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Several of us left the hotel at 5:30 AM for the airport, which was surprisingly quiet. My flight would take me back to Istanbul, then onward to Vancouver, Canada. Because I was flying business class I had access to the magnificent Turkish Airlines lounge at the airport which offered shower facilities and wonderful food and drink. It was a great place to spend the 4+ hours I had to kill between my flights.

The flights were on time and I had a leisurely drive back to the USA and Burlington, WA where I met Yvonne who had driven up with our son Steve, to attend the National Ultimate FrisbeeTournament which happened to be scheduled that weekend in, of all places, Burlington, WA.  Why the interest? Our granddaughter, Zoe, who just completed her Junior year at Cornell (Ithaca, NY), is on the Cornell women’s club ultimate team that qualified for the national tournament. Unfortunately the ladies did not fair well in the tournament (their senior members could not attend the tournament because of graduation) but we did get to see her play and visit with her.

Epilogue:

-This trip is not for the casual traveler. We spent a lot of time moving from place to place and days were often long. Having said that it is an impressive area of the world to visit!

-The trip exceeded my expectations. The food and accommodations were way better than I had expected. The tour leader and local guides were outstanding. I learned a lot about the people, their culture, the land and its history.

– I was overwhelmed by the history in this part of the world and their efforts to document it in their museums.

-MIR Corporation did a marvelous job. I would certainly travel with them again if the opportunity arises.

– I am certainly glad I made the effort to visit the “Five Stans”, and added them to my “Countries Visited” list which now stands at 110! Hopefully I can add a few more to the list before…..Onward!

 

There were more things to see here and the day began by driving to the nearby town of Anau to visit the Seyit-Jemallidin, a complex structure that once included a mosque, madrasah and the mausoleum of Sheikh Jemal ad-Din. It dates back to the 15th century but was mostly destroyed by the 1948 earthquake that hit the area. The ruins remain as an important part of the history of the area and is often visited by pilgrims.

Nearby is a “sadaqa”, a charity kitchen that we visited where the community was in the process of cooking a meal for the people of the area. It was a fascinating encounter with the local caring people who were feeding those in need.

It was then back to the city for a driving tour of more local sights which included the first enclosed Ferris wheel I have ever seen. Unfortunately we did not get to ride on it! We also stopped at the huge Independence Monument Park , where, again, we were the only people there other then some workers. The base of grandiose monument is a hemisphere, symbolizing their traditional dwelling – yurts). The column is decorated with proud eagles and a golden spire with a crescent and 5 stars, symbolizing the unity of 5 Turkmen clans. The height of this building is 118 metres -derivative number is taken from the sum 91 and 27 (Independence Day October 27, 1991).

The last stop before lunch is at the Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex, a memorial complex to honor those killed in the 1881 battle of Geok Tepe (when the Russians took over the area), in World War II and in the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake.

Lunch was at a unique small restaurant (Gyzgala) that was tucked in among some clothing shops. It had been recommended to us by the US Ambassador we met the other day.

We had the rest of the afternoon off to relax and/pack as most of us would be leaving in the morning. I choose to treat myself to a massage at the hotel, which was incredibly inexpensive (<$40) compared to US prices.

Our farewell dinner was at the hotel and we bid Furkat, our local guide (Elias)  and our fellow travelers farewell and safe travels. My morning ride to the airport was slated for 5:30AM so it was an early evening for me.

Steps for the day:  5,393- another easy day.

 

We are scheduled to visit the ancient city of Merv, located about 400km from Ashgabat. To get there we will be flying to the nearby city of Mary, which seems like an very unusual name for a city in this part of the world.

In ancient times Merv was called Margiana. It existed over 4000 years and was an important part of the Silk Road between the 2nd and  13th centuries when it was sacked and destroyed  by the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan. Merv was a center of culture, religion and commerce in it’s heyday, rivaled Damascus and Baghdad as the major Islamic city. It was the melting pot for religion and ethnic culture before Genghis Khan sacked it.

We spent several hours wandering around the remains of the city and visited several mosques and mausoleums in the area before having lunch and heading back to Ashgabat by motor coach.

We returned to Mary around 1 PM for a late lunch before heading back to Ashgabat.

Never did understand why we did not fly back instead of taking the 4 + hour bus ride back. We did get to see the nearby Karakum desert as part of our return trip. And a funny thing happened as we neared Ashgabat. The bus pulled over for what we thought was simply a chance to stretch our legs. While doing so and while we were taking pictures of some local sand dunes the driver proceeded to take out a bucket of water and long brush and wash the front of the bus. Perplexed we asked why and he stated that if he arrived back in Ashgabat with a dirty bus he could be fined by the police! Another amazing tale of what it is like living in Ashgabat.

We arrived back at the hotel around 7 PM and we were on our own for dinner that night. Having had  huge lunch most of us simply passed and headed to bed. Tomorrow is our last day of sightseeing in the Ashgabat area.

Steps for the day: 5,901- another easy day.

 

It turned out to be a very busy day as we toured the local area. Our first stop was to an ancient site located not far (18km) from the city- the ruins of Nisa, the former capital of the Parthian Kingdom. The site dates back to the 3rd century BCE. It was abandoned in the 1st century BCE when hit with an earthquake.

From there on our return to the city we stopped to visit the large mosque and mausoleum of Saparmurat Niyazov, the first president of the independent Turkmenistan, who ruled from 1985-2006. He also gave himself the name of “Turkmenbashi (Head of Turkmen)”. The mosque, built in 2002-2004, is known as Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque and it is one of the largest in Central Asia. It can hold 10,000 worshipers. Niyazov was a bit notorious as he wrote a two volume book called the “Ruhnama”, claiming it as the second most important book after the Quran. He mandated it to be taught in all the schools. Adjacent to the mosque is a mausoleum where he is buried.

Our next stop was back in Ashgabat where we visited the National Museum of Turkmenistan, a huge complex dedicated to telling the detailed history of the area and its people. It is an impressive display.  We were led by a local guide for an all too short visit to the museum. I was amazed at all the historical artifacts on display there and would have enjoyed spending a lot more time studying the history of the area. One fascinating thing that occurred during our visit was a chance to meet the US ambassador to Turkmenistan, Elizabeth Rood, who happened to be at the museum while we were there. She stopped by to have a brief chat with our group.

From there we stopped to visit the Russian Bazaar for a brief visit. During the era of Russian rule it was used exclusively by Russian elite. Now it is open to all. It was not as extensive or busy as other bazaars we had visited.

Lunch was followed by another trip outside the city to visit a horse breeding farm devoted to the famous Akhal-Teke horses, arguably the oldest cultured breed of horses in the world. Supposedly they lent their genes to the development of both the Arabian and American quarter horse breeds.

As we drove to and from the sites we visited we continued to see the elaborate stunning white marble buildings in the city and noted the absence of people! I joked that the city was really a Hollywood movie set and not a real city.

Dinner brought yet another surprise as we were entertained by local dancers who performed a ritual wedding ceremony where we were encouraged to participate by dressing in local clothing  and joining in the dancing. It was a lot of fun.

The long day ended by driving through the city after dark to see the many lighted buildings before returning to our hotel.

Steps for the day: 10,588. Must have been that high because of he dancing at the wedding!

I forgot to mention several things about our visit to Karakalpakstan. As we were on our bus driving to Nukus our guide, Furkat, gave us an extensive history lesson about this whole area, starting in the 6th century BC, when the Persians ruled the area. His story took us through the rule of Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, arrival of the Hindus in early AD, Islam in the 8th century, Timur, the Russians in the 19-20th century until final freedom in 1991. There is a heck of a lot of history associated with this region of the world!

By the way, some time in the 12-14th century checks were invented here. Why?  Robbers knew that the extreme value of silk resulted in a lot of cash being transported by the caravans. Carry a check rather than cash and the problem goes away.

Other facts made known by our speaker:   There are 1,000,000 hectares (1 ha equals 2.47 acres) of cotton grown here which requires a lot of water. Also there are 100,000 km of irrigation canals to feed these crops and 37 % is lost simply through evaporation, which helps explain why the water issue even a larger problem for the area.

We have a busy day as we need to cross another border (Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan) and then fly to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. As a result we found ourselves leaving the hotel at 6AM. Our good luck at crossing the border ran out today as it took almost 4 (yes, 4 hours) to cross into Turkmenistan. Part of the reason is they require you to take a Covid test, plus pay for a visa ($106 total in cash) as part of the crossing process. The hassle with the Covid testing was a joke as far as our fellow travelers who are doctors said. Because they hardly swabbed your nose there was no way a positive test would be recorded.  Anyway you waited to get tested, you waited until the results come back all stuffed in a room with no place to sit ( I finally used my suitcase); then you had to fight a bunch of locals, who do not recognize the concept of queuing, in getting your passports stamped for entry. We even had our local tour guide trying to hasten up the process but it was darn slow.  Once that was done (about three hours later) all we had to do was cross the “no man’s land” to the other border which we had done easily in the other crossings. It was longer here (3-4 football fields) but for some reason they would not let anyone walk; you had to wait for a small, rickety old bus to make a round trip to carry people and luggage to the other border. That was another scrum as we impolitely had to push our way onto the bus, hand our luggage to those already on board and then stuff ourselves onto the bus so we could stay together as a group. It was hilarious. We started the process at 9:06 and finally arrive in Turkmenistan at 12:58PM!

We immediately had lunch and then proceeded to the Dasoguz airport for our short (about 1 hour) flight to Ashgabat. Once there we were exposed to the “unusual” way of life in Turkmenistan.

Local money was our first education. The official rate to convert USD to Turkmenistan dollars is about $3.5 TMT to $1USD. However, the street market is anywhere from 15-18TMT to the dollar. Even the hotel offered 18.5! Needless to say we all did not use the formal channels to convert money.

Next surprise. Turkmenistan is rich in oil and gas. As a result some previous rulers decided that all the major buildings in Ashgabat shall be made with white Carrara marble. No cheap marble allowed. Furthermore, all cars in Ashgabat must be white (white is the color of peace was the rationale)! You can be fined or punished if you have a wrong color. I did see a silver one and asked the local guide about that. He facetiously (?) said the person probably worked for the government. People can be fined and even have their cars confiscated if they are not white. Even the trucks I saw were white.

And that is not all. An earlier ruler liked the color green so he mandated that all the roofs on homes had to be green! Yep, everywhere you look you see bright green roofs!

Another rule: If you were not born in Ashgabat or worked for the government you could not live there. Our local guide was born in another city and said he cannot move to Ashgabat. And when he comes to the city he has to park his car on the outskirts and ride public transportation in the city. Now that is spooky.

It sure looks like our visit here will be interesting to say the least.

Steps for the day: 5,861, another easy day.

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Our trip is sold as a visit to the “Five Stans”.  However we will be visiting a 6th “Stan” although it is not an official country. We are going to the capital of the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan, home of the Karakalpaks, a Turkic people more closely related to Kazakhs than to Uzbeks. We are headed to Nukus where cotton is king and a shrinking Aral Sea has decimated the local fishing industry.

Education for the day: What is an “autonomous” region? An autonomous region is a part of a country that has a degree of self-governance and can make decisions independently from the central government.

Karakalpakstan is in the northwest portion of Uzbekistan and has a population of about 2 million. The people are referred to as the “black hats” because of the distinctive black hats worn by the men.  It was a thriving agricultural and fishing area but both industries are in trouble. They have relied heavily on irrigation for their crops and global warming plus Turkmenistan’s building of a major water canal that will divert more water will make water even more of an issue in the future. Also the dramatic shrinking of the Aral Sea has virtually killed the fishing industry in the country. The area borders on the edge of a desert which does not help matters.

We are here to visit the famous Igor Savitsky museum complex, often called the “Louvre in the sands” it is really several collections and we will visit both.

A bit of background on Igor Savitsky. He was born in Ukraine in 1915 and was initially trained to be an electrician. He took private drawing lessons and after 1934 took further studies in art. He visited Nukus in 1950, fell in love with it and lived there until he died in 1984. In the late 50’s and early 60’s he collected Karakalpak cultural items and convinced the locals to create what is now the Nukus museum. He was the curator. His other passion was collecting avant garde works of Russian painters (most of whom were exiled  by Stalin and other Russian rulers). Quite often families of former banned painters gave Savitsky paintings of the outlawed painters for the museum. There is supposedly an excellent documentary called “Desert of Forbidden Art” that documents his endeavor.

We first went to a building that contains the archeological, cultural  and folk art artifacts of the Karakalpakstan people, a former nomadic culture.

After lunch we then visited the art portion of the museum, which contains the second largest collection of Russian avant-garde art, second only to the Russian museum in St Petersburg.

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Back at the hotel we had a late afternoon lecture by a local scientist who discussed the tragic story of the demise of the Aral Sea and the ongoing problems with water in the area. The once thriving fishing industry is totally gone because of the demise of the Aral Sea.

Dinner was at a nearby home restaurant where we were in for a bit of surprise. First as we approached the front door we were met by a group of men who performed several dances for us. Once inside, we were further entertained by a local ensemble who played traditional instruments, and sang traditional songs. All of this along with another great dinner and some local vodka!

Tomorrow we are leaving Uzbekistan and headed to the last Stan on the list: Turkmenistan.

Steps for the day:  5,317- an easy day!

 

Those of us who were afraid of missing something left our hotel with Furkat at 5:15AM to watch the sunrise here in Khiva. About  350 people still live in the inner town called “Itchan Kala “. It is protected by 8-10 meter high walls that are 5-6 meters thick. The original walls date back to the 10th century; the present walls from the late 17th century. We walked through the town to reach the east gate and quietly awaited the sun to rise and provide us with some great photo opportunities. We were not disappointed!

Some trivia for the day:  Legend says that clay from this area was used by Muhammad in buildings in Medina. Another legend says that Shem, the son of Noah, built the sacred water channel of Khiva, known as the Xeyvak Canal.

It was then back to the hotel for a 6:30 breakfast, after which we headed out on our official tour of Itchan Kala, the old part of Khiva. The old town contains some 50 important monuments and 250 homes that date from the 18-19th centuries. The good news was that the predicted high temperature for the day was expected to be 82 degrees, a more normal temperature for this time of the year.

The morning was full of surprises, starting with coming upon a trio of women who sang and played musical instruments, followed by a private show for our group by an family of high wire walkers.

It is very common to find small museums covering varying topics housed in the old madrasahs that have been repurposed. Today we toured one that focused on the history of money and another about the history of important people of Khiva.

Lunch was again at another elegant restaurant overlooking the city, followed by a visit to the shops of woodworking artists.

We ended the formal touring in late afternoon after visiting a master woodworking shop (wood carving has always been a traditional specialty of Khiva) and a mausoleum with a plan to later meet for dinner at 6PM.

For those interested Furkat suggested that one can climb to the top of the largest minaret in the town. Only the energetic Suki took him up on the suggestion. Luckily she kindly shared some of the pictures she took on her climb so I can share them with you here.

Before we left for dinner at a local restaurant we were entertained by yet another band and dancers at the hotel. Then it was off to what turned out to be a spectacular outdoor rooftop dinner overlooking the old town where the food and scenery was marvelous. Timing was such that we were there for sunset so today was really special in that we saw both sunrise and sunset in Khiva. Khiva is even more magical than Bukhara!

It was quite a day in this ancient city that is over 2500 years old!

Steps for the day: 9394

I am loving this “old” place. I only wish it was cooler as I am not a fan of hot weather. However, I will not be deterred in exploring what this area has to offer. Luckily I remembered to bring my cooling neck scarf and it has helped keep me cool. Several of our travelers are early risers and go for a walk around 5:30AM and tell us it is amazing to see the cities at that time of the day. I decided to do that this morning here in Bukhara and by 6 AM I left the hotel to walk a bit through the old town. It was very pleasant experience and I am glad I did it. Here are some pictures I took on my short early morning walk.

We are leaving Bukhara this morning and headed to another ancient city- Khiva. It will be a long day of riding on the bus but with the brutal temperatures of the last two days it will be a welcome change of pace. Much of the trip will be traveling through the Kyzylkum (Red Sand) desert, the 15th largest desert in the world, which covers 115,000 square miles.

We arrived in Khiva around 3:30 PM and after checking into our hotel Furkat suggested that he lead us on a short tour of the walled city before dinner.

Dinner was a buffet at the hotel and Furkat announced he would be leading a dawn tour of the city for those interested in going with him. I think everyone said they would be there.

Steps for the day:  14,057! Wow, that was a bit of a surprise to me.

It is expected to be even warmer today than yesterday so we got an early start to the day with plans to again rest during the mid-day and resuming touring late in the afternoon. At 8 AM it was already 85 degrees. Luckily there was no humidity.

Our first stop was about 4 km outside of Bukhara to visit the Emir’s summer home , the Sitorai Mohi Khosa Palace, also known as “Palace Like the Stars and the Moon”. It was built in the late 19th-early 20th century for the last Emir of Bukhara, Emir Sayyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan who ruled from 1911-1920 until the Russians took over. In 1927 it was converted to a museum of decorative and applied arts.

 

Temperature update: 91 degrees at 9:15 and 99 at 11:00AM!

Leaving there we next visited the Baha al-Din a mausoleum . He was a 14th century mystic who created and promoted the Sufi form of Islam.

Returning to the old town area of Bukhara we walked past the unique Chor Minor madrasah on our way to lunch in the central plaza of old town. It was built in 1807 and is unique in that it has four minarets. All that is left of the madrasah is the entry portal and the minarets.

I continue to be amazed at the location and quality of the restaurants where we have eaten. It is not what I would have expected in this part of the world.

After lunch we again retired to the coolness of our rooms. Furkat announced he would be leading whoever might be interested to visit the local studio of a puppet master and offer shopping opportunities at 4PM. Having seen puppet masters in other countries I again chose to stay in the comfort of my room until we all met for dinner at 6:30 PM.

We leave in the morning for another ancient town-Khiva.

Steps for the day:  6096. Not bad given the heat we had to endure.

 

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It was going to be hot today (106 degrees) and Furkat suggested we start early, rest in the afternoon during the heat of the day, and resume sightseeing later in the day. No one objected.

Bukhara is the 7th largest city in Uzbekistan with a population of 280,000. The area was inhabited for over 5000 years. It was an important oasis on the Silk Road and it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has preserved its ancient architecture and design to a larger extent than other cities in Uzbekistan. After breakfast we were off to see these historical sites.

Then we headed to the major attraction in this area – the Ark of Citadel. It is a massive fortress, initially built in the 5th century (maybe even earlier) and occupied by the rulers (emirs) for over 1,000 years. It now houses museums and a smaller mosque. After a quick tour of the major areas Furkat let us wander on our own through the complex absorbing all it had to offer.

We then went to the nearby infamous Zindon prison that was built in the 18th century. There are many stories about this prison and its use. In 1838 two British soldiers came on a diplomatic mission, managed to anger the Emir, who then threw them into this prison and ultimately had them executed. Moral: Do not anger the Emir!

We visited the local small bazaar where again we had some free time before breaking for a late lunch in yet another lovely setting.  We had a local architect as a guest speaker who is heavily involved with the restoration effects in keeping the Bukhara old town as it was in ancient  times.

By 2PM it was pretty hot so we elected to rest during the afternoon. Those who wanted to could go out with Furkat around 4 PM for more sightseeing, otherwise we were told we would gather for dinner at 6:30PM. Being of sound mind I chose to NOT join the 4PM group but enjoyed the peace, solitude and air conditioning of my hotel room until meeting the group for dinner. By the way this was the afternoon where those people who wanted to try the “hammam” bath experience could do so. I had fully considered it until I read that it entailed-sitting in a hot sauna for 15-30 minutes, laying on a marble slab where your masseuse worked you over  (including standing on your back).  This led me to decide to wait until I could get a “regular” massage at one of the hotels later in the trip. With age comes wisdom!

Dinner was a bit of a treat as we ate in a local restaurant where there was a music and dance performance while we dined. The only negative was that it was outdoors and it was still fairly warm. Otherwise it was a fun evening as we got to hear authentic local music and watch dancers.

Steps for the day: 7,398….Not bad given how hot it was!