultan Sanjar. Apparently this was one of the few religious complexes allowed to remain open under Soviet rule, which helps explain why it remains such a popular place of worship today.<br />
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Although non-Muslims are not allowed in the mausoleum complex, I was able to climb the new minaret, which was most remarkable for the cloths that had been tied to the balustrade—something which must be unusual even by the typically shamanistic standards of Sufism, as this is an inanimate building, and a new one at that.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you come up the minaret stairs, the first thing you see are prayer cloths tied to the railing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cotton handkerchiefs seem to be the article of choice—no silk <i>khatag</i> as in Mongolia or Tibet.</td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Gyaur Kala & Erk Kala</h4>
From the Khoja Yusuf mausoleum you head south towards the two oldest cities in merv: Gyaur Kala, and the smaller (and older), circular Erk Kala on its northern edge. The walk towards the Gyaur Kala walls is a bit strange, as there is a village nearby, and 20th-century houses are juxtaposed against ruined walls of ancient buildings located outside the walls, while dromedaries wander around grazing on the weeds.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camels and ruins just north of the Gyaur Kala.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just hanging out near the road.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sultan Sanjar mausoleum and the walls of the Shahriyar Ark in the background.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Are you looking at me?</td></tr>
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The paved road skirts the western walls of the Gyaur Kala and only enters the complex about halfway down—a detour that those on foot will not want to make. I set out across the scrubby plain to climb the walls on foot, but progress was surprisingly difficult because there were some thick bushes and marshy ground to cross before you got to the walls, which were surprisingly high and steep berms, like giant earthen dykes.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From atop the Gyaur Kala walls, with the odd mix of ancient ruins and relatively modern houses, with the Khoja Yusuf mosque, mausoleum, and minaret in the background to the right. You can also see the salty marsh area (mainly dry, at the moment) and thick bush closer to the walls.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Although the Gyaur Kala walls (in the foreground) are impressive, the circular Erk Kala walls (in the background/center) are even more impressive, as they rise higher.</td></tr>
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Erk Kala is by far the oldest of the Merv sites, as it dates from the 6th century BC, and was created by the Persian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire">Achaemenids</a>, in whose hands it remained until captured by Alexander the Great. After Alexander died, power shifted to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucid_Empire">Seleucid Empire</a> (also Greek), which assumed control of Alexander's eastern conquests.<br />
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It's under the Seleucids that Gyaur Kala was constructed in the 3rd century BC, and it was quickly conquered by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_Empire">Parthians</a> in 250 BC, who established Zoroastrian as the main religion. Almost 500 years later, in 226 AD, Merv was conquered by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_Empire">Sassanians</a>, who remained in power until 649, when it was conquered by the Arabs, who made it the capital of the Khorasan region. After 750 it appears that Merv gradually declined in importance as other cities gained in importance, and it wasn't until the Seljukid made it their eastern capital in the 11th century (and constructed Sultan Kala) that it again approached its former importance.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the top of Erk Kala, looking over the interior of the Gyaur Kala. With the haze and the white salty ground, perhaps you can understand how I got the impression of snow at the border.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The walls of Erk Kala have been sectioned here, in order to help archaeologists understand the history of the wall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up at the Erk Kala walls and archer tower from the road that runs through Gyaur Kala. </td></tr>
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Aside from the massive walls, there's not much to see inside Gyaur Kala or Erk Kala. Although maps indicate a Juma (Friday) mosque in the middle of Gyaur Kala and a Buddhist stupa in the southeast corner, in reality there is nothing to actually see, except perhaps the faintest of mounds and an informational placard by the Buddhist stupa. If you have the time, they may be worth a visit, but for me it was a big waste of daylight (although the walk along the Gyaur Kala wall from the Buddhist stupa on the southeast corner over the the southwest corner was quite enjoyable). By the time I had left Gyaur Kala and was on my way to see the ice houses it was getting noticeably dark under the overcast, hazy skies, and I knew I had to hurry.<br />
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When I got close to the Seljuk ice house nearest Gyaur Kala, however, it became apparent that I would need to walk really far if I wanted to see it, as a canal separated it from the main road (the old LP map didn't show canals; the new one does, but doesn't really indicate where you can cross them, which isn't so helpful).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="http://eurasia.travel/turkmenistan/cities/eastern_turkmenistan/merv/the_ice-houses_and_koshk_imaret/">Seljukid ice house</a>, on the other side of a canal. There's a road on this side, and a road on the other, but no crossing place.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are a number of ice houses, all from different ages, but I wasn't able to visit any of them. Apparently ice would be cut and dragged into these buildings, and the domed shape would keep it cool into the summer months.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mausoleums of the Two Askhabs. Askhabs, or standard-bearers, are those who accompanied he prophet. It was getting well dark now, and I had to make a quick tramp across the scrubland from my ice house vantage point to get to these mausoleums.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mausoleums are backed by 15th-century Timurid iwans which have been heavily reconstructed. If this was Uzbekistan everything would be covered with colourful tile, obscuring everything original.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Putting one of the iwans back together again.</td></tr>
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From the mausoleums I sped along the main road back to the Kyz Kalas, by which time it was well and truly twilight. I surprised the guard by appearing so late, but was able to walk up to the edge of the Greater Kyz Kala's interior and take a look. After a couple of minutes there, I headed south to the Lesser Kyz Kala, whose interior is freely accessible.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Greater Kyz Kala. On the right you can see the glare from the light near the guard house.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north from the guard-house in the twilight. Those power lines on the left run along the damn canal.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sultan Sanjar mausoleum and Kyz Kala at dusk.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Lesser Kyz Kala towards the Greater.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view, in the very last of the usable light.</td></tr>
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After packing things in when not even 30-second exposures would produce anything usable, I headed south along a dirt path back to Bayram Ali. It was a long time before I found a bridge over the canal, and after running into another one, I found myself at the eastern edge of the Abdullah Khan Kala. After walking through the empty old city and meeting fellow pedestrians for the first time all day—locals seem to use the old city mainly as a shortcut to the highway and market—I was back where I started.<br />
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It was pretty easy to find a ride back to Mary, as cars stopped on the side of the highway just out of town to pick up passengers. I was able to get a ride from a local just looking to make a bit of extra money as he headed back (at least that's what I assume was going on, as he didn't haggle hard or try to rip me off) for 3 manat, or about $1.10.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Back in Mary</h4>
It was fairly late when I got back to Mary that evening, and I had some interesting times with the guys in my room. One of them walked me down to a nearby eatery/bakery that was still open, and was a bit confused when I asked if they had potato samsas instead of the typical mutton ones—he needed convincing that I wasn't a vegetarian, and nobody in the region can quite believe that you might find a samsa that is 60% mutton fat to be somewhat unappealing—and I settled on bread when they didn't.<br />
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Back in the room, discussion turned somewhat naturally to the government and subsidies. They're the ones who first told me about the 1,400 liters of free gasoline that everyone gets every year, and they also said that all utilities are also free. And while this may buy a modicum of contentment, such measures don't really convince anyone that the government—or life under it—is good. And although Turkmenistan was a much more closed and inward-looking society than others in Central Asia, these guys were very much looking outside their borders. In fact, so much so that the conversation soon segued into them saying that they were happy I was sharing their room, and that when they went to Canada to look for work, they would all stay with me. Ulp. I kind of invited this by answering their questions about how much welders can make in Canada (though, like lots of embarrassed tourists, I low-balled the figure because I think it's very hard to imagine the different cost of living). They, however, were quite serious about this, asking my address and my phone number. I gave them my grandmother's, since I had no place of my own, but kind of had to refuse when they said they would call it to check. I'm not going to confuse my 93-year-old grandmother by calling her up from halfway around the world when she hasn't heard from me in 6 months. They finally relented when they called their mobile network and found out it would cost $6.00 per minute to call Canada. So this was another interesting experience, but again made me wonder about the exact nature of Turkmen hospitality.<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Final Thoughts on Merv</h4>
Despite me not having enough time or daylight to see everything—no doubt because it was almost 12:30 by the time I got there and the sun sets early in mid-November—I believe that Merv is easily doable in a day, and I had no problem walking it. In the summer heat it might be another story, and I can understand why a car is recommended... even though I would personally still try to walk it, with plenty of water.<br />
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If you take the early train or an early bus or share taxi to Bayram Ali, you should have plenty of time to see the royal villa built for Tsar Nicholas, check out the bazaar, and to walk to pretty much everywhere in ancient Merv. If you decide to rent a car, I suspect you should be able to combine Merv with a trip to Gonur Tepe as well, especially if you do this in the summer and start early.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
November 14, Mary: 31 manat</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Coffee and potato snack: 2 manat</li>
<li>Bus to Merv and taxi back: 3.6 manat</li>
<li>Bread: 2 manat</li>
<li>Coke, chips, wafers: 6.2 manat</li>
<li>Merv ticket: 17.2 manat</li>
</ul>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Mary, Turkmenistan36.9481623 62.450415436.9481623 62.4504154 36.9481623 62.4504154tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-44706235486109536052012-11-13T23:22:00.000-08:002015-07-22T20:25:15.634-07:00The Vegas-chic of Ashgabat, the city of love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Darvaza gas crater: an opportunity missed </h4>
More than Merv and Konye Urgench, perhaps the biggest tourist draw in Turkmenistan is the <a href="http://travel.spotcoolstuff.com/ecological-disaster/darwaza-turkmenistan/hells-door">Darvaza gas crater</a>, also known as the Gates of Hell (a particularly apt nickname given that Darvaza translates as "gate"). The crater, which is a giant pit in the ground—some 70 meters across— that just happens to be on fire, was created by gas exploration gone wrong: in 1971 the Soviets drilled into a large cavern just below the surface, causing the ground to collapse into the crater we currently see. As noxious gas was escaping from the crater, they decided to flame off the fumes, expecting that it would soon burn itself out. Except it hasn't, and the crater has continued to burn ever since.<br />
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It turns out that the gas crater is less than 5km east of the highway between Ashgabat and Konye Urgench/Dashogus, and I probably could have seen its glow from the road. Of course, I would have had to know when to look for it, but since I had no idea where we were or even where Darvaza was, this was a bit of a problem. Now, when every cheap smartphone has GPS built in and there are lots of offline maps apps available, it would be much easier to figure these sorts of things out.<br />
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If I had more time or better preparation I would have asked to be let off at one of the chaikhanas near Darvaza (we actually stopped at a chaikhana for a brief food and bathroom break, and it's actually possible it was near Darvaza, although I didn't see anything glowing), as <a href="http://sunriseodyssey.com/darvasa-gas-crater-gates-hell-turkmenistan">it's possible to sleep at a chaikhana and hike out to the crater in the middle of the night</a> to see the flames at night and in the early dawn light (again, GPS-enabled maps of your chaikhana and the crater are pretty essential in order to do this properly), and this would be a great way to see them without adding much extra time to your trip.<br />
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Anyway, on we went through the night, and I managed to catch some sleep, until we came to the outskirts of Ashgabat, whereupon the van made a slight detour and dropped off the girls in the front row to their family in a waiting car. We made a few more stops as we entered Ashgabat, until there were only two of us left. I asked to be dropped off at the station, and then the van departed with the remaining passenger. Unfortunately, this means I have no idea where the share-taxi lot is for people leaving Ashgabat, but thankfully it's not information I needed to know since I left the city by train later that evening.<br />
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During the drive I spoke briefly with one of the guys sitting next to me. He broke the ice by asking me to put on my shoes because apparently my feet were smelly (likely a sign that Turkmen are more refined than mountain-dwelling Central Asians, as I doubt anyone in Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan would have batted an eye). He had to do this by pantomiming on discovering I didn't speak Turkmen. Of course, my inability to speak Turkmen naturally led to the question of where I was from. But really, he couldn't get over the idea I didn't speak Turkmen, as though it would be natural that a Canadian would speak Turkmen. This was very different than elsewhere in Central Asia, where most everyone could speak at least a bit of Russian, and understood that Russian was the lingua franca that would most likely be spoken with people from another country or region (although, as I got a better ear for Russian, I was really surprised at how badly a lot of people in rural Uzbekistan spoke Russian, with pretty heavy accents and/or mangled pronunciation—sometimes it was even difficult to negotiate prices). So maybe this is a concrete result of Turkmenbashi's pro-Turkmen propaganda: a firmer and more resolutely-held belief in the value and importance of local customs and language.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Ashgabat, the city of love</h4>
Ashgabat literally translates as "city of love." What it is is a city in love with marble. Well, maybe that's unfair. The truth is that Ashgabat isn't that different than Astana in terms of being a modern capital that has been reconstructed and transformed with a spate of new buildings, just that the style of construction is very different. While Astana has consciously attempted to emulate a western style and has courted the famous architect Norman Foster, Ashgabat has taken a more idiosyncratic approach and followed the personal tastes of its nationalistic leaders.<br />
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Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan's long-serving President, was a man who was deeply in love with marble, fountains, and himself. So most of the buildings and monuments constructed before his death are marble, have fountains, and include monuments to himself. Ashgabat. In fairness, Turkmenbashi's successor is less enamored of marble, and the architecture incorporates more glass and has a more modern—though not necessarily attractive—look.<br />
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Who is this Turkmenbashi, you ask? Well, like most other CIS 'stans, Turkmenistan
has had a de facto dictator in power since independence (Kyrgyzstan is
the only country that has broken the cycle and has had power transferred
between multiple elected leaders in contested elections). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov">Saparmurat Niyazov,</a> who assumed the Presidency after the Soviet Union crumbled, went on to cultivate the most massive personality cult in all of Central
Asia, not only doing the rather standard things like constructing dozens
of massive statues glorifying himself (in response to public demand, of
course), but also going so far as to rename himself Turkmenbashi
(leader of the Turkmen) and writing a book called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhnama">Ruhnama</a>
that was designed to instil national pride and cultural and spiritual
instruction. </div>
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Given this massive personality cult, you might be surprised that Turkmenbashi is no longer President (especially since
Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have all had the same
leader since independence), but the reality is that the second President assumed office only out of necessity, as a result of Turkmenbashi's death, whereupon power was transferred to his second in
command, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurbanguly_Berdimuhamedow">Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow</a>.</div>
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After
rolling back some of Niyazov's more outrageous excesses and decrees,
and dismantling or moving some of his more prominent statues (including
moving the gargantuan "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrality_Monument">Arch of Neutrality</a>,"
which included a massive gilded statue of Niyazov that rotated to
ensure he was always facing the sun), Berdimuhamedow has started to
construct his own personality cult, which although not as excessive as
Niyazovs is still greater than you see anywhere else in Central Asia.</div>
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<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/25/horse-turkmenistan-president-statute-berdymukhamedov">In the west, Berdimuhamedow is probably more famous for one of his exploits gone awry</a>:
after jockeying the winner in a horse race that was no doubt as fair
and free as the elections he has won, he promptly fell off his horse and
face-planted in the dirt. Apparently his security apparatus attempted
to delete all evidence of this from the cameras of those in attendance,
but the footage still made its way out. One thing that I found telling
is that there was only a slight gasp from the crowd as he fell, and the
subsequent reaction was very muted, even though they were clearly
assembled to cheer for their beloved leader.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s2QhfLn1oPQ" width="640"></iframe> </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18663818753" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6314 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6314" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/446/18663818753_2095a40b20_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ashgabat station in the wee hours.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19258311376" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6321 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6321" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/371/19258311376_28ccee5c4a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We need more billboards of the President illuminated at all hours.</td></tr>
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As I walked from the station into the main area of the city, I was surprised to find that there were little underground passageways at the main intersections, and that these passageways opened up into small malls about the size of the intersection, lined with convenience stores and shops. Of course, I was there in the middle of the night, so none of them were open, and a security guard quickly showed up to ask what I was doing and shoo me back up to street level. These little shopping areas certainly seemed like they would be more lively than the ones I saw in Busan, however, which is the complete opposite of what I would expect. In general, shops in Ashgabat were modern and clean, with lots of imported things. And because so many buildings in Ashgabat are brand new, it made the country feel quite prosperous: simply visiting Ashgabat without visiting any of the smaller towns and cities in the country would give you a very different impression of what the country is like, as was immediately apparent from my time in poor, ugly Konye Urgench.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19258318016" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6323 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6323" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/484/19258318016_97fdc35621_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turkmenistan is unusual in that Russian seems to be only a minor language, and almost everything is written in Latin script. This really reveals the similarity between Turkmen and Turkish (Turkmen, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and Uyghur are all Turkic languages)—"<span class="st">hoş geldiniz!"</span> also being Turkish for "welcome!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19096820108" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6325 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6325" height="394" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/371/19096820108_a12b91c8ab_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Funky futuristic bus stop, with TV display and air conditioning inside.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19288325781" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6326 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6326" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3875/19288325781_a3cdd309b7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Down one of the wide boulevards lined with government buildings. They don't like you taking pictures of government buildings in Turkmenistan, or even using sidewalks in front of the most important ones.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18661928624" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6330 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6330" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3753/18661928624_4cc281879b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dome of President's residence, from out of eye-shot of security guards.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
As the sun rose I returned to the station, bought a ticket on the night train to Mary (less than $3 for a spot in a 4-berth kupe compartment), and checked my bag into the difficult-to-find storage facility (it's on the east end of the building to the east of the main station building).<br />
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Bus shelters and stops in Ashgabat have maps of the routes that stop there, and I decided to take a bus to the southern edge of the city, from where I hoped to be able to to take the <a href="http://www.abandonthecube.com/cableway_to_the_iranian_border/">cable car that lead up the Kopet Dag mountains</a> that form the border with Iran (supposedly in the summer high-ranking government officials have to walk up a path here as part of a fitness-oriented exercise, with the President helicoptering to the summit to meet them). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the where the route started, but I did spend a couple of hours puttering around empty plains south of the city, observing wide expressways virtually devoid of traffic on my way back into town. The problem is that I was on the north-south road that eventually leads to the Iranian border while the cable car is considerably to the west, and the TV tower is even further west.<br />
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Along the road back into town is the long Independence Park, which contains a few monuments and is flanked by impressive buildings. Well, they're impressive if you think that Las Vegas is a classy place, as Ashgabat designers clearly do. White marble, gold domes, and lots of columns are the architectural staples.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19098305639" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6335 - _DSC6337 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6335 - _DSC6337" height="178" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/433/19098305639_df429fc5e8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View through the scraggly Independence Park. The domed marble buildings are the National Cultural Center.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19096812260" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6338 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6338" height="321" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/332/19096812260_a2338926f5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mountains south of town form the border with Iran. That building rising into the mist in the foothills is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan_Tower">TV Tower</a>. The access road to the cable car is located about halfway between where I was and the TV tower.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18661957244" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6340 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6340" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/412/18661957244_e6252cc73a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Independence Monument.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19278460512" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6341 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6341" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3670/19278460512_9a15ee1223_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White marble apartment buildings surround the park. Since I was there even more parts of town have been torn down and replaced with rows or modern apartments.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18663955833" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6345 - _DSC6357 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6345 - _DSC6357" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/486/18663955833_df3ded6035_z.jpg" width="394" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For some reason the Independence Monument is more popularly known as "The Plunger."</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19098407029" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6358 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6358" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/394/19098407029_e169b65883_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water cascades down stepped brick in an interesting waterfall.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18663976043" title="_DSC6360 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6360" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/406/18663976043_35e4b18a56_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19278553892" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6361 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6361" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/431/19278553892_4a3e5d9b0b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's wearing the traditional Turkmen fur hat.</td></tr>
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Continuing north through Independence Park you'll find another interesting building, this time a five-sided pyramid, with each of the corners a cascading waterfall. It's supposedly a shopping center, but was completely closed when I was there. My 85mm lens didn't really allow me to take any pictures, so I kept heading north until I found one of the only banks in Turkmenistan that allow foreigners to get a cash advance from their credit card. I turned up while the bank was closed for lunch, so I killed some time in the adjacent shopping center, which had a huge supermarket on the ground floor and an interesting cafeteria and amusement park and billiard center on the top floor. Supermarkets always interest me, and I wish I took more pictures of them (and quotidian street life): I think that traveling with a smartphone would have really made it more likely I would have taken these kinds of pictures, not least since it wouldn't look so strange and drawn attention.<br />
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After the lunch break I visited the bank and took out a few hundred dollars, knowing that I would have no chance to get my hands on any more money until I left Iran (it's impossible to use international credit or debit cards there). I met one other foreigner who was doing the same, this one a Kazakh-American working in the oil sector in Ashgabat.<br />
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From there I took a bus into town, and headed to one of the travel agencies to the east of the government buildings to ask if it would be possible to change the exit point on my visa (I still wanted to try and squeeze in a visit to Herat, in Afghanistan, which would only be possible if I changed my exit point, as changing my Iranian visa to a double-entry would not be possible). The agent said it probably wouldn't be possible but that I could visit the appropriate ministry to try, giving me their address. We had a brief chat about Turkmenistan and the difficulty in getting a visa for there, especially <a href="http://eurasia.travel/turkmenistan/visas/turkmen_visa/">the near-impossibility of getting a visa in October, around Independence Day</a> (October 27, though in practice almost nobody gets a visa valid for the latter half of October). His response—said with a straight face—was that so many world leaders come to Turkmenistan to celebrate Independence Day that the state had to take strict measures to ensure their security. Uhhh.... okay.<br />
<br />
The travel agency was near the <a href="http://www.beautifulmosque.com/Azadi-Mosque-in-Ashgabat-Turkmenistan">Azadi Mosque</a>, which was clearly modeled on Istanbul's Blue Mosque, though obviously on a much smaller scale. This area of town remains largely Russian in appearance and layout, and is a refreshing change from the institutional and overbearing style of new Ashgabat: hopefully it will remain that way for the foreseeable future (older and poorer traditional-style districts will continue to be the focus, I'm sure).<br />
<br />
After the mosque, I headed west through the modern park north of the government buildings, on my way to the Russian Market and the nearby immigration building. </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18663995773" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6362 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6362" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/374/18663995773_0baa53088a_z.jpg" width="482" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A surprising statue of Lenin, standing on some majolica tiles with Arabic lettering.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18662074084" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6365 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6365" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3696/18662074084_66690c6cf0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm guessing approximately zero people can read this sign.</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19258498296" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6368 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6368" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/473/19258498296_a3056e75bd_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ashgabat was leveled in 1948 by an earthquake measuring over 7 on the Richter scale. This is the <a href="http://eurasia.travel/turkmenistan/cities/ashgabat/central_ashgabat/earthquake_monument/">memorial to the victims of that quake</a>. Not having a wide-angle lens, I wasn't able to properly capture just how big this statue is, but that little golden boy is about the size of a man. Since he's a golden boy, he's obviously Turkmenbashi as a young boy, being saved by his mother, who died in the quake and left him orphaned (his dad died in WWII).</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Russian Market was a bit different than most markets, though the central green market area most closely resembled Almaty's green market: a rectangular area covered by a high roof, surrounded by a balcony arcade. In this market, however, there were more shops on the upper floors and the entire affair felt much more airy and less closed. Again, photographic opportunities were limited because of my lens problem, and I really only had the working space to take pictures from the upper level overlooking the market. When I tried to do so, however, I was immediately spotted by someone, and was quickly approached to be told I couldn't take pictures (also similar to Almaty's green market).<br />
<br />
After that I went to the immigration building, which was just across the street and a few doors down, and tried to see if I could get my exit point changed. After a few false starts I found the correct person to ask, and was unsurprisingly told that it wouldn't be possible. At least I tried.<br />
<br />
The streets in Ashgabat are a bit weird, especially where new areas meet older areas, as wide roads suddenly squeeze into single-lane roads that head off in different directions, though some of the Russian-style boulevard parks are used as natural borders between the areas. I walked west along one of these narrow boulevard parks, towards the Mosque of Khezrety Omar in a traditional part of town. At the end of the park, a short distance from the mosque (which has now been bulldozed to make way for more apartment buildings) was the Monument to Turkmenbashi's Father (who, remember, died in WWII). Although this could easily have been retitled as a memorial to war dead in general, current Google Earth imagery seems to indicate this monument has been removed altogether (incidentally, it's fascinating to step back in time in Ashgabat via Google Earth's historical imagery). <br />
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19284562375" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6372 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6372" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/478/19284562375_eddaff69e9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monument to Turkmenbashi's Father.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Mosque of Khezrety Omar was certainly busier than the Azadi Mosque—people apparently avoid the Azadi because a number of people died while it was being constructed in 1991—but rather pedestrian in appearance aside from its <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/farflungistan/8517694333/">painted ceiling</a>. Although the area is now a boulevard of modern apartments, even then there were signs of impending construction as I made my way to the <a href="http://eurasia.travel/turkmenistan/cities/ashgabat/central_ashgabat/ten_years_of_independence_park/">Ten Years of Independence Park</a>, which was just across from the <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-11-01-turkmenistan-theme-park_x.htm">World of Turkmenbashi Tales </a>Amusement Park. In the Ten Years of Independence Park (not to be confused with the regular Independence Park, of course) there is another giant gold statue of Turkmenbashi—which makes sense since he was President ten years after independence—in front of a giant statue of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akhal-Teke">Akhal-Teke</a> hoses that are emblematic of the country.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19096965160" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6374 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6374" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/370/19096965160_d2abe492b1_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turkmenbashi presides over the Ten Years of Independence Park.</td></tr>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
It was getting quite dark by this time, so I headed back to the train station and bought some snacks at a nearby supermarket before collecting my bag and having dinner at the station cafeteria.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The train to Mary was you standard-issue Russian train, with four comfortable bunks per compartment. I was a little surprised when I entered my compartment, as there were already four people in it, but it turned out that two of them were doubling up on the bottom bunk. I guess they must have run out of tickets, because the cheap train fares couldn't be a realist obstacle. Shortly after leaving the station an agent came around to rent out bedsheets for the trip. I declined, but from the her reaction I would gather that not many people decline them (certainly no one else in my compartment did).</div>
</div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
November 13, from Ashgabat to Mary: 32 manat</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Tea and bread at chaikhana: 2 manat</li>
<li>Train to Mary: 8 manat</li>
<li>Bag storage: 1 manat </li>
<li>Coke & coffees: 2 manat</li>
<li>Ice cream & meat pie at shopping center: 2 manat</li>
<li>2kg mandarin oranges, wet & dry tissues, soups, two naan, chips: 12 manat</li>
<li>City bus x 4: 0.8 manat</li>
<li>Dinner (tea, bread, bread soup) at station: 5 manat</li>
</ul>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Ashgabat, Turkmenistan37.933333 58.36666700000000737.5327315 57.72122000000001 38.3339345 59.012114000000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-20463887263361617732012-11-12T16:57:00.000-08:002016-06-26T16:15:24.181-07:00Konye Urgench: tastefully restored Khorezmid ruins across the Turkmen border from Nukus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Graves_to_Cairo">Five Graves to Cairo</a>? How about eight rides to Konye Urgench.</h4>
The day I exited from Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan was one of the very few hard deadlines I had on my trip, as my 5-day Turkmen visa began on the the last day of my Uzbek visa. And because Turkmen transit visas specify the entry and exit border points that must be used, I knew I would have to be at the Khojeli/Konye Urgench border that day.<br />
<br />
Now, Khojeli is the border between Nukus and Konye Urgench, and given the relative size of Khiva, Nukus, and Konye Urgench, you wouldn't think it would be that difficult to arrange transportation between them. You, however, would be wrong.<br />
<br />
The first thing to do was get from Khiva to Urgench: Khiva is south of the main routes between Bukhara and Nukus, and so most transport not heading across the border to Dashogus instead goes through Urgench. The American guy who was also staying at the Lali Opa was headed into the Uzbek desert and then on to Kazakhstan, so we joined together in taking a taxi to Urgench instead of taking the slow trolley bus. Strangely, however, once we were dropped in Urgench there didn't seem to be any cars heading west, and after searching around the bazaar for a while the American—who spoke pretty decent Russian after a few months in Central Asia—discovered that we would have to go to Beruni to find a ride. In Beruni he helped me find a marshrutka to Nukus, and then we went our separate ways as he tried to hitchike on the main road.<br />
<br />
After waiting only about a half hour for the marshrutka to fill, we were on our way to Nukus. Of course, it turned out that we only went to the outskirts of Nukus, and needed to transfer to share taxis to get all the way into town. So I piled into a car with some helpful Uzbek babushkas and we were off to the central market. Once there I had to negotiate a bewildering car lot, where cars seemed to be organized according to destination, but really weren't. After futilely asking drivers for a few minutes, a fellow passenger helped me out and found out where cars to Khojeli left from. After the usual wait (pretty short, as the market was busy), it was off to nearby Khojeli. At Khojeli we terminated at the share-taxi and marshrutka lot, where once again it was surprisingly difficult to find out who was going to the border. They had a weird system where, instead of people getting into cars destined for a specific place and waiting for them to fill, people who wanted to go somewhere would kind of just stand around, then magically a car/marshrutka in that destination would be decided and everybody would pile on. But in the meantime you just stand around, which leads to a feeling of tremendous uncertainty (both in terms of whether a vehicle would arrive, and whether you would be able to get a spot in it). After a while a marshrutka for the border showed up and we all piled aboard.<br />
<br />
By this time it was well after noon, which isn't a good thing when you only have five days in a country (I can understand why cyclists often camp at the border so as to cross first thing in the morning).<br />
<br />
At the border there were maybe 75 people lined up on either side of the road, in front of a barrier across the road. The customs station was about 50 meters beyond that. I already had visions of a repeat of the endless waiting I encountered at Dotsyk, especially since there was no indication on what side we should line up. A border guard was hanging around the barrier, and I got his attention by standing between the back of the lines, making a shrugging gesture, and gesturing to ask which line I should join. He pointed to the left, and shortly after joining that line he came and beckoned me to the customs house—this was actually another of the hoped effects of getting his attention: skipping the queue by playing the foreigner card (which isn't unreasonable since we pay way more than locals do for visas).<br />
<br />
Getting out of Uzbekistan wasn't as difficult as getting in, as they didn't really check my hotel registration slips (though they took them), didn't check how much money I was taking out (if you leave with more money than you declared on entry, they may seize it—my dollar withdrawals in Samarkand basically only covered how much I spent in country), didn't check my pictures, and didn't check my computer.<br />
<br />
There is a fairly short no-man's-land between the border outposts: less than 500 meters, according to Google Earth. I set out to walk it, but the border guards stopped me and told me that you needed to take the shuttle bus between the outposts. No foot traffic was allowed, so I reluctantly got on the bus with the locals, whereupon I had a problem paying: I had already used all of my Uzbek sum (except for a small 500 som note for souvenir purposes), I had no Turkmen Manats, and the only small demoninations I had in dollars were the $12 I knew I would need as an entrance tax for Turkmen immigration. The fee for this short little shuttle was something like $1, on the other hand, a substantial portion of which no doubt went to the border guards who forced everyone to take the van.<br />
<br />
Thankfully the driver agreed to accept my Canadian $5—the only other small bill I had—but this caused some confusion as they discussed what the conversion rate should be. I think they must have confused the Canadian exchange rate with the Euro (or confused the colourful Canadian bill with a Euro note) because I ended up getting a weird rate, such that the value of change I got back (in a mix of useless som and manats) was actually greater than the value of the dollars I gave them—even if considered as US dollars, and not Canadian. Their confusion later caused some confusion on my part as to what the proper exchange manat exchange rate was, as based on the change I received it should have been about 4 to the US dollar, but in reality it was 2.85 to the US dollar (the exchange rate was fixed at 2.85:1 for a long time, though it changed to 3.5:1 in January 2015, likely to reflect the devaluation of the ruble).<br />
<br />
As we rumbled across no-man's land, looking out at the barren land, I had the strangest impression that it was winter—even though it was close to 20°C. I cam by this feeling honestly, however, as the marginal soil was white with salt stains, and bits of white fluff (cotton? pollen?) were floating in the air–in combination with the brown and leafless trees it all gave the impression of light snow. Very bizarre, but very convincing. This salty soil seemed characteristic of much of Turkmenistan; it's a good thing they have oil and gas, otherwise they would be in trouble.<br />
<br />
Turkmen customs and immigration was different than I was expecting. Their systems were fully computerized and all entries were logged, which was actually a bit disappointing to me since it meant it probably wouldn't be possible to bribe my way out of a different border, and to cross to Herat. You have to pay a weird $12 entrance fee at the border to get into the country, which is a bit weird since you've already paid for a visa. I think they usually have change, but I figured they might not since they probably don't get many foreign visitors through this border point (or any), and I had $12 exactly. Paying the entrance fee and getting stamped into the country was sandwiched by getting my bag x-rayed and then inspected. One of the military guys assigned to the border post was a young guy who was eager to meet a foreigner and talk with me a little bit, and he was really friendly. I'm guessing that conscription is alive and well in Turkmenistan and that he had other things he would rather be doing. His colleague took his job more seriously, and was preparing to do a deep dive into my bag when the younger one waved him off and asked him why he was going to go to all the bother. The older one kind of rolled his eyes, but stopped searching.<br />
<br />
After being stamped through and leaving the border point, we got onto one of the waiting shuttles to drive into town.<br />
<br />
Hotels in Turkmenistan aren't particularly cheap for what they offer (partially because they are the only one of the CIS 'stans to continue to have foreigner pricing at official hotels, though it's usually phrased as a discount for Turkmen citizens), so when one of the other passengers in the marshrutka, upon hearing me name a hotel as a destination, insisted that I save my money and stay at his house (he had all been together since Uzbek customs, so he knew I had no manat), I accepted his kind offer. He lived on the northeast outskirts of town, a bit of a walk from the main road, but it was interesting to see a local neighbourhood. It, like pretty much all of Dashogus, was a relatively poor looking town, with older traditional Soviet-Central Asian architecture that wouldn't have looked out of place in rural Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan. But at least he was at home with his family, unlike so many working-age men elsewhere in Central Asia.<br />
<br />
At his home I met his wife and children, and after a simple dinner he popped in one of his favourite DVDs—a Shakira concert (globalization indeed!)—and we watched her hips not lie. Cheap pirated DVDs are ubiquitous throughout Central Asia, with fare running from Hollywood blockbusters to traditional music from around the region. Water for washing was from the usual jug and basin, much as in rural Sary Mogol, and the toilet was an outhouse on the other side of a small field behind his house. Although I always carry my own paper (wet wipes are great), as everyone does, there was a pile of rough, cheap paper that turned out to be pages from a mathematics book nailed to the wall. This kind of impoverishment would stand out in stark contrast to the excesses of Ashgabat, and when my host commented that Konye Urgench is an Uzbek town where almost everyone is ethnically Uzbek, I wondered if this was another layer in marginalization (like Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan or Pamiris in Tajikistan); the only minority ethnicities who seem to have it okay are Tajiks in Uzbekistan (Bukhara and Samarkand being ethnically Tajik), though the Uzbeks retaliate by making relations with Tajikistan as difficult as possible.<br />
<br />
The next morning, as I prepared to take my leave, I asked my host to point me in the direction of the nearest bank to change money. To my surprise, he insisted on accompanying me, even though I said it wasn't necessary. He said he would go with me and help me change money.<br />
<br />
On the way into town we passed a bank, but we didn't stop there to change money (which made me a bit suspicious) but headed to the market. In the market he found a guy to change money, but the money-changer really wanted the transaction to be surreptitious, as though changing money (on what I assumed was the black market) was really serious. This seemed weird, as black market transactions in Uzbekistan and Burma are all done in the open, but he insisted on keeping everything out of sight. I'm still not sure what the big deal is, as by all accounts there is no black market in Turkmenistan and currency is freely exchangeable in both directions (i.e., they will change your manat to dollars when you leave at the same rate), and this market changer gave me the exact same 2.85:1 official exchange rate. Bizarre.<br />
<br />
Anyway, after this, I thanked my host again, and expected us to part here. Probably I should have given him some money even though he had insisted I save my money by staying with him. But he said that he would accompany me and help me find a taxi to Ashgabat, where he could get me a ride for $30. Uh oh. According to Lonely Planet, a taxi should only cost 30 manat, which meant that he was clearly going to try and take a cut of this $30 for the $11 ride. This kind of put his "hospitality" in a whole new light. I told him that I would be OK finding one on my own and wanted to visit the monuments first, but he said he would accompany me.<br />
<br />
Things got worse when we arrived at the archaeological zone, as although he accompanied me as I bought my admission and photography tickets, he really only wanted me to look at the first building and then peek at the minaret across the road before coming with him to get a taxi. He really didn't want me to take pictures, saying as it would cause problems for him. Now, maybe this would be a legitimate concern in this paranoid country, but since I had just bought a photography permit it didn't make much sense—my host tried to say that you could take one or two photos, but not many, and was eager for us to leave. I returned to the ticket booth, and asked the attendant there (who spoke very good English), and he said that I could take as many photographs of whatever I wanted. I obviously wasn't going to leave after only spending five minutes there, and my host decided he really didn't want to wait around for me, so although I thanked him for his hospitality I think it's safe to say we were both frustrated and disappointed with each other when we parted: he didn't get the payout he was hoping for, and I felt as though he was taking advantage of me under the guise of hospitality.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I left my bag with the helpful and knowledgeable ticket attendant (I left it outside his little shack, but he kindly moved it inside with him—something that made me a bit nervous when I returned and didn't see it sitting where I left it) and headed across the road to explore the other monuments.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Southern Monuments</h4>
Konye Urgench was the heart of the Khorezm empire which ruled the Amu-Darya delta area from the 10th century to the Mogol invasion in the early 13th century. The city was later abandoned when the Amu Darya, which formerly ran through the city, changed course and took up its current position through Nukus. The abaondonment of the city helped preserve the monuments, which are <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1199">now a UNESCO World Heritage site</a>.<br />
<br />
The first building you come across on the road south of town is the Turabeg Khanum building, and it's one of the most interesting and impressive in Turkmenistan—though it would be a lot more impressive if it weren't right next to the highway with a big parking lot in front of it. The design of the building includes multiple references to the calendar, with the dome tiles having 365 sections representing the days, the lower level under the dome being a 12-sided dodecahedron to represent the months, four windows to represent the weeks in a month, and a tier of 24 arches between the ground level dodecahedron and the dome to represent the hours in the day. This building is usually described as a mausoleum, though apparently there are many who are less certain, given the lack of grave markers and other discrepancies.<br />
<br />
If you remember from Samarkand that Bibi Khanum was Tamerlane's wife, you wont be surprised to hear that Turabeg Khanum was aslo a female: this time she was the wife of Gutlug Timur (who restored the Gutlug Timur minaret) and he daughter of Uzbek Khan (who was the khan when the Golden Horde converted to Islam). <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=fG9zk5Y3MugC&lpg=PR7&ots=E9-9hM7oOd&dq=bradt%20turkmenistan%20konye%20urgench&pg=PA177" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7PoduKhxXo8HDcwo1BDNMffT1rNxbGPx7aww3zGAiw7DCcnQrM6eeNg-CTrdUEwPmTGnRmKk6c1os3p6yrFw8cR5PFFgunRZb0p1RaeiXirqjRiLi2kULp9Fil8TCIxrOygR6dtWnc5E/s1600/Konye+Urgench+Map+-+Bradt.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bradt beats LP hands down for accurate, helpful information (but the most recent edition is from 2006 and is currently out of print).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19064910509" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6052 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6052" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/552/19064910509_df4eed88b7_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Uzbekistan this would be the basis for a restoration, not the result of one. Here, the exterior wall follows the 12-sided interior dodecahedron.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19224959286" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6054 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6054" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/515/19224959286_14fb3bc339_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are four of these big windows just below the dome. There are 24 of these arches, representing the hours in a day, and below them are the 12 arches in a dodecahedron. A better picture of the entire dome and the two tiers of arches can be seen <a href="http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/asia/konye-urgench.html">here</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063454278" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6059 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6059" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3890/19063454278_96c37d47fa_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tiles apparently divide the dome into 365 different sections.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19245121792" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6061 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6061" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/476/19245121792_05fe6fd307_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Turabeg Khanum.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiled muqarnas on the iwan ceiling.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Across the road is the huge, tilting, and somewhat awkward looking Gutlug Timur minaret, dating from the 11th or 12th century. Although earthquakes have lopped off the top and it is no longer possible to climb it, it remains the tallest minaret in Central Asia at 59 meters.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18628608164" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6072 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6072" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/381/18628608164_8879dd6918_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The neat and tidy Seyit Ahmet mausoleum is kind of boring, but is popular with the locals. Although a modern reconstruction, it is suposedly ties to Sheik Seyid Ahmet, who helped convert Mongols and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horde">Golden Horde</a> (the Mongolians that ruled the area after Genghis Khan subdues it) to Islam.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630540023" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6075 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6075" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/284/18630540023_a7cc0e1a42_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The farther away you get, the more ungainly the minaret looks. The decoration is largely in the understated monochrome brick patterns, with only hints of turquoise (which are virtually impossible to detect at a distance).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19251077265" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6080 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6080" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/513/19251077265_eb05f72bf7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The next monument after the minaret is the Sultan Tekesh mausoleum, which is a huge affair consisting of a square plinth topped by a 24-sided near-circular drum and the characteristically Khoezmid conical dome, though the upper levels were covered with scaffolding. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630547693" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6081 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6081" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/416/18630547693_c984f7ff8e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The are around the monuments has continued to be used as a graveyard, so you see plenty of modern tombs and mausoleums.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dome under restoration.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19245165472" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6085 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6085" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/420/19245165472_9c2015ec48_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The minaret and Turabeg Khanum. I find the taper of the minaret awkward,
as it has a diameter at the base of some 11 meters, but is only 2m
across at the top.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19251096075" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6087 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6087" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/360/19251096075_8284d04c22_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is actually only the upper tier of the mausoleum, as the drum and dome sit on a square plinth that contains the entrance to the mausoleum.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19254919041" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6088 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6088" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/410/19254919041_d5a3693f07_z.jpg" width="469" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you can see here. Tekesh and his mausoleum date from the late 12th century, where he was a Khorezm khan that greatly enlarged the empire into Iran and Afghanistan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18628647604" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6089 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6089" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/454/18628647604_6d2935f653_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The minaret dominates the skyline for vast distances.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19251110935" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6092 - _DSC6095 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6092 - _DSC6095" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/339/19251110935_80cb045a38_z.jpg" width="489" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the Il Arslan mausoleum, where the conical dome also has 12 sides, like the drum below it. Apparently the relationship to Il Arslan—father of Tekesh—is conjectural, as other believe it contains the remains of 12th century scientist Fahr ad-Din Razi, who died in Herat. Regardless, the building is both beautiful and cute.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630583793" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6096 - _DSC6100 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6096 - _DSC6100" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3935/18630583793_b534324855_z.jpg" width="481" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently the relief work on the front facade is terracotta, and not carved stone.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19254940951" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6101 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6101" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/427/19254940951_644faca2a7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tekesh mausoleum and minaret, along with the paved path between monuments. Note that the 12-sided drum on the Tekesh mausoleum can only be seen from the sides and rear: from the front there is a pishtaq that covers the drum, and a much larger iwan with a pointed arch protruding into the drum area.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19251125525" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6103 - _DSC6104 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6103 - _DSC6104" height="322" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/487/19251125525_a936a48bdd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of the tile work on the Il Arslan mausoleum dome.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19254947881" title="_DSC6105 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6105" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3734/19254947881_748cd8b4d6_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630604433" title="_DSC6108 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6108" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/476/18630604433_78cb56d09d_z.jpg" width="561" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19254959461" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6109 - _DSC6112 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6109 - _DSC6112" height="159" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/325/19254959461_1df5175d0d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of the monuments across the Karakum desert.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18628688654" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6113 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6113" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/283/18628688654_72ffb634b4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the southernmost monuments is the remains of the Ma'mun minaret. Like the Kalta Minor in Khiva, this minaret is a stubby little thing that ends rather abruptly. But unlike the Kalta Minor, this minaret doesn't rise very far at all, and it's current appearance is not due to the minaret never being completed, but from the completed minaret being destroyed in an earthquake. Apparently the first minaret here was built in 1011, but collapsed in the 13th century. A taller replacement (reportedly some 55m high) was then built, but it collapsed in 1895. What remains is a modern re-imagination that hints at what might have been.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19225103256" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6135 - _DSC6139 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6135 - _DSC6139" height="149" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3868/19225103256_590934547e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ma'mun minaret in front of the other southern monuments. (The blue-domed mausoleum on the left is a modern building.)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065062839" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6140 - _DSC6143 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6140 - _DSC6143" height="193" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3724/19065062839_894aaede8d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Further along the path and the stubby minaret base virtually disappears.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19245265852" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6145 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6145" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/493/19245265852_54eb967720_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View looking up from under the archway of the so-called "Caravanserai Gate," which is the southernmost monument.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063606308" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6147 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6147" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/335/19063606308_48b9e24b19_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the brick and tile work is well patinated.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063611950" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6150 - _DSC6152 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6150 - _DSC6152" height="296" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/341/19063611950_d6c71e0be8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back of the Caravanserai Gate is really very plain, with an unusual square entrance aperture through which we can see the Tekesh mausoleum.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19225132256" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6153 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6153" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/441/19225132256_18a7ff6289_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old, original brickwork has sucked up the salt over the ages.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063621650" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6154 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6154" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/411/19063621650_358f4799d4_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turkmen restoration work makes it abundantly clear what is modern and what is original. Would that the Ubekistanis adopted the same approach.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630686993" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6157 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6157" height="376" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/501/18630686993_201769d81c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The so-called "Caravanserai Gate" is much too impressive for a mere caravanserai, so it is thought that it was actually the entrance to a palace complex.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18628773044" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6159 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6159" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/468/18628773044_3e5d89fd04_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking back to the parking lot.</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063643030" title="_DSC6160 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6160" height="345" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/290/19063643030_46a0c6ea51_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19251241985" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6161 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6161" height="371" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3828/19251241985_c45ddaf4a0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A local farmer takes his horse cart on a dirt path one the eastern edge of the monument zone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19245324112" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6163 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6163" height="351" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/530/19245324112_db477888b7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The minaret and the Il Arslan mausoleum tilt in opposite directions.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19225188626" title="_DSC6165 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6165" height="353" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/370/19225188626_a81802c8de_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630736233" title="_DSC6166 - _DSC6169 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6166 - _DSC6169" height="193" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/515/18630736233_18f4c47f6a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19225203736" title="_DSC6170 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6170" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/460/19225203736_a9b6c62dc1_z.jpg" width="504" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19245365732" title="_DSC6173 - _DSC6174 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6173 - _DSC6174" height="272" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3950/19245365732_61cc1678e8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063729480" title="_DSC6179 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6179" height="349" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/362/19063729480_741cc44b3b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063740528" title="_DSC6180 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6180" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3738/19063740528_1335e62470_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065221599" title="_DSC6182 - _DSC6187 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6182 - _DSC6187" height="142" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/556/19065221599_3da578df75_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630816733" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6188 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6188" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/461/18630816733_489ec292e4_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behind the Il Arslan mausoleum there is a road that runs through the desert to a modern graveyard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065232709" title="_DSC6190 - _DSC6191 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6190 - _DSC6191" height="301" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/395/19065232709_ef23784547_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19225288966" title="_DSC6193 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6193" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/390/19225288966_ab55826761_z.jpg" width="444" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065246849" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6194 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6194" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/472/19065246849_7f7cdd5136_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A modern mausoleum.with an octagonal drum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18628919654" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6195 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6195" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/414/18628919654_febbc1e80b_z.jpg" width="483" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tekesh mausoleum from a cemetery.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063790600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6196 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6196" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3890/19063790600_f8be924e64_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are lots of ladders around walled burial plots to allow relatives
to get in an out. Since the ladders are left there, I'm not sure the
point of the walls, as I don't think they could be much of a barrier to
most animals.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063797040" title="_DSC6197 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6197" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3832/19063797040_181b348acc_z.jpg" width="473" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630868343" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6199 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6199" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3931/18630868343_2dd3759d11_z.jpg" width="524" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking back to Il Arslan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630873003" title="_DSC6200 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6200" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/364/18630873003_f826f449a1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19245492502" title="_DSC6206 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6206" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/418/19245492502_1875da9fec_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19255251121" title="_DSC6209 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6209" height="366" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/504/19255251121_8486e690d9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19255266601" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6214 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6214" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/428/19255266601_84a112d698_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I only saw one other person south of Tekesh mausoleum, and I saw no foreigners in Konye Urgench. Come to think of it, I saw no foreign tourists in Turkmenistan at all. There weren't that many locals at any of the sites, either, though this was probably the busiest of all sites I visited in the country.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063877908" title="_DSC6220 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6220" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/296/19063877908_5205314e08_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063885068" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6222 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6222" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3869/19063885068_7428ae5729_z.jpg" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back to Il Arslan mausoleum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
On the northeast corner of the monument par is Kyrk Molla: a low hill—a big mound, really—that contains a few tombs and lots of models of cribs and bassinets offered by women hoping for children. These offerings are combined with another fertility ritual: rolling down the mound. Even guys seem to do it, though I'm not clear if this is also for fertility reasons or just because it's fun (kind of like sliding down the rock slides at Suleiman Too in Osh).</div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19225420736" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6233 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6233" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/295/19225420736_674343cff0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little bassinet models.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630966323" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6234 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6234" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/453/18630966323_8825d6a672_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Complete with tiny little babies.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18630976273" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6236 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6236" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/446/18630976273_08238e28cd_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little cribs, grave markers, and the minaret behind.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065391389" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6237 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6237" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/539/19065391389_314fe4a978_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone, everywhere, loves to stack rocks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063925200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6241 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6241" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/448/19063925200_6b58727b62_z.jpg" width="590" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View over the salty plains back towards the Turabeg Khanum building.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19245609962" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6243 - _DSC6248 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6243 - _DSC6248" height="348" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/274/19245609962_f90063b261_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the base of the Kyrk Molla. The southwest corner of the hill has been excavated to reveal fortress walls.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18631016763" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6251 - _DSC6252 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6251 - _DSC6252" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/313/18631016763_397f119339_z.jpg" width="319" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are apparently 18 bands of decoration on the minaret.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19251576785" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6266 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6266" height="619" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/490/19251576785_52d25e186e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scraggy brown trees and salt-stained soil. Imagine some drifting white fluff in the air, overcast skies, and perhaps you can understand why I had the impression of winter at the border. The double-dome construction technique (also used extensively in Samarkand) is highly evident here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19225508916" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6267 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6267" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/355/19225508916_b8c013bd88_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ruined dome is still very attractive, full of interesting patterns.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19063999688" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6268 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6268" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/341/19063999688_06d10345f8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Underneath one of the secondary domes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19251598585" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6269 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6269" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/441/19251598585_aeeb3208e8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pigeons making themselves at home over the muqarnas.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19255422281" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6271 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6271" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/298/19255422281_613cb78e34_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And on the pishtaq.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065489749" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6273 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6273" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/537/19065489749_7cca6d95d6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From this angle it's easy to see the double-dome construction that is pretty typical.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Secondary (northern) monuments: mausoleums and museum</h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There
are a few mausoleums and a museum north of the main monument zone,
inside the city proper. It's maybe a kilometer away, and it's not too
difficult to walk there (though in the summer it might not be super
fun). I picked up my bag from the ticket office, where the attendant had
agreed to look after it, and headed over to these mausoleums.<br />
<br />
These northern, town-based sights include the Konye Urgench museum, which will run you another 11.4 manat, was something I skipped. Apparently it's housed in a madressa whose cells have been turned into cultural exhibits/displays with mannequins depicting various activities like pottery-making, which sounds more interesting than the actual artifacts on display.<br />
<br />
The main attractions of the northern cluster, however, are a pair of old and somewhat ramshackle mausoleums facing each other like a pair of dance partners. There's the Nejameddin Kubra mausoleum on the south, and the Sultan Ali mausoleum on the north. Nejameddin Kubra was a famous Sufi poet scholar who was decapitated in 121 by the invading Mongols, and inside there are two tombs: a small one for his head, and a larger one for his body. Both tombs are covered with velvet, which is pretty unusual, and apparently under the velvet there is extremely impressive majolica. But even with this tomb tile covered up, there is plenty of ornate tile work on display, and the mausoleum is a good chance to see some original majolica up close.</div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19064026090" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6274 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6274" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3768/19064026090_de6e03fd6d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This wind-swept remnant of an old tree is supposed to bring health to children. Seems pretty animistic to me, but like most western hypocrites I pretty easily overlook the fact that the same can be said of so many Christian saints and places like Lourdes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19064031340" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6275 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6275" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/302/19064031340_e7ee64d4c7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green really is the national colour of Turkmenistan and is very prominent in women's skirts and turbans... even though Konye Urgench is really an ethnically Uzbek area.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065508859" title="_DSC6276 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6276" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/498/19065508859_4d5fab2c82_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065515879" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6277 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6277" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/378/19065515879_40a3306645_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irregularly spiked dome on the Nejameddin Kubra.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19064052378" title="_DSC6278 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6278" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/256/19064052378_6cd72f91a3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19245720502" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6279 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6279" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/329/19245720502_336563578d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like buildings that are crooked and akimbo... it lends them an authenticity, and makes you feel their age. (Not so much with the leaning tower in Pisa, however.) Apparently locals like to say that that tilting pishtaq was intentional, to represent pious bowing of the head. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19255473861" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6281 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6281" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3956/19255473861_23ed8e9786_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many pigeons.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19251665645" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6282 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6282" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/493/19251665645_6c50aafec4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Restored spiky domes. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19245755362" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6287 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6287" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/431/19245755362_9b1eee3e4b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old majolica tiles inside the mausoleum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18629237234" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6289 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6289" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/494/18629237234_87a542afb0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wonder how Uzbekisan would handle these old tiles?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19064118898" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6293 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6293" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/380/19064118898_ba31587f92_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More majolica.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19251716595" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6294 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6294" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/509/19251716595_60a932e49e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pigeons come home to roost on the Nejameddin Kubra pishtaq.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065602239" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6296 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6296" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/420/19065602239_ede0056aea_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crumbling muqarnas line the facade of the Sultan Ali mausoleum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19245809682" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6297 - _DSC6299 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6297 - _DSC6299" height="196" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3714/19245809682_0ddee46bc1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mausoleums from the parking lot next to the museum. The Nejameddin Kubra mausoleum is on the left. From this angle you can see the the mausoleum of Sultan Ali is of a later date and much more ornately decorated on the exterior, with a dodecahedral outline around the main dome, much as at Turabeg Khanum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Of all the monuments in Konye Urgench, the mausoleum of Nejameddin Kubra was probably the most visited by locals, who would walk around the mausoleum (similar to Tibetan kora) in prayer.</div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Konye-Urgench taxi mafia</h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Let me first vent a little bit about Lonely Planet. The genesis for the Lonely Planet series was an epic overland trip from England to Australia undertaken by the series' founders, which means that Central Asia has always been a part of their focus, and indeed is something of their heartland given the paucity of information about the region. Despite that, I haven't been hugely impressed by LP's Central Asia section (and some of the country authors are definitely better than others) and—aside from the Afghan section—the Turkmenistan section is clearly the worst. What few maps they have are inaccurate and there really isn't enough information to be truly useful for those who are on transit visas and don't have a guide.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There's no map for either Konye Urgench or Dashogus, for example, and if you based your logistics on the country-level map you would assume that all traffic between Dashogus (which is much larger than Konye Urgench) and Ashgabat would pass through Ashgabat. That was certainly my impression, so I figured it would be easy to catch a ride on a passing car, marshrutka, or bus as the passed through Konye Urgench (the southern monuments are on the road to Ashgabat, just outside the city). But the reality is that vehicles between Dashogus and Ashgabat bypass Konye Urgench, and that it may be easier to first go to Dashogus and then find onward transportation to Ashgabat. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And that's what I ended up doing. When I first went to the taxi lot, there wasn't a lot of activity. There were a couple of cars, but it seemed more like they were waiting for friends or relatives to show up, and the drivers weren't trying to drum up any business from the few people that showed up. After a few cars showed up and left, I found one person who was going to Ashgabat, but he wanted the same $30 that my host from the night before had quoted, and wasn't interested in negotiating. So after hanging out there for an hour or so and waiting to see if any other drivers showed up, it looked like I wasn't going to be able to get a cheap ride to Ashgabat (especially since there didn't seem to be any other locals showing up to get rides.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d13757.093686702901!2d59.15078407403465!3d42.3154992835876!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d42.3110297!2d59.137672599999995!4m3!3m2!1d42.3254713!2d59.147237499999996!4m3!3m2!1d42.3143913!2d59.171208199999995!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1436727013507" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A map between the sites and the car lot. When I was there I had no smartphone so I had to plan in advance by doing a stupid amount of research beforehand and loading up maps on my netbook before screen-capping them for reference later. </span></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065650959" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6307 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6307" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/522/19065650959_fc77c90611_z.jpg" width="490" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the taxi lot. We are now in the land of one-humped dromedaries, and not the two-humped Bactrian camels that we saw from Mongolia through China.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
When a bus showed up from Dashogus and turned around for the return trip, I decided I might as well get on and try my luck over there. To give you an idea of transportation costs, this 95km trip, which took about an hour and a half, cost 2 manat, or about 70¢.<br />
<br />
Of course, given how bad LP is, I had no idea where to get off or where the taxi stand was in Dashogus. I took a chance by getting off where most of the locals did, figuring it would be at/near the transportation hub (if I stayed on, I would have been basically the only person on the bus). It turns out that this was a bad guess, as the locals were all picked up by friends or otherwise dispersed. It was also dark by now, which didn't help. I wandered around and went into a nearby supermarket for a bit of shopping, then stopped in their foyer and sat down in one of their lawn-furniture displays for a snack At this point I was approached by a kind cashier, no doubt surprised to see a foreigner, who asked me if there was anywhere I was looking for. It turns out that there was a car lot for taxis to Ashgabat a couple of blocks away, down a dark and dusty street, in a semi-industrial setting. There's no way I would have found it on my own. Looking pathetic and lost is a good way to get help—usually from older, matronly women, though this one was quite young.<br />
<br />
The lane she pointed me down was quite dark and there were certainly no cars or people that I could see, but about 150 meters down it opened up into a large parking lot (which didn't contain the cars), next to a wall the surrounded some facility. Now, it was next to this walled compound that the cars were located, and these drivers were actually eager for customers. Again, pretty much everyone wanted $30 or more, but I bargained with a bunch of different drivers. They wanted $30, I wanted 30 manat. Finally I came across one guy with a new Mercedes minivan who quoted $30, and I told OK I would pay him 30... (pregnant pause) manat. This got a laugh from the bystanders, and he relented and agreed to do it for 30 manat (possibly only because he could carry more passengers than the standard Toyota Camrys and Avalons that most drivers seem to have). On the other hand, from accounts of others it seems a fairly common tactic for driver to charge tourists the same number of dollars as it should be in manats (or to later claim that they had quoted a price in dollars, even though you clearly say manat), effectively tripling the price.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, there still seems to be very, very little information available online about Dashogus and the LP isn't much help at all. Although it says Ashgabat-bound taxis leave from in front of the train station, but that's not where I got mine. I'm not 100% sure—especially since I only saw two or three blocks of the city, and then only after dark—but based on my bus ride and the city/building layout, I'm pretty sure this is where I caught my taxi: </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m26!1m12!1m3!1d6072.713314720486!2d59.96267067122543!3d41.84601980070689!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m11!3e6!4m5!1s0x41de68d9dfce528d%3A0x88ff6a472fe80d82!2sDa%C5%9Foguz+Wokzaly%2C+Dashoguz%2C+Turkmenistan!3m2!1d41.849416399999996!2d59.9763179!4m3!3m2!1d41.8493977!2d59.961646699999996!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1436730573671" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
We refueled as we were leaving Dashogus, and I took note of the fuel price: 0.56 manat (20¢) per liter (which means we probably burned no more than 40 manat ($14) in fuel in getting to Ashgabat. As I would later learn, the marked pump price was actually only the post-quota price: <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67955">everyone gets an annual quota of 1,400 liters of free fuel per year (as well as free household utilities)</a>, which keeps transportation prices low (especially if you hitch with someone who isn't a professional driver and will never exceed their quota or pay for any fuel) and makes cruising the streets a popular hobby. Unlike Uzbekistan, there also didn't seem to be any problem in finding fuel.<br />
<br />
Note that the low, low transportation prices that I enjoyed and that are quoted in LP may be a things of the past, as Turkmenistan has been moving away from subsidies and towards more market-accurate pricing. On the other hand, it seems like there is talk <a href="http://www.themoscowtimes.com/sitemap/free/2008/2/article/turkmenistan-ends-major-gasoline-subsidy/302357.html">every</a> <a href="http://www.refworld.org/docid/502274db2.html">year</a> about <a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/turkmenistan-free-gas-ends/25234662.html">ending the subsidies</a>, yet they have continued to remain in place. Even if subsidies have been reduced, I very much suspect that the "market prices" have remained highly subsidized relative to the true global market (especially since neighbouring Iran and Uzbekistan still have big subsidies in place), though this may still mean an end to the dirt-cheap transport prices.</div>
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
November 11, from Khiva to Konye Urgench: 17,400 som + $12 + $5 CAD</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Bread x 2: 1,400 som </li>
<li>Taxi from Khiva to Urgench: 1,500 som</li>
<li>Taxi from Urgench to Beruni: 1,500 som</li>
<li>Marshrutka from Beruni to Nukus: 10,000 som</li>
<li>Marshrutka to Nukus bazaar: 600 som</li>
<li>Marshrutka from market to Hojeli: 800 som</li>
<li>Taxi from Hojeli to border: 1,000 som</li>
<li>Taxi across no-man's land + into Konye Urgench: $5 CAD</li>
<li>Turkmen entrance fee: $12</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
November 12, from Konye Urgench to Ashgabat: 59.6 manats</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Entry to southern sites & photography permit: 17 manat </li>
<li>Bus to Dashogus: 2 manat</li>
<li>Chocolate spread, wafers, ramen soups, biscuits, candy: 10.6 manat</li>
<li>Share taxi from Dashogus to Ashgabat: 30 manat</li>
<ul></ul>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1Köneürgench, Turkmenistan42.3242187 59.18185429999994142.2302897 59.020492799999943 42.418147700000006 59.343215799999939tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-69227191299158197622012-11-11T23:47:00.000-08:002015-07-19T11:11:49.178-07:00Khiva<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
From Bukhara to Khiva in 24 annoying hours </h4>
Getting from Bukhara to Khiva took one full day, and was not a fun process: far better to take the night train from Samarkand (or Tashkent). Even if you're dumb, like me, and visit Tashkent, Samarkand, and finally Bukhara in geographical sequence, it would still be better to backtrack from Bukhara to Samarkand just to take the night train.<br />
<br />
The reason I say this is because the road from Bukhara to Urgench is really bad, and in order to take it you'll need to get a ride in a shared taxi. As with other places, getting a shared taxi often isn't fun, and often involves hours of waiting around. For me, the taxi process involved showing up at the bazaar in the morning, negotiating with a driver until we reached a reasonable price, then waiting in the car while he solicited more passenger. Then, after an hour of waiting, he returns to the car with three passengers who want to go somewhere else, so tries to kick me out of the car, while I argue with him for a while and tell him to find me another driver going to Khiva or Urgench for the agreed price. He finally does, after first threatening to run me or my bag over. Then it's another hour waiting for the other car to fill up, followed by a half hour of driving around Bukhara in search of something. I had assumed we were looking for cargo, but after slowly driving past a few fuel stations where no fuel was being pumped but whose long lines of cars—some parked until the station started pumping again, others with driver asleep inside or nearby—at the entrance would make the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gas-signs-1970s-2011-8?op=1">1973 oil crisis</a> look minor in comparison, I understood we needed to get some gas. This was followed by us starting our drive outside of town, then the car sputtering to a stop. After a few phone calls, another car shows up and hooks up a rope to tow us. We are then towed not into the city, but into the country, where we were taken to a fuel station that was open for service. There we popped the trunk and filled up the LP tank that so many cars in the region run on.<br />
<br />
Finally fueled up and ready for the road, we set off on the bumpy hell-hole of a road (one would think a road through the desert would be fairly easy to maintain, but the potholes and eroded tarmac said otherwise) to Urgench. At about the halfway point we made a stop, and one of the ladies in the back who was traveling with her daughter (they were sharing a seat) asked to change places with me; I was in the coveted front seat, which the first passenger inevitably secures. I was kind of surprised, because everyone knows the front seat is the best and I've never seen it conceded, nor anyone ask for it if someone else was in it, but I relented and got to be squeezed in the back.<br />
<br />
Between the time spent waiting, the time spent getting fuel, and the poor road, it was well after dark when we pulled into Urgench, and were deposited just north of the train station (a brand new and gleaming facility, though they don't get many trains out there). A bus pulled in at about the same time, and there were some taxis milling around. Not many were going to Khiva, which is about 35km away, but one woman who was going there teamed up with a driver to try and scam me. Well, really she's the one who tried to scam me, saying that we could split the cost of the car to Khiva, and that if we each paid 25,000 sum we could leave immediately. This was half as much as I had paid from Bukhara (which is over ten times further, on worse roads), and although she insisted she would have to pay the driver just as much (which he confirmed), it was clear that I would be paying for more than the car would cost and she would take a cut of the money after pretending to pay the driver. Oh, Uzbekistan, how predictable you're getting.<br />
<br />
I refused, and ended up being taken to a nearby restaurant and guesthouse by a local. I was a little surprised they would let me stay (since they obviously weren't set up to take foreigners and didn't issue registration slips), but it was only $5 a night for pretty basic accommodation with a slightly grotty shared bathroom. <br />
<br />
The next morning I set out to try and find the trolley bus that runs between Urgench and Khiva, which was actually fairly difficult since LP is predictably vague on the details of where to catch it. I ended up walking to the outskirts of town, and starting down the road to Khiva, thankfully ignoring one stretch of overhead lines near the center, as they didn't actually serve this trolley bus. As I walked along the trolley line towards the stop I was able to get a closer look at cotton crops in the field: they were dry scraggly little plants in parched soil, quite unlike the steamy and humid conditions I associate with the American South, which is the place I most associate with cotton.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Khiva</h4>
<br />
Khiva, like all <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khwarezm">Khorezm</a> sites in this arid region, owes its existence to the Amu Darya (aka Oxus) river and the fertile delta it formed as it emptied into the nearby Aral Sea. The Amu Darya river is the product of the confluence of the Pyanj river (which we saw in the Wakhan valley, and which forms much of the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan) and the Vakhsh river (which is what the Kyzyl suu river that we first saw in Sary Mogol turns into in lower Tajikistan): it's amazing how these rivers we saw over a thousand kilometers away continue to shape and inform the cultures we see weeks later. The Amu Darya is also what led the Soviets to decide that intensive cultivation of cotton was a good idea, a decision which has disastrous consequences for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea">Aral Sea</a>, whose eastern shoreline has receded by over a hundred kilometers and which now contains only 10% of the water it held only 50 or so years ago. I mean, cotton in a desert: who could have seen this coming?<br />
<br />
Once on the slow little trolly bus from Urgench, the ride to Khiva took about an
hour, during which time we trundled through these bizarre fields of cotton and other crops before being
deposited next to the northern gate of the Ichon Qala, or walled city.
This drop-off location allows for a pretty inspiring introduction to the
city, as it's just inside the northern gate that you can climb the
walls and walk along the ramparts, getting nice views of the old town.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19137273871" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5671 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5671" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/559/19137273871_2fbb22d4f7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just inside the northern gate.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946268868" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5672 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5672" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/396/18946268868_5911d672c1_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking south over the rooftops of the walled city towards the main monuments. The taller minaret of the Islam Khoja madressa is on the left, while on the right is the shorter minaret for the Juma (Friday) Mosque.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19134045965" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5719-_DSC5735 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5719-_DSC5735" height="114" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/513/19134045965_c7dee03626_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View south from the western ramparts.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18513361113" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5695 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5695" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/524/18513361113_9e85792d63_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The iconic, unfinished, Kalta Minor minaret over the walls of Khiva's Kuhna Ark.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19107880456" title="_DSC5739 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5739" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/505/19107880456_4a0fa5d505_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19107890476" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5742 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5742" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/358/19107890476_14731ba764_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view from the northwest ramparts. The watchtower of the Ark is the tower on the right, and its walls are the limit of how far you can walk on the ramparts. On the left is the Kalta Minor, and next to it is the iwan of the Muhammed Amin Khan madressa.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946470108" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5744 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5744" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/409/18946470108_bcd4d5ab14_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the northeastern ramparts.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947941909" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5745 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5745" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3792/18947941909_7b67e76c5c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's interesting to look out over old-city rooftops, though I'm surprised they aren't used more extensively as living or sleeping spaces.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19134097655" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5746-_DSC5747 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5746-_DSC5747" height="246" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3938/19134097655_371dd879fc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For some reason these minarets do nothing for me. The proportion and
tapering just seem wrong, the crowns seem under-sized, and the
decorative bands don't seem to complement the natural brick very well.
Bukhara's Kalon Minaret, in comparison, feels so much more natural and elegant, and
it's easy to see why it was so widely copied.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19137560391" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5749-_DSC5756 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5749-_DSC5756" height="415" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/493/19137560391_08e2b90d80_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the <a href="http://www.pagetour.org/khiva/palaces.html">Tash-Hovli palace</a> on the right, and the <a href="http://www.pagetour.org/khiva/Caravanserais.html">Allah Kuli Khan caravanserai and bazaar</a> on the left.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19128436262" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5758 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5758" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3781/19128436262_e48ac80214_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional architecture. I suspect these houses have been refurbished and/or reconstructed like houses in Kashgar, with old windows and doors being reused and mud/straw covering modern brick.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946569018" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5760 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5760" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3800/18946569018_11e4582ac8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scraggly weeds grow on the northeastern corner of the walls. </td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
During my time up on the ramparts I only saw one or two other tourists. In retrospect, this is pretty surprising given how touristy and popular Khiva was even in the off season, as it had by far the most tourists, vendors, and shops of the three Silk Road cities saw in Uzbekistan. But in many ways the old walled city was like the old walled city of Pingyao, in China: hordes of tourists and tourist shops along a few main streets, but substantially less traffic and even pretty normal life elsewhere within the walled city, even as somewhat traditional architecture is preserved within the walls.</div>
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Accommodations in Khiva aren't as budget friendly as in Bukhara or Samarkand, and the LP-recommended place with dorms (located just outside the west walls, opposite the Ark) wasn't interested in negotiating their price of $10 per bed in a shared dorm. There was only one other person sharing the room, though, and they had wi-fi so it wasn't bad. I dropped my stuff and set out to explore after a quick shower.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18513581573" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5767 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5767" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3717/18513581573_4d1689d304_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up at the unfinished Kalta Minor and its gorgeous decorations. I bet it would be uglier if it were finished.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946499310" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5769 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5769" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/328/18946499310_ea79d7fdd7_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to touristy Khiva: a few dozen meters inside the west gate,
looking along the main road that runs to the east gate, a road dominated
by the Juma minaret (well, aside from the Kalta Minor which is just to
my right). In the background you can see the attractive monochrome <a href="http://www.pagetour.org/khiva/minarets.html#sayyidniyazshalikarbay">Sayyid Niyaz Shalikarbay minaret</a>, attached to a madressa just outside the east gate.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19128504482" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5771-_DSC5773 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5771-_DSC5773" height="439" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3834/19128504482_9d68cf66fe_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="http://www.visituzbekistan.travel/sightseeing/khiva/pakhlavan-mahmoud-mausoleum/">Pakhlavan Mahmud mausoleum</a> with the Islam Khoja minaret behind it. This mausoleum remains a popular religious site, with hundreds of Uzbekis filing into the complex's courtyard, which is surrounded by multiple mausoleums.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19137649111" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5774 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5774" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/352/19137649111_f5f422045d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kalta Minor towers over one of the Muhammed Amin Khan madressa's minarets.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18948118009" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5776-_DSC5781 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5776-_DSC5781" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/460/18948118009_736f064fdd_z.jpg" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Islam Khoja minaret down one of the busier tourist streets, as it also contains the entrance to the Pakhlavan Mahmud mausoleum.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18513652553" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5789 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5789" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/388/18513652553_8cc325f1c9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Souvenirs and handicrafts everywhere you look.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19137702311" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5790 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5790" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/424/19137702311_d7e3b016b2_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Juma minaret peeks over some of the mausoleum domes.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18511778794" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5791-_DSC5792 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5791-_DSC5792" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/338/18511778794_009e45c2b0_z.jpg" width="569" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The big green dome marks the tomb of Pakhlavan Mahmoud himself. The interior is richly decorated with majolica tiles covering all the walls, as a result of work done in 1825. You'll see the word "majolica" in guidebooks a lot, but basically all it means is that the tiles were painted and/or sculpted before being fired: any polychrome tile is majolica.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946598980" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5793 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5793" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/367/18946598980_d75c2dcbed_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mausoleum domes inside the complex.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18511799674" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5795 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5795" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3868/18511799674_dab1dc7718_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though Pakhlavan Mahmoud died in 1326, the mausoleum was <a href="http://www.pagetour.org/khiva/mausoleums.html">rebuilt in the 19th century</a>, and undoubtedly subject to Soviet restoration since then.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18511811604" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5796 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5796" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/387/18511811604_2e67c16e94_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Souvenir vendor.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19134345855" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5797 - _DSC5798 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5797 - _DSC5798" height="343" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/468/19134345855_022cc91af7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the more attractive angles for viewing the Islam Khoja minaret. The lack of harmony on this minaret is somewhat surprising considering it was built in 1910.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946759508" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5799 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5799" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/480/18946759508_edfa714c37_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A small dome and minaret from the Islam Khoja mausoleum adjacent to the towering minaret.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19134372115" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5800 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5800" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3862/19134372115_35284fc72f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The south walls of the Ichon Qala.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19137791101" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5801 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5801" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/439/19137791101_aa130559bc_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another flattering view of the Islam Khoja minaret.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946785468" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5802 - _DSC5803 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5802 - _DSC5803" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3730/18946785468_3c5a469986_z.jpg" width="499" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The simpler Juma minaret, whose crown also feels woefully under-sized.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946793538" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5804 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5804" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3900/18946793538_97a7476070_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tomb markers.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946801738" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5805-_DSC5807 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5805-_DSC5807" height="200" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/402/18946801738_7e202752ff_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simple baked bricks behind the ornate mausoleum facades and iwans.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946694760" title="_DSC5808 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5808" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3905/18946694760_5e40cccda4_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18511891154" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5809 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5809" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/529/18511891154_5d6205c2ae_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Engligh-language signs are never a good sign, nor are the benches (complete with plush tiger) for posing for souvenir pictures.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19128710822" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5811 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5811" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/353/19128710822_a81392768e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interesting minaret—and heavily reconstructed based on the state of the brickrwok compared to the surrounding wall—with wooden beams sticking out of it. This seems to be a common design feature in Khiva, and I wonder if it has to do with earthquake-proofing, as the "shaking minarets" in Isfahan has similar construction.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19134439285" title="_DSC5812 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5812" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/327/19134439285_cc3e2c14ea_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19137856241" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5813 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5813" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/449/19137856241_64035178be_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get even a little off the main street and suddenly everything is empty, as this street behind the <a href="http://www.pagetour.org/khiva/madrasahs.html#muhammadrakhimkhan2">Muhammed Rakhim Khan madressa</a> is.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19134460325" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5815 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5815" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/410/19134460325_77fc553576_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you can see from this view down a side-street, the other side of the madressaruns along the main east-west road, with all its shops.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18513845533" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5818 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5818" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3919/18513845533_dac3b80c16_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A small patch of greenery separates the madressa from the main drag.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946781970" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5824 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5824" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3791/18946781970_58c19bba92_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the Juma mosque is a large prayer hall filled with 213 wooden columns, the oldest of which are from the 10th century even though the current mosque dates from 1788.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946790780" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5827 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5827" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/431/18946790780_0ce974ae7b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm sure the more ornately carved columns are of much more recent provenance, but they're glorious all the same.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
After visiting the mosque I headed through the Allah Kuli Khan <i>tim</i> (covered market) and into the modern covered market just outside the east gate. It was pretty much your typical Uzbek covered market, with neat rows of vendors behind brick stalls selling attractively-piled produce and other goods. I noticed that a bunch of the vendors were eating plates of plov, and although the food-runner I flagged down as he was delivering some wasn't able to sell me any, he pointed me to the cafeteria where he was getting it. They say that eating where taxi drivers eat is usually a god way to get decent food at a god price, but in Central Asia a better rule may be to eat where the market ladies eat. It was good stuff, but the market plov in Dushanbe's Green market remains my favourite.</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946916578" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5829 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5829" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/347/18946916578_b6d1c6e476_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can climb the Juma minaret, but the views from the taller Islam Khoja minaret are arguably more impressive.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18948389179" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5830 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5830" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/508/18948389179_046ebc8bda_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking northeast from the minaret at the Allah Kuli Khan enemble. The building with a modern roof is the caravnserai, which has been converted to a modern covered market, while the domed building below it is the "tim" (covered market), which is apparently where slaves were traded well into the 20th century. To the right is his madressa. Not the rooftop chairs and benches for tourist photos—eliminating unsightly street scenes and opening the opportunity for period dress.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19138437181" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="1326443359_5273 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="1326443359_5273" height="429" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/510/19138437181_2fff21cd6a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Nadar
took this picture of a slave market in 1890. Though it isn't from Khiva,
but from elsewhere in what is now Uzbekistan, it is Khiva that is most famous for its slave markets.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18513918983" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5833 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5833" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3868/18513918983_0eccf4ff42_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west over Kalta Minor and modern Khiva beyond the old city walls.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18512113454" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5835-_DSC5845 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5835-_DSC5845" height="382" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/450/18512113454_aebd163614_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at the Pakhlavan Mahmud mausoleum. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19138069411" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5847 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5847" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/541/19138069411_8a133f2686_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bird's eye view of the tourist stalls across from the mausoleum complex, and a wedding procession.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19128963942" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5861 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5861" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/297/19128963942_d02520e805_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Descending the minaret stairs.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19128981532" title="_DSC5877 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5877" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/419/19128981532_85166be3cb_z.jpg" width="448" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18512183864" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5881 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5881" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/420/18512183864_e7e0fbd06f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19128994632" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5885 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5885" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/364/19128994632_08db364297_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turkmen-style sheepskin hats sold along the road.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18948588159" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5886 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5886" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/406/18948588159_c368031aea_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madressa in the shade of Kalta Minor.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947128688" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5888 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5888" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/285/18947128688_005c354251_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madressa minaret.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947019260" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="v by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="v" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/273/18947019260_25741af60f_z.jpg" width="464" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Probably the most attractive complete minaret, in my opinion, is this stubby little tower across from the Ark entrance.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19138157881" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5891-_DSC5893 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5891-_DSC5893" height="408" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/497/19138157881_2cb66e76f0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to the Muhamed Rakhim Khan madressa is itself surrounded by a courtyard. Note the earthen tandoors in the foreground, with two upright ovens in the middle and one tilted tandoor at the right.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947153608" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5894-_DSC5897 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5894-_DSC5897" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/393/18947153608_efc6a13118_z.jpg" width="604" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to the Ark, with the Kalta Minor behind.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19129038762" title="_DSC5899 - _DSC5900 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5899 - _DSC5900" height="289" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/469/19129038762_39371bee46_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947167178" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5901 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5901" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/534/18947167178_e1d59f6b23_z.jpg" width="516" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from outside the west gate.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19129049742" title="_DSC5904 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5904" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/300/19129049742_670c0a1691_z.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19138194341" title="_DSC5906 - _DSC5907 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5906 - _DSC5907" height="349" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/332/19138194341_3579005a90_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947189038" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5910 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5910" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/495/18947189038_837ac7e2b6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Things begin to quiet down in the late afternoon.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947080250" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5913 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5913" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/333/18947080250_b04f3dd83f_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ark's "summer mosque" (an iwan-style mosque that is open on one side is referred to as a summer mosque—at least if there is also an enclosed "winter mosque" in the same complex) sports a gorgeously-tile mihrab and wall.</td></tr>
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</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19138213031" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5914-_DSC5915 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5914-_DSC5915" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/510/19138213031_b35b451406_z.jpg" width="563" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shops, shops, and more shops.</td></tr>
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</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18512287234" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5921 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5921" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/498/18512287234_6838349974_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Juma minaret (the ticket for the minaret is separate than for the mosque).</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19138233461" title="_DSC5923 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5923" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/272/19138233461_33deb98b87_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19134824855" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5924 - _DSC5925 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5924 - _DSC5925" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/355/19134824855_baecde9285_z.jpg" width="584" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking south to the Islam Khoja minaret.</td></tr>
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</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18512303454" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5928 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5928" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/289/18512303454_917b9b1620_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East towards the Allah Kuli Khan madressa, with covered markets behind.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18514207243" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5938 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5938" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/438/18514207243_2147c22405_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the Qutlugh Murad Inaq madressa's corner minarets, as viewed through a portal in the Juma minaret.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947139860" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5976 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5976" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/365/18947139860_3c88f5858f_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Islam Khoja madressa's cells have been connected and turned into the museum for applied arts.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19134859295" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5982 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5982" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/511/19134859295_e9fd24c5ce_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Juma minaret in the evening golden hour.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947266428" title="_DSC5990 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5990" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/487/18947266428_ed4ea5d397_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19129147462" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5991 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5991" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/322/19129147462_19c891816e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty green tiles perfectly complement monochrome brick with geometric banding.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18514251613" title="_DSC5992 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5992" height="432" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/352/18514251613_2805e5973e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Although Khiva had the highest concentration of souvenir shops and was the most intensely commercial of all the places I visited in central Asia—despite it being low season—it was surprisingly easy to find solitude by even one minute off the beaten path. And, like in Bukhara, once off the beaten path it was easy to find mosques and madressas that were largely ignored (though in Khiva there weren't any that were the completely unrestored piles of bricks you might see in Bukhara). Near sunset I happened on the Amir Tura madressa, which is actually on the main street leading to the north gate (which isn't used by tourists). Despite being on a main road, there were no tourists there, and the yard in front of the madressa was used by kids playing soccer. There were no shops or vendors inside the madressa, and it was possible not only to climb to the second level of the madressa and explore the abandoned and crumbling cells rooms next to the pishtaq (only the pishtaq and main entrance has two stories—the rest of the building has only one level) but to also climb on the domed roof of the madressa, clambering over the roofs of the cells and taking in the rest of the city.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18514260143" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5996 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5996" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/300/18514260143_bfeaa1d8e9_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the Amir Tura madressa's iwans at dusk.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18948759339" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6000-_DSC6001 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6000-_DSC6001" height="288" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/307/18948759339_6e2bf647d5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the roof of the Amir Tura madressa.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947299098" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6002 - _DSC6003 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6002 - _DSC6003" height="240" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/266/18947299098_f8f0b776bc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View south to the Islam Khoja and Juma minarets.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19138318031" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6006 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6006" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/438/19138318031_cf100ac1f5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the madressa's corner minarets, with the Ark's watchtower in the distance.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19108740476" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6009 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6009" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/541/19108740476_7a6c142c49_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sun sets over the city walls.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19134915805" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6013 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6013" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3841/19134915805_a9d3c0b630_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view from the west ramparts at sunset.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19138330871" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6023 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6023" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3698/19138330871_69231c0d9e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="http://www.pagetour.org/khiva/minarets.html#juma">Bikajan Bika minaret</a> through a loophole in the city walls.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18512478894" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6024-_DSC6036 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6024-_DSC6036" height="124" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/539/18512478894_ef198c03e9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The city at dusk.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19135010695" title="_DSC6046 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6046" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/339/19135010695_c6d661edd4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19129295102" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6049 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6049" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/463/19129295102_7039808c90_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sun sets between minarets. The tin-roofed building is the Alibek
guesthouse, just across from the city walls. I stayed at the <a href="http://laliopa.com/index.htm">Lali-Opa</a>, which
is just a couple doors to the right.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18947420738" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC6051 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC6051" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/549/18947420738_05a4e5f8c8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why are TV antennas so much more aesthetically pleasing than satellite dishes?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
While walking the ramparts around sunset I passed a tourist sitting and reading from a kindle. Despite being a fantastic device for travelers (much lighter than even a single book, with long battery life and free internet access around the world if you have a 3G version), you don't see many people reading from them—everyone loves their smartphones and iPads. It turned out that this guy was also staying at the Lali-Opa guesthouse, as I met him later that evening. He was an American doing an ambitious around-the-world trip, and would be meeting up with his girlfriend in North Africa in a couple of months. As an American, Iranian visas were impossible without a tour guide/escort (a restriction that has since been extended to most Anglophone countries), so he was doing the northern route through Kazakhstan, across the Caspian, then Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia before hitting Turkey (an ideal trip would combine those countries with Iran). We swapped stories, and I vented about how much I found unlikable about Uzbekistan, shocking him with my story about breaking the van window in Samarkand. Of course, that story is pretty shocking, but the interesting thing is that I later ran into him in Istanbul, and he told me he was reminded of my story when he was in Kazakhstan (I think), and tempted to behave similarly.<br />
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Final thoughts on Khiva </h4>
Khiva is very much doable in one day, if a bit cramped. If you arrive in Urgench by train, and get to Khiva in the early afternoon, you'll probably be comfortable with only one extra day in Khiva. Combining Khiva with a daytrip to the nearby desert fortresses collectively known as Elliq-Qala would be ideal, and if you do this daytrip on your last day you can be dropped off afterwards in urgench (if taking the train to Samarkand/Tashkent) or in Beruni (if heading to Nukus) instead of returning all the way to back Khiva and backtracking.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
November 9, from Bukhara to Urgench: 62,000 som + $5<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Marshrutka to market: 600 som</li>
<li>Taxi to Urgench: 50,000 som</li>
<li>Cola, bread, pumpkin: 2,700 som</li>
<li>Cookies: 2,400 som</li>
<li>Room in Urgench: $5</li>
<li>Lagman: 6,300 som</li>
</ul>
November 10, from Urgench to Khiva: 6,700 som + $10<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Dorm bed: $10</li>
<li>Trolley Bus: 700 som</li>
<li>Hot dog: 2,000 som</li>
<li>Bread: 1,000 som</li>
<li>Minaret: 3,000 som</li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Khiva, Uzbekistan41.383333 60.36666700000000741.288031000000004 60.205305500000009 41.478635 60.528028500000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-71188490498330502972012-11-08T14:04:00.000-08:002015-08-08T00:04:22.647-07:00Bukhara <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The overnight train to <a href="http://www.pagetour.org/bukhara/index.php">Bukhara</a> arrives at about 6:30 in the morning, and since it had left Samarkand at around 1:30, I hadn't been able to get too much sleep. But it's nice to be forced to get up that early in the morning, as it really lets you see the city before people and tourists are up and about.<br />
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The Bukhara train station really isn't in Bukhara but in the neighbouring town of Kogon, and is about 15km from the center of Bukhara. But they have regular marshrutkas/buses that run from the station, and if you just follow all the locals leaving the train you'll find them in a lot in front of the station pretty easily. The buses (or at least the one I was on) don't go into the center of historical Bukhara, but skirt the old town, eventually passing by the Ark on their way to the main market west of the Ark. Apparently there are some marshrutkas that go directly to the Lyabi Hauz area, however.<br />
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Before you leave the train station area, however, I suggest you take a couple of minutes to check out the nearby <a href="http://sambuh.com/en/uzbekistan/cities/bukhara-tours-to-bukhara/kagan-bukhara.html">Kogon Palace</a>, apparently built for Tsar Nicholas II, who never arrived to see it. It just in front of the train station, across from the parking lot where the buses and marshrutkas leave from, but it's tucked a bit behind a park so you might not see it immediately.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m36!1m12!1m3!1d9191.631445751085!2d64.42975373576766!3d39.77154188177925!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m21!3e0!4m5!1s0x3f501ca2ce62f71d%3A0x3e2fba8d7c75e4a7!2sBukhara-1+Train+Station%2C+Kogon%2C+Uzbekistan!3m2!1d39.72259!2d64.548293!4m3!3m2!1d39.7733456!2d64.43231399999999!4m3!3m2!1d39.7814215!2d64.411519!4m5!1s0x3f5008a0f768edd7%3A0x5e2537a1788cdbeb!2sThe+Ark%2C+Mirzo+Khait+Str%2C+Buxoro%2C+Uzbekistan!3m2!1d39.77789!2d64.41112!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1435340326378" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe><br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18979923192" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4993 - _DSC4998 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4993 - _DSC4998" height="184" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/328/18979923192_3d94c03aa7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise from the adjacent to the walls of the Ark, shortly after getting off the bus. The Ark was closed for restoration while I was there, and most of the walls that you can see have been pretty heavily restored already.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18959086116" nbsp="" title="_DSC5001"><img alt="_DSC5001" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/351/18959086116_fd92197656_z.jpg" width="526" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kalon minaret behind the Kalon mosque, itself behind a row of shops.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18979932712" nbsp="" title="_DSC5003"><img alt="_DSC5003" height="362" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/393/18979932712_7b5837cb15_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View down the street that runs from the Kalon ensemble to the Ark. To me, Bukhara is immediately more likeable since the old city really feels old, worn, and lived in. Nothing feels glossy or new, and it has much less of a touristy vibe for some reason. I suspect the largely monochrome look of many of the monuments, and the way the blend in with residential buildings and shops, helps contribute to this.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18799143919" nbsp="" title="_DSC5008 - _DSC5012"><img alt="_DSC5008 - _DSC5012" height="198" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/428/18799143919_11f8343cdd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The courtyard between the Kalon mosque complex and the (still functional, non-tourist) Mir-i-Arab madressa in the middle of the picture contains Bukhara's emblemaic Kalon minaret. Yet the shops around it are remarkably low key.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18799148659" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5018 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5018" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/438/18799148659_72a97c00f3_z.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The eastern entrance to the Kalon mosque complex.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18797706108" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5020 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5020" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/296/18797706108_0518b23c7e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the iwan towards the Mir-i-Arab madressa, with a couple of early-rising locals up and about. Tourists aren't allowed to enter the working madressa.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18948871256" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06656p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06656p_p" height="534" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3747/18948871256_61f5e9933a_z.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from inside the Mir-i-Arab madressa in 1890, courtesy French photographer Paul Nadar.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From under the iwan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the Kalon mosque complex, which has a large courtyard anchored by the Kalon mosque at the western end. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18799177499" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5029 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5029" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/294/18799177499_c396c1e168_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tree adds a a lot of character to the complex.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18979976332" nbsp="" title="_DSC5030"><img alt="_DSC5030" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/445/18979976332_001bf87602_z.jpg" width="543" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The east entrance to the Kalon mosque complex with the Kalon minaret behind. Although the minaret is outside the mosque complex's walls, the entrance to the minaret is from inside the complex (but it's no longer possible to climb it).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18959145756" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5031 - _DSC5043 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5031 - _DSC5043" height="149" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/382/18959145756_0e6af25e88_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of the mosque courtyard. On the right you can see an octagonal minbar, or pulpit, in front of the mosque's iwan and pishtaq.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18985388115" title="_DSC5046 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5046" height="427" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/429/18985388115_5d82863c9e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from next to the minbar. The minaret dates from 1127, while the mosque complex is from much later—about 1514.</td></tr>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18959151986" nbsp="" title="_DSC5047"><img alt="_DSC5047" height="301" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/396/18959151986_d98cc7b2db_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18959154036/in/photostream/" nbsp="" title="_DSC5048"><img alt="_DSC5048" height="356" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/380/18959154036_c027809bb7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18959158216" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5050 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5050" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/378/18959158216_82041f4db9_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The minaret from the Mir-i-Arab iwan. The bands of geometric brick patterning is reminiscent of the Sugong-Ta minaret in Turpan, and the narow band of blue tiles just below the viewing platform is apparently the first instance of this kind of coloration in Islamic architecture.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18969745392" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06811p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06811p_p" height="560" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/341/18969745392_d4ef282065_z.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from a similar angle—but from the second story of the madressa—in 1890.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18364748433" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5051 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5051" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/457/18364748433_9a8b7638aa_z.jpg" width="472" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The east iwan and pishtaq to the Kalon mosque courtyard.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18969738452" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06502p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06502p_p" height="441" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/319/18969738452_82f86b1b24_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In 1890 the pishtaq looked considerably rougher.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18980008602" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5053 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5053" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/408/18980008602_27b1543366_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up at the Kalon minaret.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18364755113" nbsp="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5054"><img alt="_DSC5054" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/294/18364755113_6ca065b4d8_z.jpg" width="615" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to the Ulugh beg madressa.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18980015092" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5056 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5056" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/426/18980015092_8b7b465783_z.jpg" width="469" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ornately decorated pishtaq to the Abdul Aziz Khan madressa, located opposite the Ulugh Beg, with multi-colour muqarnas decorating the roof of its iwans.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18959177606" nbsp="" title="_DSC5058"><img alt="_DSC5058" height="362" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/376/18959177606_99c4fbab01_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bukhara has a number of these domed buildings, which were—and remain—covered markets. These are where the main tourist shops are, and this one is the Taki-Zargaron bazaar that specialized in jewelery.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18797775678" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5063 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5063" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/433/18797775678_12a0c9f187_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Iran, markets are like this, except that you rarely see the domes
from the outside as they have miles of networked covered streets
comprising their markets.</td></tr>
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South of the center is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyab-i_Hauz">Lyabi-Hauz</a> area, which has a large pool of
water surrounded by madressas, restaurants, and tourist shops. This
makes it sound rather less atrractive than it is, as even the tourist
shops are pretty low key and unobtrusive. Most guesthouses and hotels are in the
residential sections around this area. Apparently Bukhara used to be full of such pools, which were breeding grounds of disease and insects, until the Soviets filled them in.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18959190346" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5066 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5066" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/466/18959190346_d8a7b0ff7a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nadir Divanbegi Khanaka, which was a Sufist gathering place, lies on the west side of the pool.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=308" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCw1cFjWnmvJNirpRK0u0kt3bV_v2pdYmK-OR1hZ2Zld7xvbem6QZ2EUq1aWDHCl11NYOleXRdRy4HclE5am_1xH_5qqfTtCQPNTvOe9wHviuXF1GrRvtrPNqbx-17XQM3jjXHllZttJI/s640/308.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How it looked in 1911, complete with stork.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18980026102" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5065 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5065" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/338/18980026102_f283696fd7_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A dog makes his bed in a pile of leaves by the Lyabi Hauz pool.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18797787818" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5068 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5068" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/400/18797787818_c20b31ecf8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This mostly-dead tree frames a view of the Khanaka.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18959216876" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5074 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5074" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/280/18959216876_c9b9f71403_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The north side of the pool, just to the right, is occupied by a large chaikhana with gorgeous views. Not the little model of the Kalon minarety in the middle of the pool.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18985458265" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5075 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5075" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/544/18985458265_c0b20deff3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reflection in Lyabi Hauz.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After looking around Lyabi Hauz, I started to look for a place to stay. One of the high-rated places in Lonely Planet was closed, while another didn't have the best vibe and wasn't open to negotiating their $10 rate for dorm rooms—since this is what I paid for a single with a bathroom in Samarkand, I figured I should be able to do better. I walked around south of Lyabi Hauz, and was looking at the entrance to one of the places listed in LP when a local approached me and helped me by poking his head inside the courtyard, seeing that no one was there, then took me a few houses down to another place where someone was up and about. This was just a helpful local, not a tout or commission-seeker, which was nice. They offered $15 for a single room, but when I said I had seen a place that was charging $10, we split the difference at $12.50. And for $12.50, this was probably the best deal I had had on a room so far: the hotel was maybe a year or so old, and it had a TV with English-language news and a sparkling bathroom with a western toilet and a bathtub. Needless to say, I used the shit out of that bathtub.<br />
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Like most hotels in the area, it was arranged like a madressa or caravanserai, with two stories of rooms arranged around the interior courtyard. Only a few rooms had windows that also faced the exterior, which wasn't a big deal as the streets are very narrow and you can't see much anyway.<br />
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By coincidence, it was US election day when I checked in, and when I turned on the TV and found a news channel, they were having a retrospective on Barack Obama and his accomplishments in office. For a while I thought the US had lost its mind and had relegated Obama to being a one-term President, but after a while it became clear the results were not yet in and that they were just talking about what he had done in his first term. Whew!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18959225036" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5076 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5076" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/544/18959225036_4237850412_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To the east of the pool is a park, behind which is the Nadir Divanbegi madressa. </td></tr>
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After a bath and a nap, and then another bath to wake me up, I headed back out to the nearby Lyabi Hauz. On the east side, Nadir Divanbegi madressa was originally designed as a caravanserai, but was converted
into a madressa in the 17th century by Abdul Aziz khan.<br />
<br />
Now, you might be wondering what a caravanserai is, and what one looks like. It's such an exotic sounding word, yet few guidebooks describe them except to say what their function was: a place of shelter for traders and travelers along the Silk Road. For the last couple of months I had been reading about caravanserais—especially Tash Rabat, which seems to be the only caravanserai east of here—but I still had no idea what to expect. And it wasn't really to Iran, where I saw a lot of caravanserais, that I learned what they look like. The short answer is that they typically look quite a bit like madressas: they have exterior walls around an interior courtyard, with rows of shops lining the courtyard. Sometimes they have interior passageways running around the perimeter, with shops on either side. While it seems like most madressas have two stories of study cells, many caravanserais have only one story, and they tend to have unadorned exteriors.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18980069692" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5078 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5078" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/477/18980069692_2bcc37f7d8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A once-and-still caravanserai just south of the Lyabi Hauz pool.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18354475783" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06988p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06988p_p" height="446" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/356/18354475783_0466d01169_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view of a caravenaserai store (or converted madressa cell) in 1890.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18848512628" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5079 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5079" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3855/18848512628_81a6cd07e4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Under the dome of one of Bukhara's small covered markets, along the lines of the Taki-Zargaron bazaar seen above.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18959234476" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5080 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5080" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/557/18959234476_097aa8de94_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Random street scene in Bukhara.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18797831518" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5082 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5082" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/341/18797831518_be566340a6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A stork's nest decorates one of the minarets on the Abdul Aziz Khan madressa.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18980082322" nbsp="" title="_DSC5084"><img alt="_DSC5084" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/335/18980082322_615dcdc113_z.jpg" width="573" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The interior of the madressa. You can see patches where restored tiles have fallen off.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18364831243" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5085 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5085" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/324/18364831243_5cd0e735ae_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crumbling muqarnas reveal the hollow-shell construction techniques, and plaster muqarnas.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18362929424" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5086 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5086" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3948/18362929424_193b9f1e57_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Over at the Kalon mosque complex, under the domed colonnade surrounding the courtyard.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18797846408" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5087 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5087" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/337/18797846408_68e78a7a05_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View between columns.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18799312709" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5091 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5091" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/275/18799312709_6430c24391_z.jpg" width="453" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view of the courtyard tree.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18364861753" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5093 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5093" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/507/18364861753_890495fb0a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The northern iwan.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18379532453" nbsp="" title="_DSC5096"><img alt="_DSC5096" height="591" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3690/18379532453_1592792795_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The minaret from next to the octagonal minbar.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18812515320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5100 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5100" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/525/18812515320_a017809022_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For some reason the clearly restored interior walls aren't as objectionable as restorations in Samarkand are. Maybe it's because they feel modern and don't seem to be pretending to be anything they aren't.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18994774392" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5102 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5102" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3902/18994774392_e3ebf67ec6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the mosque area with its blue tiles to the eastern sections.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18812564488" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5103-_DSC5105 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5103-_DSC5105" height="199" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/260/18812564488_9045180ecb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The octagonal minbar. This was used to duplicate prayers from inside the mosque proper to those praying in the courtyard.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18379555253" title="_DSC5109 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5109" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3732/18379555253_a5aacda215_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18377669994" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5111 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5111" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/504/18377669994_f7883894f3_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The decorative bands and blue stripe on the minaret are clearly visible in the mid-day sun. The minaret was heavily damaged by the Russians when they took Bukhara in 1920.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIrWlukH9lHYvBwuetkwphACzLhetQFlJ32CiYAu06OLN-Fsa3s2veanMAz5NB6osGHGr5_2Qcd7NpjC_UDD4jIbIyBPabfoC4z8d7SkYuDBLrXmlCF0l1dNrFAsbTzuokupboDACnD0/s1600/img_2322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="622" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIrWlukH9lHYvBwuetkwphACzLhetQFlJ32CiYAu06OLN-Fsa3s2veanMAz5NB6osGHGr5_2Qcd7NpjC_UDD4jIbIyBPabfoC4z8d7SkYuDBLrXmlCF0l1dNrFAsbTzuokupboDACnD0/s640/img_2322.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The damaged minaret in 1920.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18994794242" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5113 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5113" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3762/18994794242_5c3b5bedb3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madressa dome and pishtaq, then the outer and inner pishtaqs of the mosque complex.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18379572323" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5118 - _DSC5119 recti by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5118 - _DSC5119 recti" height="241" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/383/18379572323_2b9c53bc12_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only a handful of Uzbeki tourists.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18377687424" nbsp="" title="_DSC5121"><img alt="_DSC5121" height="640" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3722/18377687424_3925d1dc6e_z.jpg" width="521" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19000270225" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5123 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5123" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/499/19000270225_d6e8ebc409_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main market is a few blocks west of the Ark. Here's a little dog checking me out next to an old Soviet car.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18812564640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5124 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5124" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/356/18812564640_fe5944ffab_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Next to the market is a section of the old city walls.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18974028116" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5126 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5126" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3819/18974028116_c7a667d86b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the walls are less restored than others. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18814075299" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5130 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5130" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/324/18814075299_6b7408988d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the inside of the walls there are fewer signs of restoration, and locals use the green space adjacent to them to graze their animals. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18974037016" title="_DSC5131 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5131" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/396/18974037016_a8d1d0ec5b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18814083629" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5133 - _DSC5134 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5133 - _DSC5134" height="203" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3746/18814083629_e39430d2f3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a large pond next to the walls.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18379608163" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5141 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5141" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/270/18379608163_e6cbdd5868_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the other side of the pond is a park with some monuments as well as a Ferris Wheel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19003336721" title="_DSC5143 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5143" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/534/19003336721_62472d9d04_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18994859412" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5148 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5148" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/459/18994859412_16f6d5f2ba_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone everywhere loves to fish.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19003347551" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5149 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5149" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/327/19003347551_ecf8b4d5b9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Next to the Ferris Wheel is another one of Bukhara's surviving lyabi, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samanid_Mausoleum">tomb of Ismail Samani</a>. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18812614880" nbsp="" title="_DSC5150"><img alt="_DSC5150" height="595" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/512/18812614880_c1dd526225_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This monochrome brick mausoleum is, with the exception of the domed roof, largely un-restored even though it dates from 892. The lighter colour on the lower section is, I believe, a result of the mausoleum being partially buried for a long period of time.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18812619490" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5151 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5151" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/296/18812619490_7bfab2a131_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The spiky little roof dome. Like many, I believe this is one of the most charismatic and attractive buildings in Samarkand. In many ways the Masusoleums in Ozgen, in their monochromatic red, are deeply similar.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19000333615" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5153 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5153" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/392/19000333615_521af4110f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pretty little cat guards one of the entrances, next to a donation.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18812628760" title="_DSC5155 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5155" height="415" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/357/18812628760_8345cbd279_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18812673788" nbsp="" title="_DSC5156"><img alt="_DSC5156" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/458/18812673788_6f268e79e7_z.jpg" width="545" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The nearby Abdullah Khan and Modari Khan madressas are relatively anonymous and untouristed, and together they form the <a href="http://eurasia.travel/uzbekistan/cities/bukhara/modari-khan_madrassah/">Kosh ("double") madressa ensemble</a>. The <a href="http://www.zukhrotravel.com/en/uzbekistan-en/bukhara-city-en/modari-khan-madrassah-en.html">Modari Khan</a> is very simple monochrome brick on the inside, and in the high season contains the usual shops and restaurants—but was dead when I was there. The Abdullah Khan, on the other hand, has an interior of polychrome tiles, but is unusual in that the missing tilework has been filled in with monochrome backing, making it abundantly clear what is restored.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18379662293" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5160 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5160" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3755/18379662293_d879102fd9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back on the street by the Kalon mosque. Although there are a few souvenir vendors, most of the shops are selling things to locals.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18994898002" nbsp="" title="_DSC5163"><img alt="_DSC5163" height="628" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3896/18994898002_8f971310f0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The facade of the Mir-i-Arab madressa at sunset.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18812689308" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5164 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5164" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/348/18812689308_c19ef9c77a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking more like Samarkand, with the turquoise tiles. I think I would prefer monochrome brick decoration.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18812653280" nbsp="" title="_DSC5165"><img alt="_DSC5165" height="335" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/561/18812653280_26fa39df8c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back over the Kalon mosque at sunset.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18812695698" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5169 - _DSC5171 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5169 - _DSC5171" height="592" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3734/18812695698_4199c46805_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kalon minaret with the Mir-i-Arab madressa behind it. It's in credible just how red the buildings appear at sunset. The monochrome domes on the right belong to the Alim Khan madressa.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18994916862" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5178 - _DSC5186 equi by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5178 - _DSC5186 equi" height="365" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/536/18994916862_1828549cf8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A wider view. You can see from the distance seaparating the outer and inner iwans of the Kalon mosque just how wide the surrounding arcade is.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18377800734" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5187 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5187" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/335/18377800734_0e6d569fd9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the south side the inner and outer iwans don't even line up with each other.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18377814904" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5192 - _DSC5202 kalon by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5192 - _DSC5202 kalon" height="374" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/448/18377814904_2b21112184_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view of the minaret area. There were only a handful of tourists around to enjoy the views.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19036196585" title="_DSC5205 - _DSC5206 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5205 - _DSC5206" height="317" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/381/19036196585_09e56476bf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18377867194" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5214 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5214" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/356/18377867194_65b5d009a9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset over the Taki-Zargaron bazaar.</td></tr>
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<br />
As I was taking the above pictures of sunset, disaster struck: something inside my 18-200 lens broke, leaving me unable to zoom. For the past few days I had had difficulty zooming my lens, as it would feel very stiff during some sections, before releasing and letting me keep zooming. But whatever part was being stressed on the inside had finally snapped, and could be heard rattling around inside. I'm not sure when the damage was initially incurred, but after I got home and started to review my pictures at full size on computer that could handle doing so, it became apparent that something had been wrong with the lens for quite some time, as many pictures had been significantly softer on the left hand side for some time (something which was particularly apparent when stitiching together panoramas of the Pamirs, as the soft left-hand side of pictures are abruptly stitched to the much-sharper right-hand side of adjacent images). This meant that I was now left with only my 85mm lens to work with—a big problem given that this is effectively a 120mm lens on my D300's cropped sensor, and most of my pictures tend to be wide-angle. It's an even bigger problem given that there are few shops in Central Asia that carry DSLR lenses, and the majority of those that do only carry Canon equipment. I was to be without a wide-angle lens until I was able to find a replacement lens in Iran, which will limit the number and quality of pictures until then—no doubt a relief to those having to scroll past the plethora of pictures I'm spamming this blog with. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18995008692" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5221 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5221" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3877/18995008692_80f29de077_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like the Sher-Dor madressa in Samarkand, the Nadir Divanbegi madressa on the Lyabi Hauz features the usually-forbidden depiction of living things. Here, a smiling sun, flanked by phoenixes and horses.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="_DSC5222" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/351/19003510871_59b8f35017_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The left-hand phoenix and horse.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18882699610" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5226 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5226" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/433/18882699610_d7d7e417b1_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whimsical Chor Minor. The name translates to "four minarets," even though they were apparently not intended to function as minarets, but as the decorative entrance to a no-longer-existing madressa.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=68" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFujcpsSKGg2XyPNdHzsWP9iqXrk2Tg6CtbqF4yVaQHPneXxhmw6U49dkkrBU-IdBmX6f6KRk_TPTXFiPSs3RqencbUmGHQ2C5RzVe8IbWgq6YzQlpIBBqjeAQLHj7AY-m5UP_P3qAGgM/s640/68.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In 1911 the area around Chor Minor was much more cramped.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19065169642" nbsp="" title="_DSC5227-_DSC5276 architectural"><img alt="_DSC5227-_DSC5276 architectural" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/453/19065169642_e304743034_z.jpg" width="637" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With only an 85mm lens available, I was only able to get this picture by stitching together over 50 individual pictures. As I didn't lock focus before starting, however, on the full-resolution image you can see the focus changes in different areas of the picture. There's a souvenir shop on the entrance level, but upon ascending I found it to be wonderfully tranquil—I had the entire place to myself—and a great place to take in the city.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18882756960" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5297 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5297" height="640" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3770/18882756960_73481a1d40_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west from Chor Minor, towards the Kalon complex. Unlike in Samarkand, they haven't tried to sanitize the city and wall off these residential sections from tourists' eyes.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19073802361" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5299 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5299" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3687/19073802361_d86f6e594f_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view south.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18882874640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5301 - _DSC5302 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5301 - _DSC5302" height="324" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/519/18882874640_956052bf5a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few kilometers east of the old city is a park containing the <a href="http://eurasia.travel/uzbekistan/cities/bukhara/exploring_other_sights/">Saifuddin Bukharzi Mazaar </a>(Mausoleum) on the left and the smaller Bayan Kuli Khan Mazaar on the right.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19044272686" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5303 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5303" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/326/19044272686_67af12ea3c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These buildings have escaped over-restoration, and in the Bayan Kuli Khan Mazaar in particular you can see some original tile-work unobscured by modern imitations.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18884267479" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5304 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5304" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/450/18884267479_0bd115ddbc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The spiky dome of the Saifuddin Bukharzi Mazaar.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18882859488" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5307 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5307" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3859/18882859488_b4dee5d01a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of the iwan tile-work on the Bayan Kuli Khan Mazaar.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19064948512" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5311 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5311" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/546/19064948512_0c9880b2cb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These domes are almost as attractive, to me, as the smooth turquoise domes seen on more ornate buildings, and probably more attractive than the ribbed domes that typify the height of Timurid architecture.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18882750418" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5312 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5312" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/354/18882750418_6512742768_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking through the park. I suspect that even in the high season very few tourists go here, or to the nearby <a href="http://eurasia.travel/uzbekistan/cities/bukhara/fayzabad_khanaka/">Fayzabad Khanaka</a>, but they're definitely worth a visit.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18884344809" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5316 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5316" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/348/18884344809_818d5e4a5e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a large market a block east of the mausoleum complex, and I bought some fruits and vegetables there. These stubby little carrots were delicious, and came in hues ranging from deep orange to pale yellow tinged with green. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19073705331" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5317 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5317" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/364/19073705331_e7175333f5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The top of a tall and rather attractive Art-Deco-style Soviet building in Bukhara, next to the stadium, on the way from the market to the Jewish cemetery.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19044231356" nbsp="" title="_DSC5327"><img alt="_DSC5327" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/264/19044231356_7c32a82238_z.jpg" width="445" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to the Jewish cemetery is a rather typical looking portal topped with a Star of David instead of an Islamic crescent.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukharan_Jews">Bukharan Jews</a> is a term that is used to refer to pretty much all Central Asian Jews, and originates from the sizable population of Jews that was <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Bukharan_Jews.html">centered in Bukhara from pre-Islamic times</a>. The Jewish Quarter of Bukhara is pretty much everything between Lyabi Hauz and the cemetery a kilometer or so to the south, although post-Soviet emigration has resulted in a much smaller population of Jews today—<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/04/uzbekistan-long-persecuted-bukhara-jews-150428083657675.html">perhaps as few as 150</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18882888728" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5320 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5320" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3902/18882888728_20836b9209_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grave marker in the cemetery.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19070496745" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5324 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5324" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/277/19070496745_091f3c76b0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The condition of these markers is a testament to the age of the cemetery, which is mostly a baking-hot desert devoid of any vegetation except on the perimeter.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18884376579" nbsp="" title="_DSC5325"><img alt="_DSC5325" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/302/18884376579_51fddae22b_z.jpg" width="490" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barely-legible Hebrew.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The walk from the cemetery back north through the Jewish Quarter to the center of Bukhara is quite pleasant, as it feels extremely untouristed and there are some old, unrestored mosques and madressas along the way, full of crumbling brick and collapsed walls. This gives a nice feel for just how old the city n its monuments are, and it's interesting to see that some of them are still places of religious significance and reverence.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18448008954" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5332 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5332" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/523/18448008954_b11b211c5f_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Khoja Gaukushan Ensemble, a couple of blocks west of the Lyabi Hauz,
contains a mosque, madressa, hauz, and the Khoja Kalon minaret, which
is like a smaller version of the Kalon minaret (and without the blue
band at the top).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18449766233" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5334 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5334" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/387/18449766233_2fb1bc00d5_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Taki Saraffon trading dome is on the southwest corner of the Lyabi Hauz complex, and is full of tourist shops. It kind of looks like a Disneyland version of old Arabic architecture, with surprisingly little charm.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19044349596" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5336 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5336" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/393/19044349596_9cf8267be0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks like 95% of the bricks in these structures are new. Needs more dirt.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18448267724" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5338-_DSC5350 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5338-_DSC5350" height="544" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/482/18448267724_786c74bb41_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gorgeous southern entrance of the <a href="http://www.visituzbekistan.travel/sightseeing/bukhara/magok-i-attari-mosque/">Magok-i Attari mosque</a>, reputedly Central Asia's oldest extant mosque. Monochrome brick work with only accents of turquiose tiles and a sympathetic restoration makes this incredibly attractive.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19073793291" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5353 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5353" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/428/19073793291_2db1073785_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mosque window through some branches.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18884293959" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5355 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5355" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/348/18884293959_1fd8b570be_z.jpg" width="483" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to the <a href="http://www.pagetour.org/bukhara/bu/Toqi_Telpak.htm">Taki-Telpak Furushon trading dome</a> from next to the old mosque. This is pretty much the epicenter of Bukhara's tourist trade, as the old market
is lined with souvenir and craft shops. But aside from the streets
leading north from the dome towards the Kalon minaret complex, and east
to the Lyabi Hauz complex, it's easy to get away from the souvenir shops
and forget they are there</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18448271714" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5358 - _DSC5359 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5358 - _DSC5359" height="521" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/267/18448271714_ecc67359d1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="http://www.pagetour.org/bukhara/bu/Mullo_Tursunjon.htm">Mullo Tursunjon madressa</a> is a few blocks west of the Taki-Telpak Furushon dome.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19064911892" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5363 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5363" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/474/19064911892_4141d0d8c0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back from the madressa towards the dome.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19070454385" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5364 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5364" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3754/19070454385_eee8a318be_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">North of the Mullo Tursunjon madressa, in a maze of back streets, is the Khoja Zaynuddin mosque, which contains a dry hauz and an air of decrepitude. Yet it also feels like a working mosque, and is very charismatic, making me really regret my broken lens. This is a view from the pool area over to the dome of the nearby Kalon mosque.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18449740953" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5366 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5366" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3731/18449740953_23691994dd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The all-too-imaculate walls of the Ark are obviously of recent reconstruction.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19044342766" title="_DSC5367 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5367" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/431/19044342766_718156d6d6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18449830103" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5369 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5369" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3715/18449830103_40bd57e5a9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cute dog comes to visit, and see if I'll give him some food. There are a surprising number of dogs kept as pets in Uzbekistan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19075945911" title="_DSC5372 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5372" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/357/19075945911_0e75882813_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gorgeous and unusual <a href="http://www.visituzbekistan.travel/sightseeing/bukhara/balo-hauz-mosque/">Bolo Hauz mosque</a> is across the ring road from the entrance to the Ark. As the name implies, it sits behind one of Bukhara's remaining hauz pools, and has the unusual design of having a tall open rectangular portico (technically an iwan, since it's closed on three sides) supported by wood columns topped with carved muqarna capitals and a richly-painted wooden roof. I arrived just as prayers were letting out.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19044276226" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5376 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5376" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/514/19044276226_089fe83600_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muqarnas and ceiling beams are all brightly decorated.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18448024794" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5377 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5377" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/354/18448024794_c9924829c0_z.jpg" width="461" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the Ismail Samani Mazaar is the <a href="http://www.pagetour.org/bukhara/bu/Chashma_Ayub.htm">Chashma-i-Ayub mausoleum</a>, with an interesting conical dome. Such conical domes are characteristic of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khwarezm">Khorezmian</a> architecture, from the area around Khiva and Konye Urgench. I'm not sure if they are true domes—conical and bee-hive domes are frequently corbelled, and lack an apex keystone that you see in true domes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18884424539" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5379 - _DSC5380 2 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5379 - _DSC5380 2" height="623" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3757/18884424539_327b8601dc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There were some desperately poor kids begging near here—the only beggars I really saw anywhere on my trip.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18883074110" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5382-_DSC5384 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5382-_DSC5384" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/353/18883074110_77231853cf_z.jpg" width="546" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back at the Ismail Samani mausoleum. It has much more character when direct sunlight throws the brick patterns into relief, and glows orange in the evening sun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18883078870" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5390 - _DSC5391 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5390 - _DSC5391" height="290" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/328/18883078870_2943a21ec4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kalon ensemble from the Ferris Wheel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18884260709" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5392 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5392" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/514/18884260709_f3cfb6b0fe_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Ferris Wheel, looking over the two mausoleums.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18884278899" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5393 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5393" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/484/18884278899_032ae9bd82_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entire park was pretty quiet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18448027994" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5396 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5396" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/517/18448027994_639d6c9799_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the top. Not many people were on the Ferris Wheel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18884326459" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5403 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5403" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/289/18884326459_3cc633792d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pond with the old city walls behind it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19073816571" nbsp="" title="_DSC5404"><img alt="_DSC5404" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/496/19073816571_7fcdb787de_z.jpg" width="514" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ark gatehouse.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=1030" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPFgYkWoSiuv-0mYaTZJgDhxGdPlzEvigFor63dPklKqbxuFCZ3uWTZ9m5WE1OgFBX2txKpXazAGeSCq5sSbRTxdEMOIF2KxSe9eKVxMp0W6bmAk_8anp393m6UFDN4WJdvHDLwQTDgLM/s640/1030.jpg" width="634" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As it appeared in 1911.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19064836932" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5405 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5405" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3667/19064836932_bd477b6d1e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fiery bricks in the evening sun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19064874552" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5406 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5406" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/505/19064874552_675de9ab8d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kalon mosque dome.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18449877293" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5407 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5407" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3944/18449877293_1fa741e816_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evening strollers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19044227706" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5410 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5410" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3828/19044227706_e2c959e686_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A wedding party by Lyabi Hauz.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18449903713" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5411 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5411" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/378/18449903713_f54b44bb53_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Taki Saraffon domes from the southern edge of Lyabi Hauz square.The tourist shops that line the square and adjoining streets are mostly tasteful.</td></tr>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939517468" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5413 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5413" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/303/18939517468_d89c690d91_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This section of the Ark's old un-restored wall shows just how much work has been done.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19130530171" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5417 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5417" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/267/19130530171_e1906825e3_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking into the Kalon mosque's courtyard.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18504617834" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5418 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5418" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3787/18504617834_67a2edf3be_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bread in Bukhara was probably the best since Xinjiang. In the mountains, in particular, it's difficult to find fresh bread, and much of the bread in other places is much thicker and meatier. The middle section of this Bukhara bread, in particular, is thin and crunchy, with little pockets of chewiness in the puffy square bits. I was eating a lot of bread and jam as on on-the-go snack.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939427120" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5420 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5420" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/558/18939427120_1dfc336d92_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kalon mosque's dome.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19121452262" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5421 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5421" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/475/19121452262_38ac688ba3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The domes of the MIr-i-Arab madressa and the entrance pishtaq. Note how all of the tiles other than at the very top of the clumun appear to be reconstructed.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939544808" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5423 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5423" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3831/18939544808_fc8826e8d2_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lyabi Hau's chaikhana reflected in the pool, with the pishtaq of the Kulekdash madressa behind it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18506539253" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5426 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5426" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/275/18506539253_29dc08c929_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you read the Lonely Planet, you will see lots of references to ghanch, which they variously define as both plaster and alabaster, and use mainly to describe the muqarna stalactites used to decorate domes and iwans. In reality, ghanch refers to carved stone similar to alabaster. These muqarnas appear to be carved from ghanch, though most modern reconstructions are made from plaster as we've seen above.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18941020119" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5427 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5427" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/358/18941020119_b9b4214254_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These muqarnas are from the richly-decorated Abdul Aziz Khan madressa.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18941024719" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5430 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5430" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/384/18941024719_7f98fc53d2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up an iwan.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19127170735" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5435 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5435" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/332/19127170735_5c91e71cf1_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More gorgeous muqarnas, with sympathetic restoration.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939465240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5440 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5440" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/310/18939465240_cb25145b0e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More carved ghanch muqarnas, with their original paint.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18969750082" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06547p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06547p_p" height="432" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/311/18969750082_7a55cce63d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madressa iwan in 1890.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19101019426" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5444 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5444" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/543/19101019426_172150908c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View over market domes towards the back of the Mir-i-Arab, from between the Abdul Aziz Khan and Ulugh Beg madressa pair.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939590138" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5445 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5445" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/528/18939590138_611ba38033_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Abdul Aziz Khan's entrance iwan has sxtremely bright colours that may reflect how it originally looked, but which appears bizarre given the age of the building.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18941058329" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5446 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5446" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/422/18941058329_d33dc244bd_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cell in Ulugh Beg madressa, located opposite the Abdul Aziz Khan madressa.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19121508192" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5448 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5448" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/427/19121508192_19c823dc60_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes you're walking around town when you small freshly baking bread and you begin to salivate. Often the bakery is nothing more than a hole in the wall, helpfully signposted like this, with a naan stuck on a nail next to the door. Poke your head inside and buy one for 35¢ or so.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=102" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd7LFf3lGKyZzPyqmKjexTtW10w0th4nEe69_zQhPI1ZxnDJ50es3e1f6vZyMa0ANHtYbvsJ3_vqQYyav96GPYd-c-6fJZ3WDa0mXlbZjhK0VvhTu7XiEFb4DPbR1dIvhH1YWhxsmPALo/s640/102.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These doorway bakeries appear little changed from 1911.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18506589003" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5450 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5450" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/446/18506589003_a8b510feac_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you walk around, you'll encounter old, crumbling, and unrestored mosques, madressas and caravanserais. Some are locked up, like this one, but some are not.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19130609601" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5451 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5451" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/506/19130609601_b5effc3366_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even in the ones that are locked up, you can still get a sense of what lies behind.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
In the afternoon I went to take a look at the bazaar a few kilometers north of the old city, from where shared taxis to places like Urgench and Khiva leave. Part of my reason for doing this is because departure points often differ from what is listed in LP, and I wanted to make sure I would show up in the right place the next day. I confirmed cars to Urgench left from there, and was offered a ride from a somewhat desperate driver (most cars leave in the morning, so he really wanted to fill his car up) who kept dropping his price. At least I had an idea of how much to pay the next morning. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
After exploring the market, I headed north to explore the <a href="http://www.uzbekjourneys.com/2014/02/bukharas-summer-palace-sitora-i-mokhi.html">Sitora-i Mokhi-Khosa</a>—the Emir's summer palace—built by the last Emir of Bukhara and largely dating from the early 20th century. The palace was built in Russian style, and was mostly furnished in western style, though it also contains a hauz pool next to the harem building (also built in a western style). While the building is interesting in itself, it's especially interesting to compare it with the buildings and street scenes depicted in Paul Nadar's 1890 pictures, which are roughly contemporaneous (indeed, one of Paul Nadar's more remarkable pictures is of Tashkent's train station, which seems extremely out of place given all the other scenes he memorialized). Unfortunately, these kinds of architectural views really aren't amenable to capturing with an 85mm lens, so I have no pictures.</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19121522192" title="_DSC5458"><img alt="_DSC5458" height="425" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/288/19121522192_98582d9b9c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way to the summer palace I had my first-ever close-up view of cotton plants. They had been cut down and dumped in the middle of the street, their pods open and raw cotton billowing out. Uzbekistan is one of the world's largest producers of cotton, and the Soviet decision to turn the country into a cotton producer is largely responsible for the Aral Sea drying up (much water was—and is—diverted to feed the thirsty cotton plants). Today, Uzbekistan is notorious for the forced labour and slavery surrounding the cotton industry, as every year students and citizens are forced into the fields to bring in the crop.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m30!1m12!1m3!1d26633.736144261435!2d64.42141647350715!3d39.794824105703896!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m15!3e0!4m5!1s0x3f5008a0f768edd7%3A0x5e2537a1788cdbeb!2sThe+Ark%2C+Mirzo+Khait+Str%2C+Buxoro!3m2!1d39.77789!2d64.41112!4m3!3m2!1d39.8044778!2d64.4282168!4m3!3m2!1d39.8143333!2d64.4406173!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1435348169359" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe><br />
From the Ark to the summer palace, with a stop at the market/taxi point.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19130617631" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5461 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5461" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/392/19130617631_058fb651f2_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back in Bukhara, a view of the Ark's entrance, with guards in the front.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19121529922" nbsp="" title="_DSC5462"><img alt="_DSC5462" height="346" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/266/19121529922_8cbc6766a2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view from the Ark towards the Kalon ensemble. Those cars are parked at a small market tucked behind street-front shops, and they contain carpet sellers and other shops, mainly selling to the local market.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19121538152" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5465 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5465" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/417/19121538152_e1bfa302f4_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The market would be on the other side of this street, behind the store-front shops. In these shops they sell some things to the tourist market on the walkway, but the actual shops are more for locals.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939636088" nbsp="" title="_DSC5467"><img alt="_DSC5467" height="640" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3717/18939636088_38810a04cf_z.jpg" width="503" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mosque corner.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19101078216" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5469-_DSC5474 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5469-_DSC5474" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3908/19101078216_1971ba1eb5_z.jpg" width="514" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tourist shop set into the mosque compound's walls.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19121557362" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5476 - _DSC5477 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5476 - _DSC5477" height="588" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/260/19121557362_59a8eaf242_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kalon minaret and pishtaq.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939561640" nbsp="" title="_DSC5484-_DSC5494"><img alt="_DSC5484-_DSC5494" height="440" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/372/18939561640_a91bd7c88d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Abdul Aziz Khan madressa at sunset. Note the brightly-painted iwan muqarnas.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18506664113" nbsp="" title="_DSC5496"><img alt="_DSC5496" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/479/18506664113_e20a6844f6_z.jpg" width="498" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rear entrance to bazaar shops.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18941143549" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5500 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5500" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/562/18941143549_1c8c342bab_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Mir-i-Arab madressa entrance at sunset.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/19130742301" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5514 - _DSC5535 rectilinear by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5514 - _DSC5535 rectilinear" height="263" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/460/19130742301_462cbdf564_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The madressa's facade.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939744768" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5553 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5553" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/494/18939744768_eeac809a82_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View over a the Alim Khan madressa, located just next to the minaret.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939753468" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5555-_DSC5588 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5555-_DSC5588" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/485/18939753468_7d33621170_z.jpg" width="376" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the south it's easier to see where the minaret was damaged by Russian shelling, and what parts of it have been reconstructed.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18504849134" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5589-_DSC5593 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5589-_DSC5593" height="201" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/360/18504849134_e0af6a10db_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from next to the Alim Khan madressa.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939769268" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5599 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5599" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/326/18939769268_6832118ca2_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mir-i-Arab's iwan at night.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939663960" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5608 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5608" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/556/18939663960_17ef24ea75_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of the pishtaq top.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18939778478" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5632 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5632" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/336/18939778478_23a54e9ee0_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At night the Lyabi Hauz monuments are bathed in green light.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18941246079" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5634 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5634" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3718/18941246079_d85c202cbc_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This Russian lady wanted me to take pictures of her and her son. This was a bit weird, since Russians generally don't do this (nor do Uzbekis, for that matter).</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18506773253" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5635 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5635" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/317/18506773253_d5091aa5d8_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After taking her picture she asked for money, which wasn't shocking. Her son wandered away when she asked.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18941260489" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5637 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5637" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/262/18941260489_4e2b8901fe_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nadir Divanbegi madressa's pishtaq mosaic.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18506787953" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5638 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5638" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/318/18506787953_68001abc7f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance of the Nadir Divanbegi Khanaka.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18941268069" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC5654 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC5654" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/357/18941268069_defabc90a5_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And reflected in the hauz.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="432" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18978121141/in/album-72157654739212296/player/" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Paul Nadar's Bukhara photographs.</span></div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
November 6: 2,500 som + $12.50<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Room: $12.50</li>
<li>Bread x 2: 2,500</li>
</ul>
November 7: 26,000 som + $12.50<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Room: $12.50</li>
<li>Bread, coffee, coke: 5,000 som</li>
<li>Internet: 4,000 som</li>
<li>Pears & carrots: 4,500 som</li>
<li>Ferris wheel, ice cream, hot dog, bread: 4,400 som</li>
<li>Dinner: 8,000 som</li>
</ul>
<br />
November 8: 30,000 som + $12.50<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Room: $12.50</li>
<li>Bread: 900 som</li>
<li>Jam & ice tea: 8,000 som</li>
<li>Summer palace: 6,500 som</li>
<li>Bus, bread: 1,500 som</li>
<li>Hot dog, pastry: 3,000 som</li>
<li>Ice tea: 2,000 som</li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Bukhara, Uzbekistan39.7680827 64.45557689999998339.670456200000004 64.294215399999985 39.8657092 64.616938399999981tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-59318226181009742832012-11-05T21:22:00.000-08:002016-06-26T18:55:43.706-07:00Samarkand: the epicenter of over-restored Timurid architecture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The night train to Samarkand departs Tashkent at around 9:00 and arrives in Samarkand shortly after 1:00 in the morning. This is far from ideal, and means I didn't get much sleep on my trip: the smarter thing by far would have been to take the night train all the way to Bukhara, then backtrack to Samarkand, as this would have allowed me to take the night train from Samarkand to Urgench (there's no train from Bukhara to Urgench, as Bukhara is on a different line). A ticket all the way to Bukhara is also only slightly more than simply going to Samarkand, as I paid 40,000 som for a first-class (4-berth kupe) ticket, and all the way to Bukhara would be only 46,000 som.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I arrived at Samarkand at about 1:30, woken up by the conductor maybe 15 minutes beforehand. Somewhat surprisingly, there was a large, illuminated billboard map of Samarkand outside the station, in English. We're clearly in a well-touristed place, now, which is a definite difference.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18873246022" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4392 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4392" height="407" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3692/18873246022_f5504fd5a1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You know you're back on the tourist trail when you see signs like this.</td></tr>
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The station itself was closed, so I wasn't able to kill
some time in there. But given the map, it was fairly easy to figure out
how to walk over to the central tourist district and the Registan. As I
walked down the road leading to the station, I stopped by one of the
little markets that I was surprised to find still open and grabbed a
quick snack.<br />
<br />
I took my time walking into town, and when
I came close to the monuments at around 4:00 I was pleased to find that
many of them are illuminated all night long.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18254654804" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4402 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4402" height="453" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5345/18254654804_06486f1a45_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first monument on the wwy to the Registan area is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gur-e-Amir">Gur-e-Amir mausoleum</a>, built for Temur/Timur/Tamerlane, who founded the Timurid dynasty which is responsible for most of the monuments in Samarkand.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18880011061" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4407 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4407" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5566/18880011061_343a651edf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance portal in front of the Gur-e-Amir.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18256573073" title="_DSC4410 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4410" height="378" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3672/18256573073_ee43fd0ca6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance portal in front of the mausoleum. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18844680242" title="_DSC4414 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4414" height="348" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5341/18844680242_a973c2f7a6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Across from the Gur-e-Amir is another smaller mausoleum, the Rukhobod Mausoleum, which is partially surrounded by this court. As is typical of Uzbekistan today, the stalls now serve as souvenir and craft stores.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18256580623" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4419 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4419" height="401" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3843/18256580623_4e8b665933_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registan">Registan</a> is Samarkand's signature monument complex, and is comprised of three madressas built over a period of 250 years. The Ulugh Beg madressa, on the left, was built from 1417-1420, while the opposing Sher-Dor madressa was constructed in 1619-1636. The central Tilya-Kori madressa was constructed in 1646-1660.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18254676904" title="_DSC4420 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4420" height="386" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5326/18254676904_280c906f40_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5:00 in the morning isn't that bad a time to visit, as it's truly empty at that time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18880029701" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4423 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4423" height="414" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3924/18880029701_874e509734_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the guards for the central building saw me walking around and offered to let me in by selling me a ticket (which was just a used ticket). You can get into most places after hours by bribing people, but I figured it would be better to see everything during the day.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18689536508" title="_DSC4424 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4424" height="334" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5511/18689536508_9e8af97d80_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sher-Dor madressa is famous for the mosaic tigers just above the iwan—portrayal of living beings is forbidden in Islamic art and architecture.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After looking around the exterior of the Registan, I headed across the street to a small cafe that was open and serving locals. I was pretty surprised that you could have a humble cafe on prime real estate across from what is probably the most famous building in Central Asia, but it really was a cheap, blue-collar sort of establishment.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18662139160" title="_DSC4439 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4439" height="393" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5607/18662139160_41efb8ea95_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shortly after 7:00, having eaten breakfast, I returned to the park around the Registan to take some more pictures.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18850992026" title="_DSC4441 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4441" height="294" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3699/18850992026_da20b823f6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's still no one up and about yet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18823589166" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4445 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4445" height="425" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3752/18823589166_ab0dbdbd4d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These buildings look great, but it's difficult to realize how much is the result of restoration, as they either haven't used substantially lighter colours to show what has been restored, or the amount of restored building overwhelms that which is original. It's only when you see old pictures that you really understand just how much work has been done.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=1807" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVxdq2fP1ZJ1_dk0F0fztETGlEOpck2buWHoYj-ZmjwTt5o3qJz1I0mfQ4-6dXWzQ9OWVUYDfV9RTBcPCt98BHNk4z9d8aU5YYCHGqeLEb985ac5fpZpClPHU8huD1oiqLzEnKjkWV_64/s640/1807.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's what this wing of the above madressa looked like in an early
colour photograph taken by Russian photographer <a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/rightpages.php?lang=en&fname=bio">Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky</a> in 1911. A French guy I met earlier in my travels
who was working on architectural restorations told me that the very
aggressive Soviet and post-Soviet restorations of many monuments in
Uzbekistan were excessive by western standards.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724707130" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06931p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06931p_p" height="446" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/539/18724707130_1fb19ab308_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here's what it looked like in 1890, when <a href="http://www.uzbekjourneys.com/2014/10/paul-nadars-images-of-turkestan-1890.html">French photographer Paul Nadar visited the region</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18852581851" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4461 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4461" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5564/18852581851_095a6162a8_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here's what it looks like today.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18784084860" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06927p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"></a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18784084860" title="sap33_ndr06927p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06927p_p" height="487" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/426/18784084860_385d1c27b3.jpg" width="429" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mirror wing in 1890.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18850997336" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4446 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4446" height="360" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5584/18850997336_4649d64535_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The decoration on the Ulugh Beg and Tilya-Kori facades is more appropriately geometrical.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18349239314" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr07167v_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr07167v_p" height="600" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/307/18349239314_4f1392f3f6_z.jpg" width="600" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obstructed view from a similar angle in 1890, with very little tile work above the iwan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18915279141" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06357b_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06357b_p" height="467" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/302/18915279141_def2e8bc3f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A head-on view of Ulugh Beg in 1890. Note that the second story of the madressa is cut off.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18877246985" title="_DSC4448 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4448" height="353" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3880/18877246985_9531139a57_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During the day time, this is about as far as you can go without buying a ticket, as they use barricades and ropes to limit access.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18291765753" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06356b_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06356b_p" height="458" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/520/18291765753_fde4ccdebd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A similar view in 1890. Most of the pishtaq's tile work is missing, as are the domes on the minarets and the dome on the west wing of the madressa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18662100768" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4450 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4450" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5484/18662100768_1bb6212dd4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I guess if you look closely you can see the lighter brickwork that suggests a restoration, but they certainly don't do much to advertise or show you how much of what you see today is a restoration.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18662104128" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4457 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4457" height="425" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3909/18662104128_396c0185f7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moon behind a minaret.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18849861805" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4462 - _DSC4463 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4462 - _DSC4463" height="640" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3673/18849861805_ec03705abf_z.jpg" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These guys wanted me to take their picture. Unfortunately, I was having big problems with my main lens, an 18-200mm zoom, so I had to use an 85mm lens, which means this picture is actually three pictures stitched together.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18852588931" title="_DSC4464 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4464" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3875/18852588931_9141b862fc_z.jpg" width="460" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Iwan">iwan</a> (vaulted space open on one side) entrance to the central the central Tilya-Kori madressa. The iwans on these madressas are set inside pishtaqs, which are the rectangular entrance-way that stand out from the rest of the madressa building.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18662122798" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4469 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4469" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5544/18662122798_57af56b89c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the side wall of one of the madressas.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18227289044" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4479 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4479" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5330/18227289044_7194d5c2b1_z.jpg" width="457" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a large, open, park to the east of the Registan, and a surprisingly quiet park tucked behind the Sher-Dor and Tilya-Kori madressas. The circular Chorsu bazaar is located there (and is, unsurprisingly, now full of tourist shops), and this is a view of the eastern facade of the Tilya-Kori madressa from the park.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18663710139" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4483 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4483" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3846/18663710139_01e70aa108_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View through the park to the entrance of the Ulugh Beg madressa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18849882005" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4485 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4485" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5604/18849882005_f63385e9bf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the large park, near the entrance to the Bahodir guesthouse, looking over at the Chorsu bazaar building, with the Registan madressas behind it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18945517336" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06660p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06660p_p" height="444" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/485/18945517336_5f02c2fc91_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view of the market and Chorsu in 1890, including the rear wall of the Sher-Dor..</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18784090830" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06961p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06961p_p" height="445" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3953/18784090830_4e52337a07_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view of the Chorsu, this time showing the left-hand wall of the Sher-Dor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It was now almost 8:00, and I had been inching closer to the Bahodir guesthouse, a popular place with tourists, and which is literally a stone's throw from where I took the above picture. The only problem was that their door was still closed, and no one was answering my knocks or the buzzer, so I sat down outside the door and did a bit of reading until a guest who was exiting opened the door. They didn't have dorms, but since this was the off-season I was able to get a triple room with attached bathroom all to myself for $10 per night. Sure, the facilities were a bit worn and crumbling, but it was a pretty good deal for the location and ambience. After taking a much-too-long nap to catch on the sleep I hadn't had, it was back out to explore.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18844754652" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4487 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4487" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5567/18844754652_3f5f0f73bd_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An anonymous mosque to the north of the Registan was full of character and tilework, with an unusual standalone minaret</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18872066692" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4489 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4489" height="421" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3764/18872066692_72eb59122e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The minaret base and mosque or study-hall entrance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18852616691" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4492 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4492" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3860/18852616691_bcfdf37f58_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tandoor in the courtyard. Uzbek and most Central Asian tandoors are horizontal, unlike in India and Xinjiang. Both tandoors and bread are virtually sacred in Central Asia, so bread is never thrown out (hence dishes like <i>shir choi</i> that make use of old, hard bread) and tandoors are never destroyed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18849896525" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4494 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4494" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3841/18849896525_f165ba2a21_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Markets and supermarkets are always fun. Here's an unfortunately-named laundry detergent. Ever since it had gotten cooler, I had been carrying my wool sweater everywhere, and wearing it almost every day over the last month. I figured I was probably beginning to smell like mutton (though Megi told me I didn't), but since I needed something warm to wear every day I wasn't able to wash it until I went to southern Iran.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18663730869" title="_DSC4495 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4495" height="398" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5556/18663730869_d9035920a0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Samarkand's market looks like pretty much every other market in Uzbekistan, except that it is right next to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibi-Khanym_Mosque">Bibi Khanum</a> mosque.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18844771962" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4497 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4497" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5601/18844771962_f3b2eb3e8d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From underneath the market's roof.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18844775532" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4499 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4499" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3897/18844775532_7c0cf22182_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After China, there were very few places where you had to pay entrance fees, so coming to Uzbekistan was a bit of a shock. The nice thing is that after buying a ticket for Bibi Khanum you could re-enter for the next couple of days.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18254868224" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4623 - _DSC4627 2 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4623 - _DSC4627 2" height="276" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5479/18254868224_a6938ae07e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you can see from this picture I took the next day, Bibi Khanum mosque is actually a complex of three mosques around a courtyard, with a giant marble Koran holder in the middle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18663741089" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4500 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4500" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5343/18663741089_5d0d0df5fd_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timur reportedly built this huge mosque as a surprise present for his Chinese-born wife.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18254716044" title="_DSC4503 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4503" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5510/18254716044_a1e8da576d_z.jpg" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Being so large and hastily built, the mosque was particularly prone to earthquake damage, as you can still see from the southern side, despite the extensive restorations.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18851019496" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4507 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4507" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3756/18851019496_45d9272380_z.jpg" width="457" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from inside Bibi Khanum Mosque, looking at the inside of the entrance pishtaq.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18844787952" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4511 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4511" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3736/18844787952_bc799df9d2_z.jpg" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The marble Koran holder, looking south. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18662175098" title="_DSC4515 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4515" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5579/18662175098_d071f416a7_z.jpg" width="583" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bibi Khanum mosque's iwan, and the Koran holder.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18663760909" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4517 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4517" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3849/18663760909_f7629d508d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Souvenir vendors under the dome of the northern mosque. The market is just behind it. </td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18691111889" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4521 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4521" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5483/18691111889_6bd2489b9e_z.jpg" width="423" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The evening sun warms up the south side of the mosque.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18852656091" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4523 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4523" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5594/18852656091_7cdf3ab2b3_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Across the road from the Bibi Khanum mosque and market is Bibi Khanum's mausoleum.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18880080161" title="_DSC4527 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4527" height="326" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3732/18880080161_9b6c180fd1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to the Bibi Khanum mosque complex as seen from the Bibi Khanum mausoleum.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18912385145" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06348b_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06348b_p" height="472" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/382/18912385145_e290ecdf58_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's what the entrance pishtaq (on the front right) looked like in 1890, with the Bibi Khanum mosque pishtaq behind it. This is how the complex looked until 1969, when Soviet restoration commenced. Notice that none of the domes are complete, and only the main mosque has any part of its dome remaining.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/cities/uz/samarkand/bibi.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="bibi3 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="bibi3" height="320" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/546/18724906210_4f31602166_z.jpg" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view, from Shah-i-Zinda, shows it looking the same in 1969 as it did in 1890.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18907337092" title="bibi4 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="bibi4" height="372" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5458/18907337092_e765f100a2_z.jpg" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In 1991, with the mosque restoration almost complete, as well the secondary mosques on either side with their ribbed domes.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18886302746" title="bibi5 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="bibi5" height="362" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/542/18886302746_b7a4f2905e_z.jpg" width="548" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In 1996, in the process of restoring the compound's entrance portal.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18907340392" title="sam99_13 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sam99_13" height="361" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/533/18907340392_59e650f889_z.jpg" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In 1999, with the entrance pishtaq largely complete, and the ensemble looking much as it looks today.</td></tr>
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
North of Bibi Khanum: mosques, mausoleums, and ancient Sogdian cities.</h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18872089282" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4529 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4529" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5609/18872089282_b5b23306e7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A short distance away is the aforementioned <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah-i-Zinda">Shah-i-Zinda</a> mausoleum complex, where pigeons perch on the turquoise Timurid domes.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18877286555" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4532 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4532" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3689/18877286555_993a0b695a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brick walls are used extensively to separate residential areas from monuments in Samarkand, often making it difficult to access the older parts of the city with traditional, and colourful architecture. Here, a wall separates a highway from Shah-i-Zinda and an adjacent cemetery.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18966425082" title="_DSC4535 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4535" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/285/18966425082_aaf1dc3a35_z.jpg" width="506" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Shah-i-Zinda facades from across the expressway that separates it from the other monuments.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18886108146" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06339b_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06339b_p" height="600" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/481/18886108146_afa1fc5b5a_z.jpg" width="434" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A similar view of the same buildings in 1890. You can see that the entrance pishtaq is much taller today, extending well above the point of the arch.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18691133539" title="_DSC4542 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4542" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5441/18691133539_933972087a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More notably, almost all the decorative tile work you see here is the result of reconstruction.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18851053236" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4552 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4552" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5350/18851053236_c92a1f57e7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view from the cemetery. If you go through the cemetery, it's actually possible to sneak into Shah-i-Zinda at the back of the complex, on the left. They probably have a guard there in high season, and I paid for a ticket when I went, but I exited the complex through the back and walked through the cemetery without encountering anyone.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18691145639" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4554 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4554" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5448/18691145639_a536e11459_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up at the entrance to the avenue of mausoleums.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18256671393" title="_DSC4560 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4560" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5480/18256671393_16d0c295a1_z.jpg" width="607" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View looking back, over the highway, at the central monument area (almost the same angle as the historical pictures shown above). That's the Bibi-Khanum mosque complex in the middle, with the dome of he Registan's Tilya-Kori madressa in the left.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18256676953" title="_DSC4563 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4563" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5528/18256676953_3f3dee0c85_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Etched portraits of the deceased are extremely common in post-Soviet countries.</td></tr>
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<br />
After leaving the cemetery, I headed to ancient <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrasiyab_%28Samarkand%29">Afrosiab</a>, which is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sogdia">Sogdian</a> site with roots twice as old as the Timurid monuments that Samarkand is more famous for. I had seen <a href="http://silkroadwanderings.blogspot.com/2015/01/penjikent.html">another Sogdian site in Penjikent</a> a couple of weeks prior, and this was a good reminder of just how close Penjikent and Samarkand are: they're only about 60km apart, but since Uzbekistan is notoriously unfriendly with its neighbours (despite both Samarkand and Bukhara being largely Tajik cities), the border between the cities has been closed for over five years, and as a result the cities seem much farther apart. Like ancient Penjikent, Afrosiab is little more than a dusty expanse of scrub and the odd mud ridge that is vaguely evocative of a wall or fortification. Perhaps the most interesting thing to me was how it was used to graze animals, functioning as an urban pasture, and feeling extremely tranquil and isolated despite being basically in the middle of the city. I'm sure there is more to it if you explore a lot, and I'm sure the museum is more interesting (it was after closing time when I was in the area), but it really pales in comparison to the sights to be seen in the rest of the city.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18851072906" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4566 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4566" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5591/18851072906_55c6215535_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking back to the city from Afrosiab at dusk, I passed the <a href="http://www.beautifulmosque.com/Al-Khidr-Mosque-in-Samarkand-Uzbekistan">Hazrat Khidr</a> <a href="http://www.uzbekjourneys.com/2015/05/samarkand-hazrat-hyzr-patron-saint-of.html">Mosque</a>, which is at the edge of Afrosiab where it meets the cemetery and the main road that passes in front of the Shah-i-Zinda.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18256690023" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4572 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4572" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5478/18256690023_731a2a9d94_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the cemetery.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18784078900" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06515p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06515p_p" height="445" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/316/18784078900_2ca0287204_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mosque in 1890, revealing the minaret and entrance are to be relatively new additions.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18877339895" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4586 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4586" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5568/18877339895_bde936b907_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another little neighbourhood mosque, in the old town behind the Bahodir and Bibi Khanum mausoleum. This part of the old town is the Jewish Quarter. In the late Soviet era there were <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/31/world/not-so-exotic-the-jews-of-samarkand.html">15,000 Jews in Samarkand</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18689665830" title="_DSC4587 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4587" height="397" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3811/18689665830_ae364ac3d5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The walls of one of the Gumbaz Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter. There have historically been pockets of Jews in these Central Asian Muslim cities, with perhaps the most well known Jewish community being in Bukhara. Uzbekistan had over 100,000 Jews in the late '80s, but mamy have since emigrated to Israel.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18880151131" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4588 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4588" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3788/18880151131_ff7896c377_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The walls of the Bibi Khanum mosque complex, next to the imposing iwan on the left.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18691192069" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4592 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4592" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5483/18691192069_7c47b1241d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uzbek ladies chatting on their way from the market.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18872168632" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4598 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4598" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5458/18872168632_cd6ffc0740_z.jpg" width="446" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The northern mosque in the Bibi Khanum complex.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18256728723" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4601 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4601" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3898/18256728723_d93b486f37_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The iwan shows signs of restoration, but is crumbling despite it. Not great for a restoration maybe 35 years old.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18872183422" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4611-_DSC4613 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4611-_DSC4613" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5481/18872183422_67457a3bb9_z.jpg" width="601" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It had rained quite a bit the night before. The southern mosque and the back of the entrance pishtaq.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18872187232" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4614 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4614" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5589/18872187232_59db3b53c8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Restored minaret against the sky.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18851144556" title="_DSC4619 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4619" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3941/18851144556_5f54070a52_z.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timurid dome in reflection.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18254868224" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4623 - _DSC4627 2 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4623 - _DSC4627 2" height="276" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5479/18254868224_a6938ae07e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once again, the Bibi Khanum complex, looking towards the entrance pishtaq.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18880221821" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4629 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4629" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5523/18880221821_1d9be78e5d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bibi Khanum mosque's iwan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18872232062" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4633 - _DSC4634 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4633 - _DSC4634" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5481/18872232062_9365cefef5_z.jpg" width="631" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More puddles.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18257807393" title="_DSC4644 - _DSC4643 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4644 - _DSC4643" height="569" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5516/18257807393_ef5d268e3a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the southeast corner of the mosque complex, as I walk along the road that connects it with the Registan area.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Registan, inside and out</h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18256803623" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4650 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4650" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5333/18256803623_92511b88a6_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another look at the side of the Tilya-Kori madressa from near the Chorsu.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18851196976" title="_DSC4651 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4651" height="359" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5497/18851196976_72ab9fa688_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ulugh Beg madressa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18691285429" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4653 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4653" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3812/18691285429_eb02a8789c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tilya-Kori madressa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724781138" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4662-_DSC4663 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4662-_DSC4663" height="402" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/557/18724781138_326b9f917f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The modern view.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18291765753" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06356b_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06356b_p" height="458" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/520/18291765753_fde4ccdebd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As a reminder, the 1890 view.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18851224576" title="_DSC4669 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4669" height="311" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5490/18851224576_71d74b8bc0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The vast majority of the tourists were Uzbek, which is probably a little different in the height of the season.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18351143323" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr07012v_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr07012v_p" height="422" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3831/18351143323_ba2813185e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail showing the state of the Sher-Dor in 1890.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18851239076" title="_DSC4675 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4675" height="400" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5577/18851239076_a171a1409c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The older Ulugh Beg and Sher-Dor madressas are both slightly irregular flawed and irreuglar: horizontals aren't quite level, verticals actually tilt a little, and lines don't quite line up. In contrast, the central Tilya-Kori madressa is perfectly regular and orthogonal. But when you put everything together, it's the irregular flanking madressas that look authentic and charismatic, while the central madressa looks somewhat sterile and modern in its relative perfection.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18907162912" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06353b_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06353b_p" height="468" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5471/18907162912_8f47c7701a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In 1890 the Sher-Dor looked a little different, with the main structural difference being at the top of the pishtaq.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=1814" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsiEFaUJuyD4BQEwbhxN-n5J77cxGxtzqDaZrlKpUd348Z_IHhbcsVydV814lxOatEeL4GpLYOBnZv3hYC9pwRgojsN8AccGm1UeHGYsiQDqlsZkGh__9BXuBFk0WIieavw2G1lqRZOzI/s640/right+dome+shir+dor.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this 1911 picture of the right dome of the Sher-Dor, you can see the dome is missing most of its tiles, but is otherwise intact.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=1812" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidAFjgS7I-gY5C8i6xQJmDZI-_22aecgy0O5NC7K1dfmR-LTwlhpoOeLJi5MDRRl2Q5DeSTzrycz5bvDmO7wd2R8IZefvZxZxs9BajAdeb7Ghi2KApIMqD31iv7egbCXBDs28kpQU2Ams/s640/shir+dor+courtyard.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The interior of the Sher-Dor in 1911.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18877504445" title="_DSC4684 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4684" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5339/18877504445_d352f432c9_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main, central entrances to the madressas from the plaza-facing iwans are actually bricked up with ornamental screens, and you enter from the side entrances. Here's a view into the Ulugh Beg madressa through the front entrance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18880309711" title="_DSC4685 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4685" height="354" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5480/18880309711_a7672e8d45_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking at the northern entrance to the Ulugh Beg, from inside the madressa. This is what madressas typically look like from the inside: rows of study cubicles in arched niches. The doors were typically low, so that you would have to bow when you entered. Of course, today they are souvenir shops.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18691346459" title="_DSC4686 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4686" height="438" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5607/18691346459_4f92a8753a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back of the Ulugh Beg's pishtaq and its bricked-up entrance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724730638" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06633x_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06633x_p" height="600" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5348/18724730638_98a55a823c_z.jpg" width="600" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pictures from 1890 show only a single level of study cells at that time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18851262806" title="_DSC4687 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4687" height="629" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5477/18851262806_b416c981c3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Both the Ulugh Beg and Sher-Dor madressas contain two rows of cubicles, which is pretty common. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18966388252" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06814p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06814p_p" height="445" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/396/18966388252_87e0b2f251_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The interior iwan is missing as well.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18912368735" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06807p_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06807p_p" height="443" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/542/18912368735_b4d0d4065d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As we can better see here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=1806" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumUdjq9EC8vFGSmn77YUYjmyeg3vwftQzsTBp_8ACYsfsaq8O52xMVqUpkkU7HjwsvxdQX9c7RoA4n7qdtF_CuVuaG4UkBZFlPsvD_IF71ibTtvMl1gjx1yF9QtmIJDES0DPsVxv5An4/s640/1806.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture from atop the single tier of prayer cells in 1911, looking over the Tilya-Kori. Note that little remains behind the facade, and the section that is currently the domed mosque appears entirely absent.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=1412" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VmGn6a1Af63BPe3sStd8DxU25odmieuSXI8mcVErTD0fV52sx6jUOlHvJ2IWfvzs2QcT2QlVsQsI7pqwDb7NOIRZjevW9cV7PJDAPRrmevgfWVoFoSrK2D5shdeMUHMWo3n5svkCSC8/s640/ulugh+beg+interior+detail.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the Ulugh Beg tiles survived quite nicely.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18974772451" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr07008v_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr07008v_p" height="426" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/507/18974772451_6e083646cd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prayer in the courtyard. Note the wooden balcony that has been added in
the niche to the right, effectively converting the cell into a two-story
edifice. This is a common modification when adapting these cells into
shops, as it allows the shopkeeper to live upstairs and store additional
goods there.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18945537536" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr07004v_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr07004v_p" height="427" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/451/18945537536_5049cb4c1b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I also find it interesting that they wore turbans only 120 years ago. Nowadays <a href="http://www.uzbekjourneys.com/2011/12/central-asian-head-gear.html">small skullcaps are more likely for both Uzbeks and Tajik</a>s, and nobody in the region wears turbans.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=1813" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivx6JxgYHZW859QRRikR_0kd506JSVYOLQsozRToFhxQsQBHT-E7UNugP2Rwfe-3PySKBLcprdTe_fGsBAU_GHR5Qd3Rn53D7iHA43-WW24mzF8MgKybYuosd1JcjbNZb4kBeUwRyD4i4/s640/1813.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Similar attire in 1911.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18691351449" title="_DSC4695 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4695" height="388" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5321/18691351449_822f28250b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the Tilya-Kori there are only one story of study cubicles, despite the two-story facade.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18886147036" title="_DSC4696 - _DSC4698 2 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4696 - _DSC4698 2" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5573/18886147036_15f0bd35ce_z.jpg" width="436" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the west wing of the Tilya-Kori, under the dome, is mosque with gilded walls and a gilded dome.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18912432795" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4700 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4700" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/437/18912432795_b13c164cc6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">According to Lonely Planet the roof is actually flat and the dome is purely an illusion. I'm not sure I buy that.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724773240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4703 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4703" height="446" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5451/18724773240_65a06eef6b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking towards the mosque and dome from Tilya-Kori's courtyard.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724788318" title="_DSC4704 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4704" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/541/18724788318_99a565e6c6_z.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These Uzbekistani tourists played dress up to pose for pictures—renting the robes and hats for souvenir pictures is pretty popular at old forts everywhere—and invited me to take one of them.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724629700" title="sap33_ndr06371b_p"><img alt="sap33_ndr06371b_p" height="600" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3678/18724629700_4064937e9e_z.jpg" width="443" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How prosperous Bukharans dressed in 1890.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18912299235" title="sap33_ndr06368b_p"><img alt="sap33_ndr06368b_p" height="600" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/517/18912299235_3aa6a6090d_z.jpg" width="448" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Or maybe it was just the 1890s version of dress-up, since it looks like the same guy in both pictures.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18907210922" title="_DSC4709 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4709" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/537/18907210922_2cb854c6bf_z.jpg" width="419" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peering into the Sher-Dor madressa. </td></tr>
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The search for American dollars</h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18291822823" title="_DSC4710 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4710" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5470/18291822823_a360ec5d9b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A great example of Soviet art adorns the side of an apartment building between the Registan and the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18289923704" title="_DSC4714 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4714" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5332/18289923704_1db1ce065f_z.jpg" width="419" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tombs inside the Rukhobod Mausoleum.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #fafafa; border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 25px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18726311029" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4718 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4718" height="409" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/492/18726311029_a11ec1bfa0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Gur-e-Amir mausoleum during the daytime.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18344494223" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06360b_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06360b_p" height="510" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3672/18344494223_c5bcd16239_z.jpg" width="572" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here's what it looked like in 1890. The ribbed dome is largely complete, but everything else is in shambles, and a separate entrance portal is completely lacking.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18289928584" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4728 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4728" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/466/18289928584_5cb6ffb27a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The monochrome Rukhobod mausoleum and the back of the half-court that anchors one end of it.</td></tr>
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<br />
After visiting the Gur-e-Amir and Rukhobod again during the daytime, I headed over to some of the nearby large hotels to try and take out more money. It's kind of insane, but visiting ATMs and banks (only a few branches of specific banks let you get cash advances on international cards for a commission) was a time-consuming but necessary part of my day. And since the banks are only open when the sun is up, this really cuts into the limited sunlight hours that you see in November.<br />
<br />
After visiting a couple of ATMs and a couple of bank branches, I walked back to the Bahodir by taking the back roads through the old town behind the Registan. The government really tries to hide these areas by putting up tall, long fences with no access points behind the Registan, and when you see the dilapidation of the streets and the relative impoverishment of the houses it's no surprise that they do so. Surprisingly, it can feel surprisingly rural even a short distance from the Registan, as there is a small river valley a short distance northwest of the Registan that you may find yourself in if you get lost on the winding, labyrinthine paths that run through the area. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18907225812" title="_DSC4732"><img alt="_DSC4732" height="379" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5614/18907225812_9f93b7cd80_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ulugh Beg after I returned from my money-withdrawing sojourn.</td></tr>
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
A visit to Shah-i-Zinda: the best and worst of Uzbekistan & me</h4>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18726318789" title="_DSC4736 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4736" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/327/18726318789_f50b01f64c_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crumbling exteriors at the Bibi Khanum complex. The original buildings lasted well over 500 years, the restorations are labouring to make it to 50.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724801670" title="_DSC4741 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4741" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/342/18724801670_4002ffa684_z.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Shah-i-Zinda from across the thoroughfare.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18907236152" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4744 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4744" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/433/18907236152_9b9958c3b0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those snowy peak behind this dome are actually the Fann Mountains in nearby Tajikistan, not far from Penjikent.</td></tr>
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<br />
I have to admit I wasn't enjoying Uzbekistan that much. From my horrendous experience the first day—both at the border but also at the chaikhana—to the comparative unfriendliness and rapaciousness of the Uzbekistanis who interact with you, I was missing the open friendliness, hospitality, and honesty I had seen in other Central Asian countries. And I think it was particularly jarring because Uzbekistan has, in many respects, the trappings of western modernity (good roads, lots of nice buildings, new cars, a decent economy not predicated on exporting young workers to other countries, etc.) yet in many respects operates at a lower level of "civilization" than you would expect.<br />
<br />
One of the really annoying things was that although there were good roads, nice cars, and abundant streetlights and crosswalks, you could try to cross a road where you have the green light and the cars had red lights but some cars would just zoom past you at a high rate of speed—sometimes even passing other cars that had stopped in order to buzz past you. This had happened multiple times already in my brief time in Uzbekistan, and it happened again on my way to Shah-i-Zinda. Now, as I've said, Shah-i-Zinda is separated from the rest of the monuments by a major road. Thankfully, there is a crosswalk with stop lights connecting the two sides. So I waited by the crosswalk until the lights changed and it was my turn to cross, and cars stopped to let me cross. And as I'm half way across the road, a car screams down the road, passes the stopped cars by going into the wrong lane, then buzzes maybe five feet from me as he zooms by. Incredibly, he then turns into the Shah-i-Zinda parking lot, gets out, and starts leisurely chatting with some people there. Enraged, I walk up to him and ask what the hurry was, and why he didn't stop. He asks what I'm talking about, and I say he almost hit me in the crosswalk. He denies that that was him, or that he was driving. I let him know I saw him just drive up. He says that it wasn't him, and it's not his car, but that he's sorry if something happened, and asks why don't I visit his souvenir shop (!). I say that if it isn't his car, he won't mind if I dump some water inside it, so I take the cap off my water bottle and start sloshing water through the window that was cracked open. He doesn't like this too much, despite it supposedly not being his car. Finally, his mom comes over and basically tells me that I've made my point.<br />
<br />
I know this is me acting like an asshole, but it's really horrible when it's clear that people have absolutely no regard for you except for how much money they can extract from you. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18907240492" title="_DSC4745 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4745" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3940/18907240492_98876eab6b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Donkey carts provide substantially less danger to pedestrians.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18291854693" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4751 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4751" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5596/18291854693_827cc54e4b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The jerk driver operated one of the tourist stalls just outside the entrance gate.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18289860634" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr07066v_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr07066v_p" height="453" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/420/18289860634_c58198b003_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the opposite side in 1890.</td></tr>
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<br />
Once inside, Shah-i-Zinda reveals itself as probably the most impressive of all the monuments in Samarkand. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18915373391" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4752 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4752" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5544/18915373391_dc94a7aa96_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up at the avenue of mausoleums from the lower tier.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18886223366" title="_DSC4767 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4767" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/368/18886223366_f067518bcb_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ornately decorated dome of one of the first mausoleums, located on the lower tier. These ornate stalactite decorations are known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muqarnas">muqarnas</a>, </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18289968524" title="_DSC4775 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4775" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/358/18289968524_9e4fe54817_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shah-i-Zinda starts with a bang, as the mausoleums are at their most dense and with the most ornate facades at the start of the path. As you can see, most of the tourists in November are Uzbekis.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18289972494" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4779 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4779" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3728/18289972494_2dc6f882cb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the doorway of the first mausoleum on the right, looking towards Bibi Khanum.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18886237886" title="_DSC4785 - _DSC4788 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4785 - _DSC4788" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5555/18886237886_51a1fef2aa_z.jpg" width="369" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mausoleum are so close together that I had to stitch together four pictures taken with an 18mm lens from inside the opposing mausoleum's doorway in order to make this picture.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18291756603" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr07061v_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr07061v_p" height="600" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/519/18291756603_50376cfe0a_z.jpg" width="455" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The facade of a different mausoleum in 1890, showing largely intact tile work.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18289982854" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4791 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4791" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/268/18289982854_a70652171c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dome of this mausoleum is covered with gorgeous tiles.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18907282702" title="_DSC4814 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4814" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/262/18907282702_6cd625131b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from inside the mausoleum to the opposing one.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18291891243" title="_DSC4817 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4817" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/552/18291891243_a4734f3106_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking towards the entrance.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18289993364" title="_DSC4820 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4820" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3765/18289993364_57f19dc698_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Further on the path opens up, with mausoleums more widely spaced and set back from the path.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724859570" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4822 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4822" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/456/18724859570_d199383d9e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's always something to work on, even if only to maintain older restorations.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18915412001" title="_DSC4825 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4825" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3707/18915412001_d75a74c8b5_z.jpg" width="403" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at the entrance to the upper tier, where most mausoleums are. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18290002454" title="_DSC4830"><img alt="_DSC4830" height="425" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5558/18290002454_633e20f865_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A family enjoys the views.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18290008024" title="_DSC4834 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4834" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3925/18290008024_ddaa15baa3_z.jpg" width="416" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About halfway to the end of the path there is a <a href="http://www.samarkandtour.com/en/attractions/dostoprimechatelnosti_samarkanda/mavzoleynyiy_kompleks_shahi_zinda.html">small mosque connected to the mausoleums</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18290010944" title="_DSC4836 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4836" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3834/18290010944_16a23c9b97_z.jpg" width="493" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View through the Kusam ibn-Abbas mausoleum.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18290013404" title="_DSC4837 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4837" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5582/18290013404_067ed569a3_z.jpg" width="419" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prayer before the mosque's beautifully tiled mihrab.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18907312082" title="_DSC4840"><img alt="_DSC4840" height="423" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5614/18907312082_87e0dfb1f2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bare white walls only accentuate the beauty of the tile work.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724884920" title="_DSC4843"><img alt="_DSC4843" height="425" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3754/18724884920_37352ea317_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Light streams through a window in an ornately decorated room of the complex, complete with geometric murals and complex muqarnas.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18907322992" title="_DSC4865"><img alt="_DSC4865" height="427" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/378/18907322992_f3911c06ce_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiles, new and original, hint at the extent of the 2005 restoration of the complex.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18726416359" title="_DSC4866 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4866" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3946/18726416359_f379e1403f_z.jpg" width="421" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many gorgeous buildings so close to one another.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724916698" title="_DSC4869 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4869" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3731/18724916698_9a6c3d20a1_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back towards the entrance and the first cluster of mausoleums.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724918608" title="_DSC4871"><img alt="_DSC4871" height="425" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/380/18724918608_5c7f934ef3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two of the many mausoleums, from one of the walls that surrounds the complex. Restoration appears to be an ongoing process.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755511698" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4877 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4877" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3789/18755511698_68b7a8488e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at the first tier of mausoleums, from behind the one with the tiled roof.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755515818" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4879 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4879" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3871/18755515818_d29a135787_z.jpg" width="479" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mosque is located in the complex where the pathway passes through the archway, to the right of the turquoise dome.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755520088" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4880 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4880" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/284/18755520088_f91b5d39d4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A couple of guides/touts relax in the sun.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18886091096" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06740x_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06740x_p" height="600" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/380/18886091096_f46938d609_z.jpg" width="600" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How the avenue looked in 1890. I believe the are that is walled off in this photograph is the area filled not with mausoleums but with tombs or grave-markers today.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18322534573" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4885 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4885" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/444/18322534573_2061b8c05c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dried berries on a tree just outside the wall.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18320626684" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4886 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4886" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/436/18320626684_e87e9219e8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The modern cemetery surrounds the ancient necropolis.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946107511" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4887 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4887" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3824/18946107511_c5dfb6b645_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tomb inside a mausoleum.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946111471" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4888 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4888" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/501/18946111471_23fc1f0694_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Graves, Shah-i-Zinda, and the snow-capped Fann Mountains in the background..</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18756993879" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4891 - _DSC4893 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4891 - _DSC4893" height="226" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/539/18756993879_f9c3365e23_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The turquoise domes of the lower level, and the ocher domes of the first section of the upper level.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18320641234" title="_DSC4894"><img alt="_DSC4894" height="377" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/363/18320641234_27bb57e348_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18943197255" title="_DSC4895"><img alt="_DSC4895" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/375/18943197255_0e5b94f526_z.jpg" width="494" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modern Soviet and post-Soviet graves.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18916964046" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4897 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4897" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/362/18916964046_b957f2a8fb_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The steps leading from the back of Shah-i-Zinda to the cemetery. There's a modern grave with a sitting area and benches next to that tree. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18724711880" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06333b_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06333b_p" height="494" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5508/18724711880_507b037971_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An alternate view of the same dome, from behind the necropolis, in 1890.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18937894282" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4899 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4899" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/476/18937894282_2e6b64b16e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from behind the mausoleum being restored.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18322588073" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4902 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4902" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/295/18322588073_8310545d81_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many domes they look like the rooftops of a domes marketplace or colonnade like you might see in Turkey or Iran (or the original Bibi Khanum complex, apparently).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755603868" title="_DSC4907 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4907" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/321/18755603868_0ec6d17e59_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18937938372" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4908 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4908" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3854/18937938372_888bd33d6a_z.jpg" width="449" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lower mausoleum with the muqarna dome.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18912380655" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr06334b_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr06334b_p" height="465" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3772/18912380655_147076ae0c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In 1890 you can see there is a considerable stretch in the middle or the row that has no surviving mausoleums whatsoever. That isn't the case today, where there are only a few gaps in the rows of mausoleums, and then only on one side.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946196411" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4910 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4910" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/502/18946196411_c4fdef7c0a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading back to the rear entrance of the necropolis.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755624708" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4913 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4913" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/373/18755624708_b8c796e1fe_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's nice they use traditional-looking scaffolding, but the interesting detritus around the bottom suggests they just pull off bricks willy-nilly and chuck them to the ground (so this had better be a restoration of a restoration).</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18757089269" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4923 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4923" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/274/18757089269_52ccc04c52_z.jpg" width="401" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back towards the entrance.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946214071" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4924 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4924" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/408/18946214071_eebb003f9e_z.jpg" width="464" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I spent almost three hours at Shah-i-Zinda and the cemetery. Overkill, sure, but it was a great place to relax and sit and read while soaking up the ambiance, and inside the complex itself you are remarkably free from the commerialism and souvenir vendors hat plague so much of Uzbekistan. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755622900" title="_DSC4934 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4934" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/389/18755622900_38e4e2b8d2_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18757113109" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4939 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4939" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/534/18757113109_0ffb615fca_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another shot of the mausoleum being restored.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=1403" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfSSoPgFtBJDiecGYTYfhM0jZrKx0G37oMrUC1D4YOf5pAyalwf-gE1gSUpLAk4OxSqPiQJxvpVhyphenhyphenxlfdH99qv4n2VEKT3eJu43bdmmVBs8q9r97Y5zI3_Ahyphenhyphenx7JrjE-f4Rc8xrVdBBM/s640/1403.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How it looked in 1911.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18943326085" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4945 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4945" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/330/18943326085_0acedabf4c_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Although this tile work is impressive, it can't hold a candle to the first mausoleums on the upper tier.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prokudin-gorsky.org/card.php?lang=en&photos_id=1404" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9rTdiKX8uGeR3bc54FkJCtM28lsD_WgW4TeXNXPw52QC380wkyapaYy4RFRhjsWtISD-hv-Jt0uQeu15SV1EM1Ovp47q_M-YZbEZRQDn3XboUKsmvzsveg8I4-P1W25uompzQf6i_Sks/s640/1404.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A head-on view of the <i>chartak</i> (archway) in 1911.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946253991" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4949 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4949" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/305/18946253991_c4ce3b7e66_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The facades on these ones simply are unsurpassed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18351159683" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr07063v_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr07063v_p" height="600" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/439/18351159683_d7809a6e74_z.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Similar view in 1890.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755655150" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4950 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4950" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/499/18755655150_b915d3271d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add caption</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18966417652" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sap33_ndr07345v_p by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="sap33_ndr07345v_p" height="600" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/373/18966417652_663bdd1112_z.jpg" width="600" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plus ça change...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755661250" title="_DSC4956 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4956" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/486/18755661250_303324e825_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755692938" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4960 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4960" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/281/18755692938_ba62055506_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From just outside the complex.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
I reach peak asshole </h4>
Although the beauty and tranquility of Shah-i-Zinda had helped me cool down from the earlier traffic-related incident, I was still really annoyed with how people drove and how they treat you. So when I was crossing back to the southern side of the road at the crosswalk and the scene repeated itself—a minivan dodged traffic and hurtled past stopped cars on its way towards me—I had had enough. I kind of waved my arms as it was approaching, then as it passed me I threw my water bottle at it. Boom! It was a thin plastic bottle, so I expected the bottle to break, and at first it looked like it did. But it actually wasn't drops of water I saw falling to the pavement in the van's wake, but little hexagonal shards of broken glass: I had shattered the side window. I think it took a bit for the driver to figure out what had happened, but it took a few seconds before it even started to slow down, and it stopped about 300 meters down the road. Now, I could easily have just left, but I wanted to yell at the driver, too, so after finishing crossing the road I walked in the direction of the stopped van.<br />
<br />
The driver and his passengers approached me (it seems this was a marshrutka or share taxi, though not marked as such), and the driver couldn't understand why I would be angry about his driving, and just kept telling me how much his window would be. He seemed to known it would be $80 (does he replace them a lot), and the only thing he cared about was getting me to pay. He and I exchanged heated words for a while, then I started to walk away. He and his passengers didn't like this, so they grabbed me and prevented me from moving while he fetched a police officer.<br />
<br />
Now, Uzbekista has a bit of a weird reputation when it comes to police. On the one hand, there are the strict registration requirements for foreigners, but on the other hand they have also had instructions not to bother tourists too much (which is why some share-taxi drivers prefer foreigners, as it means they are less likely to be shaken down for bribes) lest they give the country a bad reputation. I figured I might get kicked out of the country, but at this point I didn't really care (except for the visa troubles it would cause, as I could really only be kicked out to visa-free Kyrgyzstan).<br />
<br />
But when they managed to flag down a passing police car, I was kind of surprised that the police sided with me, and after hearing from the driver and passenger he was most concerned with asking me if the driver or his passengers had hit or punched me. When I said they hadn't, he was satisfied, except he actually made the driver apologize to me and shake my hand (which he was very unhappy to do, of course).<br />
<br />
This, of course, is me reaching peak asshole, and me most blatantly taking advantage of the tourist's privileged situation. To be honest, this is something I would also do in North America or Europe, but that's because I'm prepared to deal with any consequences. But I imagine the consequences in Uzbekistan might be quite different if a local had done what I did, but at that point I really didn't care.<br />
<br />
And being at that point of not caring is pretty horrible, and my realization of how horrible it is is why I didn't care if they kicked me out of the country. I had experienced something similar in Vietnam, where after being scammed repeatedly in my first few days in the country I was seriously contemplating leaving, as I realized that I didn't like the way my experiences were making me feel about the country and the people—treating people with great suspicion as a potential scamster. That's not how I want to experience places, it's not how I want to think of people, and it's not a healthy way to travel.<br />
<br />
As I was walking back, a couple of French tourists stopped me by the crosswalk and told me they saw everything and could vouch for me if I needed them to. I told them that everything had turned out OK, but they gave me their email addresses just in case I needed them to confirm what had happened. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18320798844" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4963 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4963" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3743/18320798844_2b68a1ec36_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shah-i-Zinda from the south side of the road, shortly after I reached peak asshole.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18322710953" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4964 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4964" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/434/18322710953_1f4a60d1fa_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Bibi Khanum Mausoleum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18757168429" title="_DSC4972"><img alt="_DSC4972" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/278/18757168429_67090b1325_z.jpg" width="519" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving Bibi Khanum and walking up the road to the Registan area. Remember that everything outside of those darker tiles on the domed mosque are whole-cloth, modern restorations.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18938043772" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4975 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4975" height="424" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/461/18938043772_b1ff8ddc7f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An interesting Soviet-era mosaic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18917123386" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4976 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4976" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/377/18917123386_95cbff87f6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chrysler 300s are luxury cars in Europe and Asia—you frequently see them stretched into limos and used at weddings—but this is the first one I've seen with scissor doors. Of course, you need to leave the doors open when you park to properly show them off...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18757177089" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4977 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4977" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/438/18757177089_1edfab58cd_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wedding central: the Monument to Grieving Mothers (over soldiers lost in war).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946302961" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4980 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4980" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3880/18946302961_de94203130_z.jpg" width="449" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They do a procession around the central flame, while the wedding planner looks on.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755704460" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4981 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4981" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/329/18755704460_cf2d8fb19f_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You know how important I am? So important I need to take calls while getting married. Of course, he could be talking to a relative who couldn't make it, but I like my snarky interpretation.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18946308961" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4982 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4982" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/527/18946308961_f8983de696_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The English translation: "You are always in our hearts, my dear!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18755737658" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4983 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4983" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/331/18755737658_0001b6f7e6_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wedding photographer. Like everyone else in Central Asia, he uses Canon equipment—good luck finding anything else.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18323085934" title="_DSC4986"><img alt="_DSC4986" height="425" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/561/18323085934_186a5625fd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I left Samarkand much the same as I entered it: visiting Gur-e-Amir and the train station in the dark. I took the same train that arrived on completing the Tashkent-Bukhara journey.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Historical views of Samarkand</h4>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="425" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18787525780/in/album-72157654787698672/player/" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Russian newsreel of Samarkand, circa 1930:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NtM7tVc0DWg" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
November 3: 16,200 som + $10<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Room: $10</li>
<li>Breakfast: 3,800 som</li>
<li>Ice cream & ice tea: 2,700 som</li>
<li>Bibi Khanum entrance ticket: 8,000 som</li>
<li>Ice creams: 1,700 som</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"></ul>
November 4: 27,400 som + $10<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Registan entrance ticket: 13,300 som</li>
<li>Room: $10</li>
<li>Ice cream: 1,000 som</li>
<li>Pepsi: 2,400 som</li>
<li>Dinner: 9,000 som</li>
<li>Internet: 1,200 som</li>
<li>Bus: 500 som </li>
</ul>
November 5: 49,800 som + $3<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Night train to Bukhara: 34,000 som</li>
<li>Shah-i-Zinda entrance ticket: 5,000som</li>
<li>Dinner at Bahodir: $3</li>
<li>Pepsi, bread, jam: 9,000 som</li>
<li>Internet: 1,800 som</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Samarkand, Uzbekistan39.6542 66.959739.4585595 66.6369765 39.849840500000006 67.2824235tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-22860375894375071892012-11-02T17:53:00.000-07:002015-07-20T21:30:16.505-07:00One day in Tashkent<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In all honesty, I have very little sense of Tashkent, which is fairly understandable since I was only there for one day. And because I knew I was only going to be there for one day, I used the subway a lot to get from place to place, even though Tashkent really isn't that large and I normally would have walked everywhere—I find that walking places gives me a much better sense of a place, it's people, and the geography.<br />
<br />
After waking up and having a breakfast that was a little more leisurely than I like (especially since I almost never have breakfast unless it's free), I headed down to the train station but a ticket for Samarkand, and was only able to secure a first-class sleeper berth for that evening. In retrospect, it would have made more sense to buy a ticket for Bukhara, then come back to Samarkand, then take another night train from Samarkand to Khiva—trains to Khiva only pass through Samarkand, and not Bukhara.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Khast Imam </h4>
After this I headed to the premier religious complex in Tashkent, the Khast Imam complex, and it was already 1:00 by the time I arrived there—I really had only half a day in Tashkent. The central mosque contains what is claimed to be the oldest Quran in the world, written in 655. For me it was most interesting as a place to observe the obvious tension between the government and the devout—something especially curious given that the current mosque was recently constructed as a way to curry favour with the religious.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18074288233" title="_DSC4296"><img alt="_DSC4296" height="286" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/278/18074288233_08e1c0643a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main entrance to the new Khast Imam mosque. Uzbekistan makes sure that the religiously devout know they're being kept tabs on, as there were a bunch of police cars ostentatiously parked directly behind me.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18074292133" title="_DSC4303 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4303" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/360/18074292133_91c3ef17e4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shoes galore.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18697345931" title="_DSC4313"><img alt="_DSC4313" height="378" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/446/18697345931_5cf2f08c56_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behind the mosque are s number of other religious buildings, including this, the Barak Khan madressa. Like many madressas in places frequented by tourists, the study rooms facing the interior courtyard have been converted to souvenir shops.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18668706526" title="_DSC4317 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4317" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/300/18668706526_39a5c3ae9e_z.jpg" width="456" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back of the mosque. The air is so polluted that shooting into the sun makes everything look hazy and washed out, while shooting with the sun yields very different results.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18697417961" title="_DSC4322 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4322" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/485/18697417961_da941f2673_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous geometric tile work and the aturquoise tiles on the dome that characterize so much <a href="http://www.oxuscom.com/timursam.htm">Timurid architecture</a>—unlike the mosque, the madressa dates from the 16th century.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18074412953" title="_DSC4323"><img alt="_DSC4323" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/495/18074412953_2ed4aae5cb_z.jpg" width="512" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mausoleum of Abu Bakr Kaffal Shoshi, just north of the madressa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18072450954" title="_DSC4327 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4327" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/258/18072450954_9cd8497a8e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This child knows the universal pleasure of playing in a pile of fallen leaves.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18668793116" title="_DSC4332 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4332" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/346/18668793116_2ffe4b9430_z.jpg" width="437" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A woman asking for alms in the shadow of the madressa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18072478894" title="_DSC4335 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4335" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/334/18072478894_5273ac815d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the interior colonnade of the madressa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18507358018" title="_DSC4342"><img alt="_DSC4342" height="361" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/445/18507358018_7fe263e121_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking east from the madressa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18697493021" title="_DSC4344 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4344" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/459/18697493021_df2347a8c3_z.jpg" width="473" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of the dome and tile work.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18509000339" title="_DSC4349 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4349" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/532/18509000339_f5265242cf_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The western entrance of the mosque.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Chorsu Bazaar</h4>
The nearby Chorsu Bazaar is, to my mind, much more interesting than the Kumtepa in Margilan, and is probably the best bazaar I visited in Uzbekistan. As the main bazaar in a huge city, it's an appropriately large complex, with different sections/buildings for fruits and vegetable, clothes and consumer goods, spices, etc. The most charismatic building is a circular domed building that somewhat resembles a cross between Phnom Penh's Central Market and a Soviet-style circus building—but which was undoubtedly inspired by Samarkand's ancient Chorsu bazaar, which is also round—and which holds the spice & dry food market.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18507447228" title="_DSC4355"><img alt="_DSC4355" height="360" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/305/18507447228_c7f5f5230e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Porters man their carts next to an entrance to the spice market.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18509049039" title="_DSC4356 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4356" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/441/18509049039_5b3d1039f5_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Concentric rows of spice vendors under the dome.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18695284675" title="_DSC4357 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4357" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/264/18695284675_43de193654_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piles of rice on display. In the middle, directly under the dome's oculus, is a souvenir stand selling postcards, bags and the like.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18697638621" title="_DSC4362 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4362" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/443/18697638621_b21708c51e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This spice vendor wanted me to take his picture. A uni-brow is considered very attractive in Uzbekistan, especially on females—you often see it penciled in by those who only have two distinct brows.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18507641660" title="_DSC4363 - _DSC4368 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4363 - _DSC4368" height="152" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/389/18507641660_b0454c4cd5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of the market from the second floor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18669063016" title="_DSC4369 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4369" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/344/18669063016_e69b2b525b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the second floor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18507625608" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4370 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4370" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/272/18507625608_6903508f46_z.jpg" width="468" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A young couple admire the Kukeldash Madressa, located just southeast of the Chorsu Bazaar.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18669112806" title="_DSC4373 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4373" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/306/18669112806_10affebc68_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was taking this picture when I was approached by a curious local who wanted to talk to me. He was pretty friendly, and when he asked me what religion I was, I made the mistake of saying I had no religion. He wouldn't have minded if I said I was Christian or Buddhists (and I doubt he would have minded if I said I was Jewish), but he was legitimately concerned for me when I said I wasn't religious, and for his peace of mind he had me repeat the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahada">Shahada</a> to signify my acceptance of Allah and Muhammed as his last prophet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18074768693" title="_DSC4375"><img alt="_DSC4375" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/473/18074768693_2c7c441283_z.jpg" width="514" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the madressa, which still functions as a religious school.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18074794633" title="_DSC4376 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4376" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/361/18074794633_78f141b17d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tourists aren't supposed to climb the stairs to the second floor, but I'm a very bad person.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Navoi Park</h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18697825241" title="_DSC4377"><img alt="_DSC4377" height="341" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/547/18697825241_8638cd3054_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Istiklol Palace concert hall, on the northern end of Navoi Park.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18690724212" title="_DSC4379 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4379" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/272/18690724212_4488073fc5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">South of Istiklol Palace is the Abdulkasim Sheikh madressa, which is now used as a space for cultural exhibits. The north side exhibits significant earthquake damage, and was apparently the most interesting thing about the madressa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18507828330" title="_DSC4381 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4381" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/507/18507828330_d652d3c876_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a wedding palace in Navoi Park, and it's clearly a popular place to take wedding pictures. As with most of Central Asia (in the cities, at least), western-style wedding dresses are typical.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18697894801" title="_DSC4383 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4383" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/292/18697894801_1791348b24_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Amir Timur statue with the Hotel Uzbekistan in the background. Like the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Kazakhstan">Hotel Kazakhstan</a> in Almaty, the Hotel Uzbekistan was an architectural landmark... though I think the Hotel Kazakhstan is a much better building.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18690794322" title="_DSC4384"><img alt="_DSC4384" height="378" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/267/18690794322_dc874abd70_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ministry of Justice building has an unusual, Art-Deco-ish design—certainly a departure from typical Russian or Soviet-style architecture.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There were a surprising number of shopping centers in buildings near the Ministry of Justice, but they were unusual in that they were like shops lining relatively narrow indoor hallways, like you might find in a subway complex or something. They had a few international stores like Zara (somewhat fittingly in the "Zarafshon" shopping center) but these appeared to be unofficial shops. There isn't much foreign corporate presence in Uzbekistan, and the international hotels apparently withdrew their investments/presence after the 2005 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andijan_massacre">Andijan Massacre</a>. On the other hand, you do have things like the Uzbek Chevrolet factory (75% locally owned, 25% by General Motors), as well as international things like an ATP tennis tour event.<br />
<br />
Bit in reality Uzbekistan is very much isolated from international commerce. There are only a handful of ATMs that take international cards, and since I knew I was going to need to collect dollars for my time in Iran (where you cannot use ATM cards at all and have to bring enough hard cash into the country to last your entire stay—which I figured would be $800), I knew I would have to try and get dollars wherever I could—daily withdrawal limits had hampered how much I could withdraw in Osh. The only places that have international ATMs tend to be high-end hotels that get foreign tourists and/or businessmen, and I tried to track a couple down after the sun set and exploring was no longer possible. I found one of the few hotels that had an ATM, went past their guards and valet parkers, walked inside the extremely luxurious lobby, only to find that their ATM was empty—a common situation. I would have to hope that I had better luck in Samarkand or Bukhara.<br />
<br />
After that, I took the subway back to Chorsu, picked up my bag from the guesthouse, and headed down to the train station to catch my train.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18690820702" title="_DSC4389"><img alt="_DSC4389" height="532" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/509/18690820702_ac4a173a23_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'll let you guess what each of these snack-food vendors at the Chorsu Bazaar were selling.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
November 2, Tashkent: 52,900 som<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Night train to Samarkand (1st class): 40,000 som</li>
<li>Coffee sachets and ice cream: 2,200som</li>
<li>1kg of apples: 2,000 som</li>
<li>Lavash and drink: 5,000 som</li>
<li>Subway (5 trips): 3,500 som</li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2Tashkent, Uzbekistan41.266667 69.21666700000002940.884834999999995 68.571220000000025 41.648499 69.862114000000034tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-63399190379051357662012-11-01T13:46:00.000-07:002018-02-27T13:22:57.132-08:00A not-so-warm welcome to Uzbekistan, and a day in Margilan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Gates of Hell</h4>
Because of my late night of internetting, I got a pretty late start on the 31st. I went to the supermarket to spend the last of my som, got some fried snacks from my favourite vendor next to the mosque, then hopped a marshrutka to the Uzbek border (which is just on the northwestern edge of Osh). It was a little after 1:00 when I arrived, and although there were lines at the Kyrgyz exit post, it only took a few minutes to pass through.<br />
<br />
But after I passed into no-man's-land between the two border posts that I realized the insanity into which I had passed. This wasn't the big multi-kilometer gap that often exist between border points (and which frequently function as opportunities for mandatory but extortionate taxi shuttles): as an urban border point, the border-control outposts were close to each other. But because Uzbek border officers are ridiculously slow and engage in detailed searches and questions, people are stamped out of Kyrgyzstan much faster than they're stamped into Uzbekistan. So it was that there were hundreds and hundreds of people crammed into a space the size of a high-school gymanasium, which was completely uncovered and exposed to the mid-day sun. In the height of summer it must be excruciating, and extremely dangerous. The Uzbek exit from this no-man's-land compound was a gate, with a sturdy chute leading up the gate: think of a cattle pen and you won't be far wrong.<br />
<br />
When I initially arrived, there were these touts perched on the railings of the chute that led to the actual gate to the Uzbek customs/passport area, frantically shouting with the people trying to cross into Uzbekistan. I had no idea what that was all about, but it wasn't official in any sense of the word, and certainly didn't reduce the crush of people trying to push their way to the front of the line. Also, women and men were segregated, with men on the right and women on the left.<br />
<br />
Anyway, shortly after I arrived in this pen, a Kyrgyz border guard showed up and started pushing everyone around, and dragging people out of line and then pushing them to the back of the "line." This wasn't gentle pushing, but hard shoves that made a few people fall down, including some women. One elderly woman objected to this, and got slapped in the face after she pushed back. But after pushing people around for a while, and forming a quasi-line, he would leave for a few minutes and a knot of people would reappear near the chute... with the net effect that those who stayed in the line ended up further and further back, while those who pushed forward were able to consolidate their forward position when the soldier came out and re-formed the line.<br />
<br />
Anyway, after going through this for about three hours—during which time one smartly-dressed family was given VIP treatment and escorted through the border by a guard—I was further from the gate than when I started. So when the policeman left for an extended period, I joined the throng of people pushing their way to the very front, and the touts re-appeared. It seems that these touts (who didn't seem to actually be taking any money, so perhaps "tout" is the wrong word) act as unofficial gatekeepers, and assign people numbers. This kind of makes sense, but works very poorly in practice since everyone pushes to the front despite having a number. Now, since I had no number, the touts were saying I could not exit, even though I had been there for over 4 hours. So this is one of the few occasions I decided to take advantage of the tourist's privilege of being something of a jerk, and I started to get really loud and shout at this guy who was trying to pull me away. This is really out of character for me, since I tend to speak quietly. Actually, I was just acting like them, as I had the group of 3-4 touts shouting at me, and I figure it's fine to shout back. This resulted in one of the touts, whose face I was in, getting rather startled and grabbing me by the neck as though the was going to choke me. This didn't go down very well with the crowd, who could clearly tell I was a foreigner by the way I was shouting in English, and they made the guy get away and let me join the next group to enter the chute. While in the chute an elderly lady behind me lost consciousness as we were being crushed against the fence by all the pushing from behind, with the heat no doubt making things more difficult. They had to pour a couple of bottles of water over her before she regained consciousness. I'm surprised no one dies at border crossings like this (heck, maybe they do), and it was somewhat ironic that there was a big billboard on one of the walls indicating that the OSCE had provided assistance to this border point.<br />
<br />
Once inside the Uzbek border office, everything is serene and things move very slowly despite there being multiple border officers and only a few people admitted at a time. You have to fill out a detailed form asking for how much money you have (if you exit with more money than you bring in, you will have a problem), any valuables you have with you, and other questions. Then you have your bags inspected and X-rayed. I figure they process about 25 people per hour at that speed.<br />
<br />
Megi passed through this border a few days later and indicated that foreigners/tourists are usually let through immediately and not made to wait with the locals, but that wasn't my experience. And even though I can possible pass for a local in appearance (but not in dress), I'm pretty sure the border guard knew I was a tourist since he seemed reluctant to push me nearly as hard as he was pushing the locals, and I told him in English that I had nowhere to move. At any rate it was an interesting insight into local life, and the trials and tribulations they endure. Needless to say, however, it wasn't a great introduction to Uzbekistan.<br />
<br />
I didn't have much time in Uzbekistan—my visa expired on November 15th,
since the embassy in Dushanbe decided to ignore the dates on my
application and LoI and start the clock on the date of issue—but I
decided that since I was in the Ferghana Valley I should see something
there. Given that Margilan has a large bazaar that is only open on
Thursdays and Sundays, and that it also has a silk workshop, I decided
to spend my first full day—a Thursday—in Margilan.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
On Uzbek taxis and black-market exchange rates</h4>
A short distance from the border is a big parking lot where people gather to meet those crossing over, as well as taxis for shared transportation to other cities. Most of these taxis were for Andijon or other larger cities, and it was difficult to find people going to Margilan. I was a little worried since it was after 5:00 and getting dark by that point, but I found a car heading to Margilan and we began to bargain over the price. Now, taxi drivers everywhere try to rip people off, but in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan the initial quote tends not to be outrageous: at most you'll be quoted twice the normal price, and usually the asking price is maybe 50% more expensive than you should pay. So that was my baseline for comparison, and although Lonely Planet indicates how much transportation should cost, their prices seem absurdly low in comparison to the distance covered (it's 120km to Margilan) and the price you would pay in Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan (subsidized fuel prices are responsible for this). I was originally quoted six times the proper price, and ended up paying double the price that locals in my car paid when they arrived in Margilan.<br />
<br />
Of course, to pay for my taxi ride, I first needed to obtain some Uzbek som. Getting som in an efficient way is more difficult than you might imagine, for a couple of reasons: Uzbekistan has a black-market currency exchange rate that gives you about a 30% better rate than the official rate, meaning it is always better for travelers to exchange their dollars on the black market; and there are almost no ATMs (it seems like there are less than 20 in the entire country, while in Kyrgyzstan and Dushanbe it was very easy to get dollars from ATMs) that accept international cards and dispense dollars. <br />
<br />
When I explained to the driver that I needed to get some som, as I only had dollars, he made a quick phone call and arranged for us to meet a money changer in a town near the border. We pulled up to a random place and out came a woman to change money. As I wasn't sure if I would be getting a good rate (it's difficult to get up-to-date information on the current black-market exchange rate), I only changed $100. Of course, since the exchange rate was approximately 2,800 som to the dollar, and the biggest note is 1,000 som, I ended up getting a big bundle of money. I started to count it (Burma has similarly ridiculous currency, and I learned that sometimes the changers try trick you by using different denominations, especially when changing a lot of money), but after doing a spot check I figured everything was in order. The rate I received was 2,670 som per dollar, which was actually a decent rate.<br />
<br />
I wasn't able to see much in the darkness, but my initial impression of Uzbekistan was that it was much more highly populated and developed than Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which is perhaps unsurprising since I was in the Ferghana valley, which is flat and fertile in a way that most of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are not.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Margilan</h4>
When we arrived in Margilan, I was dropped off near the cheap hotel mentioned in LP, but when I rang the bell at the locked lobby, the operator told me that they were no longer allowed to accept foreigners and that the only place in town was the Hotel Atlas, and he asked a couple of nearby kids to show me the way there. I already had a good idea of where it was, but I let the kids lead me to the main street on which the hotel was located. On the brief walk we were joined by some of their friends, and they asked me to take their picture. After this, however, they asked me for money (for their guide services or their picture, I'm not sure), which I declined.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18068047804" title="_DSC4212 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4212" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/392/18068047804_d9b8d5cf16_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My guides, shortly before I refused to give them any money.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I started walking down the main road leading to the Atlas, stopping at a supermarket (which felt more like a specialty shop, with waist-high shelves, lots of things behind counters, and lots of staff hanging around) and checking out some of the stores I saw. Things in Uzbekistan felt surprisingly different.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18504504799" title="_DSC4214 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4214" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/352/18504504799_649930396d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently leeches are used in Uzbek medicine. Note the weird mixture of Latin and Cyrillic scripts in this sign. Uzbekistan officially <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbek_alphabet">switched from Cyrillic to Latin</a> for Uzbek, but Russian is written in Cyrillic, so I'm not sure what the change really accomplishes except adding another script.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18070041373" title="_DSC4215 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4215" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/276/18070041373_3a82575697_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These kind of smart-looking boutiques aren't much seen in in Kyrgyzstan or outside of some parts of Dushanbe, and are part of what immediately makes Uzbekistan feel more prosperous.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The Lonely Planet suggested that the Atlas should have reasonable rates, but one look at the building and it seemed highly unlikely. It was an impressive building with an elegant lobby, and when I inquired they said their cheapest room was $55. I'm not much one for negotiating hotel rates, but I was in a jam but they wouldn't budge. There's no way I'm going to spend $55 on a hotel room, though, so I left to try and find some place to spend the night. I ended up finding a traditional chaikhana that was open 24 hours, and I spent the night there drinking tea. I don't think it would be possible to do this anymore (in Uzbekistan you have to stay at registered hotels at least every few days, and they've started to require that you stay in a registered hotel every day when you're in the more-religious Ferghana Valley), but it was an experience.<br />
<br />
That's not to say it was a pleasant experience, however, as it was full of weird little moments that you simply wouldn't see in Kyrgyzstan on Tajikistan. I fired up my netbook to watch a movie, and I was interrupted by a guy who just walked up to me, sat down next to me (sitting partially on my camera bag), removed one of my earbuds and stuck it in his ear, then started pressing buttons on my computer in order to try and play the movie (I had paused it). There were no salaams or the customary questions, he just launched into this. His first attempt to communicate with me was to gesture that he wanted to buy my netbook. A very weird encounter. A little later a man walked up to me and said a prayer, then asked for money. Definitely not the greatest welcome to the country.<br />
<br />
I left as it started to get light out the next morning, exploring the town. It was pretty dead, and even the mosque was empty (a bit surprising given the traditional dawn call to prayer).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18685953352" title="_DSC4216 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4216" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/517/18685953352_62aca2c493_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost all cars in Uzbekistan are Daewoo or, if newer, Chevrolet. This is the result of domestic car factories formerly owned by Daewoo but now controlled by Chevrolet, plus onerous duties on cars imported to Uzbekistan. The little Chevy Spark is very popular.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18070060813" title="_DSC4217 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4217" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/410/18070060813_38899a7c0b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inventive fast food joint. The inverted arches resembles the Cyrillic character for "sh," suggesting they sell shaurma/shawarma.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18068092304" title="_DSC4220 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4220" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/472/18068092304_b54810c094_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to a mosque and madressa in central Margilan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18503049470" title="_DSC4232 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4232" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/353/18503049470_bd5bea1865_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new building is flanked by old wooden parapets on the madressa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18664484266" title="_DSC4235 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4235" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/342/18664484266_f1e56cb45a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from madressa stairs.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18503101610" title="_DSC4236 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4236" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/483/18503101610_0fc479d7ff_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the top.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Yodgorlik Silk Factory</h4>
<br />
As it began to get later and the town came alive, I tried
to find one of the main attractions in Margilan: the Yodgorlik Silk
Factory. Good luck trying to find this place on your own if you only have the Lonely Planet to go by, as many locals either don't know where it is or can't give directions decent enough to find it. I added it to Google Maps so it should be there now (but if it's inaccurate, you also know who to blame), but I had a heck of a time trying to find it when I was there, even after asking locals.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d2744.8606721410124!2d71.71933499999996!3d40.476223007084656!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x38bb77b3ca158cff%3A0xe9a4d5ea59fd20ee!2sYodgorlik+Silk+Factory!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1434168929792" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe><br /></div>
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Much of what you see at the Yodgorlik is the same as at the <a href="http://silkroadwanderings.blogspot.com/2012/08/hotan-second-time-around.html">Atlas workshop in Hotan</a>, except that here you get a guide who speaks English, and a bit better explanation. The people at Yodgorlik also seem to be actually practicing the traditional silk-making techniques, whereas at Atlas it seemed largely for show.<br />
<br />
As my guide was starting the tour, one of the workers approached him to talk. Now, the worker was female and my guide was male, and since Lonely Planet describes Uzbekistan's Ferhana Valley like it is the most conservative place in all of Central Asia I expected the conversation to be distant and formal. That said, I was surprised when they started by shaking hands and then talking in a very friendly way—you simply wouldn't see unrelated Uzbek men and women shaking hands in Osh, let alone in somewhere even more conservative like the Fann Mountains.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18504630129" title="_DSC4256 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4256" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/406/18504630129_e26f1cd262_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cocoons are softened in hot water, then strands from a bunch of them are gathered together</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18693166011" title="_DSC4257 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4257" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/432/18693166011_68db1ff71f_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They're then threaded through a grommet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18664540206" title="_DSC4258 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4258" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/328/18664540206_9f3c06dedb_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then spread out again under the upside-down bowl, then bought together again at the top of the canvas, then fed to the spinning wheel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18068211264" title="_DSC4259 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4259" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/486/18068211264_1a49875dfc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cocoons and the silk worm inside.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18693198791" title="_DSC4263 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4263" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/260/18693198791_bb8b39d276_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tying bundles of silk in preparation for dying. The tied sections resist the dye, and you have to re-tie the bundles with each successive colour.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18664574106" title="_DSC4265 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4265" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/337/18664574106_9357c04063_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the spices and plants used to naturally dye the silk.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18070222883" title="_DSC4267 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4267" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/512/18070222883_f28763661b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The same sort of looms that we saw in <a href="http://silkroadwanderings.blogspot.com/2012/08/hotan-second-time-around.html">Hotan</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18690937505" title="_DSC4268 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4268" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/435/18690937505_c2ff539ef4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Except there are more people weaving here, and the room is appropriately scruffy and cramped as befits a real, working factory.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18503226630" title="_DSC4270 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4270" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/344/18503226630_cc2cd7afea_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They also have (very noisy) automated looms at Yodgorlik.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18070301253" title="_DSC4271 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4271" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/386/18070301253_a8c85ae54e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In their shop they sell not only silk products but carpets and ceramics.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18503227818" title="_DSC4272 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4272" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/411/18503227818_57331a0ae2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These kinds of ceramics are very common at all tourist sites in Uzbekistan, and are actually quite attractive. In nearby Rishtan there's a famous workshop.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Kumtepa Bazaar</h4>
Kumptepa is a huge semi-weekly bazaar on the outskirts of Margilan, operating on Thursdays and Sundays. For some reason Lonely Planet seems quite enamored of this bazaar, but we obviously have very different tastes given that they also like Osh's bazaar a lot, too. But although Kumtepa is big, is pretty darn soulless, with an industrial feel and little charm. Sure, there are large sections selling silks and fabrics, but you see this at a lot of bazaars, and much of the bazaar deals with hardware, parts, and other random things. <br />
<br />
It is pretty easy to get there, though, as regular marshrutkas run there from the east-west road running past the central green market, which is just north of the Yodgorlik workshop.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m24!1m12!1m3!1d21943.08684434202!2d71.6747797813823!3d40.46740978266623!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m9!3e6!4m3!3m2!1d40.4781105!2d71.720494!4m3!3m2!1d40.4560476!2d71.6661803!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1434221319966" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe><br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18068363794" title="_DSC4281 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4281" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/530/18068363794_9d2b7d0700_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sewing machines, bric-a-brac, home appliances, and all sorts of stuff are sold at Kumptepa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18664713016" title="_DSC4282 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4282" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/307/18664713016_0438a685b6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woman sell nuts and fabrics, but most of the sellers are men.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The green market</h4>
Back in town, the green market was actually a lot more interesting to me. As in Dushanbe and Almaty, they artfully stack their produce in little pyramids, which is so much more appealing than random piles of fruits and vegetables.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18503334070" title="_DSC4283 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4283" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/346/18503334070_03aaa1b6d7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are often sections devoted to pickled vegetables, including a surprising number of Korean salads.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18504873999" title="_DSC4286 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4286" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/311/18504873999_98438c44ff_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Women sell the salads, while men sell the produce. This style of covered market is typical of Uzbekistan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Margilan to Tashkent</h4>
With the help of a local I was pointed in the direction of the gathering point for share taxis to Tashkent, and once there I stuck to my guns and negotiated down to the price listed in Lonely Planet. This actually involved the driver pretending he wouldn't agree and me standing around for a while until another driver agreed (not much risk with this strategy, as you're going to be waiting for the car to fill up, anyway). The upshot was that I paid 27,000 for the 315km ride from Margilan to Tahskent—the exact same as I paid for the 120km ride from the border to Margilan.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18503380410" title="_DSC4287 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4287" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/280/18503380410_7cc7a2fd1b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hay stacked by the side of the road.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18068457564" title="_DSC4288 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4288" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/457/18068457564_67e74e33f8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A motorbike and cargo-carrying side car.</td></tr>
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<br />
The Ferghana Valley is separated from the rest of Azbekistan by a small
chokehold of the Tian Shan mountains, pinched from the north by
Kyrgyzstan and the south by Tajikistan. The Kamchick Pass rises to 2,267
meters, while the Ferghana Valley is between 400 and 450m, while
western Uzbekistan is even lower. There's a police checkpoint in the
pass, where documents are checked (Uzbekistan seems fearful of Islamic
funadmentalism, and the Ferghana Valley is the most devout region of
Uzbekistan).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18503433300" title="_DSC4289 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4289" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/416/18503433300_bb3f4fefb4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Billboards on the mountain ridges hint at Uzbekistan's economic development.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18504966929" title="_DSC4291 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4291" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/432/18504966929_7b551a78f7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These weird frames that look like they might be for placement of solar panels—or for preventing avalanches in the winter, line some of the slopes.</td></tr>
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<br />
It was dark by the time we arrived in Tashkent, which has a population of over two million. On the outskirts of Tashkent there was another weird inspection station, but I think this one had more to do with tolls or car inspection than anything else, as we got out of the car while it drove to some inspection station, then rejoined it when it reappeared about 100 meters down the road. This happened to pretty much all the cars on this road, so there was a bustling business in selling snacks and refreshments. It was all a bit bizarre, and although we were still quite a ways from he city, signs of urbanization were evident soon thereafter, as Tashkent is a sprawling city.<br />
<br />
We were dropped off somewhat near the train station, and I followed a tram line back to the station, and after checking out the train schedules I took the subway to Chorsu, where I tracked down the Gulnara Guesthouse in the old town (the main street on the border of old town is full of upscale bars and KTV joints, so stepping off them into the old-town alleys is interesting). <br />
<br />
Tashkent is pretty expensive, and at the Gulnara it was 42,000 som—$15—for a bed in the dorm room, breakfast included. That being said, the guesthouse was actually pretty nice, with real furniture like a real house, and not the spartan decoration and cheap furniture that you tend to see in guesthouses, hostels, and cheap hotels. What's more, it had an actual bath in one of the bathrooms, so I was able to indulge in a short bath for the first time since Jeti-Oguz. As a bonus the Gulnara issues registration slips for stays of even one night (you need to stay in a registered hotel at least once every three nights, where they give you registration slips that you may have to show to the police or border officials, but some hotels won't register you or give you slips unless you stay a certain number of nights).<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 31, from Osh to Margilan: 270 Kyrgyz som + 31,300 Uzbek som<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Fried goods: 30 som</li>
<li>Chocolate, snickers, bread, cookies, tissues, coke, etc: 240 som</li>
<li>Taxi from Dostyk to Margilan: 27,000 som</li>
<li>Internet: 2,500 som</li>
<li>Drinks: 1,800 som</li>
</ul>
<br />
November 1, from Margilan to Tashkent: 81,700 som<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasha">Grechka</a>, tea & sugar at overnight chaikhana: 6,400 som</li>
<li>Taxi to Kumptepa: 1,800 som</li>
<li>Taxi to Tashkent: 27,000 som</li>
<li>Room at Gulnara: 42,000 som</li>
<li>Bread, 2 drinks, carrots: 3,200 som</li>
<li>Internet: 1,600 som</li>
<li>Subway: 700 som </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5Margilan, Uzbekistan40.471111 71.72472199999992940.374469 71.563360499999931 40.567753 71.886083499999927tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-72580338686872977152012-10-30T13:38:00.000-07:002018-03-21T14:03:20.891-07:00Pamir Highway, part 2: Murghab to Osh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Even though it was late in the tourist season and there were few tourists because the Pamirs had been closed for a couple of months, Megi and I didn't have to wait long for a jeep from Murghab to Osh, as we obtained one leaving the morning after our first inquiries. Although we were supposed to leave well before 10:00, we spent a while waiting for additional passengers and then going to a few houses to pick up cargo, so it wasn't until after 11:00 that we actually hit the road.<br />
<br />
The M41 leaves Murghab to the east and then curves north through a wide, flat valley, while another road continues straight east from Murghab towards the Chinese border at the Qolma pass.The first stretch of road, before the valley narrows and the road begins to climb the the Ak-Baital pass, runs through a wide, dry valley.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18437080459" title="_DSC4048 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4048" height="323" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/464/18437080459_1f3c368707_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking east, just north of Murghab.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18618702072" title="_DSC4052 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4052" height="310" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/440/18618702072_72fbbe622a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barren but beautiful in the autumn sun.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18435536948" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4053 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4053" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/428/18435536948_d9bd342e31_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smudges on the jeep's windows made it hard to take pictures. The road to Rang-kul lies through this gap in the mountains.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18002652413" title="_DSC4055 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4055" height="362" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/268/18002652413_26c3800717_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mountains close back in on the valley. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18435560748" title="_DSC4059 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4059" height="369" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/329/18435560748_4f6c6f6b3a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little further north the mountains have a bit more colour, as I saw from the mountain-top on the northern outskirts of Murghab.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18435583928" title="_DSC4062 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4062" height="356" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/437/18435583928_340278a261_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just beyond the power lines you can see the so-called Chinese border fence. Although in many places the border is actually dozens of kilometers from the road, China has flexed its muscle and convinced the Tajiks to allow a fence to be constructed near the road, allowing for easier control and monitoring of the border.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18625549671" title="_DSC4064 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4064" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/409/18625549671_9a7020ba73_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this stretch of the road the border is actually the top of those mountains, but in many cases the fence is right next to the road but the border is far away.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18625558461" title="_DSC4066 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4066" height="376" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8848/18625558461_495379f3b4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18000719604" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4068 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4068" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/318/18000719604_8949f8b643_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As we begin our climb to the Ak-Baital (white horse) pass the valley becomes narrower and snowier.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18625572371" title="_DSC4069 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4069" height="347" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8896/18625572371_9ddfd3357c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gravel valley bottom suggests water flows everywhere in spring and summer.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18435699830" title="_DSC4070 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4070" height="374" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/519/18435699830_21275ac2c5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18625601291" title="_DSC4073 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4073" height="361" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/386/18625601291_02d4735740_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An outpost near the pass.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18625613961" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4079 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4079" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/474/18625613961_6cb404522f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at the valley. Although the road isn't that steep, the road climbs to 4,655 meters—the highest point on the Pamir highway, and the highest I've ever been.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18437267979" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4085 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4085" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/317/18437267979_fbe546549e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This curve is about as close as the pass gets to a switchback, and the photograph is taken just before the highest part of the pass.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18002808313" title="_DSC4086 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4086" height="386" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8850/18002808313_af29a5d8b7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west shortly after the pass's summit: it's downhill from here.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18623475825" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4091 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4091" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/347/18623475825_5992c3734a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the pass is more of the wide, barren valley, surrounded by low mountains, as we saw before the pass. This valley starts at about 4,200m and slowly drops to about 4,050m.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18435791680" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4092 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4092" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/268/18435791680_96b4a6ea8b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Are these low clouds or just high terrain (the mountain is about 4,500m high—taller than Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 US states)? </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18437322039" title="_DSC4093 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4093" height="358" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/302/18437322039_2206a5a2e7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see part of the road here. It's wide and gravelly, and not that bad at all. But the Chinese fence makes you wonder what things would be like if this was in China: certainly the environment is no more challenging than what the Karakorum highway runs through on its way up to Tashkurgan and Pakistan, and that road is a good sealed road. Of course, China would also flood the area with Han migrants, quickly and easily making the 25,000 Kyrgyz and Pamiris who live in the GBAO minorities in their own territory. Would concomitant Chinese amenities like reliable electricity, transportation, schools, plumbing, etc. be enough to placate the people?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18625718671" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4096 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4096" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/403/18625718671_bf4f18d94e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The thin, pollution-free air makes for intensely blue skies.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18623551375" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4097 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4097" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/307/18623551375_e42083316b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those dots on the lower right are three guys praying towards Mecca. They're the first people we had seen.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18618974902" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4098 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4098" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/483/18618974902_68c5fc182a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately a window smudge got in the way.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18435888290" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4101 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4101" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8899/18435888290_f753452160_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old abandoned Soviet-era outpost.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18437425229" title="_DSC4103 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4103" height="365" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/333/18437425229_f7d7f30b09_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This would be an amazing are to explore in the height of summer on a motorbike.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18625807301" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4109 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4109" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8872/18625807301_ae1f9e9a1c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the height of summer this valley must be flooded with melt-water.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18597270316" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4111 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4111" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8890/18597270316_88ac9de3fc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shortly after crossing this river we cut through a gap in the mountains
on the right, and the road opens up into a wide open area and straight
road down to lake Karakul ("Black Lake").</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18597280016" title="_DSC4112 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4112" height="346" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/306/18597280016_f8f0943339_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On a rare stretch of paved road, it's straight on to Karakul.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18001001234" title="_DSC4115 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4115" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/353/18001001234_cb1ef517ec_z.jpg" width="518" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were briefly stopped for some vehicle maintenance. Even though we're at over 3,900m in late October, heat shimmers off the road and desert make distant details indistinct.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18435990550" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4117 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4117" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/497/18435990550_c5a7c4d0e4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those mountains to the north mark the border with China. They are the same <a href="http://silkroadwanderings.blogspot.com/2012/08/kashgar-to-osh-in-two-not-so-easy-days.html">snowy mountains I saw from Ulugqat</a>, in China, and the same mountains that form the backdrop of the <a href="http://silkroadwanderings.blogspot.com/2014/12/tashkurgan-and-chinese-karakorum-highway.html">sand-dune lake of Bulungkol</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18003044563" title="_DSC4119 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4119" height="370" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/370/18003044563_b36ee3418c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More small mountains to the east.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18436010730" title="_DSC4122 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4122" height="391" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8829/18436010730_c888bc2f8e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Karakul leas at an elevation of 3,920 meters (the Chinese Karakol, about 100km southeast, is at 3,650m).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18435960228" title="_DSC4124 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4124" height="351" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8840/18435960228_2e0d258913_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The village of Karakul, from the M41. The use of typical Russian white and blue makes this village seem more cheerful than Alichur. I'm sure the proximity of the lake and the more distant snow-capped mountains helps, too. It took a little over two hours to reach Karakul village from Murghab.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18597362316" title="_DSC4126 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4126" height="328" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8829/18597362316_40cbd08504_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old abandoned buildings on the lake shore.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18597374616" title="_DSC4128 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4128" height="333" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/257/18597374616_bb5d83f349_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the other side of the road, looking east towards China.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18625948291" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4132 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4132" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8897/18625948291_2be97371bd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chinese fence.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18436092940" title="_DSC4135 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4135" height="346" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/344/18436092940_836688616f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mountains to the west are mostly under 5,500 meters high.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18437618709" title="_DSC4136 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4136" height="364" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/368/18437618709_58b134eee2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snow on the northern shore.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18597437176" title="_DSC4138 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4138" height="381" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/402/18597437176_f25c78faed_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a large island on the northern part of Karakul.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18436055318" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4142 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4142" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/489/18436055318_8bdda03b0c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west. The southern approach to Pik Lenin is through that valley and to the right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18003179713" title="_DSC4147 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4147" height="384" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/287/18003179713_3e1b6312ae_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west as we make the ascent to Kyzyl-Art pass and the border.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18001182594" title="_DSC4150 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4150" height="380" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/402/18001182594_4d3e3fbcfc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost there.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18436091138" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4153 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4153" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8878/18436091138_59a963221b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those buildings near the jeep's roof-line mark the Tajik border post. It took about one hour to get here from Karakul village, or about three hours from Murghab.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18001208674" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4155 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4155" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8839/18001208674_2d99fa1e87_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We stopped a hundred meters or so south of the border point, to wait until the cars in front of us passed through the border. That square shelter of fabric surrounding posts marks an outhouse: once the pit you've dug is full or whatever, you can easily move the privacy curtains somewhere else.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18436142398" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4157 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4157" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8839/18436142398_771379cc6d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old concrete and tin yurt-shaped building, just next to the border.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18626139451" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4158 - _DSC4165 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4158 - _DSC4165" height="100" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/496/18626139451_442db91379_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama looking south down the road.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18624191415" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4175 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4175" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8872/18624191415_612822fb46_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red rock, blue sky, white cloud.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18626396201" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4176 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4176" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/529/18626396201_4a9f6923e9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This red mountainis basically where the border actually is. The switchbacks down from the Kyzyl-Art pass into Kyrgyzstan are also red, and reminiscent of volcanic soil.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18600402666" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4168 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4168" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8829/18600402666_f20bd388a9_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view of the outhouse.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18600406696" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4170 - _DSC4173 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4170 - _DSC4173" height="169" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/409/18600406696_1521525831_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama looking west.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Given my trouble at the border the last time I was there, as well as the weird vibe given off by police and security in Dushanbe, I was hesitant to take pictures of the actual border area as we waited, lest I attract any unwanted attention. Between the waiting and the processing, it was about an hour before we were stamped out of Tajikistan and on our way down the pass.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18439702280" title="_DSC4178 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4178" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/523/18439702280_62382119a1_z.jpg" width="551" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tajik welcome sign in no-man's-land..</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18441239649" title="_DSC4181 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4181" height="365" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/522/18441239649_3e52d2aafb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from one of the switchbacks. Those buildings on the right are where I was supposed to spend the night when I was rejected at the border a few weeks earlier. Of course, they were empty, so I had to be ferried all the way to the Kyrgyz border at Bar Dobo. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18441252019" title="_DSC4186 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4186" height="477" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/339/18441252019_08e69a43db_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rounding one of the switchbacks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18601068356" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4189 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4189" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/546/18601068356_0a302becbc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the bottom of the switchbacks it's a fairly straight drive down the valley. You can already see how grassier it is on the Kyrgyz side of the border, in the wide Alay valley.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18629632921" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4190 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4190" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/372/18629632921_fd6c367bc8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back up the valley towards the mountains forming the border.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18004778614" title="_DSC4195 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4195" height="380" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/421/18004778614_c809b6e30e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East of the M41.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18629654781" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4197 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4197" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8850/18629654781_68615e057b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even these small sub-valleys have wide alluvial fans suggesting torrential spring melt-waters.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18441288769" title="_DSC4198 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4198" height="375" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/547/18441288769_0febc9c7bc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kyrgyz border post at Bar Dobo is over the rise and down the hill.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18004810974" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4206 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4206" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/466/18004810974_fac750cbd9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By the time we were stamped into Kyrgyzstan and crossing the Alay valley
on our way to Sary Tash the sun was setting. It was about six hours
since we left Murghab, and—unusually for travel in Central Asia—we
hadn't taken any meal stops.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
On the Kyrgyz side it again took about an hour for us to be processed and stamped into Kyrgyzstan, and adding in the half-hour it took to cross no-man's-land, the sun was setting as we headed into Sary Tash even though it was bright and sunny when we arrived at Tajik border control. Thankfully I had seen the M41 between Sary Tash and Osh a few times before, so I wasn't missing much. As the road on the Kyrgyz side is fully (and recently) paved once you reach Sary Tash, the Kyrgyz side takes about three and a half hours to reach Osh. In total, that made about seven hours of driving, plus two hours of border formalities.<br />
<br />
Now, in all my other journeys to Osh I had been dropped off wherever I wanted to go in the city, and I'm pretty sure the Kyrgyz driver I had traveled with before would have dropped us off in the city. This jeep, however, turned off into a house/compound on the outskirts of Osh, and dropped us there. This wasn't terrible for the other passengers, as they all made calls to friends and relatives to be picked up, but it sucked for Megi and I. What's worse is one of the younger guys who was in our jeep offered to give us a ride into town with his friends and cargo... for 150 som each! For context, a marshrutka from Osh to Jalal Abad is 100 som, so I refused (which was relatively easy since I knew where we were), but Megi had to accept as she was supposed to meet a friend in Osh that night.<br />
<br />
From more recent reports it seems that it has become standard for all vehicles to and from Murghab to leave from this compound on the outskirts of Osh, so it probably wasn't as bad a ride as I originally thought (but I'm also sure the other Kyrgyz driver would have taken us all the way).<br />
<br />
Anyway, I walked into town. It wasn't that bad, neither too hot nor too cold. I headed to the Osh guesthouse because I wanted to be able to cook and I wanted to use their wi-fi instead of having to sit my ass down in an internet cafe. Some decent food and internet access: two things in short supply over the last week. I made this <a href="http://chinese.food.com/recipe/egg-with-tomatoes-chinese-home-style-29813">egg and tomato dish</a> that I had learned about from the Israeli girl Helit in Xiahe, as apparently this Chinese dish is very similar to an Israeli dish, and is very simple to make. I also stocked up on snacks and sweets unavailable in the mountains, spending my remaining som. The guesthouse was pretty empty when i was there, so I was able to snack and surf well into the night.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 30, from Murghab to Osh: 170 somoni, 605 som<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Taxi to Osh: 170 somoni</li>
<li>Bed at Osh guesthouse: 260 som</li>
<li>Internet: 100 som</li>
<li>Coke, ice cream, chocolates, eggs, tomato, sandwich, cakes, etc.: 245 som</li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Karakul Lake, Tajikistan39.0416148 73.34729010000000938.6466573 72.7018431 39.436572299999995 73.992737100000014tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-26549696490206651562012-10-29T13:33:00.000-07:002018-03-21T14:03:33.378-07:00Murghab and the stark desolation of the high Pamirs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We arrived in Murghab after dark, and were dropped off in front of the hospital, which has to be one of the bigger buildings in Murghab. We went with our Pamiri friend to greet his colleagues, who offered us some dinner, including meat that they later said was Marco Polo sheep. Dwindling populations of these animals make them something you would really rather not eat, but it's also difficult to fault people who live in such a harsh environment for hunting animals. <br />
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After eating we were shown to the room where Megi and I would stay: a simply room with six single beds. These Soviet-era beds had woven steel springs underneath the mattresses, and age and wear had resulted in them being like hammocks with a mattress on top. Traditional-style tapchans on the floor would have been preferable. Although the hospital was a solid building built in Russian/Soviet style, the bathroom facilities were rather shocking. There was a large outhouse building located a few dozen meter north of the hospital, with separate men's and women's sides. There wwas no electricity or lights, so we had to bring our own flashlights. Inside, these were the dirtiest and smelliest facilities I saw on my trip. Although everything was concrete, the holes in the floor were surrounded by toilet paper and shit where people had missed their target in the dark. It didn't seem like anything was ever cleaned. Apparently the women's side was even worse. Hardly the sort of hygiene one would hope for in a hospital.<br />
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The next morning we split up and arranged to meet later at the Yak House, which is a tourist-oriented handicraft shop on the northeastern edge of town. Since META had folded earlier that year (but has since resumed operation), it was the center of tourism in the region. I headed down to the mosque and market area, those being the only real places of note in town.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18572829825" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3805 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3805" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/315/18572829825_f78fe3df43_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Murghab mosque. Most of the high Pamirs east of the Koi-Tezek pass is ethnically Kyrgyz and therefore Sunni, for whom mosques are of relatively greater importance.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18385058318" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3809 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3809" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/396/18385058318_e73b360321_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goats in the bumpy marshland in front of the mosque.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18574908881" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3812 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3812" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8843/18574908881_e73f3dc6e8_z.jpg" width="447" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pair of kids were near the goats, though not exactly shepherding them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950235704" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3815 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3815" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8871/17950235704_a7a50a1907_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A foreigner with a camera? Let me get in on this action!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950270344" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3821 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3821" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/262/17950270344_b8df7baba4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Aga Khan doesn't limit his aid to Ismailis, but helps the greater community (including the water pipeline I saw in Kyrgyzstan near Sary Tash). On the mountain to the left of the dome you can see a message of welcome to the Aga Khan spelt out in stones.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18385133998" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3820 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3820" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8860/18385133998_4c67813408_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Aga Khan is also known as the Mawlana Hazar Imam, so I believe this is supposed to read "Welcome our Hazar Imam."</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18386768579" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3822 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3822" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/388/18386768579_9331cf30fa_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A river and backwater eddies are south of the mosque.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18568472482" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3824 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3824" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8843/18568472482_5ac4825deb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A brick and mortar yurt anchors one end of the market. Meat is sold inside. But what I really want to talk about in this picture is the blue plastic bag that old lady is carrying. It caries the logo of the "Aygen Collection," and it's the unofficial bag of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. But although it looks like the bag of some sort of designer label or store—albeit one unintelligible to those who use it—it actually corresponds to no label or store known to Google. Instead, the label really describes the bag, and it's popular because it's a a relatively strong and reusable bag. You do have to pay for them, but they're everywhere. Apparently in the mid-90s the bag of choice in the region <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/uk.local.glasgow/n0bTQMFuFOQ/aD4rug-wZMwJ">bore the logo of a Glascow pet store</a>. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ocamagazine.com/kyrgyzstans-fermented-drink-a-strong-salty-national-treasure" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtSgeEc2LPPDND9DWd4RxHcviVNeJzlHfS2_0ncqe9c5e42pn9MzkeHezMBnCgKtTA4YYGI-d9bUkZ2ypCmMKg4iVL2vF8pW7zVaHRdZGlilS6Nfflzkj2jc_GEeWkln-bsUlAZspmlc/s640/5b6501de-615a-4721-9ae0-2e6a0cba0543-620x372.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ubiquitous bag photo-bombs an <a href="http://www.ocamagazine.com/kyrgyzstans-fermented-drink-a-strong-salty-national-treasure">editorial photo illustrating drinks vendors in Kyrgyzstan</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A real, authentic bus. I guess they do have bus service between Murghab and (presumably) Khorog on occasion.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950329014" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3828 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3828" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8895/17950329014_8bc02e9764_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When I was there META had stopped operating, though they have since resumed operations. This was in the Yak House, which is an attractive and new circular building on the northeast edge of town. They have some information and sell locally-produced handicrafts with fixed prices (they do something similar in Khorog's Central Park). In this picture you can see a traditional Pamiri skylight, with four concentric squares representing the four elements.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18385207438" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3829 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3829" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/255/18385207438_2d6f842a91_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Price list for carpets, per square meter, based on the type of carpet as well as the fiber and dye used.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18575071431" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3836 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3836" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/443/18575071431_41a24e4bc1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yak house is just at the edge of town.</td></tr>
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Since we were already at the edge of town with nothing more to explore in that direction (and not much to explore in Murghab), I suggested that we climb the mountains just to the north of the M41. Our Pamiri friend thought I was crazy, and said it would take at least four hours to reach the top. I figured we could do it in about an hour, but he said it was impossible and bet me I couldn't. I was surprised at how hostile he was to the idea of climbing, as he had earlier told us how he liked the outdoors and did things like weightlifting as a hobby. At any rate, he wasn't going to join us. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18575079841" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3837 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3837" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/560/18575079841_26fbdaca30_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our route was to climb the nearest ridge to the highway, then follow it up to the summit. This meant pretty steep climbing in the beginning, but it meant we were quickly rewarded with great views. This is looking east, and the at the end of this valley, over 100km away, you can see the 7,000 meter Muztagh Aga in China.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18386872859" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3838 - _DSC3844 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3838 - _DSC3844" height="128" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/306/18386872859_a2fb072b5c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Partially up the ridge , looking down over Murghab.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18568597092" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3845 - _DSC3856 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3845 - _DSC3856" height="73" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/323/18568597092_4c377de0f1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scramble up to this point was pretty steep, and Megi wasn't feeling so good and didn't feel like she could continue so she stopped and rested here while I continued.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950462054" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3897 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3897" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/331/17950462054_460ec8a55b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pushing up past a sub peak on the way to the top.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18573134695" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3900 - _DSC3904 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3900 - _DSC3904" height="146" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/270/18573134695_82c064a921_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It would have been easier to walk up the relatively gentle slopes of the valley instead of heading for a ridge.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950483184" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3905 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3905" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/307/17950483184_838fdeba3f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Megi is a litle orange speck above the M41 and Murghab.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18385350798" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3911 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3911" height="466" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/514/18385350798_6f43213cc2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first vulture since Langmusi, a couple of months earlier.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18385497880" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3916 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3916" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/285/18385497880_3c40a9dbd5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocky outcroppings.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18546763036" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3918 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3918" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/444/18546763036_4d4e731233_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking south over the Murghab river.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950509374" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3919 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3919" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/423/17950509374_7eff6f582f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north from the top, over colourful mountains. You can see the M41 running through the valley on the right.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17952527083" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3922 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3922" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8868/17952527083_be43cf6a3b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Murghab and the M41 running towards Khorog.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18385546600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3923 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3923" height="325" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/319/18385546600_0a45a7147b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The clouds have cleared to the eats, affording better views of Muztagh Aga. There is a road to China that heads off in that direction, and is used by the Chinese trucks that pass through Murghab and Khorog, but the border at the Qolma pass is only open to Chinese and Tajiks... otherwise it would be a great way to pass from the Chinese Pamir into the Tajik Pamir.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17952574513" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3950 - _DSC3960 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3950 - _DSC3960" height="77" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/485/17952574513_1306e651ea_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama looking south.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18575299491" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3962 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3962" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/282/18575299491_aa51a65299_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking northwest along the summit ridge.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18575318961" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3966 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3966" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8896/18575318961_bae5a8898b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The valley <i>must</i> be green and lush in the summer, but always ringed by harshness.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18385482508" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3970 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3970" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/358/18385482508_9ddc42c0af_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Certainly the town of Murghab is much more depressing than Tashkurgan, which is one of the admitted benefits of China's sinacization of its territories.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18568788402" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3971 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3971" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8846/18568788402_c3d1ed0ce4_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down the ridge over Murghab and the mountains to the south.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18385517858" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3988 - _DSC3990 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3988 - _DSC3990" height="168" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/526/18385517858_1b75ddba48_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north, with the M41 clearly visible on the center right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950695154" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3992 - _DSC4015 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3992 - _DSC4015" height="76" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/255/17950695154_85eeb18c6e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The summit I reached was at 4,380 meters—some 750m above Murghab's 3,630m elevation. Probably the highest I had ever been, but we would surpass that the next day at the Akbaytal Pass on the M41. It admittedly took well over an hour to get here, but it was very doable and took less than half the time our friend estimated.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18568941002" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4017 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4017" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/548/18568941002_4f7601b627_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scramble down from the peak was rather difficult, as the stones were more like boulders, and it was difficult to get good footholds on the steep slope.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18573444465" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4025 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4025" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8829/18573444465_2e7f868a87_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Down in the valley, some desicated flowers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950796414" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4027 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4027" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8852/17950796414_46549d9b34_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shell of a building. I'm not sure I understand the design, with walls on only three sides.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18573475845" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4029 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4029" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/466/18573475845_4f924fc89a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I really wonder what this is like in the summer. It looks so harsh and inhospitable now, but it's also only about 150km from Tashkurgan, which was green and gorgeous in late August (although Tashkurgan is at about 3,060m, while Murghab is at about 3,630m).</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15958247357" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC8730 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC8730" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8682/15958247357_dd830b5c91_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For comparison, this was in Tashkurgan about 70 days earlier. Similar terrain (marshy mounds by seasonal rivers, in a broad valley fringed by relatively low mountains), and both sport a Kyrgyz population, but I wonder if they look the same in summer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Back down in Murghab I went to the market to meet up with Megi, where we
hoped to find a ride to Osh. Although she had originally planned on
spending another day or so in the area, she decided to head up to Osh
with me. For me it was important that we find a car leaving in the next
day or so, as I only had two days remaining on my visa. There were only a few vehicles at the car park, and one of them turned out to be the Kyrgyz
guy who had driven me from Osh to the Kyzyl-Art border! He was glad
that I had managed to make it into the country, and it would have been
nice to ride back to Osh with him since he was an honest guy, but he
wasn't leaving for a couple of days. We managed to find another car that
would probably be leaving the next morning, and we arranged to meet at the market taxi stand the next morning.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18547080126" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4030 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4030" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/545/18547080126_8817533090_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I believe these trees at the east end of the market might be the only trees in Murghab.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950829324" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4031 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4031" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/532/17950829324_ac1d680e7b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A couple of kids on bikes show up to say hello.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18573498985" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4035 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4035" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/361/18573498985_3b7251ab11_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This sign inside the hospital displays political leaders. President Rahmon on the top left, just above Tajik Hitler.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The next morning when we showed up, we rather predictably were still a couple of passengers short of a full load, so we had extra time to wander around the market and the marshy pasture south of the market. We managed to get another passenger, and then we all paid a bit extra to leave with only six passengers, and not the usual seven (170 somoni, as opposed to the usual 150 somoni—prices are comparatively low for this leg because drivers are able to use cheap Kyrgyz fuel instead of the significantly more expensive Tajik fuel). I managed to spend all of my Tajik somoni, and even had to use some of my Kyrgyz som to cover the supplement. I have had pretty good luck in using all of my currency as I leave the country, and rarely had to exchange extra currency after departing anywhere.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950859004" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4040 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4040" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/299/17950859004_8fe3cda33f_z.jpg" width="521" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west towards China and Muztagh Aga.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18385731768" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4041 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4041" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8876/18385731768_5b952586f7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two kids in the parking lot in front of the market, where share taxis
are arranged. You can see the containers lined up in the background:
their entrances face the market and comprise most of the shops.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18547150216" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4045 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4045" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8828/18547150216_afa931f601_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kyrgyz men in their characteristic ak-kalpak hats outside a shop.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17950910314" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC4047 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC4047" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/262/17950910314_ed0b17fdee_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The guy on the left insisted I take their picture, but the guy on the right wasn't so keen on it. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
You see more of the traditional ak-kalpak felt hats in Murghab than anywhere in Kyrgyzstan. This isn't that surprising given the isolation of Murghab and the traditional Kyrgyz nomadic culture that exists there, unalloyed with any real urban or agricultural lifestyles. These hats came as a shock to Megi, however, as this was her first exposure to the Kyrgyz. She thought they looked ridiculous, and when I pulled my souvenir ak-kalpak out of my bag (bought for 200 som—about $4—in Osh) and put it on, she told me I had to take it off because she couldn't take me seriously. <br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 29, Murghab: 12 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Fig cookies and soup: 12 somoni</li>
</ul>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2Murghab, Tajikistan38.168889 73.96500000000003238.1189625 73.884319000000033 38.2188155 74.04568100000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-8798180272154203852012-10-28T18:47:00.000-07:002018-03-21T14:02:44.654-07:00Pamir Highway, Part 1: Khorog to Murghab<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Megi and I were to meet in the morning at the market, where vehicles
to Murghab leave. I arrived and wasn't able to find her, and after
waiting around and periodically wandering down the main road to other
places she might be waiting (we agreed to meet where vehicles leave, but
it isn't always clear exactly where that is), I began to fear that she
might have left before me for some reason. It turned out that she and
the family she had been staying with had spent the night at a different
house, and they had only returned relatively late in the morning. So it
was pretty late by the time we were prepared to leave, and most of the
vehicles had already left, but we found a Chinese-made minivan without
too much difficulty, and were on our way before too much time had
passed. We were stuck in the back seat with some cargo, and it was
actually fairly comfortable because you don't have to worry about
elbowing the cargo or slinging your legs over them.<br />
<br />
Chinese
minivans are popular on this route, as the road is decent enough for
them not to be shaken apart, they hold a fair number of people, and
they're dirt cheap: I think they cost something like $6,000. One of the
other passengers in our van was a bright young girl of maybe 12 or so
who was returning to her family in Murghab, and it was really charming
to watch her talk with Megi and the other passengers, as she was
absolutely nothing like the timid, downtrodden girls you see in the Fann
mountains. She was bright and outgoing, and had no fear of challenging
and disagreeing with the adult men in the van, let alone simply talking
with them.She wasn't that happy to be returning to Murghab, however, as
there simply wasn't enough there to be appealing to her<br />
<br />
Megi
had earlier told me about her taxi ride from Dushanbe to Khorog, where
she had been similarly surprised at just how different Pamiri women were
from the lowland Tajik women she was used to in Kulob. The women in her
car showed no fear or hesitation to dominate and chide the men, telling
her that in Pamiri families it is women who wear the pants in the
family. This is so different than most of Central Asia, and Tajikistan
in particular, but hugely refreshing, and a large part of the reason why
Pamiris are my favourite people of Central Asia.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
On the road to Murghab</h3>
For the first hour or so the M41 east of
Khorog has scenery similar to the road between Khorog and Ishkashim,
which is to say that it's relatively verdant with lots of trees and
small villages. After a while, however, the valley rises and widens into
a more desolate and rocky environment of the type we might expect to
see in high-altitude mountain plains, rising to the deceptively high
Koi-Tezek pass (4,272 meters high, even though the pass is not between
close mountain but simply the crest of a long hill in the middle of a
wide valley).<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17776730736" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3740 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3740" height="425" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7707/17776730736_279930c964_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entering the high plains.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17803008135" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3741 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3741" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8713/17803008135_59bf0f1706_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the
Koi-Tezek pass. Despite the snow, it feels like a desert and it's
difficult to imagine that much vegetation grows in this stony valley,
even in the summer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m42!1m12!1m3!1d1456907.1085784398!2d71.59580741410889!3d37.88520825600918!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m27!3e0!4m5!1s0x38c695727f1566e7%3A0x342f69fbaeb7be17!2sKhorog%2C+Tajikistan!3m2!1d37.4882943!2d71.5901986!4m5!1s0x38c183ef75933953%3A0x44e9abbbc49d1a4f!2sKoi-Tesek+Pass%2C+Shughnon%2C+Gorno-Badakhshan+Autonomous+Province%2C+Tajikistan!3m2!1d37.4738889!2d72.7894444!4m3!3m2!1d37.6420879!2d73.0736463!4m3!3m2!1d37.754075!2d73.2659753!4m5!1s0x38ea591f94eb9d21%3A0x412a1caf98366619!2sMurghab%2C+Gorno-Badakhshan+Autonomous+Province%2C+Tajikistan!3m2!1d38.168889!2d73.965!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1433727993691" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17180561504" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3742 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3742" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8719/17180561504_a2bd6dfa81_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountains to the south.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17800298132" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3744 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3744" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8833/17800298132_81243bb2d2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We came across
a car stopped at the side of the road, and got out to stretch our legs
while the drivers talked. It turns out the other car had run out of
gas, so we gave him a ride to fetch some.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17803512581" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3746 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3746" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8750/17803512581_f24b576ca0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road is often washboard and bumpy, but isn't overly rocky.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17615529790" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3747 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3747" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7683/17615529790_87be69ec16_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese minivan in need of gas. Not the best place to get stranded.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17180591164" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3748 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3748" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7658/17180591164_8c6b2e01c6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We dropped the
driver here to get gas; I hope he found some. When I see a building
with a gabled roof line, I imagine that it's a Soviet-era building
constructed by the government. This may explain why it's abandoned.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
After Koi-Tezek the road descends
gradually, until you come across a bend in the road near the turnoffs
for Bulunkul (to the north) and Langar (to the south) where the road
follows a ridge above Sassyk-kul and other lakes on the plain below. As
this is a much-praised view, both Megi and I wanted to get a picture.
Megi said she would pretend she had to go to the bathroom, but in the
end she simply asked if they would stop for a photograph, a request the
driver happily obliged.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17800328952" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3753 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3753" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5336/17800328952_b5ae390206_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sassyk-kul from the vantage point of the M41.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17180617974" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3758 - _DSC3763 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3758 - _DSC3763" height="128" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7734/17180617974_c1ae26d007_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorma of the valley and the M41.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17615575150" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3764 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3764" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7766/17615575150_325539f242_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As the lakes have no outlet, they are naturally saline.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17616892679" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3767 - _DSC3768 (1) by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3767 - _DSC3768 (1)" height="296" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7749/17616892679_34a137c799_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The M41 stretches into the distance. This stretch is more or less paved.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17182835723" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3774 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3774" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7714/17182835723_c1fcac8d89_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lakes from down in the valley, shortly before Alichur.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17803156305" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3776 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3776" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7672/17803156305_bdb1b87a26_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A river near Alichur, fringed with ice from the overnight frosts.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17615652310" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3778 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3778" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5464/17615652310_bdb8216345_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buildings just
east of Alichur. It's near here that our van was chased down and pulled
over by a Pajero full of burly young men in shearling bomber jackets.
The driver talked with them outside, and I wondered what the hell was
going on, but they let us continue.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17180715724" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3779 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3779" height="389" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5336/17180715724_41676989ab_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Because just about every car ride needs to stop for a meal break, we
stopped in Alichur and pulled up to one of the non-descript boxes of a
building, which we discovered to be a restaurant when we went inside. I
decided to walk around the village instead of eating whatever they
happened to be serving (fish is the specialty in Alichur, and I don't
eat fish).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17182865723" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3780 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3780" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8762/17182865723_60731aeeed_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yaks graze near Alichur.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17615672400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3782 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3782" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8783/17615672400_f6ed6328cf_z.jpg" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Youngster out and about in the harsh town.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
While walking around Alichur I was
approached by one of the buys from the SUV who had stopped us earlier.
It turned out that they weren't police or security guards (or worse),
but a health-services crew from the Aga Khan Development Network who
were traveling to rural communities in the Pamir to deliver medical
equipment. And the reason they pulled us over earlier was because the
guy I was talking to needed to go the Murghab, while the rest of his
crew were heading to more rural communities, so he wanted to see if he
could hitch a ride with us... and since we were dropping someone off in
Alichur, he was joining us there. Anyway, he had come to talk to me to
invite me to stay with him, saying that I could stay for free with him
at the hospital, while he would be able to practice his English (which
was pretty good). I said that that sounded good so long as the ofer
extended to Megi, and he said that would be fine. And so we picked up a
passenger to Murghab, and Megi and I saved some money.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17616972639" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3785 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3785" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5346/17616972639_d108190e3a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the turnoff to our truck-stop restaurant.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17803198655" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3786 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3786" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7722/17803198655_85a2f133f3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road out of Alichur, towards Murghab..</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17803687551" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3787 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3787" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7685/17803687551_fbab093451_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The red lines
striking through the town name let you know you're leaving the village.
You know, just in case there was any confusion about that.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17180762394" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3789 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3789" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5456/17180762394_c135a97144_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wonder what this looks like in summer. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17615716620" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3790 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3790" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7766/17615716620_4870a73f51_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stark shadows.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17803713161" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3794 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3794" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7788/17803713161_5cc16951f9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm guessing this tiny little shack is an outhouse.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17180782634" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3795 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3795" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7718/17180782634_8745247bdf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are no real streets to speak of in Alichur.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17800522012" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3796 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3796" height="386" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7713/17800522012_4b7dccbd35_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long shadows as the sun sets. It was only 4:35, and still almost two months before the winter solstice.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17617036269" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3797 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3797" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8773/17617036269_123a2d66ee_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The
whitewashed and mudbrick walls of these flat-topped houses are more what
I imagined houses in Bolivia or Peru might look like.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17182947543" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3802 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3802" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8730/17182947543_45bbb3cd2e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About midway between Alichur and Murghab.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It was dark by the time we pulled into
Murghab, just before entering which we ran into only the second
checkpoint station I encountered in Tajikistan: this and the security
inspection outside Ishkashim were the only places where I had my
passport and GBAO permit checked. <br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 28, from Khorog to Murghab: 131 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Taxi to Murghab: 120 somoni</li>
<li>Breakfast in Khorog: 8 somoni</li>
<li>Bread in Khorog: 3 somoni</li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1Badakhshan National Park, M41, Tajikistan37.64073419654332 73.07419223242192237.590440696543318 72.993511232421923 37.691027696543323 73.15487323242192tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-76456307285647414942012-10-27T13:29:00.000-07:002018-03-21T14:02:31.540-07:00Back in Khorog, via the border town of Ishkashim<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In the morning we had breakfast and then settled up for our room and board. Aydar asked 50 somoni but was open to negotiation. Meggy thought this was a bit much, but given that official homestays cost that much for a bed and breakfast alone, I thought his price was quite fair, especially given that we each had our own room and there was a western toilet... and especially since it had been a rough year for tourism with the region closed for tourists for most of the peak season.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We ended up paying 50, and Aydar helped us find a ride into Ishkashim. There's a fort near Ishkashim, on a hill between the road and the Pyanj river, which many tourists stop at and which is somewhat known for being frequently occupied by Tajik border guards who don't take kindly to unannounced visitors, but since we weren't in a private car we didn't stop. Most of the excitement involved in stopping at this fort seems to center on interacting with the border guards, anyway, so I don't think it was any big loss.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Once we alighted in Ishkashim we first headed west of town to the location of the cross-border Saturday market to confirm it wasn't being held, then came back into town and explored the regular, daily market. The market was pretty basic, but we picked up some fruit and snacks. Ishkashim seemed like a pretty basic town, and in 2012 there were somewhat surprisingly no real places to stay there, even though it was the jumping-off place for exploring the Afghan Wakhan. And even though not a lot of tourists explore the Afghan side, there are plenty of traders and local who do cross over into Afghanistan (or vice-versa), so the lack of options is somewhat surprising. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17898020801" title="_DSC3730 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3730" height="425" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7658/17898020801_537e8a3708_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">West of Ishkashim, near the Saturday market, looking towards Afghanistan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17467091520" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3728 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3728" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7698/17467091520_2be1bce9c5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool bus stop. Does this mean they had proper bus services in the Soviet era?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17467098660" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3731 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3731" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8768/17467098660_dc1a0a61e5_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Lenin, with some of Rahmon's words of wisdom on the walls behind.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17032157504" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3732 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3732" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5350/17032157504_c28d78069a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interesting construction techniques: concrete supports on the lower level, stone walls, and rough wooden logs as floor and ceiling supports.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17654699585" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3733 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3733" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8851/17654699585_87cf5cc031_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Building new shops in Ishkashim's market area. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Strange happenings on the ride from Ishkashim to Khorog</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We managed to find a car heading back to Khorog without too much difficulty. All of the other people in the SUV were young guys in their twenties, and out bags were stuffed in the back.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As we left town, we made a brief stop at a farmhouse just outside Ishkashim. These kinds of stops to pick up passengers and cargo are pretty normal, but this was a bit different, as we stopped about 100 meters from the house and they didn't want us to get out. The driver and his friend headed inside, then a couple of minutes later they came running back to the car, jumped in, and we immediately sped out of there. This is all very strange, as you never see anyone running, and usually no one is in a rush to get into a car (even if the driving is often quite manic). The concern was amplified when one of the guys in the rear seat started stuffing things into someone's bag—we couldn't see what he had r where he was putting it, but something was going on. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Meggy and I exchanged slightly concerned glances, and we were both a little apprehensive when we reached the checkpoint between Ishkashim and Khorog, as we were both thinking that possibly these guys had picked up (or stolen) some drugs or other contraband and put them in our bags to help smuggle them through security. It turned out we had no problems at the checkpoint and there was certainly nothing removed from our bags before we left, so while the circumstances around that little stop remained a mystery, it was likely much more innocuous than we imagined. Or maybe not. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Anyway, during the post-checkpoint ride to Khorog, we talked a bit with some of the guys, and it turns out that a couple of them were Afghanis from Afghanistan's Ishkashim who were studying and living in Khorog. I was a little surprised to hear this, as I kind of figured that Tajikistan would make things difficult for foreigners (from poorer countries) who wanted to live and study in Tajikistan, but apparently it isn't that uncommon in the region. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Back in Khorog</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In Khorog we were dropped off at the taxi lot, and then decided to head over to the botanical gardens for the afternoon. Meggy was going to stay with the family she had stayed with the last time she was in Khorog (she had met a woman on her car ride from Dushanbe, and the woman had invited her to stay with her), so she went there while I headed back to Lalmo's. We met a half hour later, and took a marshrutka to the botanical garden, which is on the east side of town on a bluff south of the river overlooking the town.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I'm not quite sure what your typical botanical garden looks like, and October probably isn't prime viewing season, but this garden seemed to be mostly trees, with a path winding through it and a few picnic areas. On the south edge of the garden, overlooking the valley below, there is a large and impressive European-style house (currently undergoing renovation)—this building doesn't really have anything to do with the garden, but is one of the President's residences.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Behind the President's house is an orchard full of regularly planted apple trees, which were full of fruit when we were there. There was some fruit on the ground, and many apples which could easily be knocked loose by shaking the tree or throwing sticks up at branches.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17355793692" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3736 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3736" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8806/17355793692_7f37643fa5_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Khorog's botanical garden on the east edge of town. It's meant to be the second or third highest botanical garden in the world. It was pretty abandoned when we were there, but they had lots of trees full of ripe apples which we stocked up on.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
After filling our pockets with apples, we returned to the President's house and headed down the grassy slope to the valley below, where we had spotted an interesting building near the river. It turned out to be a fancy chaikhana that was surrounded by a chain-link fence and locked up. I think it was used mainly during big events like Presidential visits and weddings. The guard came out to the entrance gate and after chatting with Meggy he let us in and gave us a brief tour of the exterior. It was impressive overkill: the sort of ostentatious but useless buildings you see being built in Dushanbe by people like Rahmon, and not the sort of functional infrastructure built in the Pamirs by the Aga Khan.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16737455943" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3739 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3739" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8693/16737455943_d4ef11b1bd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ornate and little-used chaikhana.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
The weather in Khorog was disappointingly grey and cool, which only served to remind us how lucky we had been with the brilliantly sunny and warm weather we had enjoyed for the last few days. When I got back to Lalmo's she said that she had forgot to ask me if I wanted to eat there that evening, and when I said I did (it was dark and I didn't want to head down into town to find the Delhi Darbar Indian restaurant, which is pretty much the default option for travelers in Khorog) she was kind of pressured to whip something up on short notice. Reminder: always let her know in advance if you want dinner, as if she has notice she can make pretty great stuff.<br />
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Speaking of food, while walking to Lalmo's, I had encountered a young boy who offered me some food. I declined, and in doing so I think I committed a serious faux pas. As I said earlier, the Afghan market and the borders with Afghanistan were closed at this time for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha">Eid al-Adha</a>, which commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim/Abraham to sacrifice his son for God/Allah. Today, Muslims who can afford to do so commemorate Ibrahim's sacrifice by sacrificing their best animal, which they then divide into three portions for themselves, their neighbours, and the needy—and that distribution of food is what the boy was doing when I turned him down. This sort of community spirit is something I love about Islam: their religious holidays are still very much about the community and the less fortunate, and taking care of them. Ramadan is all about depriving yourself of food so you can understand how the hungry feel every day, and breaking the fast is about inviting the community to share in your food. Now think of the largest Christian holidays and what they mean (or don't). It's because I found the philosophy behind Ramadan so appealing that I started to observe Ramadan in my early twenties: it's a holiday that makes sense, unlike my equally secular historical observation of Christmas.</div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
October 27, from Yamg to Khorog: 157 somoni</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Taxi from Yamg to Ishkashim: 25 somoni</li>
<li>Taxi from Ishkashim to Khorog: 60 somoni</li>
<li>Room and dinner at Lalmo's: 72 somoni ($15)</li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Eshkashem, Tajikistan36.727222 71.61166700000001136.7208585 71.601582000000008 36.7335855 71.621752000000015tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-56978038518755161472012-10-26T13:20:00.000-07:002018-03-21T14:02:19.910-07:00Another day in paradise: Yamg, Vrang, Yamchun Fort, and Bibi Fatima hotsprings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Leaving Langar</h4>
On my second morning in the Wakhan we got ready to leave Langar, and Megi's language skills came in handy once again. It turned out that one of Yodgor's relatives would be heading down the valley later in the morning, so we arranged to have him pick us up from the side of the road as we started ahead of him.<br />
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It was only while we were leaving that we discussed money with Yodgor, and when we asked him how much we owed him, he suggested 30 somoni per night–including breakfast and dinner–but said that if we thought this was too much we should say so. This is a screaming deal compared to prevailing rates at tourist-board-affiliated homestays—which are around $10 (45 somoni at the time) for a place to sleep, with meals adding another $5-$7 per day—so I was perfectly happy with his prices... and happy to recommend him to anyone staying in Langar. Of course the facilities are a bit more basic than at more tourist-oriented homestays (expect breakfast to be the <i>shir choi</i> that is a staple of local diet—bits of old, hard bread mixed with back tea, milk, and butter), but Yodgor is friendly and honest.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17397742500" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3542 - _DSC3555 2 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3542 - _DSC3555 2" height="98" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7784/17397742500_b3cbb19f44_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of the Wakhan valley to the west of Langar. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tajik car seat. Rather like a 1970's western car seat, except the kid is way cuter. The car was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lada_Niva">Lada Niva</a>, which is like a 4-wheel-drive version of a 1970s VW Golf/Rabbit—a model which has been in continuous production since 1977. Just about every old car is equipped with an mp3 player that accept tiny micro-SD cards, and it can be comical to be bumping along horrific roads in an ancient vehicle driven by a rough and tough local who starts fumbling with a tiny little memory card between his fat, callused fingers when he decides to switch up the music.</td></tr>
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We were dropped off in the village of Vrang, which is notable mainly for a five-level stepped pyramid which is usually described as a Buddhist stupa, but which some think <a href="http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/tajikistan/page5.htm#vrang">may originally have been a Zoroastrian fire</a>-worship platform—it definitely doesn't look like any other Buddhist stupa you're likely to see. Regardless of its original purpose, the structure was used for Buddhist purposes at some point in its history, and their are monks' caves built into the stupa's foundation—and apparently there are <a href="http://www.traveltajikistan.net/gosee/vrang_buddist/">more caves on the other side of the Pyanj</a> in Afghanistan, where a monastery was also located.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16965006093" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3557 - _DSC3562 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3557 - _DSC3562" height="103" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8870/16965006093_990cfcc1ba_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were dropped on the main road through Vrang, from which it is a short walk through the fields to the Buddhist or Zoroastrian stupa/pyramid on a salt-dome above the village.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17399007919" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3563 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3563" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8725/17399007919_c08392e303_z.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Pamiri girl in the fields.</td></tr>
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As we walked through the village towards the pyramid which towers over the village, Megi and I were approached by a girl of perhaps twelve who offered to show us the way and guide us around the village. This sort of thing is very common in Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia and Burma, where there are kids at local temples and caves who will tag along and show you the path or point things out with their flashlights, all in the hope of getting a tip at the end. I didn't know if this was the same sort of setup, but I suspected it might be, especially since the Lonely Planet section on Langar indicated people would expect to be paid for guiding you to the petroglyphs there. That being the case, I largely left Megi and the girl to walk together and chat, which was relatively easy to do since could talk pretty easily in Tajik.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17585304301" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3564 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3564" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5457/17585304301_cf8b75e734_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best way to the pyramid is to curve around the base and enter from the side. This approach lets you take a look at the (inaccessible) Buddhist caves built into the pyramid's foundation, which you can see on the left.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17397789750" title="_DSC3565 - _DSC3570 2 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3565 - _DSC3570 2" height="125" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7666/17397789750_43af264284_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama from above the pyramid, with the ruins of an old fort above the pyramid.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17399037359" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3572 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3572" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5321/17399037359_5b2102df96_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Megi on the pyramid. We both had jackets the same shade of orange.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16965056593" title="_DSC3574 - _DSC3578 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3574 - _DSC3578" height="138" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8751/16965056593_7a48cd2481_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama from the other set of ruins.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16965074543" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3586 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3586" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8703/16965074543_45df00ab56_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pyramid, Vrang, Pyanj, Afghanistan, Hindu Kush.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17583088602" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3587 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3587" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5348/17583088602_a6ea0c693e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pyramid probably looked like fort ruins on the left before it was restored.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17399144639" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3588-_DSC3593 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3588-_DSC3593" height="134" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5337/17399144639_20d194d993_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mornings don't get much better than this.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16965083983" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3594 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3594" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8764/16965083983_ddb69fe6f2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking towards Ishkashim.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17585374681" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3602 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3602" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5339/17585374681_de22447de7_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just to the side of the pyramid base is a small canyon. On the left you can see a couple of guys doing some maintenance on one of the irrigation channels leading from the stream.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16962878824" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3604 - _DSC3605 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3604 - _DSC3605" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8704/16962878824_3ac78ea8d2_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up the canyon. Just around the corner it ends in a steep slope.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16965100583" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3606 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3606" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8694/16965100583_a82ba78946_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The canyon outlet, with channels on either side diverting water for irrigation and household use.</td></tr>
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The local girl stayed with us throughout our time at the stupa, and guided us down into the canyon as well, which made me rather suspect that she was indeed looking for a tip. But when Megi offered her one as we prepared to leave Vrang, the girl was honestly a bit aghast and declined the offer. In retrospect, this is completely unsurprising, even though the region is desperately poor.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17559084266" title="_DSC3607 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3607" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5325/17559084266_abf2280013_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17619093376" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3608-_DSC3611 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3608-_DSC3611" height="174" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8711/17619093376_1447ee5343_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The start of the village, with the raised irrgation channel and stream on the right. On the left you can see the caves in the side of the pyramid foundation.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16965120273" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3613 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3613" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7779/16965120273_8b99909c9b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main street, Yamg.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17585454605" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3615 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3615" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7711/17585454605_6e0e712449_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small livestock on the road between Vrang and Yamg.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17397916390" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3622 - _DSC3627 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3622 - _DSC3627" height="125" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8769/17397916390_cdac58dc17_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hindu Kush reflected in a small backwater next to the Pyanj, between Vrang and Yamg.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17457846940" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3637 - _DSC3640 equi by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3637 - _DSC3640 equi" height="151" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8832/17457846940_057f3820da_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Afghanistan is but a stone's throw away.</td></tr>
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We entered Yamg, where we planned to stay the night, around noon. A local quickly pointed us in the direction of a homestay just off the road. It turned out to be the homestay of Aydar Malikmamadov, who is also the custodian of the local museum (which actually looks very interesting, and I'm sorry we didn't see it while we were there). He used to be a schoolteacher in Yamg, and he's definitely one of the more prosperous members of the community, as he has his own Japanese Pajero SUV and his family apparently runs two different homestays in town. Megi and I had the choice of staying in the main building, in a more authentic family style, or staying in the purpose-built tourist wing on the other side of the courtyard. He had four guest rooms built there—all of which were just plain and empty rooms with kurpachas to put on the floor—as well as a sparkling bathroom with a western-style flush toilet (very surprising), although the shower was in an older room across the courtyard next to the entrance. We each took a room in the new wing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17645448635" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3644 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3644" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7733/17645448635_d9b5c5c44b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tourist wing of Aydar's main homestay.</td></tr>
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Aydar even had business-card style slips of paper with his contact information printed on them—a surprisingly entrepreneurial touch, although compromised by the poor copying which resulted in them being somewhat difficult to read. For those interested, however, here is his contact information:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Malikmamadov Aydar</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Yamg Village</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
N 36°58.861, E 72°19.131</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
tel: 992 93 45 65 519</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
email: aydarmamad@mail.ru</div>
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After dropping our bags, Megi and I headed west towards Yamchun Fort and Bibi Fatima hotsprings. We followed the river and the main road for a while, then took a path that skirted its way up the valley slopes. We ran into a few locals who invited us in for tea, but declined since daylight is limited in late October.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17022921344" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3645 - _DSC3652 2 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3645 - _DSC3652 2" height="99" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7724/17022921344_a323f18874_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another reflection from just west of Yamg. The water is only a few inches deep.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17022940114" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3658 - _DSC3663 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3658 - _DSC3663" height="128" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5342/17022940114_f57d1e6586_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A random fort partway up the valley that we happened upon by chosing to walk on the paths above the valley, and not simply following the main road through the valley.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17025117603" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3665 - _DSC3669 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3665 - _DSC3669" height="138" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5327/17025117603_7a2327102c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The walk is just one long, unending stretch of amazing views.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17628190706" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3671 - _DSC3675 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3671 - _DSC3675" height="150" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8797/17628190706_88074a9ec5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the fort.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17654656811" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3677 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3677" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5460/17654656811_72343080d2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lower guard tower for Yamchun fort, overlooking the valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17466997300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3682 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3682" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8685/17466997300_61df0f2020_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fort sprawl across several levels.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18499735236" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3688 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3688" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8888/18499735236_cc30b46f03_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north from one section of Yamchun to the other. The Bibi
Fatima hotsprings are in the valley directly behind the fort.
Yamchun is well located, as it is on a little hill that is isolated in
all four directions, including from further up the valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17628267826" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3690 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3690" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7684/17628267826_cd5a3d5cf1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wonder how much of the surviving fort is actually the result of reconstruction and restoration. I suspect lots of work has been done, but it has been done very sympathetically.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17468269249" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3691 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3691" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8699/17468269249_f7ce72d3af_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking East up the valley. Langar would be at the very end.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17467086140" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3695-_DSC3701 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3695-_DSC3701" height="114" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5339/17467086140_93592215f8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the edge of Yamchun.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17654612905" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3703 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3703" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5466/17654612905_ce03fc883a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pyanj river and the HIndu Kush through the ramparts.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17654617415" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3704 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3704" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7688/17654617415_416501f5bb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fort casts a long shadow over the valley —literally.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17467040320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3705 - _DSC3709 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3705 - _DSC3709" height="124" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8726/17467040320_7cb7003707_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama from inside Yamchun fort.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17466776318" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3711 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3711" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7681/17466776318_9b2ea2f68f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking over the Hindu Kush.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17628318836" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3712 - _DSC3723 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3712 - _DSC3723" height="92" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7686/17628318836_26b5dcd233_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this panorama looking west you can see just how sprawling the fort is, as high ground to the south and north are connected.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17654751301" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3725 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3725" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8732/17654751301_ac78b274dd_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Field, moon, and mountains from near Bibi Fatima.</td></tr>
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Although the sun was setting, we headed up to Bibi Fatima hotsprings after Yamchun. Although the springs are directly behind the fort, they're further up the valley than you might expect (there's a large compound deceptively on a plateau, but the springs are actually farther up the road in the crook of the valley, where water naturally flows). On our way we ran into the caretaker of the springs, who was very friendly and talked to us (well, to Megi in Tajik, really) and invited us to stay with his family for the night. Of course, we had already left our stuff at the homestay in Yamg, so we declined. Once at the springs they let us go take a look, even though we weren't going to bathe. The springs are typically segregated by sex, with them being open for a few hours for men then a few hours for women. The actual springs looked pretty depressing to me, as they were simply a square concrete pool at the bottom of a sunken two-story building/shack, with windows only on the second floor. But it seems that if you actually descend to the springs, <a href="http://www.thelittleblackfish.org/cgi-bin/blog/index.cgi?category=Tajikistan&page=3#null">they are actually quite nice</a>, as there are natural rock formations in the outdoor pools.<br />
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The sun had set by the time we finished looking around, and since we were some distance from Yamg we were in a bit of a hurry. And since the main road down the valley from the hotsprings runs to the west of Yamchun fort before joining up with the main road where we would turn east, I thought it made sense to take one of the trails straight down the valley that the hotsprings was in, the return to Yamg the same way had left it, by skirting the main Wakhan valley.<br />
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Unfortunately, this turned out to be a more difficult route than anticipated, as the trails down the valley required some steep scrambles down, and then towards Yamchun they led back up some equally steep slopes. And in order to get on the eastern side of this valley, where we hoped there would be an outlet to the main valley that didn't involve climbing, we had to find a place to cross over a fast-moving stream. We managed to find a place to cross that involved a bit of jumping from boulder to boulder across the stream, then walking along an irrigation dike, which eventually deposited us fairly high up the valley. But even there it was still a chore to get back, as although there were isolated fields being cultivated up there, they were separated by thick bushes, and the trails between them seemed to be used mainly by animals and not humans, which meant they were goat-sized and prickly. It was getting quite dark now and, based on the alarm I had caused in Jeti Oguz, I was worried that our hosts in Yamg would begin to get worried about us since we were out so late. We finally made it back well after dark, and were pleased that we hadn't caused any undue concern—though Aydar said that if we hadn't returned in another half an hour or so he probably would have gone looking for us. <br />
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That night we had dinner with Aydar and his family in the main house. Though I didn't know to look out for <a href="http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/tajikistan/page4.htm#pamiri_house">distinctly Pamiri design elements</a> at the time (e.g., skylights recessed in four tiers, and main rooms supported by five pillars), in retrospect the layout of his main room does seem to match descriptions of traditional houses.<br />
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Earlier in the day, when we first arrived in Yamg, we had come across a group of schoolkids. One of the kids immediately stood out, as she was wearing glasses. This was pretty surprising, because I don't think I had seen <i>any</i> children in Central Asia wearing glasses, and the fact that it was a female who was wearing them was even more surprising—implying as it did the fact that it was important for girls to see, read, learn, and that it was worth spending money on them.<br />
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Now, at dinner that night I discovered that the bespectacled girl was Aydar's daughter. This simply reinforced my ideas about how progressive and forward thinking he was, even for an already progressive Pamiri, and was heartening to see. Over dinner conversation returned to a common theme in Tajikistan: the economy and standards of living. Aydar made the familiar observation that life under Soviet rule was more comfortable, with better infrastructure and services—electricity, for example, used to be reliable and outages fixed quickly, in contrast to the current situation. And while it's possible that the neglect and deterioration is just a function of being in rural, isolated communities, as in the Fann mountains, the perception certainly exists that the Pamiris are being neglected for political reasons.<br />
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As in Langar, we only talked money when it came to departing, and Aydar asked for 50 somoni inclusive of all food. Based on what we paid in Langar, Megi thought about negotiating, but I thought it was a fair price given that official homestays charge that much simply for a place to sleep, so we accepted the price (though I think it would have been possible to get a discount). Aydar also arranged for us to get a ride into Ishkashim, which was helpful.<br />
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</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 25, Langar to Yamg: 75 somoni<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Taxi to Vrang: 25 somoni</li>
<li>Room and board: 50 somoni</li>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1Yamg, Tajikistan36.980966181640042 72.31904985063476936.980173181640041 72.317789350634769 36.981759181640044 72.32031035063477tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-8760716703473939792012-10-25T13:14:00.000-07:002018-03-21T13:59:35.588-07:00Welcome to the Wakhan: two nights in Langar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The eventful ride to Langar</h3>
After getting my visa I headed over to the taxi lot for Ishkashim and Langar. Walk through one of these lots and you'll be approached by people asking where you're going, and if you're lucky they'll either be going there or point you to someone who is. Then you start negotiating price, which can be tricky for locals and foreigners alike. The general rule is that you try to get to car lots as early as possible, although when traveling from a market town to nearby rural villages most cars leave after people have had a chance to shop at the market. Ishkashim itself is probably somewhere between the two options: it's lose enough that people may drive up to Khorog in the morning for the market, but it's also big enough that it has a decent market of its own. Langar is far enough away that no one would drive to Khorog just to do shopping, however.<br />
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Despite this, and despite my not leaving until the afternoon as a result of obtaining my Afghan visa in the morning, I was able to find a vehicle going all the way to Langar, for 100 somoni.<br />
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Of course, this being rural Central Asia, things are rarely as simple as they seem. Even though the car was full, we ended up making a stop at the nearby village of Dasht, which is just above the Khorog-Ishkashim road but utterly hidden from the valley below, so that we could pick up some cargo from one of the passengers' family. We ended up staying in Dasht for fifteen minutes or so, stopping at a couple of different houses before continuing on our way. Pretty standard stuff. One of the ladies returned from one of the houses with a big bag of apples which she shared with the car.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16917781854" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3339 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3339" height="640" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7760/16917781854_fe44b4c847_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poplar-lined road in Dasht village, above the road to Ishkashim.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17513983256" title="_DSC3342 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3342" height="640" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7794/17513983256_eb8998a5a8_z.jpg" width="491" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hay stacked precariously on the roof.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18019892392" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3341 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3341" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8864/18019892392_8b5d86c776_z.jpg" width="484" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rooster just wandering around the village.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17352567918" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3345 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3345" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7678/17352567918_3740547236_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Tajik farmhouse, with Afghan mountains on the other side of the Pyanj river.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17352585698" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3347 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3347" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8746/17352585698_c20b0bdf76_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north down the Pyanj towards Khorog: Afghanistan on the left, Tajikistan on the right.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17540405325" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3349 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3349" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5441/17540405325_89cd1035be_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down the main street in Ishkashim, with the Hindu Kush in the background.</td></tr>
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When we arrived in Ishkashim, however, it became apparent that something was up. The jeep I was in was only going as far as Ishkashim, and apparently I was to join two other passengers—a young couple—on their way to Langar. That would be fine, except the girl and I ended up sitting around and waiting while the guy went around trying to arrange onward transportation. After over an hour of waiting around (this on top of the hour spent waiting for passengers in Khorog, plus the time spent in Dasht), we finally got a ride to a relative's house outside of Ishkashim, where we swapped vehicles into an older Russian sedan, and then started off again. By his time it was dark out, but I was happy that we wee finally on our way.<br />
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But we weren't on our way for long. After less than an hour of driving, we pulled over. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but after waiting for a while they flagged down a passing jeep heading up the valley and packed the girl into it, leaving me with her boyfriend/husband and his brother/friend. Apparently the plan was now that we would spend the night at his house, and then continue to Langar in the morning. In all honesty, I would probably be OK with this most of the time, but with my Tajik visa running out, the clock ticking on my Uzbek visa, and a very limited window in which I could possibly use my Afghan visa, this was something I wasn't prepared to accept. Especially since I figured that it was extremely unlikely the supposed journey to Langar in the morning would be as quick and painless as implied, and I was kind of angry that they stuck the girl on a vehicle to Langar instead of me or both of us.<br />
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Anyway, I refused to get in the car for the ride to their house, insisting that I would rather stand by the road and try to make my way up the valley on my own. Of course this was stupid, since it was really quite cold already and would only get colder, but I was really annoyed. I mean, if they had simply told me in Khorog that this was the plan, I would have declined. And since the girl had been picked up, there clearly were other vehicles going up the valley that I could have hitched a ride with.<br />
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After a bit of pidgin negotiating, the driver called his sister who spoke English pretty well, and she translated for me. It seems that the guys thought I was worried about safety, and wanted to assure me I would be fine at their house. I explained that my visa was expiring soon and that even though it might take only an extra day to get to Langar, this was a day I didn't have. While I was talking to her, another jeep heading up the road came by and was flagged down. After a bit of talking and negotiating, I was transferred to this car, and refunded something like 30 somoni to pay for the rest of the ride. I feel kind of bad for those guys I left (especially since the language barrier made it impossible to get a firm idea of what was going on at the very beginning of the trip), but at the same time the entire situation was ridiculous. If I had stayed with them, it would have taken 20 hours to make a six hour trip.<br />
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The drive to Langar was pretty cramped, but the other passengers were very friendly. One of the guys next to me insisted on giving me his phone number despite knowing I didn't have a phone, because he wanted me to call him and stay with his family if I was passing through his village (he got out before Langar). This is pretty typical of Wakhan hospitality, and I think it's even greater if you're white or more obviously a stranger.<br />
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It was after 11:00 when we rolled into Langar, and we left the main road and detoured out through side roads that took us through fields near the river as we made our way to one of our last stops, which turned out to be a huge walled compound that obviously belonged to a prosperous family. It seemed a bit strange that they should be using public transport give the obvious wealth, but I think we mainly unloaded some cargo there. Anyway, I was a bit worried arriving in Langar so late with nowhere to stay, but when I said I wanted to be dropped off at Yodgor's (who I hoped was still awake), they knew who he was and took me there. Once we arrived, we found Yodgor awake and he came out to greet us. Yay! The driver took dropping me off as an opportunity to renegotiate my taxi fare (we had agreed on 30 when I got on), insisting I should pay more, and telling me to ask Yodgor if this was fair. When I followed his advice and asked Yodgor, he was pretty annoyed with the driver for asking more, since 30 was fair for the distance I had been taken.<br />
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Yodgor managed to find some leftover food for me, talking quietly with me in the communal room as his kids slept on the platform nearby and his wife brought tea, then showed me to the male guest room I would be sharing with a Chinese driver whose truck was parked outside.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17538146142" title="_DSC3351 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3351" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8796/17538146142_828d0e6308_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The men's sleeping room at khalifa Yodgor's in Langar. Skylights are typical light sources, although this room does not have the typical high-<a href="http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/tajikistan/page4.htm#skylight">Pamiri recessed skylight</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The next morning I got up and had breakfast, but didn't have my usual morning shower. The reason I skipped it was because Yodgor didn't appear to have a shower that I knew of (it turns out his place does have a sit-down toilet, and possibly a shower, but I didn't know that until after I left). The toilet I was pointed to was an open-air squat outhouse in the middle of a ticket of trees a short walk behind the compound, while washing was done just inside the main door in a little setup consisting of a basin with a little spigot-style faucet fed by a tank of water hidden in a cabinet above the basin. It was pretty basic, but also fairly typical.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16917854694" title="_DSC3353 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3353" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5447/16917854694_b94bea24b2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The courtyard of Yodgor's place. Like most houses in the high Pamirs (but not Khorog), the houses have flat roofs.</td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
About the Wakhan </h4>
The Wakhan valley is a relatively long, straight, and flat valley that runs east-west along the Pyanj river between Langar in the east and Ishkashim in the west, at an average elevation of about 2,700 meters. The famed Hindu Kush (killer of Hindus) are the mountains to the south of the Wakhan valley. The narrow eastern finger of Afghanistan known as the Wakhan Corridor lies between the Pyanj river to the north and the peaks of the Hindu Kush to the south, effectively granting Afghanistan the northern half of the Hindu Kush range (the southern half belongs to Pakistan). Afghanistan gets wider to the east of Langar, making it more like a swollen finger. Afghanistan's strange eastern borders are a result of the so-called "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game">Great Game</a>" between Russia and Great Britain for regional dominance, and was intended to act as a buffer between Russian territories to the north (including what is now Tajikistan) and British territories to the south (including what is now Pakistan).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eAq5VUDjTTQiSEc57gCOJKvU6TJenporpouQAK7yyr08Bp1Tl4_gHJ3uNmR1C6PQXxNzR6IrGmWyjZIhqUQx_2Vcv8s-j_1neAWLbGLnx9AdRAZXtYuPOVAJU4w735d2-GuxuqnRFJE/s1600/Wakhan_Corridor_Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eAq5VUDjTTQiSEc57gCOJKvU6TJenporpouQAK7yyr08Bp1Tl4_gHJ3uNmR1C6PQXxNzR6IrGmWyjZIhqUQx_2Vcv8s-j_1neAWLbGLnx9AdRAZXtYuPOVAJU4w735d2-GuxuqnRFJE/s640/Wakhan_Corridor_Map.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Afghanistan's eastern finger pokes its way all the way to China, buffering Tajikistan (Russia) from Pakistan (Great Britain).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Today, the Wakhan corridor is probably the safest and most peaceful region of Afghanistan, as it has never fallen under the influence of the Taliban and is also populated by Ismaili Muslims in the Wakhan valley and moderate Kyrgyz Sunnis in the eastern pamirs. Traveling on the Afghan side is quite expensive, however, as there is little tourism infrastructure, and the bad roads and tourism union keep transportation and homestay prices relatively high (you also have to enter at Ishkashim, as the border near Langar is closed to foreigners). On the other hand, the Tajik Wakhan is comparatively cheap and easy to travel, and firmly on the Central Asian tourism map.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.akdn.org/publications/2010_akf_wakhan.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcwRsYS9TqUL9HxVlYhc8u_7K7Y1UzJ2RYVFSwWWNmSkdqyv6gYiR6QbWD0_t47misiIi_RpVfGBoycRGJW9iYCqxq-Xoo7wX8-75cSyRkvITQuig74MR2SoHirNhNtqPDOspX01dRpjk/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-05-28+at+11.41.31+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Aga Khan Development Network (who else?) has published a beautiful guide to travel in the Afghan Wakhan. Click through to get the PDF from the AKDN.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Langar and its surrounds </h4>
Langar sits at the confluence of the Wakhan and Pamir rivers, who join there to form the Pyanj. It's also the end of the Tajik Wakhan, as the border follows the Pamir river to the north, while the Wakhan river flows through Afghanistan from the south. The road from Langar follows the Pamir river for some distance before cutting north to join the M41.<br />
<br />
Ratm is a small village just up the Pamir river from Langar, and although its only a few kilometers away it is considerably higher than Langar and there are several switchbacks on the road up to it. Ratm is also the location of the ruins of an old silk road fort, of which there are many in the Wakhan Valley, as it was <a href="http://www.meta.tj/wp-content/uploads/The-Silk-Road-of-Tajikistan.pdf">one of the main routes through the region</a>.<br />
<br />
Although there are also petroglyphs in the hills behind Langar, you need either a GPS or a guide to find them, and since I had no GPS and am too cheap to hire a guide, my task for the morning was to head up to Ratm fort. On foot, you can easily skip the road and its switchbacks by heading up the footpaths leading to terraced fields, which will bring you to the fort with little difficulty. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17514056646" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3355 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3355" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8701/17514056646_75df649823_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's something about these desolate houses that makes them look like they might be abandoned.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17352647878" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3357 - _DSC3360 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3357 - _DSC3360" height="133" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7668/17352647878_1f85ce1f36_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back on the walk to Ratm fort.</td></tr>
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<br />
On the way to the fort you pass through tiny fields and whitewashed houses, and when you reach the ruins of the fort the ambience of the ancient fort matches that of the farmhouses that surround it: serene and lonely, with lovely views and a sense of harshness. The fort itself is on a highly defensible rocky peninsula jutting out over the Pamir river, which lies at the bottom of a deep gorge below.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17538212632" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3362 - _DSC3371 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3362 - _DSC3371" height="126" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5466/17538212632_3b4b5c4625_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking southeast from the fort.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16920137833" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3372 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3372" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5349/16920137833_b24b877b41_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking northeast, up the Pamir river from Ratm fort. Tajikistan on the left, Afghanistan on the right.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16917966354" title="_DSC3374 - _DSC3390 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3374 - _DSC3390" height="114" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7678/16917966354_83d503f754_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of the fort.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17352940090" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3383 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3383" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8739/17352940090_b663095e67_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking over the edge of the Pamir valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17352751678" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3384 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3384" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8856/17352751678_955f990080_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lonely yak forages for food.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17540574485" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3386 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3386" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5461/17540574485_752d30c5d4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking back down. Next to the footpath is a small irrigation channel.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17354236679" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3388 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3388" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8831/17354236679_fc9324d3e2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An abondoned building in the middle of a small and rocky field. On the left you can see a small bridge crossing over the Pamir river and into Afghanistan.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17585083015" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3389 - _DSC3390 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3389 - _DSC3390" height="268" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5321/17585083015_c6108ea1b8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming down from the fort.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17558750296" title="_DSC3392 - _DSC3397 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3392 - _DSC3397" height="106" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8767/17558750296_9bbac30ae7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Across the Pamir river from halfway down the hill from Ratm.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
A traveling companion </h4>
After Ratm I returned to Yodgor's or a brief rest before continuing west into the Wakhan valley proper. While there, Yodgor old me that another female tourist had arrived and would be back in a bit, so of course I waited so I could talk with her. She soon returned, and it turned out that she was almost certainly the Swiss lady that PECTA had told me about in Khorog. When I heard 'lady' I expected someone rather older, however, and in reality Megi was a young Master's student studying in Bern, and she had spent her summer in Kulob in lowland Tajikistan collecting data on rainfall, irrigation, and agriculture in Tajikistan.<br />
<br />
Although she had only been in Tajikistan for three months, Megi had managed t pick up an astonishing amount of Tajik, to the extent she was able to talk to pretty much everyone and understand most of what they were talking about. Part of that, she explained, was born of necessity from the rather poor quality of translators she was supplied with when interviewing farmers.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Megi and I set off in the afternoon to explore the valley west of Langar, as there is another fort—Arbrashim Qala ("Silk Fortress")—in the village of Zong, about 5km west of Langar. It was interesting to travel with her, on a number of levels. Of course, she could talk to the people we ran into along the way (not that there were many), and the fact that she's white and a female added additional dimensions to our encounters with people. I suspect that each of those three factors results in additional curiosity and hospitality from locals, be they male or female, and everyone we ran into invited us in for tea (we always declined) and stopped to chat for a few minutes.<br />
<br />
Whereas Central Asians are generally unsurprised when tourists can speak a smattering of Russian, Megi's proficiency in Tajik meant that this was what everyone she met was most interested in (even more than her age or her family): after expressing surprise at her Tajik, they would ask how much she spoke, where she learned it, and what she was doing in Tajikistan. Only then would the typical questions be asked. <br />
<br />
In retrospect, most people in Central Asia seemed unsurprised when I said I was from Canada. I don't know if that is because they have more fluid ideas of citizenship and nationality, or simply that we lacked mutually intelligibility and I was unable to detect their surprise. But whatever the reason, I didn't get a lot of raised eyebrows or "But where are you <i>really</i> from?" when I said I was from Canada. The reason I bring this up is because although I clearly wasn't as exotic or interesting as a white tourist—and didn't attract the attention that they did—I was also guilty of making the same distinction when it came to Megi, who was of Polish ancestry on her father's side. She didn't look exactly like what I imagine as 'Swiss,' but then there really isn't a typical Swiss look any more than there is a typical Canadian look, as an even greater percentage of Swiss are foreign-born than are Canadians. But despite my annoyance at people second-guessing my Canadian-ness, I immediately wondered about Megi's ancestry when she told me she was Swiss—the irony of which was completely lost on me. Maybe it's because we don't think of Switzerland as a country of visible minorities, whereas we do think of countries like Canada and the US as such? Or maybe it's because of the simpler answer that everyone runs around with their collection of stereotypes and is quick to judge.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Into the Wakhan</h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17397302508" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3399 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3399" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5446/17397302508_9c0e16d70f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Langar's richly decorated village jamat khana, or community center/prayer hall, with a cemetery behind it. Mosques are of secondary importance for Ismailis, as they are able to pray anywhere.The peaks on the upper left are almost 5,500 meters high, and they obscure the main peaks behind them which soar up to 6,300 meters—higher than Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. Heck, the fore-peak of 5,500 meters would make it the second-highest mountain in Canada.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17582802142" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3402 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3402" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5344/17582802142_7fe3a63645_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Street life in the Wakhan.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16962579404" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3406 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3406" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5322/16962579404_d100bca95a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of sheep.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17398805289" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3407-_DSC3411 v2_blended_fused by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3407-_DSC3411 v2_blended_fused" height="143" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8706/17398805289_8538bfc26f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of the Hindu Kush, across the river in Afghanistan.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17558791016" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3412 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3412" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7777/17558791016_8bdf353ae1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Afghanistan is on the other side of the Pyanj. The villages are all the same, so we took paths along the edges of the valley that slowly led up the surrounding hills.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17398833079" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3413-_DSC3417 fisheye_blended_fused by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3413-_DSC3417 fisheye_blended_fused" height="171" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8889/17398833079_2dcb60d68e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama over the Wakhan valley. Note how gravelly and barren the southern side of the river is. There are huge alluvial fans at the edge of each side-valley, with the melt-water from the towering Hindu Kush depositing more rock every year. This makes the Afghan side even less fertile and even more prone to rock-slides, flooding, and damage to infrastructure.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17582860802" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3418 - _DSC3421 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3418 - _DSC3421" height="149" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5441/17582860802_654595c9cf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we're a little higher. Only at the ends of the side valleys can you see the real heights of the Hindu Kush, unobscured by the closer sub-peaks.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17585181805" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3422 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3422" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7696/17585181805_b41ea8ea10_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Center-left is the Wakhan river in Afghanistan, while the Pamir river would be to the left.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17582885922" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3423 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3423" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8821/17582885922_313a8a5dc4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hawk soars above.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17582918322" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3431 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3431" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7742/17582918322_3c4288f4ff_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">While the Hindu Kush lurks behind.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18478442206" title="_DSC3436 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3436" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/359/18478442206_73a2e695f4_z.jpg" width="483" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The forts in the Wakhan tend to have spectacular views over the valley—so much the better for monitoring and controlling traders plying the silk road below—and Abrashim Qala is no exception.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17034131663" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3443-_DSC3449 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3443-_DSC3449" height="113" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7724/17034131663_9ff0a39436_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because
we had been skirting the valley and gradually walking uphill, we didn't
have to climb up much of a slope at all when we finally reached the
fort above Zong.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17654610861" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3452 - _DSC3457 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3452 - _DSC3457" height="122" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7702/17654610861_e2ab92170d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The side-valley on the Tajik side leads to fertile land and a
village, while a similar delta on the Afghan side is bereft of
vegetation.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17466952780" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3486 - _DSC3490 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3486 - _DSC3490" height="142" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5455/17466952780_694ef15223_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's probably best to see this fort before Yamchun, as the fort itself is less impressive in comparison. The views, however, are perhaps even better.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18317199340" title="_DSC3435 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3435" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/441/18317199340_72b2c2d2d8_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A look up a side valley lets you peer deeper into the Hindu Kush and its glaciers. You can clearly see how the Afghan alluvial fans are rocky and barren, while on the Tajik side the gentler mountains allow for fertile deltas and comparatively lush vegetation.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18478442206" title="_DSC3436 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3436" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/359/18478442206_73a2e695f4_z.jpg" width="483" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By local standards that terraced field is relatively large. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18324825978" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3451 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3451" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/434/18324825978_530bf05650_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another ruin in the side valey to the northwest of Zong fort. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18508207212" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3458 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3458" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/346/18508207212_61d72d4dd6_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View over the ramparts.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18317115138" title="_DSC3471 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3471" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/537/18317115138_aa774d8ec6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clearly modern wall reconstruction.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18318712469" title="_DSC3472 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3472" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/529/18318712469_fba92459b4_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Megi takes in the lower slopes of the Hindu Kush.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18478458616" title="_DSC3493 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3493" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/531/18478458616_33ebe0e271_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Over the fortress walls and into the Wakhan river's valley in Afghanistan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18326437729" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3506 (1) - _DSC3508 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3506 (1) - _DSC3508" height="209" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/278/18326437729_cd9acb67bf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tajikistan follows the contours of the leftmost slope.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18324859328" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3509 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3509" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/378/18324859328_9efda9b633_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rock cairn.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17032045064" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3510 - _DSC3515 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3510 - _DSC3515" height="117" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7744/17032045064_02a93d0440_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another panorama on the way back to Langar.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18317055448" title="_DSC3518 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3518" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/409/18317055448_2fea2ef1bb_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking through the village.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18486233586" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3522 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3522" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/427/18486233586_efcff8315d_z.jpg" width="499" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evening rush hour, as school lets out and livestock is driven to their night shelters.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/18317155610" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3527 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3527" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/257/18317155610_8aa9b2893f_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The skulls of Marco Polo sheep mark religious sites and shrines, belying the animistic traditions that we've grown used to seeing in communities that live closely with nature.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16964934453" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3529 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3529" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8846/16964934453_f5499a159e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading back to Langar in the evening. It would be amazing to be here in the summer when the fields are green and there it stays light out for a few more hours.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Having Megi there to talk and translate at dinner was incredibly interesting and enriching. Not because we had conversations about local culture and customs, but simply to hear what the locals were interested in and what <i>they</i> wanted to know about us. An older Pamiri man joined us for dinner that evening, and he had some amusing observations. He noted that I was wearing glasses, and helpfully explained that I needed glasses because I had bad eyes, and that if I took them off I wouldn't be able to see very well (his comment would have been more unusual if you actually saw anyone wearing glasses in the area). In addition to the usual questions of our age and family status, he was also very interested in what we could grow at home, asking if we had things like onions and watermelons in Canada. Megi couldn't help but laugh at some of his observations, and when he heard we could grow watermelons in Canada he lamented that they couldn't grow them in the Pamirs (though you can grow a lot more things in lowland Tajikistan than you can in Canada). He was an interesting character, speaking to things he knew and were relevant to him.<br />
<br />
While we were talking, a TV played in the background. Everyone watches Afghan TV, which is pretty easy to do given the geographic proximity and the linguistic similarity. Afghan TV and commercials seemed surprisingly polished, and one of the programs that evening was a concert by a female Afghan singer. She was in an elegant black dress, and everyone looked very sophisticated, but the interesting thing was that even though the dress didn't seem to be showing a great deal of decolletage, both the small area of exposed chest, as well as her exposed shoulders and back, were all pixellated for broadcast. I have to admit that this turned what would otherwise be a completely unremarkable dress into something surprisingly titillating, implying as it did that we should be turned on by those soft, sensuous, cafe-au-lait shoulders whose allure we were invited to imagine.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17585260791" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3539 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3539" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5441/17585260791_cc0fc91a80_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moon-lit scene from the edge of Yodgor's compound at midnight, looking towards the Hindu Kush.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 24, from Khorog to Langar: 153 somoni, $70<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Afghan visa: $70</li>
<li>Breakfast: 17 somoni ($4)</li>
<li>RC Cola: 6 somoni</li>
<li>Jeep to Langar: 100 somoni</li>
<li>Room & dinner at Yodgor's: 30 somoni</li>
</ul>
October 25, Langar: 30 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Room & dinner at Yodgor's: 30 somoni</li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3Langar, Tajikistan37.0297599421334 72.664260879687536.624845942133405 72.0188138796875 37.4346739421334 73.309707879687508tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-26509321067032238042012-10-23T23:09:00.000-07:002018-03-21T13:58:30.441-07:00One day in Khorog: an oasis of progressiveness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
GBAO: the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast</h3>
Basically all of the Pamirs and the entire southeastern knob of Tajikistan falls within the administrative region known as Gorno-Badakhshan. And if ever there was a part of the country that could be said to contain nothing but rocks and water, it would be the GBAO, which occupies 45% of Tajikistan but has only 220,000 people (about 3% of the population).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorno-Badakhshan_Autonomous_Region" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Tj4-kaart.png"></a></div>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Pamiris are Ismaili Shias, while most Tajiks are Sunni </h4>
The region is not only geographically distinct, but ethnically and religiously as well. The northeastern part of the GBAO, along the Pamir Highway from the Kyrgyz border until at least Murghab, is mainly Kyrgyz, while the western GBAO and areas near Afghanistan (which are significantly lower, though still above 2,000 meters) are mainly Pamiri. Pamiris have their own languages, but like Dari and Tajik, these languages are minor variants of Farsi and seem to be mutually intelligible for the most part. The main point of distinction between Pamiris and the Tajik is religious: while lowland Tajiks are Sunni, like 90% of Muslims in the world, Pamiris are Shia—and more specifically, Ismaili (which are only 20% of Shias).<br />
<br />
Attending university in Calgary, I knew quite a few Ismailis: we had a sizeable population of Gujarati Ismailis who worked as traders and settled in East Africa, but were then <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_Asians_from_Uganda">expelled from countries like Uganda</a> after they gained independence (Indian merchants being convenient scapegoats). Many seem to have <a href="http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/observer/story.html?id=4d43f2e2-2ccf-4234-96f4-35e853c20679">somehow made their way to Calgary</a>. Indeed, the beloved mayor of Calgary, <span class="st"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naheed_Nenshi">Naheed Nenshi</a>, is an Ismaili Muslim of Tanzanian extraction.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">So who are the Ismaili's? Well, here's an excerpt from a great piece on Ismaili Islam on <a href="http://www.paulstravelblog.com/wp/?p=240">Paul's Travel Blog</a>:</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Tajik Pamirs and northern Pakistan share not only mountainous
terrain and certain ethnic/cultural links but also religion: Ismaili
Islam. The Ismailis are Shiite Muslims who believe that the true
seventh Imam was a man named Ismail rather than his younger brother
Musa, as the Twelver Shiites (such as those of Iran) believe. While
during certain periods, such as the Cairo-based Fatimid Empire, Ismailis
were a powerful force, today they form a small minority of Muslims,
often scattered in remote mountainous terrain.<br />
<br /></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The historical distinction between Ismailis and other Shiites may
seem minor, but, over time, this simple succession dispute has led to a
universe of divergence, as Ismailis have become among the most
progressive of the Islamic sects, in stark contrast to the Shiites of
Iran. Indeed, the distinction between Ismailis and other Muslims has
grown so great that one (Sunni) Kyrgyz woman in Tajikistan told us that
the Tajik Pamiris were not even Muslim. Of course, despite the strong
lingering of pre-Islamic beliefs and traditions the Ismaili Pamiris are
in fact Muslim, as are the Ismaili Hunzas of northern Pakistan, but it
is true that the Ismaili worldview of the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries is clearly a world apart from some other sects of Islam, and,
to this outsider, far more appealing. </blockquote>
<br />
Ismailis are also different from most other Muslims in that they have the Aga Khan as a living spiritual advisor, whom they see as a direct descendant of the seventh Imam, and more importantly they believe that he is able to interpret the Quran in the modern context. I suppose this might make him something like the Pope, but the Aga Khan is quite different than the Pope in that he is an extremely modern man (in this he more resembles the Dalai Lama), was born in Switzerland, and is something of a playboy. Imagine Tony Stark as the leader of a branch of Islam and you're not too far off. I mean, his parents were divorced and his father then married Rita Hayworth, which tells you a lot about his family and their values—especially given that his grandfather was the prior Aga Khan and passed on his duties to his grandson because he wanted even more modernity from the future leader.<br />
<br />
The net effect of having a branch of Islam being led by this Swiss-born spiritual leader is that Ismailis are hugely progressive by the standards of just about any religion, and the hugely wealthy Aga Khan remains close to his followers and spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year through his Aga Khan Foundation and Aga Khan Development Network to advance the development of his people and their surrounding communities.<br />
<br />
The impact of the Aga Khan and the magnitude of his contributions are most apparent in the GBAO—and in Khorog in particular—as so many of the things that make the town so special have been funded by the Aga Khan. From quite literally building bridges that connect communities and countries, to providing food aid during the civil war, to spending in the medical community, to providing education, to hearing people in the streets tell you that they do things (or don't do things, like drugs) because of the guidance of the Aga Khan. One area where you see a real difference is in how women are treated. Unlike in the ultra-conservative Fann Mountains, women play a real role in civil society and assume positions of leadership within families. Girls are not second-class citizens, women don't run away from even the most fleeting contact with men, and there seems to be no thought of denying them education because of their sex. It's no coincidence that the homestay I stayed at is known as Lalmo's homestay, and not Lalmo's husband's homestay: women are empowered to a startling degree.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The post-Independence Civil War</h4>
Now, in the paragraph above, I alluded to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war_in_Tajikistan">the civil war</a>. Tajikistan is the only one of the Central Asian CIS countries that devolved into civil war following independence from the crumbling Soviet Union, and given the cultural and logistical differences between the GBAO and the rest of the country perhaps it's no surprise that Badakhshanis and the lowland Tajiks were on opposing sides... or that the lowlanders won. <br />
<br />
The current President, Emomali Rahmon, came to power as a result of the civil war, and he has basically been the only leader that an independent Tajikistan has ever known. In the wake of the civil war it seems that Rahmon granted government positions to a number of warlords and opposition leaders in a attempt to placate them and ensure a measure of government support—something that was probably of special interest given the strategic importance of the GBAO given its long borders with China and especially Afghanistan.<br />
<br />
Despite these concessions, there has been a long history of tensions between the Pamiris and lowland Tajiks. Part of this tensions is religious (many Tajiks think that Ismaili Islam isn't a pure or legitimate form of Islam, epsecially since it views the Quran as open to interpretation by the Aga Khan) and part of it is a resentment by the Pamiris that the government treats them unfavourably (you certainly hear people saying that there were better services during the Soviet era, and although you hear this in lots of former second-world countries, in the Pamirs I think there is the suspicion that the decline has been due to them being Pamiris and not lowland Tajiks). Virtually everyone in the GBAO will self-identify primarily as something other than Tajik, be it Kyrgyz or Pamiri.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
First impressions: walking from the Airport to Lalmo's</h4>
I don't know what I was expecting from Khorog. Something high and harsh, maybe. Small and rough. And definitely running north-south along the border with Afghanistan. On pretty much all fronts I was surprised. Although Khorog is at an elevation of over 2,100 meters, the town is surprisingly green and full of trees. And for late October, it was a lot warmer than I expected, and pleasant to walk around in the sun. Heck, this would be better weather than one would expect in Calgary, and the climate also supports a greater range of trees. Looking at weather profiles for Khorog, however, it seems like a remarkably temperate city, with the average high in October of 18°C (65°F)—only in January is the average high below freezing.<br />
<br />
And despite the harrowing road journey from Dushanbe, Khorog didn't feel as isolated as I expected. The markets were well stocked—certainly much more so than I saw in Kyrgyz Alay Valley communities like Sary Mogul, Sary Tash, and Daroot Korgon. Maybe this shouldn't be so surprising, as it actually lies on the closest road to China, which would run through the Pamir border of Qolma before running through Murghab and Khorog on the way to Dushanbe.<br />
<br />
Among the ubiquitous Chinese goods at the market there were some distinctly Pamiri items like huge and bulky socks and knitted toques ("knit cap" in American). Perhaps the only way the town revealed its isolation was in the food situation, as there didn't seem to be many restaurants. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17332501005" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3267 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3267" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7689/17332501005_0a9cb879d5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old Soviet-era social-realism style painting on a pole.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17332108681" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3268 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3268" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8872/17332108681_3a8c8a26e5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "Hitler" look is apparently respectable in Tajikistan. Or maybe it demands respect. Or fear. Or something. Based on some things I later saw in Murghab, this guy appears to be some sort of government official.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17330611692" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3269 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3269" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7753/17330611692_385334aed1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Khorog lies along the northern and southern slopes of the Gunt River, just before it joins the north-south flowing Pyanj river, which forms the border with Afghanistan.The Gunt almost seems bigger than the Pyanj.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144934040" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3272 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3272" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8887/17144934040_2d8cc260ff_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lalmo's homestay. When I was there she was putting a roof on her house. </td></tr>
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Lalmo's is on the northern side of town, up a hill, across from the popular
Pamir Lodge. To get to the entrance you have to go onto the grounds of
the school next to it, and then take the stairs up from the playground. I met Lalmo and dropped off my bag, agreeing (given the paucity of food options in town) to have dinner that evening at Lalmo's, and then headed back down to town to explore.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17332509075" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3273 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3273" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8707/17332509075_781bdb2519_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A grove of trees just west of Lalmo's, in resplendent fall colours and draped with laundry and bedding being aired out.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17332119841" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3281 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3281" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7669/17332119841_72fc1541ce_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking northeast from the local cemetery, which is high over the river.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16710048294" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3282 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3282" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8845/16710048294_d08b14438b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stones on the north face of the mountains spell out a message of welcome for the Aga Khan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16710050064" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3283 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3283" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8686/16710050064_945e85caae_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">West along the Gunt.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17306540426" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3285 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3285" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7689/17306540426_2fa0fdf0ff_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh graves from the recent unrest. Piola cups are turned over and smashed over a stone on the grave.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16712260173" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3286 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3286" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8808/16712260173_0fb83f4bb9_z.jpg" width="531" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a dusty road on the north side of the river.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lenin surveys the town.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17332133611" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3293 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3293" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7793/17332133611_55fd153863_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New houses being built in the traditional method: with thick stone walls, which will be covered by plaster and ultimately look like Lalmo's. Even though these houses rely mainly on freely-available stone, they are becoming less common because of the sheer number of stones required for such thick walls and the expense of hauling them from the countryside.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144739408" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3296 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3296" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7663/17144739408_8471d17e40_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pedestrian bridge leading to the market that sprawls along the river. The taxi lot for the Wakhan valley is on the south side of this bridge, where I'm coming from.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17332137841" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3297 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3297" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8849/17332137841_3aa8b33ee2_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the middle of the bridge.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144959610" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3298 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3298" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7781/17144959610_a72384508d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking east up the Gunt.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144961630" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3299 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3299" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7699/17144961630_064925e44e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And west towards the Pyanj. Those mountains ahead are in Afghanistan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144964150" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3300 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3300" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8789/17144964150_5b728ed46e_z.jpg" width="468" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The north side of town. I bet in the depths of winter the north side sees barely any sunlight.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17332145831" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3302 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3302" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7697/17332145831_a2a74df934_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are lots of stray dogs in Khorog, which is something you don't see pretty much anywhere else. Despite being stray they are friendly and approachable, no doubt because the Pamiris will fed them and be nice to them. I bought some fried foods at the market (hot dogs, eggs, and doughy things are popular) to give to some dogs.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144754608" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3305 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3305" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8896/17144754608_f42199b1b2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another pedestrian bridge near the north-side covered market and the shops around it (which is also where the parking lot for cars to Murghab leave from).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16712278653" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3304 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3304" height="364" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7708/16712278653_5e0d04d741_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking east. Khorog's Central Park is straight ahead on the left bank.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17125100077" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3306 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3306" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7666/17125100077_118186c155_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view of the welcome message for the Aga Khan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16712284593" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3307 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3307" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8765/16712284593_6691b39036_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trees in Central Park. I don't know why, but there's something very special about the combination of closely spaced trees on a green lawn, with deep shadows from light streaming through their trunks.</td></tr>
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Down in Central Park are a few souvenir shops and tourist information agencies. These operations all seem to be supported or founded with the assistance of international NGOs, and the people in the tourist offices were knowledgeable and friendly. When they heard that I wanted to possibly visit the Afghan Wakhan, they warned me that the borders would be probably be closed for the Muslim holiday of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha">Eid al-Adha</a>, which commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim/Abraham to sacrifice his first-born son to Allah, and that the Saturday market in Ishkashim would also be closed for this reason. This was disappointing, but good to know.<br />
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More surprisingly—but perhaps not that surprising given how few tourists were in town as a result of the GBAO only recently being re-opened—they seemed to know pretty much all the tourists in town, as they told me that there was a Swiss lady in town who was also going to the Wakhan. They didn't know where she was staying, but they said she would also likely be going there soon.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17330656162" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3308 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3308" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8691/17330656162_ed46239c9b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently during the civil war food was in such short supply that Central Park was plowed up and food planted there. The Aga Khan provided food aid during the worst of the famine and has helped reconstruct the town as well as tons of money for the region afterwards. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16710085224" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3317 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3317" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8825/16710085224_911abc0096_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moon rises over the mountains to the south.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144980430" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3318 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3318" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8702/17144980430_a71b236a41_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the summer this is full of water and acts as a swimming pool. I wonder if any women use it: in the Fann Mountains it would be unimaginable, but seems realistic in the Pamirs.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17330664432" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3320 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3320" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7688/17330664432_9d9df19496_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to the efforts of the Aga Khan Foundation and other NGOs, Khorog feels like the most well-educated spot in Central Asia outside of maybe Almaty and Astana, and certainly with the highest level of English speakers, making the appearance of this sort of English-language slogan less surprising.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17306577456" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3321 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3321" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8691/17306577456_403ff0cc25_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hills north of town in the afternoon light.</td></tr>
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Back at Lalmo's I found she had laid out the bedding for the night, and I was happy to discover that her house had both a western-style flush toilet in its own little room next to the entrance as well as a good shower in the adjacent laundry room. In retrospect it's surprising how new her house and its facilities felt (when traveling on a budget you either get facilities that either actually date from the Soviet era or which feel like they do), which gave her homestay a curious feeling of being both new and traditional... which is actually very much in keeping with the progressiveness and traditional culture that characterizes Khorog.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17332560905" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3328 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3328" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8753/17332560905_c27175ae64_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner at Lalmo's. I might have been disappointed that it wasn't traditional Pamiri food if the roast chicken and french fries weren't so good. Given the general lack of restaurants in town and how expensive they are, $5 for this spread is actually pretty good value.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144988300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3333 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3333" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8845/17144988300_ef3b9de3a1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast the next morning.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16712300533" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3335 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3335" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7659/16712300533_bfdd19b040_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My kurpacha in the guest room, with the morning sun streaming in. Her kurpachas even had sheets that were very similar to Japanese futon sheets, with an open area on the back.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144776288" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3336 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3336" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8827/17144776288_3d1c17dc19_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What I assumed to be local dormitory accommodation for students.</td></tr>
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Before heading to the taxi lot for Ishkashim and the Wakhan I stopped by the Afghan consulate to see about getting a visa. The folks at the consulate were friendly and helpful, and also warned me that the borders would probably be closed between Thursday and Monday. Given that my Tajik visa was running out, and would expire on the 30th, I knew that even under the best of circumstances I wuold only be able to visit Afghanistan for two or three days at most, but I decided to get a visa just in case it turned out to be possible to make a visit, however brief (and I'll also admit to doing so in part out of a vain desire to collect another visa and another country). But whereas I had been told in Pingyao that an Afgahn visa could be obtained in a couple of hours for $35, and that the fee should be paid at a bank in downtown Khorog, the consulate officials were asking for a $50 visa fee plus a $50 urgent-processing fee, all to be paid to them in cash. This kind of situation reeks of graft, and it's pretty clear that they would be pocketing the lions share of what they were asking for. I told them I couldn't pay that much, and they quickly cut their price to $50 plus a $20 processing fee. This was acceptable to me, not least because it was the price quoted to me in Dushanbe for three-day processing, so I coughed up $70 and got my visa in minutes. And all without even entering the consulate grounds, as they simply cracked open a window in the metal gate to their compound courtyard, and talked to me through that.<br />
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On to Ishkashim and the Wakhan!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17330673952" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3337 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3337" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7706/17330673952_1aa3bd822e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I lose towels all the time, and often just use a dirty T-shirt as a towel since I'm somehow less likely to leave those behind. In the market I saw this towel and had to get it, even if it is huge (it was also really thin, so it didn't take up that much space or weight). I still wonder what a Pillsbury Dough Boy beach towel was doing in Khorog.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144779198" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3338 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3338" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8738/17144779198_50b412581e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bridge to the covered market area.</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 23, from Dushanbe to Khorog: 536 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Flight from Dushanbe: 440 somoni + 10 somoni in overweight charges</li>
<li>Assorted fried items a the market: 8 somoni</li>
<li>Apples: 5 somoni</li>
<li>Internet: 1 somoni</li>
<li>Room: 48 somoni ($10)</li>
<li>Dinner: 24 somoni ($5)</li>
</ul>
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Khorog, Tajikistan37.4882943 71.59019860000000837.3875148 71.42883710000001 37.5890738 71.7515601tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-48248777110463734922012-10-23T19:17:00.000-07:002018-03-21T13:57:55.364-07:00The much-hyped, internet infamous, flight from Dushanbe to Khorog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There's a lot of hype out there about the flight between Dushanbe and Khorog, with breathless claims about how dangerous and terrifying it is, and how the plane routinely comes dangerously close to the sides of mountains as it flies between them and not above them. You'll even read about how, despite there not being any crashes involving this flight, there have been instances where the wingtips have actually brushed up against the mountains, dusting the snow off them. That the flight only runs on days when they can confirm at both ends that the weather is clear, and the mountains they fly between clearly visible, only serves to confirm the notoriety of this segment.<br />
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But first things first: I had to actually get to the airport in the morning and hope for good weather so the flight could be confirmed. The time printed on the ticket was 6:30, and I figured that it would be a good idea to show up early. You know, like people do in most airports. I thought this would be an especially good idea since I had heard that despite tickets not being sold until the evening before a flight, there were sometimes more tickets sold than seats available if earlier flights had been cancelled due to bad weather.<br />
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I took one of the first-running trolley buses from the Farhang to the airport, and made my way to the domestic terminal, which is actually just a large room off to the left of the main terminal, with a separate entrance and a few counters. The terminal was open when I arrived around 5:15, but people were just milling around and they were not waiting for the flight to Khorog. I was pretty sure of this as I didn't see my friend from the day before.<br />
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At around 5:45, once the flight those people were assembled for had left, they closed the terminal and kicked me out, making me wait outside. This wasn't that bad, as I fired up my netbook and discovered that the flagship Megafon telecom store, located in the international terminal, had an open wi-fi connection that was extremely fast (a rarity in Central Asia outside of Kazakhstan). I took the opportunity to download a bunch of movies as I waited for things to get cooking.<br />
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It wasn't until the actual indicated departure time that people began showing up, and even as they began to gather in the square outside, the terminal still didn't open up. When it did open up the entire check-in process was remarkably relaxed and surprisingly informal. They have a 10 kg weight limit on luggage, and I ended up paying an extra 10 somoni for being a kilogram over. What was more surprising was how many people who showed up who weren't taking the flight, and were also not related to any of the passengers—they were there to ask them to take things to their friends or relatives in Khorog. Obviously this would be a big no-no from a security perspective in the West, and those who buy into the idea that Badakshan is a restive area filled with potential terrorists might also balk at the idea, but my Pamiri friend said that pretty much everyone would agree to do this as it serves an important function in facilitating the transfer of important items. He himself accepted a car part that someone would be waiting for in Khorog. Given the standards of hospitality in the area, none of this should be particularly surprising.<br />
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After getting everyone checked in an passing through the rudimentary security, we went out on the tarmac to the plane. You enter at the rear through bomb-bay doors and a little ladder, and inside there are five rows of seats, with single seats on the left of the aisle and benches that seat two (or three) on the right. The seats are little fold-down benches of the sort that might have appeared in cheap post-war cars, but which are more akin to lawn furniture than modern seats. I first picked the first seat on the left, but later asked my Pamiri friend if I could switch with him when I noticed that my window was cracked and scratched and practically impossible to see out of. Since he had taken this flight a number of times, I thought he wouldn't mind, and I was able to get his window seat on the right side.<br />
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The seats don't have seat belts—not that it would matter that much—and parents kept their kids in their laps or let them sprawl over the backs of the benches. Again, similar to post-war driving culture, before we cared about things like padded dashes, seat-belts, and car seats for kids, let alone air bags and the like.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144342458" title="_DSC3184 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3184" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8685/17144342458_248cb7a1b2_z.jpg" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We ended up taking off at about 9:15. This flat agricultural land was just outside Dushanbe.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144562280" title="_DSC3185 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3185" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7707/17144562280_32398af53f_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The views on the right on the Dushanbe-Khorog leg are meant to be the best, but at this time of year you get a face full of glare from the sun, and hazy views from the smog, making views from the left side much clearer, if less spectacular. In the summer the sun would be much higher and less problematic, and in the later Khorog-Dushanbe flight it would also be less objectionable.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144564750" title="_DSC3187 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3187" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7784/17144564750_4ee8d8d71e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nurek Reservoir, formed by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurek_Dam">300 meter high dam</a>—the second-highest in the world.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17331748801" title="_DSC3191 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3191" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7723/17331748801_6d4cfe196c_z.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Low mountains are already covered with snow. I know they're low because the plane apparently doesn't go above 4,200 meters.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144357408" title="_DSC3195 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3195" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8772/17144357408_585fe5fa3e_z.jpg" width="433" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mountains are getting higher, but we're still above them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17124702177" title="_DSC3199 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3199" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7757/17124702177_9ab4affa93_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay, <i>maybe</i> we're flying between mountains now, but it's not the terrifying experience others have made it out to be: we're definitely a good distance from any mountains.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17332147895" title="_DSC3205 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3205" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8826/17332147895_dc42bb79e6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at a mountain-side village.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17330260312" title="_DSC3213 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3213" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7769/17330260312_3a7495a636_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back into the mountains.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144367668" title="_DSC3215 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3215" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7737/17144367668_2ab2e8a7ff_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And more villages. The population density doesn't make much more sense from the air, as there really aren't many hidden plots of land that wouldn't be visible from the ground which might support all these people.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17331762291" title="_DSC3217 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3217" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8846/17331762291_3f0a096558_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More low mountains.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17145914029" title="_DSC3222 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3222" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8844/17145914029_68aabacb67_z.jpg" width="440" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now we're getting to higher mountains.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17331768231" title="_DSC3225 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3225" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7660/17331768231_23e8eb6d2e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is about as close to the sides of mountains as we got. They look closer than they are, mainly because they're so big.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144595740" title="_DSC3226 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3226" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7707/17144595740_5ff39b977c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As close a call as you're going to get. And after this pass, the route doesn't come particularly close to any mountains, but flies down the middle of a relatively wide valley.</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144598580" title="_DSC3229 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3229" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8744/17144598580_a331bb79d6_z.jpg" width="443" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A village just to the west of Rushan welcomes us out of the final mountain pass.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17330280592" title="_DSC3230 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3230" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8738/17330280592_3352bc6e07_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We join up with the M41 and Pyanj river here, then follow the river and highway down to Khorog. Tajikistan is on the right, while it's Afghanistan across the river to the left.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17330282672" title="_DSC3231 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3231" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7703/17330282672_70a57aa73c_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west along the Pyanj, which makes a 90° turn in Rushan (the plane is headed down the Pyanj Valley towards Khorog).</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17330285132" title="_DSC3234 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3234" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7668/17330285132_e3e832aaac_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close enough to the mountains to cast a coherent shadow.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17331784871" title="_DSC3235 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3235" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7796/17331784871_055146d379_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fields on the side of a mountain.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16709715464" title="_DSC3236 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3236" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8797/16709715464_5c6416c09a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trucks (probably Chinese) ply the M41, with Afghanistan on the right.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144614260" title="_DSC3237 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3237" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7737/17144614260_220c5cb528_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As bad as the M41 is, the roads on the Afghan side look just a tad worse.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16709720004" title="_DSC3238 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3238" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8783/16709720004_f683fbe9cd_z.jpg" width="421" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm surprised landslides never dam the river and wash out the valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16709723334" title="_DSC3244 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3244" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7725/16709723334_8c98e6c8dd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Growing up near the Alberta Rockies, I'm used to glacier-fed rivers that look like this; the trees and houses, not so much.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17331798371" title="_DSC3245 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3245" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7790/17331798371_e0fe6d5124_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View across the Pyanj and into Afghanistan.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17144415928" title="_DSC3248 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3248" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7703/17144415928_55162063d8_z.jpg" width="411" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nose down on our approach to Khorog.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17332208975" title="_DSC3251 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3251" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8809/17332208975_430c67c1b8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Afghanistan across the river: so close and so far.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16709751004" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3261 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3261" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7658/16709751004_0ef0ea0b63_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking south just after deplaning from our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-28">Antonov An-28</a>. We arrived just after 10:30, and Khorog is only a few kilometers away in the side-valley on the left: still a full day left to explore. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17331827101" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3264 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3264" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8684/17331827101_f59a90a730_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west across the river into Afghanistan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17306245406" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3265 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3265" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7773/17306245406_4771263bfa_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Locals walking down the runway on their way home.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Once on the ground, I went through the "terminal," where I saw some passengers handing off cargo to people waiting for it, then made my way outside to try and figure out how to get to Khorog. I had no idea how far town was—or even what direction it was—and to my surprise there were no taxi touts whose offers I had to shoot down, nor was there really any organized transport waiting for locals. I guess a flight for 15 people doesn't generate a lot of need, especially when most probably have family or friends to greet them. But based on where people were walking and where their friends and relatives were driving them, it didn't take too long to figure out that I needed to head south to get into town, and I set off on foot.<br />
<br />
The walk into town actually isn't that long, and you pass a market as you enter the side valley in which Khorog nestles. I stopped there to take a brief look (big and colourful Pamiri socks seem to be a popular item), then headed into town and made my way across the river and up to <a href="http://pamirhomestay.com/">Lalmo's Homestay</a>, which had been recommended to me by an <a href="http://silkroadwanderings.blogspot.com/2012/07/hohhot-inner-mongolia.html">older Australian lady I met in Hohhot</a> three months earlier (solid advice, as her homestay is one of the best I've stayed at and she's very friendly and helpful).<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The bottom line: not all it's made out to be, but interesting and a definite time saver</h3>
The price of the ticket seems to be pretty stable at about $95 (I paid 440 somoni, plus 10 extra for being over the weight limit, which was about $95 in total at 2012 exchange rates). Given that it gets you to Khorog by 10:30, and that a share vehicle generally takes at least 16 hours of sitting in a cramped position, it's definitely worth trying to get a ticket. This is especially so given that the price in a share taxi isn't much cheaper, and can even be more expensive depending on the season.<br />
<br />
During the summer and peak season, it's worth sitting on the right hand side as you fly from Dushanbe to Khorog, but in the fall and spring it may give you a lot of glare and intensify the haze and pollution. On the later flight from Khorog to Dushanbe, it probably always a good idea to sit on the left. Try to be one of the first to board, and quickly scan the plane for a seat with a clear window: some of the windows are so scratched up and hazy that they look like frosted glass: views will be impossible.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2Dushanbe, Tajikistan38.536667 68.77999999999997338.338008 68.457276499999978 38.735326 69.102723499999968tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-60071681628992006502012-10-22T17:20:00.000-07:002018-03-21T13:46:29.473-07:00Padrud to to Dushanbe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Walking down the valley to Shing</h3>
I woke up early in the morning to be on the road by 6:00, which is supposedly when vehicles went down to Penjikent. After waiting by the main road in the darkness with Jumaboy for a while, it became fairly clear that whatever vehicles there were had already left, so I started to walk down the valley in the crisp morning air.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17327465211" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3075 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3075" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7776/17327465211_56eb88153e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By 6:45 the sun was up and I was on my way down the valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17301901676" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3076 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3076" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8725/17301901676_1079dfb749_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everything looks so different in the shade as opposed to the sun.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17130530937" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3078 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3078" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7713/17130530937_b9a4c388d4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake 3, with lake 2 behind it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17327867955" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3080 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3080" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7789/17327867955_f9e2ebf9e2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colours are warming up as the sun rises higher and the clouds make soft light, as I look back at the second lake.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16705408754" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3081 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3081" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7750/16705408754_7671b9a802_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first lake at 7:45 am.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17327871915" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3083 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3083" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7750/17327871915_251f3a5cbc_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't get over the crazy clarity and colour of the water here.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16705411934" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3084 - _DSC3086 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3084 - _DSC3086" height="288" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8770/16705411934_c85d18c5da_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crystal clear or inky black?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140306980" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3087 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3087" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8837/17140306980_4cf15810db_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old man walks on a side path bypassing the switchbacks.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140308930" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3092 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3092" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8738/17140308930_44b875483a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The morraine damming the end of the lake.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17327879995" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3096 - _DSC3101 EV13 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3096 - _DSC3101 EV13" height="304" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8855/17327879995_e4ecc37b70_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Such stark beauty.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16705420764" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3102 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3102" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8711/16705420764_c4903e7433_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The outlet from the first lake.</td></tr>
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After the first of the seven lakes, with no more lakes or wide valleys in which villages can form, there are more houses directly alongside the stream. It was in one of these stream-side villages that I saw a rare sign of international aid: a simple water spigot bearing an NGO's logo. Aside from a similar water spigot north of Sary Tash, this was really the only evidence of international aid in the most impoverished communities that need it most; for the most part you see international aid spending in the capitals and larger cities.<br />
<br />
Of course this overlooks NGO-sponsored community-based
tourism initiatives like CBT in Kyrgyzstan or ZTDA in the Fann
Mountains, but I'm not sure how much they benefit the entire community.
Sure, those families who are able to participate benefit, but I suspect
that most participants are already relatively wealthy members of their
villages, while those who are most needy simply can't participate.
That's not to say they aren't helpful, but I don't know how widely they
benefit the community (as opposed to infrastructure projects like
spigots). On the other hand, they are much better than the Han-run
hostels and hotels that dominate Xinjiang: there, you're not benefiting
any locals—wealthy or otherwise— but migrant exploiters.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17327884255" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3104 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3104" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7753/17327884255_aab68c1548_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Below the lakes the Shing Valley is much more of a canyon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140092208" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3106 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3106" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8744/17140092208_0ba44fae98_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whenever the valley widens even a little you find patches of trees and houses.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140094618" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3107 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3107" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7738/17140094618_fc7c2c6cb4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rare sign of international aid. but when you see the opulence of Rahmon's Dushanbe, you have to wonder why most of the country lives like this.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17141645589" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3110 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3110" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7779/17141645589_e2a7edf895_z.jpg" width="467" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Need a bridge? Just turn the beds of some old trucks upside down.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17141647189" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3114 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3114" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8877/17141647189_91177d283e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rugged beauty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17327895505" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3116 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3116" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8814/17327895505_ef9fbf4e01_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Villages are like oases in deserts.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17301932766" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3118 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3118" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8743/17301932766_0514c1004c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dust rises from a rock-crushing gravel factory in a small side valley.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140105808" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3121 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3121" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7711/17140105808_103be31cbf_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cave is used as an animal pen, with hay stacked out of the animals' reach.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17120460657" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3128 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3128" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7749/17120460657_1dd438be82_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dusty tree in a stream.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16707657493" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3131 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3131" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8732/16707657493_a89103c2b5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The river widens near Shing. It was 9:15 by the time I arrived there.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17141662889" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3134 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3134" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7682/17141662889_9068e0b559_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You don't often see women carrying loads on their heads.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It took more than two hours for me to make my way down to Shing.
I waited for a while in the parking lot in front of the market there,
but since I didn't see anyone else waiting around or vehicles waiting
for passengers, I decided to keep walking down the road and to try my
luck hitching with cars going down the road. After a half hour or so of
walking, I was picked up by a car going down the road, and they accepted
I wanted to go to Penjikent and we agreed on a price. I'm not quite
sure why this happens, but they were actually only going halfway to
Penjikent, which inevitably leads to disagreements about what I should
pay. I paid about half, and was able to quickly get a new ride in this
larger town from a couple of guys going to Penjikent. The cheerful
driver and his passenger obviously knew each other and were friends, and
we left without waiting for the car to fill up. When they dropped me
off they hopefully asked for extra money, but didn't mind when I declined.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17326041392" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3136 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3136" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8887/17326041392_dd01827df1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mountain bus parked in front of the market in Shing. I wonder where it's going, as it's a bit of overkill for the road between Shing and Penjikent.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16705452514" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3137 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3137" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7724/16705452514_a011f1bd29_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bringing home the hay.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17301953026" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3140 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3140" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7749/17301953026_f93d09fe42_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To me this house is evocative of a vacation home in a Mediterranean country, but I think the living conditions are just a tad different.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17326049192" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3141 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3141" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8874/17326049192_0fdc9fd09b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are a surprising number of trees in streams and rivers. I wonder if their location isn't what protects them from being cut down for firewood, as trees seem to be either on private property or in streams.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17120475367" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3143 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3143" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8886/17120475367_c762db24e2_z.jpg" width="484" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking down from Shing. I was picked up about a kilometer from there, as the road joined with another from a different valley to the left. This picture is from around 10:30, and I arived back in Penjikent at around noon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
When I went to collect my bag from the Alina Guesthouse, I spoke with the owner, who asked me how my trip was and where I stayed. When I said I stayed at the CBT homestays in Padrud and then Nofin—and that the Padrud one really sucked—he was surprised, as he said he knew the owner of the Padrud homestay and that he was away in Khojand visiting relatives He even tried to phone him, but wasn't able to get through to him. He figured that the guy I stayed with must have been his brother, which would explain why the experience was so crappy. I probably should have spoken to him before I set out, but I was worried about being pressured into buying/booking something through him.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17328239775" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3146 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3146" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8821/17328239775_b9b910eb3e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rather attractive Soviet-era statue.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After picking up my stuff I hopped onto a marshrutka headed to the market, and the walked east from there towards the taxi point for Dushanbe. I paid 90 somoni to get to Penjikent from Dushanbe, and even though I know some locals who paid more, I still though 80 was a reasonable rate. The first driver who approached wouldn't go that low, and as I moved on to the next cluster of drivers I was approached by a young guy who had been listening in. He said that he would take me for 80 somoni, and it turned out that he was just a guy who was visiting Penjikent with a friend and he wanted to get some extra money on the trip back. This was great, as we ended up leaving with only 4 people in the car, which meant more space and less waiting for the car to fill. Even better, we didn't make any restaurant stops along the way (which reinforces my belief that professional drivers get some sort of kickback or comped meals from the places they stop at).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17129953077" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3149 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3149" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7694/17129953077_4f0844101d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the road back to Dushanbe, over the bumpy but beautiful A377 through the Zerafshan Valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17151074519" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3155 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3155" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8769/17151074519_a44d2b01d0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It remains one of the most scenic roads I encountered on my trip: you certainly feel you are in another word, another century.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17302276866" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3156 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3156" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7706/17302276866_caa0cb5d41_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And how so many people scrape by on so little will remain a mystery to me.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17149737500" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3157 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3157" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7681/17149737500_16047c9590_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passing trucks on these narrow roads can be a bit scary when you're in a car, and in some places one vehicle has to stop in a wider area and let the other vehicle through... but if it's one truck passing another it must be a tight squeeze even there. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16714848934" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3159 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3159" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8839/16714848934_8e2fa283bc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you guess where a stream runs?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17141997229" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3165 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3165" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7671/17141997229_51fee2b8a5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Novdunak. Every patch of reasonably flat land is inhabited and/or cultivated.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140449618" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3171 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3171" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7753/17140449618_cff44e787c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just outside Novdunak, on a very narrow stretch of road.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17326375302" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3173 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3173" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8819/17326375302_00504f5bf2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The village of Zerabad, just 3 km from Novdunak on the opposite side of the river.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Back in Dushanbe, I checked back into the Farhang. Not as nice or central as the homestay, perhaps, but significantly cheaper, and with the assurance of a bit more privacy.<br />
<br />
The next day was obviously centered around buying a plane ticket. There's not a lot to do in Dushanbe, anyway, so I mainly walked around enjoying the city and grabbing lunchtime plov at the market—probably my favourite meal in Central Asia, and certainly the best deal—before heading over to the Tajik Air office in the afternoon for more wrangling. <br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Round two in the battle to get a ticket on the flight to Khorog</h3>
I arrived at the ticket office and the same girl I spoke with earlier told me to come back in a day or so. I reminded her that I had been there the week before and she told me to come back that day. I don't know if she remembered or not, but she relented and told me to come back in the afternoon, around 5:00. <br />
<br />
I left and headed up to the Turkmen Embassy to pick up my transit visa. Once again I went through the routine of checking in with the security guards at their hut in the alley outside the embassy, waiting for them to phone in your arrival to the embassy, and then siting on the bench outside until summoned into the embassy compound.This time I got a glimpse inside of the security guards's hut while they stopped to chat with an elderly local man, and was saddened to see that they basically seem to live in their tiny shack: there was a small bed running the entire length of the room, as well as a small stove and cooking equipment.<br />
<br />
Anyway, when I was summoned to the consulate's office, he cheerfully asked me if I wanted to modify my transit dates, then quickly printed of my visa when I said the prior dates would be fine (there wasn't much to think about, as I wanted to use all of the days on my already-running Uzbek visa, and enter Turkmenistan as late as possible). Like pretty much everyone who applies through Dushanbe, I received the full five days, as well as the entry and exit ports requested. Not everyone is so lucky at other embassies, and when you add in the ability to modify your dates when you pick your visa up (within reason, I'm sure), Dushanbe is a terrific place to get your Turkmen transit visa.<br />
<br />
When I returned to the Tajik Air office in the afternoon, there were more people waiting there, which is a good sign. After a bit of waiting the girl took my passport—another good sign—and then I settled in to wait with a few locals. One of them struck up a conversation, and it turned out that he was a Pamiri from Khorog who ran an art gallery there. We talked a bit about the difficulty of getting tickets, and he said that most Tajiks would also prefer to fly, especially since flying was not much more expensive than taking a share taxi, and could even be cheaper depending on the season. It turns out that the passenger traffic to Khorog is highly seasonal, with lots of students headed to Dushanbe in the fall and then returning home in the spring, so that if you wanted to go in a high-demand direction during the busy season it could be more expensive to drive than fly. But with limited passenger space on the planes and substantial uncertainty whether any given flight will even leave, it's easier to count on taking a share taxi.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I was eventually able to plunk down my 440 somoni for my flight, and receive in return the paper tickets with red carbon, just like we used to use last century (my god, it feels strange to write that!). Now the only thing I had to worry about was getting up before dawn and making it to the airport for the indicated 6:30 departure time.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 21, 2012, Padrud to Dushanbe: 208 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Breakfast: 10 somoni</li>
<li>Taxi to Penjikent: 20 somoni </li>
<li>Marshrutka within Penjikent: 1 somoni</li>
<li>Taxi to Dushanbe: 80 somoni</li>
<li>Cola, cakes: 15 somoni </li>
<li>Ice cream, soup, soda: 5 somoni</li>
<li>Dinner: 17 somoni</li>
<li>Room at Farhang: 60 somoni</li>
</ul>
October 22, Dushanbe: 109 somoni, $55<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Turkmen visa: $55</li>
<li>Plov (with bread and salad) at market: 4 somoni</li>
<li>Dinner: 26 somoni</li>
<li>Cola, ice cream, nuts: 10 somoni</li>
<li>Popcorn: 1 somoni </li>
<li>Buses: 8 somoni</li>
<li>Room at Farhang: 60 somoni</li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Dushanbe, Tajikistan38.536667 68.77999999999997338.338008 68.457276499999978 38.735326 69.102723499999968tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-47800922919276525892012-10-20T17:12:00.000-07:002018-03-21T13:52:33.248-07:00Poverty and beauty in the Shing Valley<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
About Haftkul and the Shing Valley</h3>
The rugged Fann Mountains that line the southern side of the Zerafshan Valley are home to <a href="http://www.summitpost.org/lakes-in-the-fan-mountains/456988">a number of gorgeous lakes</a>, as well as lots of hiking opportunities. And although many of the lakes really require you to hike in and stay at Soviet-era Alpager camps, tent camps, and/or your own tent, the Haftkul (literally, "seven lakes")—also known as the Marguzor Lakes, after the largest of the seven lakes—in the Shing Valley are a relatively accessible way to dip your toes in the Fann Mountains. Buses to Shing (located below the seven lakes) run daily, as do share taxis to villages further up the valley. Because traffic is dominated by valley-dwellers who go down to the market in Panjikent in the mornings and return home in the afternoon, you can spend the morning in Penjikent (which is really all the time you need to see it) before going up into the mountains.<br />
<br />
Making life even easier for the visitor is that there are a number of established ZTDA homestays in the valley, which assures you that you'll be able to find a place to stay. In all honesty, even if there weren't homestays you could probably find a place to stay in any village in the mountains, as locals will welcome you if you look like you need a place to stay (and probably even if you don't). Just be sure to offer them some money when you leave, and insist they take it (or pass it to a daughter if they really refuse), especially if they don't seem rich.<br />
<br />
While I would have liked to have seen some of the more remote lakes, I was in the shoulder season and I didn't have a lot of time to extend my stay in the region (I wanted to be back in Dushanbe to pick up my Turkmen visa as soon as it was ready, as I had limited time on both my Tajik and Uzbek visas), so I decided to take things easy and head to the Shing Valley—while being open to crossing over to the next valley if it seemed reasonable. And to facilitate any hiking I might do, I arranged to leave my bag at the Elina Guesthouse and take only my camera bag and a change of clothes into the mountains with me.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Afternoon arrival & preliminary explorations</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I ended up getting a share taxi from the lumber yard in Penjikent, and they were able to take me all the way to the uppermost ZTDA homestay settlement of Padrud. The Shing Valley starts just to the east of Penjikent, and as you head south up the valley the communities become smaller and smaller, and the road gives way to gravel and then becomes rougher and rougher.<br />
<br />
The introduction to the seven lakes is a doozy, as the lowest of the seven lakes has an incredibly clear yet blue colour, and at the end of the lake you enter a series of rocky switchbacks as you pick your way up the rocky natural dams that separate the lakes. Although all of the lakes have been formed by rock dams, I'm not sure if these are the result of landslides (the highest dam in the world—the 567 meter high <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usoi_Dam">Usoi damn</a> in the Tajik Pamirs—was formed by an earthquake in 1911) or as the result of glacial rock deposits known as moraines. I suspect moraines.<br />
<br />
Those switchbacks are probably the most dramatic section of road in the entire valley, and they lead up to the second and third lakes, which are almost on the same level and are quite close to one another. After that, it's a couple of switchbacks up the the 1.6-km-long fourth lake, the southern end of which is where Nofin is located, and then up the valley towards Padrud, which is located on the rocky dam that forms the fifth lake.<br />
<br />
On the way up to Padrud I discovered that one of the guys in the taxi ran the Padrud homestay, which was a bit lucky. We got dropped off outside the homestay, but the gate around the compound was locked, so he had to go retrieve a key from somewhere. In retrospect this is a bit weird, but I didn't think anything of it.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
When we entered the house it was a bit weirder, as the table and living area was dirty, with peanut shells, crumbs, and candy wrappers on a greasy table next to the ZTDA folders and price lists, and the host did nothing to even try and tidy up or anything. Whatever. I was just interested in dropping off the change of clothes and toiletries I didn't want to carry with me, so I let the host know that I would like to also order dinner for that evening, and then I headed out to explore.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17129266009" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2126 (1) - _DSC2127 (1) by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2126 (1) - _DSC2127 (1)" height="373" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8794/17129266009_c0bd765962_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Padrud is built on the stony dam that gave rise to the fifth lake. Somewhat astoundingly, <a href="http://katieaune.com/village-life-in-tajikistan/">this little village is apparently home to 500 people</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17315051991" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2132 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2132" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7721/17315051991_55a4bbc9f2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking up the hill toward the tiny fifth lake, Hurdak.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17427700555" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2130 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2130" height="425" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7694/17427700555_d9bf1c7c5c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the top of Padrud village.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17401707336" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2131 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2131" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8692/17401707336_f413c32d82_z.jpg" width="459" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This freshly-washed carpet isn't likely to dry very quickly in this weather.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17425775082" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2133 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2133" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5459/17425775082_2a802b2c45_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rickety little bridge near the outlet of the fifth lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17127713018" title="_DSC2134 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2134" height="640" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7683/17127713018_6040b2cdaa_z.jpg" width="499" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Circles of cow dung stuck against a rock to dry. I wonder how many trees the mountains could support in the absence of man. Probably quite a few. The lack of anthropogenic deforestation really makes the Rocky Mountains I'm used to look very different than these sorts of mountains.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17427367391" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2136 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2136" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5327/17427367391_7b8dfbeca9_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road up from the fifth to the sixth lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17401742056" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2138 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2138" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7753/17401742056_2267fd109d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down towards Padrud over the little dot of the fifth lake, surrounded by steep mountains.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16807488433" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2139 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2139" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8830/16807488433_a8c654c36d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cows making their way down to the lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17313654802" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2148 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2148" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8709/17313654802_a17257dd9f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back
as I walk the road along the sixth lake, Marguzor. In the middle of the
picture you can see four or five tourist cabins built on the southern
shore of Marguzor.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17315060221" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2152 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2152" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8785/17315060221_102dc39afc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north along the edge of Marguzor. You can see the high rocky dam that formed the seventh lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16693052574" title="_DSC2155 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2155" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7719/16693052574_5a3d41b53e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up at a mountain that still enjoys the sun. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16695249673" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2164 - _DSC2169 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2164 - _DSC2169" height="116" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7781/16695249673_19408c3515_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of Marguzor.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17313661312" title="_DSC2172 - _DSC2176 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2172 - _DSC2176" height="153" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8824/17313661312_f4c3c90233_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The end of the sixth lake. You can see how much higher the water has been in the past.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17313672982" title="_DSC2180 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2180" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8787/17313672982_d4d83de519_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking east. If I wanted to hike to the next valley, the pass would be up at the end of this side valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17315079801" title="_DSC2181 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2181" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7743/17315079801_6a6298a8ea_z.jpg" width="449" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at Marguzor.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17315522735" title="_DSC2187 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2187" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8750/17315522735_9061fa3a3e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5:45 and there's almost no useful daylight left as I walk along Marguzor Lake back towards Padrud.</td></tr>
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<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Padrud: worst homestay ever?</h3>
The homestay wasn't any cleaner that evening when I arrived, and "dinner" was one of the worst meals I had anywhere on my trip—and certainly the worst value for money.<br />
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In general, prices in Central Asia aren't as cheap as you might expect—and certainly much more expensive than in Southeast Asia for a lower standard of food/accommodation—with even basic menu items like <i>shorpo</i> or <i>manty</i> usually being at least a couple of dollars and basic accommodation being ten dollars or more. Prices at official homestays are usually fairly high (the standard in Tajikistan seems to be $10 for bed and breakfast, and $5 for dinner), but they also pay 15% to the organizing NGO which ideally provides support, advertising, training, and applies standards so that tourists get a reasonably consistent and professional experience. (One of the things that the ZTDA seems to look for is a large housing compound with green space, which unfortunately seems to limit opportunities to those that are already somewhat prosperous.)<br />
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At this homestay, however, things were seriously off the rails. Dinner consisted of some old barley unceremoniously scraped from a pot and dumped on a plate, supplemented by a chunk of meat, and served with a small pot of tea (that wasn't refilled). Strangely, the host dined with me (hosts usually leave guests alone while they eat), eating directly out of the pot and using his fingers to scrape up the barley and grease remaining in the pot. Even though I find the typical five-dollar price for meals to be somewhat steep (and more than I would pay if not eating elsewhere), they are typically pretty decent meals with a variety of dishes. I was really shocked by this meal, and was surprised when he actually charged me the full $5 for this horrible meal which I would expect to pay maybe one dollar at a restaurant.<br />
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After eating he showed me to the guest room, which was basically a large but dark room under the main room in the house, filled with kurpacha mattresses stacked against a wall. Like most homestays, here was a long-drop outhouse building a short walk away, and a hot-water shower in another building. Showers are easier to provide than toilets, as you just need an electric hot water tank mounted next to the ceiling, with a gravity-fed shower head running from it. Floors tend to be rough cement or even a wooden platform over bare dirt, and runoff water simply escapes outside or into the garden.<br />
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Anyway, after dinner I had a shower, settled into bed in the unheated room and watched a movie or two while wondering how the hell this homestay ever received certification from ZTDA.<br />
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In the morning the breakfast was simple, with bread, tea, and an egg. After the night before, I wasn't expecting much, and although I had considered using Padrud as a base, I had easily made the decision to move to a different homestay that evening... and I understood why the helpful guy at the Zerafshan tourist information had recommended staying with Jumaboy in Nofin instead of the better-located Padrud homestay.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17127980970" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2204 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2204" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8770/17127980970_df51c2a103_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">River-side <i>tapchan</i> tea bed at the Padrud homestay. I'm sure it would be idyllic in summer evenings.</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17313683632" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2206 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2206" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8713/17313683632_5ddb0cda08_z.jpg" width="446" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down over Padrud.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17127984300" title="_DSC2207 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2207" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8743/17127984300_e77bafa08c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids near the local school want their picture taken.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17129309389" title="_DSC2209 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2209" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8818/17129309389_5f32514e3d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Striking a pose. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17108094357" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2212 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2212" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7739/17108094357_2b33859746_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approaching the fifth lake, Hurdak.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17313690742" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2213 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2213" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7704/17313690742_47f0a82867_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unfinished houses.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17289585366" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2216 - _DSC2220 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2216 - _DSC2220" height="281" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8704/17289585366_b46b843603_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hurdak lake. It may not look it, but the mountains are right on top of you, and I only got this image by zooming all the way out to 18mm, shooting in portrait, and then stitching five images together to make this panorama.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17289586886" title="_DSC2226 - _DSC2231 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2226 - _DSC2231" height="133" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7734/17289586886_82e4d860a4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marguzor is the largest of the seven lakes, at about 1.7 km long.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16693091564" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2234 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2234" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8741/16693091564_62461b5bc1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A village next to Maruzor. On the left you can see the high natural dam forming the seventh lake.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17129321669" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2235 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2235" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7682/17129321669_a0c7d7cfbb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You see many more donkeys than motor vehicles roaming these roads.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17127999480" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2236 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2236" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7747/17127999480_3e3223072a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Man and mountain in perspective.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17313702312" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2241 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2241" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7724/17313702312_a153895922_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roads are blasted through the mountain sides, resulting in rocky overhangs. Thankfully there isn't much vehicle traffic, as spots to pass are rare.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17313707662" title="_DSC2255 - _DSC2260 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2255 - _DSC2260" height="129" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7743/17313707662_bc027b9f26_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at the lake.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16693105594" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2263 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2263" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7665/16693105594_d9ab7406d6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The broad inlet to the lake, which looks like it would historically be covered in water. Possibly it is every spring, when the meltwater is at its highest?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17108123747" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2269 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2269" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7662/17108123747_8a7b8f6efd_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It says something about the modernity of the region that the 50-year-old truck is the less common form of transport shown in this picture.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17289611016" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2272 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2272" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8807/17289611016_11750c57ec_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up the northern slope of side valley that would lead to the neighboring valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17313721492" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2274 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2274" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8709/17313721492_455e51516b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of houses, but little visible means of sustenance.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17315565885" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2275 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2275" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8741/17315565885_26b1be6fc6_z.jpg" width="461" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Holonichiston river as it flows between the seventh and sixth lakes.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16693117994" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2278 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2278" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8773/16693117994_56d14d217c_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was surprised at how close this house was to the waters that came within feet of its walls, at the base of the natural dam.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16693119084" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2289 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2289" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7703/16693119084_95ec0ee227_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back down the valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17128026400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2291 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2291" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8717/17128026400_fe6603bd00_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone, everywhere, loves some graffiti. If they're old enough, you get to call them petroglyphs.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17315573265" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2297 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2297" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8736/17315573265_32239ae3ce_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are houses just about everywhere you can imagine houses being built, and many even where you can't. The same thing goes for fields.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17289625176" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2298 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2298" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8741/17289625176_abd0795b53_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The nice thing is that all the lakes are connected by road, which means none of the walk is overly steep or a difficult scramble.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17128034550" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2301 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2301" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8801/17128034550_ba75bb189b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lone house by Hazorchasma, the seventh lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17127800378" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2303 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2303" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7772/17127800378_18741c2973_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocky beach at the end of the lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17129360789" title="_DSC2304 - _DSC2307 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2304 - _DSC2307" height="185" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8764/17129360789_01bc881daf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road ends at the outlet of lake seven, and from there you have to follow a narrow footpath around the western edge of the lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17289639576" title="_DSC2311 - _DSC2317 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2311 - _DSC2317" height="242" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7772/17289639576_3bed17fbb0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Along the path.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17129371379" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2318 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2318" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8810/17129371379_10bde0a1fa_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just like the rocky road down-valley is more scenic than a modern sealed road, this stony path is more scenic again.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16693144704" title="_DSC2320 - _DSC2326 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2320 - _DSC2326" height="238" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8783/16693144704_74a2225e68_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Partway along the lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17289649256" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2344 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2344" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7715/17289649256_59a6881f65_z.jpg" width="482" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shelter near the upper end of the lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17313761572" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2346 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2346" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8750/17313761572_30e3105be1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young family taking their livestock down the valley. The girl instinctively left the scene when I went to take their picture, and I had to assure her that I wanted her in it, too.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16693155494" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2349 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2349" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7688/16693155494_dffa8e7c39_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Donkeys carrying loads of alpine hay down the valley for the winter.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17315607165" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2351 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2351" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8770/17315607165_db949c2374_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The harder the life, the more picturesque it is to our eyes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16695358413" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2356 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2356" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7746/16695358413_7e8bc2fd32_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bridge over the inlet to the seventh lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17128068180" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2357 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2357" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7687/17128068180_6bc2049e17_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Livestock pens at the top of the lake. The Uzbek border is only a few kilometers away, at the top of the mountains at the end of this valley.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17129394289" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2359 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2359" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7719/17129394289_1d892f6dd2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stone cairn near the pens.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16693168134" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2363 - _DSC2370 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2363 - _DSC2370" height="203" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7752/16693168134_1f80ff11f2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting my way back down the lake. I considered heading further upstream, and taking the path you can see on the other side of the lake that curves around into the valley to the left, but decided that if I wanted to see all the lakes that day I had best not push any farther.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17129398959" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2382 - _DSC2391 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2382 - _DSC2391" height="188" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8686/17129398959_50972edc64_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At about the midway point of the lake. The water level in this lake seems about as high as ever.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17315621775" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2392 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2392" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7784/17315621775_89a2116fe2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On my way back down the lake I encountered this old man and his son. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17128080680" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2395 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2395" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7736/17128080680_e1abd6752f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The son trying out my camera. It's around noon and sunny, but still a bit chilly.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17313786792" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2398 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2398" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7781/17313786792_6bf371f1db_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old man makes his way up the lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17129410809" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2401 - _DSC2412 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2401 - _DSC2412" height="149" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7723/17129410809_e1c09d1169_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From a shaded portion of the trail.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16805279934" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2420 - _DSC2425 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2420 - _DSC2425" height="144" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5446/16805279934_591e72cb08_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where the road ends: in a meadow next to the seventh lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="_DSC2426" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8769/17241570429_3616039aa4_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The outlet passes through the meadow before going down the rocky dam.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17401817146" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2427 (1) - _DSC2431 (1) by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2427 (1) - _DSC2431 (1)" height="144" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7769/17401817146_17444c0523_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lets cultivate some land in the middle of a rocky landslide.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17316130682" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2432 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2432" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7743/17316130682_301bba81e7_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It boggles the mind that this tiny patch of land has been deemed fit for cultivation.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17110545627" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2434 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2434" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8812/17110545627_a11d5db898_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A girl bringing a bundle of firewood down from the valley. There were a surprising number of trees and bushes up here, which is perhaps less surprising given the lower population density near the seventh lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16807569193" title="_DSC2436 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2436" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5334/16807569193_dd7831ff7b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dogs here are less wild and dangerous than in Mongolia or China, but are still very much working animals—not surprising given the Islamic view that dogs are unclean.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16695539754" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2440 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2440" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8691/16695539754_b3f37120e5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gathering firewood seems to be women's work pretty much everywhere in the world. But up here almost everything is women's work.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16695541074" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2441 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2441" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8787/16695541074_e7793bf6d3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Instead of following the road back down the valley I took one of the goat trails along the side of the mountain, staying at the same elevation or climbing slightly.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17317554881" title="_DSC2443 - _DSC2447 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2443 - _DSC2447" height="145" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8732/17317554881_2e2516cf8f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at the dam and down at Marguzor.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17130440770" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2448 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2448" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8744/17130440770_f8ef71836a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views up the other side of the valley.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17316141332" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2454 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2454" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8820/17316141332_70e55fe9a0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking east. Tavasang pass, leading to the next valley is somewhere up this side valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17292039756" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2456 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2456" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8772/17292039756_1ce8089650_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking south across this side valley. Lots of houses, connected to nearby plots of land.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17292043036" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2464 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2464" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8777/17292043036_397eb012e8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hillside village of Tiogli, with a few cars. It's surprising that so few of the houses have satellite dishes, especially after seeing so many gers in Mongolia with them.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16701583284" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2467 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2467" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7681/16701583284_88fc79e74a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rare piece of flat land, the grass shorn by goats or sheep.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17323643031" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2493 - _DSC2503 2 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2493 - _DSC2503 2" height="156" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8878/17323643031_c31c7814e1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Livestock pens and shepherd huts on this little plateau.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17116620267" title="_DSC2504 - _DSC2511 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2504 - _DSC2511" height="113" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8825/17116620267_a602b02446_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17324935211" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2513 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2513" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7709/17324935211_861aa94323_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down across the valley and over Marguzor.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17323475952" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2516 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2516" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7668/17323475952_2a280ee142_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A shepherd's hut, and ridiculously steep fields on the other side of the valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16705086723" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2517 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2517" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7694/16705086723_bc9cd31772_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goats foraging.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17137549348" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2521 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2521" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7798/17137549348_5e6f472b79_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This girl was looking after a few goats and agreed to pose for a picture.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17323480272" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2523 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2523" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8765/17323480272_2452901c19_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many houses! So few signs of anything to live off of!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17324942591" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2524 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2524" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8733/17324942591_1096a0e9f6_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colourful laundry hung out to dry.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16705094723" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2527 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2527" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7658/16705094723_5ffd13a251_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the last houses up the valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17137788840" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2529 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2529" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7670/17137788840_36c227f197_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up towards the pass. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17117916167" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2534 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2534" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7715/17117916167_b07fafef89_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hawk soars above the village.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16702896094" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2538 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2538" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7768/16702896094_c30df7a8d3_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A woman looking down the valley, perhaps observing a jeep unloading its cargo from the market in Penjikent.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17323498652" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2539 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2539" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7787/17323498652_1951147ab6_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Channels in the ground are reminiscent of the mountainside irrigation I saw in Arslanbob.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17137570568" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2540 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2540" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7795/17137570568_66b96c1153_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rare spot of flat ground at the upper end of the village. The 3300 meter Tavasang Pass should be up the valley and to the right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17137802340" title="_DSC2543 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2543" height="640" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7685/17137802340_b98a4b670a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at the jeep, which had attracted quite the crowd.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139127249" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2544 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2544" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7713/17139127249_161b9c543c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parked at the end of the road, it was packed to the gills.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17323504312" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2547 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2547" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7691/17323504312_a12f668194_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was as about as close to the village as I got, for reasons to be discussed below.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325374645" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2548 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2548" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7798/17325374645_3f213d0034_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A donkey waiting to be loaded up.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17117933697" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2553 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2553" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7756/17117933697_5b35a86761_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old man walks up a scree-covered pathway.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
At this point, entering the village from slightly above, I was about halfway up to the top of Tavasang Pass, but I even after descending the other side it would be quite a walk to the nearest known homestay in Zimtud, and I had no decent maps.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I wasn't really thinking of it at the moment, but was quite enjoying my walk and I started to walk through the village. Well, some local women really
didn't want me to do that, and they kept waving me away. So I retreated back
along the path and detoured above and around the village by climbing up a steep rocky slope to get above it. They
didn't like that too much, either, and made gestures from afar, but I wasn't about to abandon my walk
and retreat to the valley for nothing.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17299406296" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2555 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2555" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7742/17299406296_64142555b0_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at the village, after my detour up the mountain.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17137584238" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2556 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2556" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7765/17137584238_268ec51b40_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From this angle it almost looks like they have somewhat normal fields.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17323515112" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2557 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2557" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8729/17323515112_06df949f66_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cow in the high pasture.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325385805" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2561 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2561" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7778/17325385805_e90fac1abe_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at Marguzor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139142059" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2563 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2563" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7734/17139142059_122705c7c3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The women here are incredibly conservative. Not only did they not want me to enter the village, but women working as shepherds actually ran away from me when they saw me approaching along the goat paths here as I walked along the mountain ridge! And it's not like I was close, either, as I would be about 100 meters away when they ran.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16702919014" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2565 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2565" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8716/16702919014_bd2547d7ac_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There were no large herds of animals, just a few scattered goats and a cow or two.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17323520942" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2569 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2569" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8800/17323520942_5988b523df_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A goat lying in the sun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139147639" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2570 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2570" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7658/17139147639_4ce782bd54_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hay is piled in a platform around this tree, out of the reach of animals. I guess goats don't climb trees here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17299420216" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2571 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2571" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7662/17299420216_ca29e673c5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another tree platform.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17323528932" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2573 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2573" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8769/17323528932_aa28e07413_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dusty buildings blend in to their surroundings.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17324993011" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2575 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2575" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8746/17324993011_3cd79272ba_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every scrap of land seems to support a family or ten.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16705147813" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2579 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2579" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8834/16705147813_076967816f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hay stacked on rooftops.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325002041" title="_DSC2582 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2582" height="425" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7741/17325002041_44fb3270c3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at the village.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16807473694" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2586 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2586" height="425" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7734/16807473694_d8e0b6b17d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Village houses, where the roofs are some of the only flat ground around.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17299437036" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2588 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2588" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8803/17299437036_c91c1b27f2_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This valley is completely hidden from the road, from where you would never suspect a couple hundred people would be living a couple hundred meters away.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139168259" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2590 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2590" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7754/17139168259_368822ec22_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back over the ridge I came from. If I had been able to walk through the village I could have taken that road, but as it is I walked high above it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17137615528" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2592 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2592" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8777/17137615528_68c59f0184_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On a ridge above this village a young girl played cat and mouse with me, moving ahead of me to stay out of sight but peeking at me every now and again.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17323546352" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2594 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2594" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8865/17323546352_5d6a8285a7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Down at village level.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17244031429" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2596 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2596" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8806/17244031429_4b5a036951_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steep switchbacks connect the village to the road around Marguzor.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139175109" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2605 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2605" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7663/17139175109_dbcf055e9d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the road back to the fifth lake.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Real hospitality in Padrud</h3>
Although it was only noon when I had reached the far end of the seventh lake and begun my trip back, after taking my time in the side valley by Marguzor, it was after 4:00 by the time I made it down the mountain to the lake-side road, and almost 5:00 by the time I was back in Padrud. <br />
<br />
As I was walking through Padrud I was stopped by one of the guys with whom I had shared my taxi ride up from Penjikent the day before, and he asked me what I thought of the homestay, and if I was hungry (despite his lack of English and my lack of Russian, it's surprising how easily I managed to understand him). He was totally unsurprised when I said it was pretty bad, and he invited me to have tea with him.<br />
<br />
He had a tiny shop in the front of his home, and I was invited into the sleeping and living quarters, where I met his grandsons, and used my camera as an ice-breaker with them as I let them roam around with it to their hearts' content. His wife stayed in the kitchen/women's room, and his granddaughters came and went (but mainly went). Even (or especially) here it was easy to see how traditional this valley is, as I very much got the sense that it would be rather taboo for me to much contact any post-pubescent women, and the young girl who I did see a bit of was very clearly a second-class person relative to her similarly-aged brothers.<br />
<br />
But anyway, he served me the typical snack of tea and old bread (fresh bread seems surprisingly rare in the mountains, and I didn't see the tandoors that are ubiquitous in lowland areas). This tea & bread combination is often mixed in a dish known as shir-choi, which is salty milk/buter tea with the old, stale, and hard bread mixed in—at least you don't break your teeth on the bread that way.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325424455" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2612 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2612" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8857/17325424455_704ceaf8cf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cute kid, but absolutely filthy—it's a hard life. He was the middle grandson.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17323559332" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2615 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2615" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7782/17323559332_986c87b29c_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bread served on a cloth which serves as the table. And a bag in which to store the bread.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325421375" title="_DSC2657 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2657" height="354" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7774/17325421375_6b0233f26b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My gracious host.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17137855130" title="_DSC2661 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2661" height="640" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7708/17137855130_bb420531e6_z.jpg" width="503" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the girls pops in for a minute, while the older brother snaps their picture.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325022331" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2663 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2663" height="441" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7745/17325022331_6478b5a5bd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The youngest girl was the only one who spent any time in the room. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We talked a little, and I was able to answer a few things because 90% of conversations go the same way. The first thing people want to know is where you're from, followed by your age and whether you're married and have a family. They don't understand why someone over 25 would be unmarried and without children, and I found it difficult to understand why they would ask someone traveling solo if they were married (though the reality is that many families are forced to live apart, so being somewhere for a long time without your spouse isn't as unusual for them).<br />
<br />
I reciprocated by asking about his family, and this was one of the first times I was able to really put a face to the statistics I had heard about. He had a large family, and was taking care of his son's children. Like up to a third of Kyrgyz and Tajik men of working age (the money these men and women send back home constituted up to<a href="http://sputniknews.com/world/20130125/179026395.html"> 47% of Tajikistan's GDP in 2012</a>), his son was working in construction in Moscow to send money back to his family. The problem, as he acknowledged, was that Tajikistan really had nothing but rocks and water, and there were no jobs to be had. Tajikistan's economic poverty was only amplified by Soviet policies that had encouraged large families, and even though he obviously loved his family he said he thought that two or three kids would be the ideal family size. It's such a hard life, and only harder without the centralized spending and support they enjoyed during the Soviet era.<br />
<br />
I soon had to leave to make it down to the Nofin homestay before dark, and as I left he invited me to return the next afternoon, saying that his wife would me making plov that day (a bit strange since plov is seen as a masculine dish—the Central Asian equivalent of grilling steaks, I guess). After my experience with the Tajik guy I met in Dushanbe, I accepted his invitation and intended to keep it.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Jumaboy's homestay in Nofin: pretty darn good</h3>
I had a bit of difficulty locating Jumaboy's homestay in Nofin, given that it was twilight by the time I arrived there, and had to ask a local boy where it might be. Like the Padrud homestay, it was in a large compound, and after banging on the steel door for a while and listening to their dog bark at me, I pushed my way inside their and found Jumaboy's wife who welcomed me. And although she didn't have much time or notice to prepare dinner, the meal was far better than what I had the night before, and the service much more professional and attentive.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17299452936" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2664 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2664" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8828/17299452936_613246cdd4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Impromptu dinner at Jumaboy's.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17117983557" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2676 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2676" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7759/17117983557_9d0992e050_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of local sights in Nofin. Apparently there's the ruins of an ancient fort.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Jumaboy's homestay was pretty nice, and it was apparent that his family took it seriously. They were building some new rooms on the other side of his property, near the stream, and the rooms were decorated with the traditional <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzani_%28textile%29">suzani</a> needlework tapestries. While lighting the fire in the evening (the wood didn't last long, and isn't realy an eco-friendly solution, but I appreciated the gesture) the wife accidentally left behind her notebook which contained her personal Russian-English dictionary of important words and terms (along with how to pronounce them in English), which was actually pretty helpful for me in picking up a few Russian words.<br />
<br />
I still think the ZTDA homestays are overpriced, and certainly there not something your average dirt-poor villager can participate in, but I can also see how they are useful for a small segment of the local population.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the next morning I decided to explore the downstream section of the seven lakes, as thus far I had only seen lakes five, six, and seven.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17324471482" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2677 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2677" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7759/17324471482_b6db3ddcc7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nofin valley joins up with the Shing valley up ahead.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17118896097" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2680 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2680" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7669/17118896097_0a66623f56_z.jpg" width="440" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see how high the water gets in Nofin lake, and how low it was when I was there.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16706086813" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2682 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2682" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7671/16706086813_05fbcc7776_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even so, one of the access roads to this cluster of houses is underwater.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17300371556" title="_DSC2687 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2687" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8848/17300371556_e9bc005091_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17118902857" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2689 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2689" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7767/17118902857_7916dd8d09_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why are there houses on the side of a mountain?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17324480692" title="_DSC2690 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2690" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8849/17324480692_373a931b8d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17300376256" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2691 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2691" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8749/17300376256_d0ca5773be_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It seems they always keep their donkeys saddled here. I'm not quite sure why that is.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16706095723" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2693 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2693" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7766/16706095723_c94b9fd2c6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nofin is a deep turquoise, similar to many Rocky Mountain lakes and rivers. The colour comes from micro-fine glacial silt, ground from mountain rock-faces as glacial ice slides over it, which is then suspended in the water where it scatters light the same way atmospheric particles disperse light and make the sky blue.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16703888174" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2696 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2696" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7744/16703888174_2491e143c4_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's always nice to encounter still water that cleanly reflects scenery.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17324488342" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2708 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2708" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8878/17324488342_951b5310d7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road along Nofin lake.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325953131" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2709 - _DSC2714 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2709 - _DSC2714" height="252" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8733/17325953131_7c0a537864_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the third and second lakes, Soya and Hushyer. There are only a couple of hairpins leading down to Soya, but it's still pretty picturesque.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17300387096" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2723 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2723" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7684/17300387096_2e65b0569f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A flat, meadow-like area at the outlet of the third lake, Soya, with a mountain cliff-face on the other side.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325956251" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2726 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2726" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8760/17325956251_fd5e7b1bd6_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ladybugs cover the tree trunks.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140121699" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2728 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2728" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8703/17140121699_51ff4edcfc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They were crawling under the bark to hibernate for the winter.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17300392656" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2730 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2730" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8689/17300392656_618725393b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The water level on this lake seems unaffected.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325960571" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2731 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2731" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7719/17325960571_25a9783cd4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The elevation difference between the third and second lakes is minimal, as is the distance between them.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17138801240" title="_DSC2735 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2735" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8738/17138801240_705b0d5573_z.jpg" width="558" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Holonichiston river leading to the second lake, Hushyer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16706112623" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2740 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2740" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7758/16706112623_ee542329b7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This unusual wood and mud building, constructed on top of an animal pen, sits on the rocky dam below the second lake.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17138805110" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2743 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2743" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7720/17138805110_54eb728803_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A strange little building.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17326372765" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2747 - _DSC2749 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2747 - _DSC2749" height="236" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8786/17326372765_0c45363ce5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Five switchbacks leading down to the first lake, Mijgon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17138578328" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2750 - _DSC2756 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2750 - _DSC2756" height="232" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7703/17138578328_935347ed7b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you're on foot it's much faster to skip the switchbacks and walk straight down the rocky slope.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17138579388" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2763 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2763" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7776/17138579388_1dc334bd65_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huge boulders the size of small houses litter the slope.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17324509302" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2764 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2764" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7693/17324509302_2c0251fe02_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from atop one of the boulders.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140138189" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2766 - _DSC2773 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2766 - _DSC2773" height="229" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8787/17140138189_5210253f58_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking it all in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17138817270" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2781 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2781" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7741/17138817270_a03f77f67e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first lake has incredible colour: crystal clear, yet also deep blue. Somehow all the silt that we saw in the upper lakes has been filtered out of the water, probably when the river flowed beneath the surface between the second and first lakes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325978941" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2786 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2786" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7787/17325978941_d0c1b30c3f_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's pretty amazing. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17324524902" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2818 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2818" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7772/17324524902_24ba0a095e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Given the population density and lack of sanitation or sewage system, it's surprising the lakes bear little sign of pollution. And in general, you see little litter—certainly much less than what you would expect to see if this was in China or Mongolia.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17138832530" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2822 - _DSC2828 no exposure by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2822 - _DSC2828 no exposure" height="181" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7689/17138832530_a01fc310b1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the road.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17326401415" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2839 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2839" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7709/17326401415_5d00910ba4_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The outlet from the first lake.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16703935794" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2845 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2845" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8820/16703935794_48fde8f68a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tree in the rocks at the outlet of the first lake.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17138606378" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2848 - _DSC2849 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2848 - _DSC2849" height="252" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8890/17138606378_becfda2eda_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This lake, too, is only slightly below the high-water mark.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17326567691" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2854 - _DSC2857 stereo by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2854 - _DSC2857 stereo" height="178" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8713/17326567691_be02068d17_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I needed to head back up the valley in order to make my date with the shopkeeper.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17326974575" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2858 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2858" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7676/17326974575_0ca3ba146f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But that wasn't going to stop me from taking pictures of the switchbacks and the lake.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140727309" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2860 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2860" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8831/17140727309_49bd7c682a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you can see.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17301008916" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2861 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2861" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7711/17301008916_1465ecf6dd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wasn't kidding.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16704513084" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2864 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2864" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7745/16704513084_9ce66eeaf1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Along the second lake. The good thing about walking the same path in both directions is that you get to see things you probably would have missed if you didn't keep looking behind you to see where you came from.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Tajik taarof?</h3>
In my earlier post on Dushanbe, I talked about the Iranian concept of taarof, which is a system of ritualized offers which are not to be taken literally. Like, I offer to do something for you, but only out of politeness and you are meant to decline. Although this practice reaches its apex in Iran, the extreme hospitality of Muslim and Central Asian sometimes feels like it must be like this, as it can feel like there are so many offers of hospitality that there must be an expectation that some of it will be declined. In Dushanbe I had an experience which suggested hospitality is not taarof, and that I had offended by not taking an offer as seriously as I should have, which is why I took this offer of hospitality in Padrud quite seriously.<br />
<br />
But when I arrived at our appointed time of noon, it was clear that he wasn't actually expecting me. This led to a very brief period of uncomfortableness, but this quickly passed as I played with the kids, who were happy to see me regardless. We talked more about family and life in Tajikistan over some tea, and he surprised me by appearing with some grapes (the season was rather late for grapes, so I have no idea where he would get them). So although it was still an interesting visit, it has made me wonder about just how real taarof is in Tajikistan. Probably I was wrong to accept given how poor the family is, even if simple plov requires little more than rice and carrots, and despite his assurance that his wife would have been making it anyway.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17326572911" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2870 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2870" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7674/17326572911_4b3c1e6a76_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The oldest boy took the camera into the women's room/kitchen. I wouldn't have even known she existed, otherwise.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139414850" title="_DSC3530 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3530" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8738/17139414850_034d02d0bc_z.jpg" width="527" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the oldest kid. He was full of energy and used to being the boss. I don't know if the oldest boys are like this in all families, but he was clearly treated as the most important child. He used my glasses as a costume, intentionally putting them on upside down.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17326575431" title="_DSC2900 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2900" height="640" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7742/17326575431_66b4b0a9b5_z.jpg" width="618" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The middle girl is suddenly shy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140733499" title="_DSC2907 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2907" height="396" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8758/17140733499_ccb5843210_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The middle boy and I.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140734989" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2909 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2909" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8826/17140734989_40b83ea514_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The three boys.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16704519594" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2912 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2912" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8763/16704519594_82f4e811fc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The oldest boy didn't want to share my camera with his brothers, and started doing kung-fu on them while his grandfather was out. I told him he couldn't use my camera if he was going to hit them, so they just started shadow boxing and I let the others try my camera.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17119540407" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2925 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2925" height="463" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8887/17119540407_ed858a4c63_z.jpg---" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is this kid cute, or what?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325117262" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2933 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2933" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8737/17325117262_8a7b6f5f61_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The girl was so cute and so smart (she later stopped her brother from pulling the ropes in front of her face) that it's heartbreaking to know that,
simply because she's a girl, she will have even fewer opportunities and
less freedom than her brothers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140740179" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2936 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2936" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8703/17140740179_e030923e02_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Next to the family donkey.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17326990705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2938 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2938" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8822/17326990705_2484f7288a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little brother joins in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16704526354" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2939 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2939" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8744/16704526354_7b090d6541_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'll be honest: I'm conflicted about this picture. I wanted to include the donkey, but only because to my western sensibilities it is more exotic to show the family and their donkey. And this feels horribly exploitative, because I'm intentionally conveying a message that the family isn't aware of and isn't how they would want to be perceived.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17140745019" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2941 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2941" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8750/17140745019_431a5a8988_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here is a version cropped in camera. Well, at least both of them kind of suck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139513978" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2946 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2946" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7769/17139513978_5404da6af0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upper Padrud.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17327320075" title="_DSC2950 - _DSC2964 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2950 - _DSC2964" height="111" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7719/17327320075_8870eab757_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">360° view from the middle of Holonichiston river.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17327321355" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2966 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2966" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7677/17327321355_882cb58ab7_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another local in Padrud.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17119879577" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2967 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2967" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8768/17119879577_dc361d98dd_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As in Kyrgyzstan, you only see old men and young boys actually riding donkeys.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139530748" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2992 - _DSC2998 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2992 - _DSC2998" height="207" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7661/17139530748_a222d2391a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Holonichiston flows into the fifth lake.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139763650" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2999 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2999" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7751/17139763650_7cf0113041_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down over the fifth lake to one of the uppermost houses in Padrud.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16707077683" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3008 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3008" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7785/16707077683_a82539451a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two little calves by the side of the fifth lake.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325463042" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3009 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3009" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7669/17325463042_ddd94319a7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passing by the shopkeeper one last time on my way back to Nofin. I didn't want to insult his hospitality, so instead I bought a bunch of snacks from him and gave the kids some of my chocolate (and made sure they shared with the girl). I probably should have figured out a way to give him some money, but it would have been difficult to do without insulting him, In retrospect, giving him money and asking him to buy something for the kids would have been a good solution.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17119889497" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3024 - _DSC3026 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3024 - _DSC3026" height="204" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7744/17119889497_17a49fa34e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A panorama from the southern side of Nofin valley, near the cemetery.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139769430" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3027 - _DSC3028 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3027 - _DSC3028" height="266" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7705/17139769430_1d746a582b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Around to the northern side, looking down to the main Shing valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325467312" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3034 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3034" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8804/17325467312_ac4bda4f66_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at Nofin lake from up behind Jumaboy's, with the fort ruins down the hill to the left.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139540658" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3037 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3037" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7732/17139540658_b218cef16e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up the Nofin valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139774440" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3039 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3039" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7660/17139774440_9591187828_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruins of the old fort in the foreground, with Nofin lake below. The ruins are about as well defined as most of the ancient city in Penjikent.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139776260" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3048 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3048" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8874/17139776260_0fbf064078_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jumaboy's homestay. The homestay rooms are in the middle of the picture, above the ocher stripe. The room with lots of windows is where I ate, and the sleeping room was next to it.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325473772" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3049 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3049" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7681/17325473772_b3c75c9310_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He was building what appear to be more private lodging when I was there. The stream running down the Nofin valley is right behind them, and the entrance gate is to the left.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17327343705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3051 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3051" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7736/17327343705_ee2099f485_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside water basin with whimsical decoration.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17301387106" title="_DSC3066 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3066" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7780/17301387106_9815048a61_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homestay room. Western-style beds are an unusual feature for the region. The walls are decorated with suzani.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17139549648" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3056 by The Bryce, on Flickr"></a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17325481512" title="_DSC3065 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3065" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7788/17325481512_ee4f6f9b2d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most homestays just use the kurpachas you can see stacked on the wall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16707101623" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3069 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3069" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7728/16707101623_47087f840e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner on the second night. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17141109969" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3071 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3071" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8720/17141109969_232ea07168_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perhaps the only thing I didn't like was the sales show Jumaboy puts on during your final night. He brings out carpets and suzani and gives a little sales pitch. I think the pricing is pretty fair (the suzani pictured was listed at 480 somoni, or about $105, while a kelim carpet was 530 somoni) and a lot of people might appreciate the opportunity, but it feels a little bit of a hard sell to me, like resorts that offer deeply discounted or free accommodation so long as you listen to their time-share pitch... except you get no discount here.</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 18, 2012, Penjikent to Nofin: 110 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Coke (5) and 2 samsas (8): 13 somoni</li>
<li>Share taxi to Nofin: 25 somoni </li>
<li>Room at Nofin ($10): 48 somoni</li>
<li>Dinner ($5): 24 somoni</li>
</ul>
October 19, Padrud: 90 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Breakfast ($2): 10 somoni </li>
<li>Wafers, soups: 8 somoni</li>
<li>Room at Jumaboy's homestay: 48 somoni</li>
<li>Dinner: 24 somoni </li>
</ul>
October 20, Padrud: 82 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Breakfast ($2): 10 somoni </li>
<li>Room at Jumaboy's homestay: 48 somoni</li>
<li>Dinner: 24 somoni </li>
</ul>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Ozero Nofin, Tajikistan39.1902778 67.82611109999993513.668243299999997 26.517517099999935 64.7123123 109.13470509999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-62966476457024506232012-10-17T20:49:00.000-07:002018-03-21T13:50:52.211-07:00Penjikent, where the journey is more interesting than the destination<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As I said in my previous post, share taxis to points north of Dushanbe don't actually leave from the cement factory but from a kilometer or so north of there, where the buses that run along Rudaki turn around (the map below reflects this starting point, which you can see if you zoom in). When I eventually found my way there, I was quickly able to find jeeps going to Penjikent, and negotiated a seat for 90 somoni (almost as much as a seat from Osh to Bishkek, which is about three times longer). Transportation prices in Tajikistan are fairly high, in part because the roads are pretty bad, and in part because fuel is considerably more expensive than in Kyrgyzstan. (You're also more likely to have to bribe a policeman in Tajikistan, too.) <br />
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The first stretch of highway as you head north from Dushanbe runs through an increasingly rugged valley that is the backyard for Dushanbe's rich and powerful, who maintain palatial estates along the river. The town of Varzob is possibly the epicenter of ill-gotten wealth, and includes a Presidential retreat complete with imposing fences and security. After Varzob the valley becomes more steep and there are precious few opportunities to build mansions as the road hugs the hills as it wends its way through the Fann Mountains. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16190134590" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2015 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2015" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7286/16190134590_51989ab5d1_z.jpg" width="468" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The M34 somewhere past Varzob but before the Anzob tunnel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15757522463" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2017 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2017" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8570/15757522463_011bff0eba_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though not particularly high, the Fann Mountains are rocky and support little vegetation. Or maybe it's more accurate to say that whatever vegetation that may have existed has been long since stripped by the peoples who have lived there.</td></tr>
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The M34 between Dushanbe and Khojand is paved from start to finish, with the curious exception of the <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav100207.shtml">Iranian-built Anzob tunnel</a>, also known as the <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/life/travel/8748824/Tunnel-vision-in-Tajikstan">tunnel of death</a>. Officially opened in 2006, this 5-km-long tunnel bypasses the Anzob pass to the east, allowing the M34 to remain open—and northern Tajikistan connected to thre rest of the country—all year, regardless of the amount of snow in the Anzob pass. The problem is that this tunnel really isn't finished, as the surface inside the tunnel isn't paved, and is potholed and full of water year round as a result of spring-water that leaks into the tunnel from the ceiling. And despite the notoriety of the tunnel through Kyrgyzstan's Too-Ashuu pass, this tunnel is even more poorly ventilated, as there is only one fan in the middle of the tunnel, and its ineffectual whirling does little to clear exhaust fumes from the road. Supposedly the tunnel was to be completed in 2014, but I have difficulty believing that. (<b>Edit</b>: as of 2018 the tunnel is in good condition, with no potholes or water, and added ventilation, though apparently it can still get pretty polluted in there.)<br />
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There are also a number of smaller avalanche sheds along the road leading up to the tunnel, but these kinds of tunnels are much simpler since they are designed simply to protect the road from avalanches by allowing snow to wash over the roof. They're usually pretty short and just cover typical avalanche zones.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15757524463" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2021 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2021" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7348/15757524463_a25545a7b3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After leaving the Anzob tunnel the road switchbacks and hairpins down and around the side of the the mountain.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16191303159" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2022 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2022" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7324/16191303159_5825cfefe5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Descending from the tunnel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16191638907" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2023 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2023" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7441/16191638907_da1fa08f30_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road down below is part of the road leading to the old Anzob pass.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15755083354" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2026 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2026" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7304/15755083354_66766f4a0e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About to meet up with the old road.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16351550926" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2032 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2032" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8595/16351550926_a650ebf031_z.jpg" width="445" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In some ways the views are familiar to the Rocky Mountains (craggy mountains and aquamarine mountain streams), but the cultivation of tiny scraps of land and the ability to grow fruit trees is utterly alien.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16375799211" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2034 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2034" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8670/16375799211_e834b94c95_z.jpg" width="458" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Absolutely no piece of flat, arable land is allowed to lie fallow.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16191644637" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2038 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2038" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7428/16191644637_5c503eef4f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A small mountain-slide has necessitated the rebuilding of a valley road.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16190146880" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2039 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2039" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7398/16190146880_6c2021d4ac_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are relatively few villages or patches of vegetation along the north-south M34.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16190148950" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2041 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2041" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8587/16190148950_36e6084d65_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We stopped at a small restaurant for lunch near the Rabot, not far from the turnoff to Iskander-kul. These kinds of stops are annoying and
inefficient to a Westerner like me, but time has relatively little value
here: why else would people wait hours for share taxis to fill up?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15757536733" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2042 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2042" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7455/15757536733_b423a4689a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High tension power lines follow the road.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16376639722" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2043 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2043" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8608/16376639722_f371e5c7c5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A freshly-washed carpet set out to dry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16377531155" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2044 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2044" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8665/16377531155_c2dcf123d7_z.jpg" width="466" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing the Zerafshan river in Ayni, only a few kilometers from where the road to Penjikent splits off from the M34.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16351562526" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2047 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2047" height="576" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7346/16351562526_7272ac2d65_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was a bait-and-switch: instead of going over the old suspension bridge (which is the typical bridge design in Tajikistan), this road featured a newer concrete span.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The rugged Zerafshan Valley landscape: exactly what I had hoped and expected from Central Asia</h3>
As we leave the north-south M34 highway that runs between Dushanbe and Khojand, and turn off onto the east-west A377 running through the Zerafshan Valley towards Penjikent, the landscape changes noticeably. The mountains are a warm brown, and the valley is dominated by the Zerafshan River that cuts its way through the mountains, creating steep banks and a ravine-like feeling for much of the valley. Every now and then—mainly when it intersects with side-valleys feeding into the Zerafshan river—the valley widens out into and treed villages pop up. There you find tall poplars and colourful fruit trees showing their autumn colours, softening the otherwise dry, dusty, and harsh landscape. This is the first time outside of China that I've seen the sort of landscape I had been anticipating from Central Asia, and it remains one of my favourite places along my trip.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16191654847" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2052 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2052" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8589/16191654847_f78166f7d6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the A377 to Penjikent, just outside Ayni.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16376644712" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2054 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2054" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8582/16376644712_47af30f906_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We're fairly high above the river.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16376645582" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2057 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2057" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8639/16376645582_979ac55f66_z.jpg" width="469" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poplars and dusty mountains are kind of what I was hoping the silk road might be like, and the Zerafshan valley delivers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16191659017" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2061 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2061" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8660/16191659017_b8bce1ba0f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road switches from one side of the river to the other, as some sections are too difficult to build roads on.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16190161150" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2073 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2073" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7409/16190161150_55bfe60727_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mouth of every little valley running off the main Zaravshan valley gives rise to a village. The broader the sub-valley, the larger the settlement.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16375818221" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2074 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2074" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7329/16375818221_e2a0138e2b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see how the roads are carved into the side of the mountain, with precipitous drop-offs. Passing big trucks on these narrow, stony roads can be nerve-wracking.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16191662737" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2077 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2077" height="433" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8638/16191662737_40c9109eeb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The closer you get to Penjikent, the wider the Zerafshan valley gets and the more fields and houses you see.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16376653192" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2086 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2086" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8633/16376653192_fcce349fd2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see how dusty the roads are.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16377544375" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2088 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2088" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/16377544375_e3b30f351a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rolling in to Penjikent, near the end of the Zerafshan valley.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Penjikent </h3>
As we entered Penjikent everyone got dropped of at their home. As usual, I was one of the last, and I asked to be dropped at the traffic circle at the western end of Rudaki, as that's where the Elina guesthouse is. It's actually tucked into a little sidestreet, so I didn't immediately see it, and I ducked into a market off Rudaki to get supplies. I came out and then found the Elina after a little searching, and the owner said he had seen me get out of the taxi and had called to me, but I apparently tuned him out.<br />
<br />
There are nice little rooms at the Elina that open into a central courtyard, and the shared bathrooms were a lot nicer than those at the Farhang in Dushanbe. At 50 somoni, I thought it was a pretty good deal. The owner is a friendly guy, and he offers tours as well. I'm always a little leery of guesthouses that also offer tours—especially after China—as I tend to suspect that they'll offer less than impartial advice and encourage you (subtly or not) towards their offerings. And since there were two tourist information offices in Penjikent, I decided to direct pretty much all of my tourism-related questions there.<br />
<br />
The next day I headed out along Rudaki to explore the city. The Museum (official title: Republican Historical and Regional Museum Named After Rudaki) was close to the Alina and completely unmemorable—literally, as I don't remember a single thing from the interior.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16351707246" title="_DSC2094 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2094" height="417" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7420/16351707246_a84421edea_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The museum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16190050178" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC2090 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2090" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7327/16190050178_b2af673c98_z.jpg" width="422" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I remember nothing of the museum, which is hardly a ringing endorsement of its contents. but hey, it's not like there much else to do in town.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16190298140" title="_DSC2091 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2091" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7363/16190298140_b694ef7145_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the museum steps.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16191461609" title="_DSC2093 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2093" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7363/16191461609_c47c14dc0a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The museum's fire station. I feel safer already.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The next stop was the two tourist information offices, both of which are within about a block of each other on Rudaki. On the northern side is the Zerafshan Tourism Board, while on the south side is the ZTDA Information Centre. ZTDA is the Zerafshan valley's version of CBT—a network of homestays and local tourist services that funnel money into local communities. Somewhat surprisingly, they were an inferior source of information about not only independent tourism in the region, but about the homestays they offer as well! In contrast, the Tourism Board office was much more helpful with where one could go, how to get there, the homestays one could stay at, and much more. They also had a number of detailed topographical maps of the area (which I photographed, in case I decided to hike between the valleys), and seemed much more knowledgeable about the area.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16705778814" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC3145 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC3145" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8892/16705778814_98b638a654_z.jpg" width="556" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In case you want to get in touch with the ZTDA, here's their contact info.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/17926355933" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_20150604_010549.813 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_20150604_010549.813" height="348" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/503/17926355933_53b07af348_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ZTB was much better, though, so I would recommend contacting them first.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I asked about the possibility of starting in the Shing valley and staying at homestays in a Haft-kul (seven lakes) region, and then doing a day hike over the pass to the adjacent valley and down to Zitmud. He was a little pessimistic about this, and his concerns were reasonable given that the days were short and the weather cold. But one concern he voiced—and I heard it from others, too—was that wolves could be a problem. As a Canadian, it seems ridiculous to worry about wolves, but I suspect they are a greater concern to locals who have witnessed their handiwork on their livestock (though I think the availability of lots of goats and sheep makes it even less likely they would ever attack a human). I kept the possibility of crossing from one valley into the next in the back of my mind—the highest pass would only be 3,300 meters—but also acknowledged I would probably not end up doing so (though if I had a GPS I may have felt more comfortable doing so).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16191463429" title="_DSC2098 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2098" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8656/16191463429_b012483255_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penjikent stadium.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After the tourist offices I continued east along Rudaki
until I came to the market, which was fairly interesting. As by far the
largest town in the valley, villagers from all along the Zerafshan head
to Penjikent to do their shopping, so you see a lot of people in
traditional rural dress.<br />
<br />
I then headed south from the
market through residential districts towards the hill-top ancient city,
which is mainly a large expanse of scrubby dirt, with the occasional low
wall of rammed earth outlining buildings that have long since crumbled,
but there were also a few sections of higher walls and excavated rooms.
A nearby museum contained a number of interesting artefacts in its single room, but in all honesty there's not a lot to capture the imagination or hold your attention.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16191464409" title="_DSC2101 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2101" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7409/16191464409_9713f76ac2_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These ants had worn a path through the straw at the ancient city. These little ant trails were one of the more interesting sights in the archaeological zone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16190054778" title="_DSC2103 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2103" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7348/16190054778_01f8d75907_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the more impressive ruins.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16399310385" title="_DSC2104 (1) - _DSC2105 (1) by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2104 (1) - _DSC2105 (1)" height="233" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7323/16399310385_d4abc6e111_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You have to have a good imagination to picture what this might have looked like a thousand years ago. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16376790622" title="_DSC2106 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2106" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8613/16376790622_926274807b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the better-preserved excavations.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15757690793" title="_DSC2109 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2109" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7421/15757690793_e9a6e64568_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View over Penjikent from the northern edge of the archaeological zone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16190307620" title="_DSC2111 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2111" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7439/16190307620_0828435910_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Houses are surrounded by walls, making it difficult for a tourist to know what neighborhoods really look like.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16190060578" title="_DSC2112 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2112" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7355/16190060578_433e06f928_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some walls are extremely impressive (or maybe just extremely new?), hinting at the splendour that may lay behind.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16376795682" title="_DSC2113 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2113" height="374" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8595/16376795682_56a1ea6523_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interesting Soviet-Tajik movie theater.</td></tr>
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<br />
Because people come down from the villages to the market in the morning, and return home in the afternoon, you can really only go to places like the Shing valley in the afternoon. I spent my morning seeing more of the same things I had seen the day before, spending more time at the market. I arranged to leave my bag at the Elina Guesthouse, and left for the mountains with only my camera bag with some toiletries and a few articles of clothing stuffed inside—all the better if I actually decided to hike from one valley to the other.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16190310030" title="_DSC2122 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2122" height="365" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8619/16190310030_320a838488_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buses and share taxis to valley communities leave from the lumber yard just north of Penjikent's market.</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 16, 2012, Dushanbe to Penjikent: 162 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Jeep to Penjikent: 90 somoni</li>
<li>Bus, 2 samsas, lime drink: 8 somoni</li>
<li>Naan, tea, lagman: 12 somoni</li>
<li>Room at Elina Guesthouse: 48 somoni</li>
</ul>
October 17, Penjikent: 88 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Internet: 3 somoni</li>
<li>Dinner: goulash, naan, tea: 12 somoni</li>
<li>2 super snickers, cakes: 11.5 somoni</li>
<li>Museum & ruins: 5 somoni</li>
<li>1.5 liter cola: 5 somoni</li>
<li>Room at Elina Guesthouse: 48 somoni</li>
</ul>
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Panjakent, Tajikistan39.5 67.61666739.450985 67.535986000000008 39.549015 67.697348tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-4862195453698368842012-10-15T15:52:00.000-07:002018-03-21T13:56:34.289-07:00Dushanbe: a monument to President Rahmon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hotel Poytaht is a Dushanbe landmark. It's a huge Soviet-style hotel near the train station, and it's actually a reasonably attractive low-slung building that is four or five stories tall with two long wings angling off the central reception area. It's supposed to have reasonable rooms on the top floor that are charged on a per-person basis (and may or may not involve sharing), but they didn't want to sell me this sort of room, and said the lowest room was something like $30 or $40. The difference was academic to me, as either total was more than I wanted to spend. <br />
<br />
I headed to a small supermarket nearby to get something to drink, and to plot out my next plan of attack. I figured out I would try the Farhang hotel, which is supposed to be cheap even if it's not exactly central. I hopped a bus headed in that direction, and found the hotel without too much difficulty (being behind the UFO-shaped circus, which itself was just off the major road the bus traversed, made this pretty easy). Whereas the Poytaht was well-maintained and a clean version of Soviet "hospitality," the Farhang had the dilapidated and scruffy feeling more familiar from Kyrgyzstan. For such a large hotel, I had to wait in the lobby until an attendant showed up, but the rooms were a bargain (for Dushanbe) at 60 somoni.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16368435562" title="_DSC1916 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1916" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7377/16368435562_1ed4c58e91_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love Cherry Coke. This is no Cherry Coke. </td></tr>
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While Kyrgyzstani supermarkets were surprisingly Russian/Western, most of the things they sold were fairly local, or possibly from Turkey. In Dushanbe, a lot more things were imported from Europe, and a lot of things that would have been locally-produced in Kyrgyzstan were imported. Maybe the best example is Coke and Pepsi. Thomas Friedman's <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/06/russia.mcdonalds">McDonalds theory of war</a> says that no two nations with McDonalds outlets have ever gone to war (which was true until the Russia-Georgia conflict), and to a certain extent I think this really says something about the stability of nations with McDonalds. I think that the existence of foreign brands in a country says a lot about the investment climate and political stability and predictability in that country, and in this context it's interesting to note that Tajikistan is the only country in Central Asia that <a href="http://news.tj/en/news/coca-cola-asks-tajik-government-support-its-project">does not have a domestic Coke</a> or Pepsi bottling facility: these products are officially imported from Kyrgyzstan, and unofficially imported from Afghanistan. The locally-bottled brand is RC Cola, which is more or less extinct in most corners of the world.<br />
<br />
This lack of locally-produced goods inevitably means that things tend to be more expensive in Tajikistan than in Kyrgyzstan, which is unfortunate given that Tajikistan is even poorer than Kyrgyzstan. If your only exposure to the country was Dushanbe, however, it certainly wouldn't feel very poor—even if your only basis of comparison was with Kyrgyzstan's most prosperous city, Bishkek. Now, it's no surprise that large, capital cities feel more prosperous than other parts of the country, especially when the capital cities are orders of magnitude larger than any other city in the country. But even given this, it's pretty clear that a <a href="http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64115">disproportionate amount of public funds have been spent beautifying the capital</a>, and that a disproportionate amount of money resides in the capital. The old, Soviet-era public buildings in Dushanbe are better maintained and more attractive than they are in Bishkek. As mentioned earlier, the stores stock more imported goods, at higher prices. You see a lot more late-model luxury cars and European imports in Dushanbe than Kyrgyzstan (although I believe that many of them are stolen), with models like BMW X6 models being not hugely unusual.<br />
<br />
What really sets Dushanbe apart from Bishkek, however, is that in Dushanbe you can see new construction and new monuments being built by the government and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emomalii_Rahmon">President Rahmon</a> (who has ruled since 1992). Sure, Nazarbayev is doing the same thing in Astana, but the key difference is that Kazakhstan is riding a wave of resource-based prosperity, while Tajikistan remains dirt poor. Despite this, in Tajikistan the villages remain poor while Dushanbe is beautified. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15749355053" title="_DSC1918 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1918" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7367/15749355053_732dae03d6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old Soviet tank in old-style park takes aim at the skyline.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16183466137" title="_DSC1922 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1922" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7389/16183466137_9275e84f1e_z.jpg" width="449" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Imposing monuments (this one to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isma%27il_ibn_Ahmad">Ismail Samani</a>), empty plazas surrounded by barricades, and armed guards make these public spaces less than inviting. Pedestrians walking by skirted the plaza in front instead of taking the shortcut across, so I had to ask the guard to ask if it was possible to approach the monument and take a picture.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16183124279" title="_DSC1923 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1923" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8581/16183124279_f13b64524c_z.jpg" width="443" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Presidential Palace.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15749359423" title="_DSC1925 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1925" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8617/15749359423_549d0a00d2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Next to Turkmenistan, Tajikistan is the Central Asian country that most aggressively promotes a personality cult around its leader, Rahmon. Pictures of him heralding his accomplishments and profound statements ("Education is good!") are everywhere. Putin looks like a wimp next to him.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16181713828" title="_DSC1928 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1928" height="424" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7391/16181713828_690bba00e9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail from a monumental building along Rudaki.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16384332452" title="_DSC1932 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1932" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7457/16384332452_e31b9c7132_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chopping down a tree near the old Afghan embassy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16181714448" title="_DSC1939 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1939" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7325/16181714448_ba556dd270_z.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interesting Soviet apartment design with cool balcony sunshade latticework.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16343373416" title="_DSC1941 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1941" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7405/16343373416_bbd9bde26f_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you don't speak English, I'm sure "Slime" sounds like a good name for a Sprite-like lime drink.</td></tr>
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Dushanbe means "Monday" in Tajik, and the city got its name after its Monday market. Today, Dushanbe's central Green Bazaar is one of my favourite markets in Central Asia. It's basically a large square with external shops along the perimeter and then a few buildings and concentric market buildings within. In the middle is the green market area where fruits and vegetables are sold, and there are different areas along the perimeter selling everything from canned and packaged foods, to hardware, to meat, to clothing, and so much more. It isn't the strung-out maze that Osh's bazaar is, and in Dushanbe they have a much more attractive way of presenting produce than they do in Kyrgyzstan (they make careful little pyramids of fruit, which is more typical of Central Asian bazaars—Kyrgyzstan's haphazard presentation is something of an anomaly).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16181717138" title="_DSC1955 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1955" height="374" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8567/16181717138_72db33fd6e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bulk candy section.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16181719718" title="_DSC1956 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1956" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8660/16181719718_7f5a96757f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eggs and chickens line this wing.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16183133419" title="_DSC1944 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1944" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7313/16183133419_8c0ecc0f6c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fruits and vegetables in the center of the market. Notice how conservative a lot of the women in these pictures are—lots of headscarves and traditional dress, which you see in quite a few younger women, as well.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16369347725" title="_DSC1946 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1946" height="616" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7409/16369347725_6a1b764cc8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best dining deal in Dushanbe: 4 somoni for plov with meat, tomato salad, and half a naan. All of it was really good. To plate the salad she just reaches into a bucket of salad, pulls out a handful, gives it a squeeze to wring out excess juices and liquid, then drops it on your plate. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16183136579" title="_DSC1948 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1948" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7404/16183136579_111e017ebe_z.jpg" width="503" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These young porters asked to have their pictures taken. I usually try to be discreet when taking pictures in markets, as they are just folks going about their business without necessarily wanting to be photographed. People who buy lots of stuff hire these guys to carry their purchases to their cars.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16369351245" title="_DSC1950 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1950" height="338" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8610/16369351245_6ec3f7fe76_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fruit on the northern half of the center.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Visa time </h3>
One of my big objectives in Dushanbe was to collect more visas. The Uzbek visa, now that I had a letter of invitation, should be easy, and the Dushanbe embassy was supposed to be a good place to get a Turkmen transit visa. I also wanted to get an Afghan visa, as I had heard the Afghan side of the Wakhan corridor was both safe and incredible (the Dutch guy I had met in Pingyao had said that he went there for a few days and ended up going to villages where some people had never seen a westerner before), and I also wanted to exit Turkmenistan to Afghanistan to see Herat, before jumping over to Mashhad, Iran.<br />
<br />
The tricky part would be the Turkmen transit visa, because they require you to already have the visa for the ongoing country (which would be Iran or Afghanistan) before they'll issue you a transit visa. For some reason I thought they would also require you to have the visa from the country you're entering from, but in reality they don't care since if you don't get that visa you'll never enter Turkmenistan and won't need the visa in the first place. Because of my misconception, I thought I had to get my Uzbek visa first, so on my first day in Dushanbe I went to the Uzbek embassy.<br />
<br />
Now, there are a lot of Tajiks in Uzbekistan as a result of intentionally divisive border-drawing by the Soviets. Both Samarkand and Bukhara are (or were) majority-Tajik cities, yet both were put inside Uzbekistan. And because of bad relations between the two countries (nobody seems to get along with Uzbekistan), the Uzbeks require Tajiks to get a visa in order to visit. This is ridiculous, given that Russia allows pretty much all Central Asians to visit visa-free (this is why it is such an attractive target for migrant workers), and even though the visas are cheap, it is a good way to jerk around Tajik citizens. It's also a good way to damage Tajik tourism, as the Uzbeks have decided to keep the border between Penjikent and Samarkand closed, so what could be a 60 km trip now requires a huge detour and a couple of days.<br />
<br />
(<b>Edit</b>: as of March 1, 2018, the border between Samarkand and Penjikent is open for tourists and locals alike. This is huge news for travelers and a result of the thaw in relations following the death of the Uzbek strongman Islam Karimov in 2016.)<br />
<br />
This means that the Uzbek embassy is surprisingly busy. When I arrived there was a crowd of people waiting outside, and you have to queue up and give your passport to a guard outside the visa office, who will then let you in or make you wait. Most of the people outside had already been inside and were waiting to be called for their visa, or to meet with someone about their visa. I was briefly let in and given an application, then I had to leave again to complete the application and make some copies. I returned and eventually submitted my application to unfriendly officer who sent me away. While waiting outside, one of the Tajiks struck up a conversation. He was a student studying in St. Petersburg, home on vacation. He wanted to visit a relative in Uzbekistan who was getting married. He had made multiple trips to the embassy to get a visa, but they kept delaying and putting him off. After waiting a couple of hours in the morning he was told to come back at the end of the day. I was eventually called, and when I received my visa I discovered that they had totally ignored the visa dates specified on my letter of invitation and had instead simply issued me a 30-day visa that began running on that day! This was a bit of a disaster, as it meant that if I stayed in Tajikistan for another 15 days then I would only have 15 days in Uzbekistan. On the other hand, it's a good thing I got my Uzbek visa before my Turkmen visa, otherwise I might have asked for my Turkmen visa to begin on a date when I was no longer allowed to be in Uzbekistan.<br />
<br />
After collecting my Uzbek visa in the early afternoon I decided to see about an Afghan visa, as I would need this if I wanted to exit Turkmenistan to Herat. I went to the supposed location of the Afghan embassy, but it was no longer there. I was at a bit of a loss, so I approached the guard station at the nearby British embassy (I figured they probably spoke English) and asked if they knew where it was. Apparently it had moved a fair distance west to the other side of the river. They told me which marshrutka to catch to get there, and as I was walking down the road an embassy staffer passing by in a pickup truck said he was headed in the direction and offered to give me a lift. How nice!<br />
<br />
The Afghan embassy is a huge new building staffed by absolute nitwits. I went into the visa section and tried to ask about visas: whether it would be possible to get a double entry visa; whether their visas started running from the date of issue or if I could designate the start date, and whether I could get a visa valid for more than 30 days. Their basic approach to visas, however, is: fill out the form, go pay your fee at the bank, come back to us with the receipt, then come back in 2 days to pick up your visa. Not helpful. I repeated my questions, which led to a conference between consular officials. I told them I wanted to visit the Wakhan and then visit Herat later. The older-but-not-wiser official said that I would need a transit visa to do the Wakhan portion of my trip, even though I would not be transiting between two countries but simply making an excursion from Tajikistan before returning there. No matter, I would need a transit visa... and he couldn't give a transit visa because I had already used my Kazakh visa. What?! Afghanistan doesn't even border Kazakhstan! They then repeated how I needed to go pay at the bank, for some sort of visa that would start on some sort of date and be for some number of entries. They then refused to answer any more questions and said they were closing, even though it was 15 minutes before closing time, slamming the window closed.<br />
<br />
After that, I figured I wouldn't be visiting Herat unless it was possible to change my Turkmen visa's exit port after issue, which seemed unlikely (or bribing a Turkmen official at the border, which seemed more likely).<br />
<br />
The next day I visited the Turkmen embassy, which near the northern entrance to the botanical garden. You have to sign in with the guardbox on the street, then probably sit and wait on the bench in the alley before being let into the compound and going to the visa office. Once there, you'll meet the friendly consul who will help you with the application and even tell you that you can change your dates when you pick up your visa. This can be important, as Turkment transit visas are ridiculously restrictive, as the specify the ports of entry and exit, and are only valid for a specific period of no more than 5 days (some unlucky people don't get the 5-day transit visa, but only a 3-day visa; Dushanbe is a good place because almost everyone gets the full 5 days, unlike at other embassies). I wasn't going to need to change my dates, however, as the stupid Uzbek visa meant that I would be using every single day of my Uzbek visa before leaving to Turkmenistan. Two weeks is the normal processing time for the Turkmen visa, but I paid an extra $10 to get it in one week. Since the clock on my Uzbek visa was already running, I would collect it in exactly one week and then immediately head to the Pamirs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16183483907" title="_DSC1957 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1957" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7379/16183483907_6e98bb9566_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rudaki park's answer to Astana's chicken-on-a-stick monument.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16368458652" title="_DSC1958 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1958" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8653/16368458652_1c55b367ea_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is (or was) the world's largest freestanding flagpole.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16367634091" title="_DSC1960 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1960" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7309/16367634091_87ce3c12a5_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These guys take pictures of tourists then print them out on the little battery-powered printers they carry. More photographers than tourists, unfortunately.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16368462132" title="_DSC1962 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1962" height="376" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7443/16368462132_af7390c571_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudaki">Rudaki</a> monument.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16367637551" title="_DSC1963 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1963" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7316/16367637551_b8cedae7d4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rudaki was one of the most famous Persian poets, and was supposedly born near Penjikent in the 9th century.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15746926624" title="_DSC1965 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1965" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7397/15746926624_18a4a804d4_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of the Rudaki monument's mosaic arch.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16181738158" title="_DSC1966 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1966" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/16181738158_8c1ae48eb3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least the money spent on this monument actually resulted in something attractive.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16183495897" title="_DSC1968 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1968" height="389" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7327/16183495897_0d1d1346ca_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset. I was approached here by a few Tajiks who wanted to talk to me. I was surprised that one of them was a young woman in a scarf and traditional dress who left her girlfriends and came up basically to ask me to friend her on Facebook. Another was a guy who came up to talk a little and tell me about how cheap (newly-stolen) BMWs were in Dushanbe compared to Germany, and then to ask me about sex and virginity. A little weird, but asking about sexual mores kind of makes sense.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16181992400" title="_DSC1973 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1973" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7292/16181992400_3bc71b650a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The flagpole is so high that I couldn't capture the entire thing with my lens zoomed all the way out to 18 mm.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15749390733" title="_DSC1974 - _DSC1977 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1974 - _DSC1977" height="163" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7345/15749390733_92bf9fa0b8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of the lake, showing just how big the flagpole is.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16343403526" title="_DSC1978 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1978" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8676/16343403526_b83c6ea10b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical Soviet-style monument, on Aini square near the Hotel Poytaht. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16183160559" title="_DSC1979 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1979" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7341/16183160559_93dbbba427_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The design of old parks and monuments imparts a Russian, northern feeling to some parts of the city, but the new monumental architecture and layout is a sharp break from Russo-Soviet design.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15746940874" title="_DSC1983 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1983" height="324" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/15746940874_9738c1088e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty Soviet-era university building along Rudaki, the lower section of which is a divided boulevard with a central tree-lined pedestrian park. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16369376825" title="_DSC1992 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1992" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7421/16369376825_fb29cc2f65_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Unity">Palace of Unity</a>, on Rudaki near the Uzbek embassy.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16368482152" title="_DSC1993 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1993" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7444/16368482152_e461e4eefb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The botanical garden, located fairly close to the Turkmen embassy, is a pleasant place to spend a few hours.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15746947164" title="_DSC1995 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1995" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7324/15746947164_818b8d869b_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gardens are a popular site for wedding photos The bride in the background is interesting for being the first and only bride I saw with a hijab and western dress.</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Hospitality & taarof</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Tajik guy I had met at the Uzbek embassy had invited me to dinner with his wife and given me his contact information. I had said I would try to make it, that I wasn't sure if I would be able to. I also didn't have a cell phone and internet cafes are not that ubiquitous outside of the city center, so by the time I got through going to the different embassies it was relatively late, and I emailed him an apology later that evening when I got back to the Farhang. He replied to say it was too bad, and that his wife had been waiting to meet me, and I will admit I was a little surprised at how serious he seemed to have been. The reason for my surprise basically revolves around the idea best expressed in the Farsi word '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taarof"><i>taarof</i></a>,' which refers to ritualized offerings of hospitality and generosity which are not really meant. In Iran, this leads to a feeling of insincerity in a lot of social (and even business) transactions, where people offer things with the expectation that you'll decline—and you're rude if you don't decline once or twice.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Now, in some ways <i>taarof</i> may be uniquely Iranian in its extremes—and that notwithstanding the Iranian people are hugely and genuinely hospitable despite <i>taarof</i>—but even in other countries with traditions of hospitality I think there are some elements of <i>taarof</i> in social interactions. I mean, obviously you can't stop for tea dozens of times per day, so my sense was that many of the invitations a traveler receives were a mix of politeness and curiosity, but with not much social investment into them. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In this case I seemed to have been wrong (possibly because he was living in St. Petersburg and was used to speaking without <i>taarof</i>), and I felt bad that I had let him down and inconvenienced him. On the other hand, it made me feel that all offers of hospitality are genuine, and this may have also been the incorrect impression. Because while one sometimes hears that thee isn't much <i>taarof</i> in Tajikistan and Central Asia, in retrospect I believe it's a phenomenon that still survives at some level, especially in more rural areas.<br />
<br />
Heck, we even practice our own variety of <i>taarof</i> in the west all the time. I even used it when I said that I would love to accept his invitation, even though I probably knew I would be unlikely to make it. </div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The first attempt to get a plane ticket to Khorog </h3>
The procedure for getting a plane ticket to Khorog is pretty difficult. You have to book in person at the airline office located a couple of blocks west of the airport building, and you basically have to book the day before. The reason for this is that the Dushanbe-Khorog route is flown at low altitude, and that you don't fly above the mountains but between them, and the plane only flies when the skies are clear. This being the case, it means that flights are regularly cancelled, and people who are bumped have priority to fly the next day. Obviously you can't sell lots of tickets in advance, and everyone has to book at the last minute. You are supposed to show up at the office in the late afternoon, and if they are going to sell you a ticket they'll take your passport details and collect your money.<br />
<br />
I stopped by a travel agent I saw in downtown Dushanbe, and although the proprietors were friendly, they confirmed that the only way you could buy a ticket was to actually visit the Tajik Air office near the airport. <br />
<br />
I tracked down this office (shown on the map below) and asked about buying a ticket for the next week, after my Turkmen visa would be ready, but they told me it wasn't possible and that I should show up on the 22nd to buy a ticket. They took my name (I showed them my visa so they could copy it down in Cyrillic) and noted when I wanted to fly. Well, at least I knew how the process would go.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15749406213" title="_DSC2005 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2005" height="366" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7418/15749406213_ac9435ba24_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The airport looks pretty tropical, and Dushanbe was right around 20°C when I was there in mid October.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3144.8959399974187!2d68.81104014832823!3d38.549790145431004!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x0000000000000000%3A0x96542da6c408229c!2sTajik+Air!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1422401680674" style="border: 0;" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16183516647" title="_DSC2009 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2009" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/16183516647_d3b750e770_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Rudaki near the cement factory. Some sort of weird aqueduct with sluice gates making a waterfall. I don't know if this is to bleed off excess supply or some sort of weird way to create the stream that runs in the valley.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16183521337" title="_DSC2011 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC2011" height="397" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7287/16183521337_f0312187e9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A strange monument on the wall running next to the cement factory.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Both the 2010 and 2014 Lonely Planets refer to the cement factory as the departure point for share taxis north to Penjikent and Khojand, but when I was there no cars really gathered at the cement factory. There were one or two, but I don't know what they were doing there and they didn't seem to be looking for passengers. Instead, the real taxi stand was a kilometer or so further north, where the buses that run along Rudaki turn around (simply take the buses listed in LP to the very end of the line), as shown in the map below. You can see there are a lot of cars in the semi-circular lot, and they were all headed north.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m14!1m12!1m3!1d833.8833943895536!2d68.76963674331093!3d38.647854393373024!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1422419908013" style="border: 0;" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h2>
October 11, 2012, Dushanbe: 152.50 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Breakfast for 3: 6 somoni</li>
<li>Lunch for 3: 57 somoni</li>
<li>Bribes: 3 somoni</li>
<li>Cherry soda, Bounty chocolate bar: 7 somoni</li>
<li>Bus: 0.7 somoni</li>
<li>Room at Farhang: 60 somoni</li>
<li>Pomegranate drink, coke, soups, cereals, biscuits, candy: 18.80 somoni</li>
</ul>
October 12, Dushanbe: 114.10 somoni, $75<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Uzbek visa: $75 </li>
<li>Internet & photocopying: 8 somoni</li>
<li>Ice Cream (1.2), bread (4), & RC Cola (3): 8.2 somoni</li>
<li>Ice cream, cherry soda, Yoghurt, snacks: 13.9 somoni</li>
<li>Chicken: 22 somoni</li>
<li>2 hours of internet: 4 somoni</li>
<li>Room at Farhang: 60 somoni</li>
</ul>
October 13, Dushanbe: 93 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Black currant jam & "slime" soda: 10 somoni</li>
<li>Plov, bread, pepsi: 8 somoni</li>
<li>2x bread, RC Cola, wafers, ice cream: 15 somoni</li>
<li>Room at Farhang: 60 somoni</li>
</ul>
October 14, Dushanbe: 100.7 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Internet: 13 somoni</li>
<li>Shwarma (7), popcorn (1), bread (2): 10 somoni</li>
<li>Chicken "burrito": 7 somoni</li>
<li>Berry jam & botanic pasta: 10 somoni</li>
<li>Bus: 0.7 somoni</li>
<li>Room at Farhang: 60 somoni</li>
</ul>
October 15, Dushanbe: 123.50 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Chocolate, biscuit, ice cream: 8 somoni</li>
<li>Chicken: 20 somoni</li>
<li>Bread, tomatoes, cucumbers: 5.5 somoni</li>
<li>Lunch at market: 10 somoni</li>
<li>1.5 liter RC: 5 somoni</li>
<li>Bus: 2 somoni</li>
<li>Room at guesthouse: 73 somoni</li>
</ul>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Dushanbe, Tajikistan38.536667 68.77999999999997338.338008 68.457276499999978 38.735326 69.102723499999968tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-78910401334406479982012-10-10T15:15:00.000-07:002018-03-21T13:56:59.775-07:00Rejected at the Kyzyl Art border, sleeping with border guards, and rerouting through Karamyk on the way to Dushanbe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Border woes and border bliss </h3>
Although I was supposed to be picked up early in the morning, the driver rang the hotel to let them know we wouldn't be leaving until closer to noon. As the day dragged on, the time was pushed back, and we didn't actually end up leaving until the middle of the afternoon. This was a disappointment (but about par for the course when trying to travel cheaply in Central Asia), as it meant that it would be dark by the time we arrived at the Tajik border. I figured that I would probably try to get out at Karakol and spend the night there, and then continue on to Murghab the next day, so as to be able to enjoy some of the high Pamir scenery.<br />
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And so it was that we arrived in Sary Tash at dusk, where we filled up on cheap Kyrgyz gas before leaving town and heading south towards the Kyzyl-Art border. Although the Trans Alay mountains on the southern side of the Alay valley look close, they are actually some 40km from the northern side of the valley—and the road to the border, unlike the east-west highway that runs through the Alay Valley, is rough and crumbling.<br />
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The Kyrgyz border station, Bar Dobo, is in the valley floor, at the start of a sub-valley that cuts its way up the Trans Alays. Getting stamped out of Kyrgyzstan was simplicity itself, as the driver simply grabbed out passports and ran into a nearby building where the border guards were located. By this time it was dark and cold at this altitude, so we were all happy to stay inside the right-hand-drive Pajero.<br />
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After being stamped out we started driving up towards the border, switchbacking up the mountain towards the end, before summitting at the the 4,280 meter high Kyzyl-Art border.<br />
<br />
A Tajik border guard approached and took our passports from our driver. This is when the problems began: although I had a visa and the required GBAO permit, they were claiming that this border could only be used by tourists leaving Tajikistan, and couldn't be used to enter Tajikistan. Although this should have been true during the period when GBAO was off-limits to tourists, it made no sense now that the territory had reopened for tourists.<br />
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Of course, something could be arranged, but only if I paid them $100. This was pretty outrageous, and a price I wasn't willing to pay. My driver really wanted me to pay, as he would have to drive me back if I was rejected, and when I said that I only had $20 on me (this was really the only small currency I had on me), the border guards rejected this amount, and I was denied entry.<br />
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The driver thus had to bring me back down the mountain. There was a small building about halfway between the border posts, and although there was supposed to be someone there who would let people stay there, the building was uninhabited and locked up tight when we arrived. We had to go all the way back down to the Kyrgyz border post, and after a brief discussion they let me stay with the customs guards in one of the buildings.<br />
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I was kind of surprised by the border post buildings. Although they were in the middle of nowhere, they were much nicer than most houses you see in places like Sary Tash or Sary Moghul, no doubt because they were Soviet-built government buildings. Instead of having stoves for heating, all the buildings had hot-water radiators and were really quite warm. The rooms I was allowed to see were empty, with typical tapchan-style mattresses and bedding being laid out at night. Despite being Soviet built, and originally having a decent shower block
in the basement (the showers apparently no longer functioning, however),
the toilets remained long-drop outhouses. <br />
<br />
One of the younger off-duty guards spoke pretty good English and wanted to know if he could play a video on my netbook. It turns out he wanted to watch a video that had been taken by a visiting TV station that was covering border security patrols (Tajikistan being a smuggling point for Afghan drugs, and this border being one of the borders through which drugs transit). But really he wanted to have a bit of a laugh about his boss, who was narrating one of their night patrols, but who was also so out of shape he had to stop and pant every minute or so as they walked outside.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Racism: one of the top American cultural exports</h3>
The next morning, we were joined at breakfast by an older officer who was quite the character. He spoke basically no English, but was an effective mime, and made fun of his partner when he heard him approaching, mimicking a trudging giant. He then said he had a wide nose, and looked African. Uh oh... do we have a Soviet-Kyrgyz racist here? I still don't know what to think, but he was just getting started and it was about to get much more complex. It turns out that—according to him—his partner actually did have some African ancestry, though it's difficult to see.<br />
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What's easier to see is that there is a generational and geographic difference in how people view race, and that American media doesn't always translate well or communicate positively; although this older Kyrgyz guy didn't know English, he did know the N-word. I don't think he knew how it is understood in Western—let alone North American—culture, but his younger colleague did and was clearly uncomfortable translating what he was saying. But basically, he started out by saying his partner was "half-nigger" (I'm going to use the language he used, because I think it's the only way to properly communicate the impact of what he said on my ears, and convey the complexity of the situation). Which was shocking for me to hear, and uncomfortable for his translating colleague to hear, but I honestly think he was oblivious to the baggage associated with the word. I say this because he then told me about how much he loved "niggers," saying he loved their lips and asses. He then went on to talk about the type of people he loved, including Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, and (somewhat surprisingly) Katherine Zeta Jones, asking me if I had any pictures of them on my computer. He then showed me pictures of himself he had taken with a couple of black American girls at the border, commenting on how beautiful they are.<br />
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It was an interesting experience, and as I said I'm still not sure what to make of it. There's certainly something to be said about the corrosive effect of American media in popularizing and even legitimating certain racist phrases and stereotypes, and while there's also some sort of sterotyping going on with the border guard (who also likely harbours anti-Uzbek sentiment, for example), I'm not sure if I should think of his stereotyping as qualitatively worse than North American stereotypes about Russian women, or "Asian" women, or anything along those lines. I mean, this is a guy whose only exposure to black people comes from movies/media and the very odd tourist: to the extent he harbors views about blacks that we would consider racist, to what extent is he or Kyrgyz society to blame, and to what extent is the West?<br />
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Anyway, after our interesting breakfast we went outside where they were inspecting a couple of old Soviet-era trucks coming back to Kyrgyzstan. They were largely empty, as I think they were used mainly to carry barrels of cheap Kyrgyz fuel into Tajikistan, but it took about an hour to inspect them. They put me on one of the trucks and we bounced our way down to the junction near Sary Tash, where I got out to hitch a ride west to the border.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16103507368" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1854 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1854" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8670/16103507368_c2f38de6fe_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The border guards I stayed with. The guy in the middle is the one who loved Halle Berry, while the one on the left is his partner. The truck on the right is the one they put me on to head back down to Sary Tash.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16291038435" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1861 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1861" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8660/16291038435_028613cdf9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north towards Tajikistan, with my Halle Berry-loving friend.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The younger guards. The one on the left spoke English quite well.</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Back on the road to Tajikistan, this time via Karamyk</h3>
I was picked up after about a half hour by an old Soviet van being driven by some researchers on their way to Daroot Korgon, and from there I caught a share taxi to the border at Karamyk. Sitting next to me in the back of the car was a uniformed policeman who was obviously drunk, and who insisted I take his picture after I started taking pictures through the car window. He then wanted me to pay him for the privilege of taking his picture, but I just deleted it instead. The other passengers in the car were clearly embarrassed by him. Such is life. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16103513808" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1864 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1864" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7540/16103513808_6c23efd693_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Container market at Daroot Korgon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16103515838" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1866 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1866" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7486/16103515838_5208aa3310_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our way to Karamyk, between getting hassled by the drunk policeman.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16265121136" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1868 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1868" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8655/16265121136_2e0abdfc7a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm sure this would be stunning in the middle of summer, when the grass is green.</td></tr>
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The Karamyk border is usually closed, but it was open in response to the unrest in the pamirs. I'm not sure why the border is closed, since it's the most direct way to Dushanbe from Kyrgyzstan. Maybe now that the Tajik side of the road has supposedly been paved the road will be open to tourists, but I don't know. The Kyrgyz side of the border was painless, though the facilities were much more improvisational than they were at Bar-Dobo/Kyzl-Art, with repurposed vehicle bodies being used as official buildings.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16289267331" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1869 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1869" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7509/16289267331_1ed178f027_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Border post. I believe I was actually stamped out of Kyrgyzstan in that structure.</td></tr>
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There's a substantial stretch of no-man's land between the border stations at Karamyk—about 12 km. I don't mind walking (though I had no idea how long the walk would be), and I began to walk the mountainside road between them. I had only just begun when a Kyrgyz guy pulled up beside me and offered me a ride to the Tajik side. It turned out that he wasn't actually going to Tajikistan but simply going to the border to pick up his family, who were returning from Tajikistan.<br />
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<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Welcome to Tajikistan. For realsies this time. </h3>
At the border I was quickly stamped in by the Tajik guards, without any unpleasantness or bribe demands. There was a long line of trucks waiting to be stamped into Tajikistan, and the guard told me to wait, and that he would put me on one of the trucks. It took them a long time to process these trucks, however, so I had lots of time to look around on the Tajik side of the border.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15668746584" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1877 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1877" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8580/15668746584_7cd50cc732_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down the A372 to Dushanbe. Don't let the paved section fool you: it immediately turns to shit.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16103810550" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1883 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1883" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7575/16103810550_08e8dd402c_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The houses in the village look more hospitable than in Sary Tash. Actual trees!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15668748984" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1884 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1884" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7495/15668748984_0ea8e3932d_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The elevation at the border is almost 1,000 meters lower than Sary Tash, as about 2,300 m.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16105196667" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1870 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1870" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8674/16105196667_d2acf03047_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The skinny little Kyzyl Suu river turns into the Vakhsh as it crosses into Tajikistan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15671188943" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1871 - _DSC1873 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1871 - _DSC1873" height="228" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7466/15671188943_a5aacf51fd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trucks lined up in no-man's land, waiting to be processed at the Tajik side of the border.</td></tr>
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You read in guidebooks how many Tajiks look very European, but you'll also see people like the Uyghur being described as European-looking despite the fact that they only look European to the extent they don't look Han. At the border, however, there was this Tajik guy in blue jeans and a black leather jacket who was a little disheveled but looked for all the world like he could have leapt from an Aki Kaurismaki video, like a down-on-his-luck retro rocker.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16265234606" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1888 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1888" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7536/16265234606_1bc791a943_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the road: the husband and a young boy sit on the donkey cart, while the wife walks ahead to open the gate and close it, and otherwise walks behind the cart.</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Rolling with truckers. </h3>
Although you sometimes see the A372 to Dushanbe described as the best road between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, it certainly wasn't in my experience. Sure, I was in cargo truck, but most of the road was very coarse stone along narrow roads hugging the side of a mountain, sometimes with boulders from rock slides. We averaged about 25 km/h on these stretches, and it was quite late at night when we pulled into a chaikhana to stop for the night.<br />
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By this time we had passed Garm, and had just rejoined the M41 on its run to Dushnabe: it had taken us about 6 hours to cover the 180 km. The food at the chaikhana wasn't bad, but was more of the same Central-Asian fare. I don't think The Hunger Games had even premiered when I left Canada, but a Russian-dubbed DVD of it was playing in the chaikhana. Since I was free-riding with these drivers, I figured the least I could do is pay for dinner, which they allowed me to do. I then slept on the tapchan (with the waiter on another tapchan) while the drivers retreated to the cab to sleep.<br />
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The next morning around 6:00 we had a simple breakfast and when paying I asked the chaikhana owner how much I should pay for the bed. He left it up to me, and I offered 20 somoni. He took 10 and gave 10 back.<br />
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The drivers were having trouble getting their rig started, however, which gave me time to look around the truckstop in the light, and spent a while roaming around within earshot of the truck.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15668751094" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1894 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1894" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7543/15668751094_d7be317fa8_z.jpg" width="470" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pedestrian bridge over the Vakhsh river.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16265235696" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1896 - _DSC1897 equi by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1896 - _DSC1897 equi" height="283" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8634/16265235696_18dcf112df_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the outhouse, shared by many of the restaurants and chaikhanas at this truck stop. The chaikhana I stayed at is behind me to the right. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16103636468" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1898 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1898" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7549/16103636468_6c63e244d6_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bridge over the Vakhsh.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16103815370" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1899 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1899" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8616/16103815370_ff61ba8a1e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Vakhsh is joined by the Obikhingou at this point.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16289383371" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1901 - _DSC1903 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1901 - _DSC1903" height="213" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7573/16289383371_db52b2b7a5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north as the Vakhsh sweeps around the bend from the east.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16103638748" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1905 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1905" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8664/16103638748_c846afbd74_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southeast.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16103639478" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1907 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1907" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7482/16103639478_cf990e5361_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a multipurpose bridge, serving cars, trucks, donkey carts, pedestrians, and livestock.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16290341272" title="_DSC1910 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1910" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7520/16290341272_2d01b3247b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15671300833" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1911 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1911" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7533/15671300833_c9f868c050_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slow and slower trundle along this bumpy stretch of M41.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16105319097" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1914 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1914" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7565/16105319097_26904ccf35_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of the same. Actually, this road is pretty decent compared to some of the stuff from the day before.</td></tr>
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<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The fate of truckers: checkstops, bribery, and interrogation </h3>
As we trundled on towards Dushanbe I would have to duck down out of sight every time we passed a police checkpoint, as apparently the police are eager to pull trucks over to ask for bribes for any reason. We had to stop and pay random bribes a few times anyway, with most of them being a couple of somoni or so (around 50 cents). As you get closer to Dushanbe the terrain gets flatter, the towns larger and more prosperous, and the roads better. Our bad luck continued as we had a flat tire and had to pull over to repair it, with a minor problem being that we didn't have a repair kit, so one of the drivers had to take a taxi to pick one up.<br />
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They were apparently driving from Osh all the way to Afghanistan, and this seemed to be their first time doing this trip. The definite tip-off was the fact that they didn't have a Tajik SIM card, which meant we had to stop on the outskirts of Dushanbe to find a shop to buy a SIM card.<br />
<br />
It was around noon when we pulled into Dushanbe proper, where we were stopped by the police at another checkpoint on the M41. I'm still not sure why, but it was something more serious this time, as both drivers had to get out, as did I when the official looked into the cab. I think it was some sort of customs inspection or something, and after a brief conversation we had to go into a large and official ministry building, which—based on Google maps—may have been the offices of Migration Services. Once there the two drivers were taken to an office, and after waiting for a few minutes in the hallway I was taken to another office where I was asked some questions through online translation software. They wanted to know where I was going, what I was doing in Tajikistan, where I had joined the truck, whether I had paid the truckers for the ride, and whether I knew what they were carrying. I answered to the best of my knowledge, and then they sent me on my way by hailing a cab, asking me where I was going to stay (I didn't know but answered the Hotel Poytaht because it was the only hotel name I could remember) and then prepaying the taxi to take me there. I have no idea why we were stopped or what happened to the drivers, but I sure hope it wasn't my presence that got them into trouble.<br />
<br />
At any rate, it was an eventful conclusion to a trip that was supposed to end in Murghab 30 hours previously, and ended in showcasing both the best and the worst of Central Asian governance.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h3>
October 9, 2012 from Osh to Kyzyl Art border: 1,610 som<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Seat in share taxi to Murghab: 1,500 som</li>
<li>Samsa, fried things, cake: 70 som</li>
<li>Sandwich & 2 x instant coffee packets: 40 som</li>
</ul>
October 10, 2012, from Kyzyl Art to a truck stop in Tajikistan: $5, 200 som, and 49 somoni<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Ride from Sary Tash turnoff to Daroot Korgon (95 km): $5</li>
<li>Daroot Korgon to border (38 km): 200 som</li>
<li>Dinner for three: 39 somoni</li>
<li>Sleeping on Tapchan at Chaikhana: 10 somoni</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Karamyk, Kyrgyzstan39.4905158 71.79486799999995139.466007299999994 71.754527499999952 39.5150243 71.835208499999951tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966639821413035107.post-22858326490502371542012-10-08T15:03:00.000-07:002015-04-11T13:01:16.232-07:00Osh, and lessons in ethnic violence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The return to Osh brought a welcome increase in temperature. Where the daily highs in the Alay valley were about 5°C, down in Osh—some 2,400 meters lower—the daily highs were right around 20°C.<br />
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
2010 Osh Riots and ethnic tensions </h2>
Back at the Taj Mahal hotel I was joined in the dorm by a couple of journalists from Bishkek. One was a French guy who had come to Bishkek to help set up a French-language newspaper, and the other was a Kyrgyz girl who was working with him at the paper. I was surprised there was enough of a market for a French-language paper in Kyrgyzstan, but he said there was.<br />
<br />
Anyway, they were in the Osh to write about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_South_Kyrgyzstan_ethnic_clashes">2010 ethnic violence in the area</a>. Lonely Planet had a little bit of information about this—which was somewhat surprising given that the guidebook was published in 2010 and most of their stuff seems to be written a year in advance of actually publishing it—but the journalists told me that the widespread and severe, and that the interim Kyrgystani government had commissioned an independent report on the violence, and then totally disavowed the report once its highly-critical findings were published. Somewhat strangely, the 2014 edition of LP is even less helpful on the issue, merely saying that the issue was controversial.<br />
<br />
I downloaded and began to read the <a href="http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Full_Report_490.pdf"><i>Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry into the events in Southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010</i></a>, and I also spoke with the guys at the Osh Guesthouse while reading the 104-page report. At the beginning, some of the things they told me seemed far-fetched, and I suspected they were exaggerating. It turns out their claims were pretty plausible, and I was more surprised after reading the report that their accounts of what happened in 2010 weren't filled with more rancor.<br />
<br />
Pretty much everyone agrees that at least 400 people died, and that over two-thirds of those killed were ethnic Uzbeks (others suggest these total represent only a fraction of the actual deaths, given that those buried quickly in accordance with Muslim beliefs were not counted at all). They also agree that over 100,000 international refugees were created, as Uzbeks crossed the border to Uzbekistan <i>en masse</i>. An additional 300,000 people were internally displaced within Kyrgyzstan—again, almost all of whom were Uzbeks fleeing the violence.<br />
<br />
The immediate backdrop for this violence was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyz_Revolution_of_2010">overthrow of President Bakiyev in April 2010</a>, but the longstanding tensions between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan and the Ferghana valley also played a large role: Uzbeks had been marginalized from participation in civil society and employment in governmental positions for a long time, and there was significant resentment of prosperous, urban, Uzbek businessmen from the mountain-dwelling Kyrgyz in southern Kyrgyzstan.<br />
<br />
Now in the aftermath of Bakiyev's overthrow, there is widespread belief that Bakiyev and his supporters wanted to foment racial violence in order to demonstrate the need for a strongman-style leader in Kyrgyzstan (as in neighboring CIS countries) who could effectively and ruthlessly control the country. Under this theory, Bakiyev's allies and relatives in the region began to spread rumors about Uzbeks intended to create violence, and Bakiyev thugs may have initiated the violence. We do know that in May, after his April overthrow and exile, Bakiyev supporters took control of
government buildings in Osh, Jala-Abad, and Batken, although
control of these buildings were quickly recovered.<br />
<br />
We once again see that tales of inter-ethnic rape is always a reliable way to incite violence. We saw it in the violence targeting Uyghurs in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaoguan_incident">Shaoguan Incident</a> in 2009 (which helped spark the Urumqi riots), and it seems to have been the most effective rumor used in June 2010 in southern Kyrgyzstan. After some small skirmishes on June 10, rumors spread of Uzbeks raping Kyrgyz girls at a university dormitory, and it seems that this rumor was spread to Kyrgyz communities in the mountains in an organized manner, prompting numerous Kyrgyz to come down to Osh and Jala-Abad from their mountain communities.<br />
<br />
What seems to have happened after this is that Kyrgyz streamed into Osh and Jalal-Abad, and that the Uzbeks largely barricaded themselves into their districts in order to protect themselves. The arriving Kyrgyz then raided police stations and security vehicles that had been deployed by the police, seizing weapons and ammunition from these forces, who did not attempt to prevent them from doing so. Apparently a few Armed Personnel Carriers were also taken from the complicit police, and used to help break into Uzbek areas: direct military involvement seems probable.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Applying its evidentiary standard to the evidence, the KIC considers that there was some military involvement in these attacks. This arises from presence of expertly driven APCs carrying men in military uniform, the apparent readiness with which the military surrendered APCs, weapons and ammunition, the repeated system and order to the attacks and the evidence of planning in the specific targeting of neighbourhoods, people and property. Such discipline and order is not commensurate with the normal actions of spontaneously rioting civilian crowds. </blockquote>
<br />
Women were seized and raped, while men were tortured and killed. Police sniper rifles were also used against Uzbeks, though it's not certain if these were from civilians who had seized the weapons or from actual police or army officers. Those Uzbeks who could sought refuge across the border in Uzbekistan, while others fled their homes to seek refuge elsewhere in Kyrgyzstan.<br />
<br />
Once the situation stabilized and peace returned to the area, almost all of those who were investigated and charged with violence were Uzbeks, and police failed to protect those Uzbeks from physical assault during their trials. It's clear that ethnic tensions continue to percolate in the region.<br />
<br />
This happened only two years before I was in Osh and Jalal-Abad. Although many buildings had been burned out, I had failed to notice any, and if I did notice any I certainly didn't connect them to the violence. For someone coming from a stable and diverse country like Canada, it was really difficult for me to understand this level of ethnic strife, and to understand how people could continue to function as a society in the knowledge that there was so much widespread ethnic hatred which could be re-ignited at any moment. It was difficult to understand why there wasn't more anger from the Uzbeks. I'm sure that part of it is that as a tourist you simply aren't able to access and understand the tensions that simmer beneath the surface in most societies (I'm not sure that most tourists to the US really feel the the tense state of race relations there, even though events continually pop up that hint just how bad they are), but even accounting for this there simply seems to be a greater acceptance of—or resignation to—tremendous injustice, discrimination, and unfairness.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
About the Osh Guesthouse and the guys that run it</h2>
Talking to the guys at the guesthouse about these issues was really quite interesting. They willingly and openly spoke about religion and Uzbek culture. Both of the guys were in their twenties. One was quite conservative and had a full beard and dressed in a robe, but was also quite progressive and open in a lot of ways (as you would have to be if you worked with Western tourists) with a love of gadget-laden digital watches. The other was also religious even though he wore jeans and T-shirts, and already had three kids in his mid twenties. The surprise—to me, at least—was that he had two wives. I was kind of shocked that this was allowed, especially given the country's Soviet history, but he said it was actually fairly common in practice even during the Soviet era. Only one of the marriages was a legal, government-recognized union, with subsequent marriages being only religiously-recognized. <br />
<br />
For him—as for most Central Asians—Westerner travelers are a little weird in that we tend to be fairly old, mainly single, have little interest in having children, let alone many children. This isn't to say that all Central Asians want lots of kids—many don't—but pretty much all of them want at least one or two.<br />
<br />
In more pedestrian news, I was able to pick up my GBAO permit from the Osh Guesthouse, meaning that I was set to head to Murghab, Tajikistan. The other news was that the guesthouse had received notice from the post office that they had a package, and when they picked it up it turned out to be my replacement boots from Blundstone Australia! Amazing service.<br />
<br />
Transport to Murghab can be rather challenging, especially in of season. Osh Guesthouse can arrange travel, but this is mainly in chartering a vehicle. They'll put you together with other travelers, but you're still paying for the entire car and unless you can fill it up with 6 people, you'll end up paying more than if you can get a seat in a normal share taxi.<br />
<br />
As I've said before, Osh Guesthouse is best used as a place to meet other tourists, and not necessarily to stay there (this is especially true now that a number of other fully-equipped guesthouses have opened up in Osh). And while the guesthouse also maintains a whiteboard where you can leave messages for other travelers and try to find travel partners, the guesthouse requires that all contact information be left with them. This ensures that transportation bookings go through them, and makes it more difficult to arrange for independent chartering (it is possible to book for cheaper than you can get through them).<br />
<br />
After getting my stuff from the Osh Guesthouse I visited local share-taxi stands to see if I could find anything leaving for Murghab the next day, but was unable to find anything. Then I wandered through the market some more before heading up to Sulaiman Too for another evening visit.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16349444451" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1802 - _DSC1803 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1802 - _DSC1803" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7505/16349444451_15be8b5158_z.jpg" width="408" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dog trying to catch some sleep in the market.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
One of the things I talked about with the guys from Bishkek was how cheap produce generally was, and about how tomatoes had increased in price since my last time in Osh (they went up from about 10 som per kilogram to 18 som per kilogram). They said that in Bishkek they have an unofficial tomato index that fluctuates heavily based on the season, ranging from 10 som to well over 50 som in the winter. It's easy to take things like that for granted when living in the West, where everyday food may have been grown thousands of kilometers away, and as abundant as fruits and vegetables are in Central Asia during the summer and autumn, availability is purely seasonal.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15731244463" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1809 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1809" height="391" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8612/15731244463_4f4d171b39_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only the peaks are visible through the smog south of Osh, as seen from Sulaiman Too.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16349448581" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1810 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1810" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8606/16349448581_fbe00c87c5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little later, a little clearer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16325240916" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1811 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1811" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8644/16325240916_8624480bdd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">West into the sunset.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16165318237" title="_DSC1812 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1812" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7323/16165318237_412c20d604_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16325242316" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1813 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1813" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8677/16325242316_169cb4d809_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking southeast.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16349451371" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1814 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1814" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7528/16349451371_b51d2d4a66_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a lot easier to climb to the top of the mountains on Sulaiman Too if you approach from the north, as the slopes are much gentler.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16325245006" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1816 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1816" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7528/16325245006_0892773fce_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">South from one of the peaks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15731252513" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1822 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1822" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8612/15731252513_53e8937150_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That next mountain is in Uzbekistan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16163843640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1830 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1830" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7485/16163843640_84ce340294_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Uzbek border is right at the edge of Osh, and you can take a city marshrutka there.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16350316532" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1832 - _DSC1835 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1832 - _DSC1835" height="141" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8621/16350316532_0ca6e50b23_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking northwest, out over Osh and Uzbekistan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16163606378" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1839 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1839" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8611/16163606378_17a752b7b2_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Historical_and_Archaeological_Museum_Complex_Sulayman">Archaeological Museum</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16163607098" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1841 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1841" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8624/16163607098_0803a1529a_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burning brush and industrial emissions help make the Ferghana valley notoriously smoggy, while the surrounding mountains help trap it in the valley.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16325252186" title="_DSC1842 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1842" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8641/16325252186_b41d7855c9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15728773714" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1843 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1843" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7497/15728773714_4d229f5276_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sexy lady petroglyphs. I'm surprised we don't see more of these in ancient cave art, as opposed to deer and animals.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16351205175" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1846 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1846" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7510/16351205175_02847e0690_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Women clean the slopes of the mountain, presumably for religious merit, collecting debris and trash in large sacks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16351205845" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1847 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1847" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7412/16351205845_de47da0857_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the fertility-inducing rock slides that predate the advent of Islam.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16349463921" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1849 - _DSC1850 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1849 - _DSC1850" height="269" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7344/16349463921_9533059a69_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Babar's mosque at sunset.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16165017049" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1853 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1853" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8670/16165017049_d40522e228_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A great guy at a great (and cheap) snack place, on the southeastern corner of the mosque. Every time he saw me I got a hearty "Hey, Canada!" greeting.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
When I went down to the Agromak 4WD taxi stand, and told touts and drivers that I wanted to go to Murghab,
everyone offered to drive me there. Most offers came down to $150 for
the entire car, but one guy with a recent Mercedes E-class station wagon
went as low as $100, saying we could leave immediately and I could
sleep in the car since I would be able to fully recline the front seat.
I'm sure he would have picked up additional passengers and/or cargo, but
this is a screaming deal to Murghab, considering the Osh Guesthouse
would charge about $250 for a car there and a single seat in a share
taxi is 1,500 som (about $30). <br />
<br />
I was to cheap for
that, and since I couldn't find anyone going to Murghab from the Agromak
stand (I think most had moved to the Murghab station outside of town,
though this information wasn't widely known at the time) I figured I
would instead get a ride to Sary Tash and then try to get something to Murghab from there. In retrospect, this would have been a terrible idea, as vehicles to Murghab tend to leave from Osh, not Sary Tash, and be completely full when they leave Osh.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I had already agreed to go in a van and was waiting hours for it to fill up, when I started wandering around the Agromak stand while waiting. I then saw a jeep with a sign for Murghab in its window, and I decided to pull out of my van to Sary Tash (much to the disappointment of the driver ad other passengers also waiting for the van to fill up). I met the jeep driver as he was walking back, and he said that we should be able to pick me up the next morning, and that he would pick me up at around 8:00 at my place at the Taj Mahal. Fantastic. Even better, he quoted me the correct local price of 1,500 som, meaning no bargaining was required. (This kind of honest approach makes me wonder how much I should be bargaining, or perhaps lulls me into a false sense of security with other drivers.)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/15728759334" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1806 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1806" height="425" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7569/15728759334_9cbc7cfaa2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sign for a Murghab bound jeep, as seen in the Agromak 4WD lot. Try contacting the driver, who does the run regularly: he's friendly and honest!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167366@N02/16105026859" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC1798 by The Bryce, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC1798" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8586/16105026859_01f96dd9a9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Tajik visa and the GBAO permit. For a document scanned in Dushanbe and printed in Osh, it felt surprisingly authentic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Budget</h2>
<br />
October 6, 2012 from Sary Tash to Osh: 987<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Room: at Taj-Mahal: 300 som</li>
<li>Soups: 30 som</li>
<li>Taxi to Osh: 430 som</li>
<li>Chocolate, eggs, coke, sandwich, soup: 205 som</li>
<li>Tomatoes: 22 som</li>
</ul>
October 7, Osh: 960<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Room: 300 som</li>
<li>Candy: 120 som</li>
<li>Sandwich, samsa, kefir, Hall's lozenges</li>
<li>Eggs, tomatoes, apples: 100 som</li>
<li>Shashlyk, kebab, naan: 90 som</li>
<li>Blackberry jam, chocolate x 2, coke: 210 som</li>
<li>Internet: 40 som</li>
</ul>
October 8, Osh: 569 som<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Ak Telpak felt hat: 100 som</li>
<li>Samsa, 3 x meat pastry: 40 som</li>
<li>Room at Taj Mahal: 300 som</li>
<li>Coke, tissues, pastry: 64 som</li>
<li>Ice cream, coke: 45</li>
<li>Solomon Throne entrance: 20 som </li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Osh, Kyrgyzstan40.53 72.79999999999995540.433435 72.638638499999956 40.626565 72.961361499999953