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Bukhara 27



Kalan Minaret



The Kalyan minaret is a minaret of the Po-i-Kalyan mosque complex in Bukhara, Uzbekistan and one of the most prominent landmarks in the city.



The minaret, designed by Bako, was built by the Qarakhanid ruler Mohammad Arslan Khan in 1127 to summon Muslims to prayer five times a day. An earlier tower collapsed before completion. It is 48 metres high including the point, of 9 metres diameter at the bottom and 6 metres at the top.



The body of the minaret is topped by a rotunda with 16 arched fenestrations, from which the muezzins summoned the Muslims in the city to prayer. The tower base has narrow ornamental strings belted across it made of bricks which are placed in both straight or diagonal fashion. The frieze is covered with a blue glaze with inscriptions. In times of war, warriors used the minaret as a watchtower to lookout for enemies.About a hundred years after its construction, the tower so impressed Genghis Khan that he ordered it to be spared when all around was destroyed by his men (a surprise you might say given his normal stance on these things) It is also known as the Tower of Death, because until as recently as the early twentieth century criminals were executed by being thrown from the top.



It is the center point for a complex of buildings not surprisingly a Madrassa and a Mosque the Mosque named the Kalon can house 10,000 worshippers. Its roof looks flat but actually consists of 288 domes and is as stunning on the inside as the outside. In soviet times it was used as a warehouse something they did a lot with religious building well at least they did not tear them down.



The Madrassa which seems off limits to everyone is no less stunning and the whole place has an air of ancient history about it.



This is exactly why I agreed to take this trip to find places like this.

 

   

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Bukhara 26



As we are being lead around the town we notice a small commotion on some waste ground and our guide decides to take us over to see it.


A group of around 50 people mainly men are all looking very excitedly at some thing or things so we immediately think it is another market and well it is of a sort.


   

This appears to be a Bird Market nothing else is on sale there in this patch of semi waste ground in a backstreet of the town so I think this is not something you see often


   

There were many different sorts of cage birds but most of the attention was on the Pigeons.

 


You can see one guy examining one pigeon in very great detail almost oblivious to us well searching around the web I found this info


 


The breed is an “Uzbek Crack Tumbler” and of course originated here in Bukhara. Pigeons it seems was quite a bid thing back in the day and the Emirs
brought in several breeds from Persia’


After many years cross breeding with local birds they ended up with “Double
Crested and long Muffed breeds” (I know it beats me as well I have no idea).


For over 300 years breeders in Samarkhand, Tashkent, Namangan, Fargona Valley, and various other regions of Uzbekistan acquired these breeds from the Emirs of Bukhara


It would seem the name is derived because when flying they sometimes begin to rise up vertically and begin tumbling and clap their wings together making an audible clap or crack sound.


 


So know you know as much as me and very welcome you are to the info.


The people were concentrating on the birds and seemingly oblivious to the group of 20 odd tourists who were in their midst happily snapping pictures.


A very entertaining 20 minutes where we were just allowed to hang out with the locals.


By the way did you know HM Queen Elisabeth II is patron of a number of British pigeon racing societies in recognition of her interest in the sport, most notably the Royal Pigeon Racing Association and the National Flying Club


 


Whilst we are about it I forgot to tell you we had been to the ubiquitous carpet shop there are carpet shops everywhere and whilst it is not actually part of the tour we do get to see one. 


We saw a little of the actual carpet making I say making rather than weaving as each individual strand is knotted not woven.


 
  


It seemed we arrived at an inopportune moment as it was payday for the girls and they get paid in cash once a month so if you remember how big the wad
was when I changed $50 then you can imagine it took about 15 minutes to pay each on and then they left they had a couple of carrier bags stuffed full of notes (I kid you not)


 


This is Sabrina (I think) and she was very good at explaining all the different details of how to pick the right carpet and how to tell the quality andunderstand the different types of silks used ( who knew there were different kinds in the first place well not me I can tell you). She was a local however she had a mix of East London and American in her accent which sort of threw me for a while as we have only hear local accents for a few days.


 


Whilst there were as you see lots and lots of very nice carpets there were not with my name on so this time I got away light.


I did however later find a stitched floor rug which I had to negotiate hard for, well I think I did ok 45% discount brought it into my price bracket. (Judi would be proud)


 


 


 


 


 

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Bukhara 24



Now we are in out stride and off to the “Bolo-House Mosque” a stones throw from the Citadel or Arg (Ark another word we have heard before in a different context Noah’s Ark, Ark of the covenant)


 


It was built in 1712. It is known also as the Mosque of forty columns. Until 1917 Bolo-House mosque was built as the Emir’s own mosque, but later it has become common Friday Mosque. According to the legend, the mosque was built in honor of Bukhara governor Abu-Fayud Khan, the other version is that it was originally built by emir Shah-Murad as the total mosque.

   

It has a pond and a minaret both very usual accompaniments although the pond does look like it has passed its best.


   


It is quite spectacular with carved wooden columns and decorative painting so not really like any Mosque we have seen in fact it resembles the ornate houses we have been visiting with these tall open fronted porchs vivid colo(u)rs and ornate carvings. The inside was a lot plainer and no photographs
(and unusually it also has toilets we can use)   


 


Across the road there is the citadel which tomorrow you get to see and it
is worth setting your alarm as it is a bit special.


 

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Bukhara 23



Today after breakfast in our very quaint hotel we set off touring and the first place is the Labi-Hauz plaza which is actually less than 50 mt from the hotel.


Not so much to see these days as it is surrounded by people selling stuff but there are a few cafes which might be useful later on. It is indeed a pool and shielded from the sun by lots of trees with a few fountains to keep the water moving helping to keep it cool.


Onward to the Mausoleum of Ismail-Samani the resting-place strangely enough of Ismail Samani – a powerful and influential Amir of the Samanid dynasty, one of the Persian dynasty’s to rule in Central Asia, which held the city in the 9th and 10th centuries.



The place is in an old cemetery which has been converted into a park and has lots of fairground types of rides and kiosks so it sort of looks a bit out of place.

 



The building made of brick is quite unique in its style and even though its only about 20 mt square I need a ticket to take pictures so another $1 gone from the funds.



 


 

Lots of interesting features even though the place is a little crowded as a group of Germans join us which makes it all a bit of a crush. 


Something does hit me and it is quite a surprise which is these are the first tourists we have actually seen for about three days. Now where can you go in the world without seeing another tourist well “Turkmenistan” seems to be the answer.



Ever onward and we next see The Mausoleum Chashma-Ayub («The Source of Holy Iov»). It is one of the religious monuments of architecture, which includes mausoleum and “holly source”, “chashma” means “well”.


There is an inscription near the well, which says that the mausoleum was built in 1379-1380 by experienced masters from Khorezm.
 

The monument has the connection with prophet Iov (Ayub) who once travelled here during drought and helped local people dying of thirst. When he struck with his staff, there was a source of crystal-clear water, which remains clear and healing. Now somewhere I seem to have hear this story before unless it was commonplace to hit things and have water spring out. The water is supposed to have healing properties ???

 

There is a little museum with some old pictures which are very interesting some local girl in their traditional costume and the original water butt


 



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Bukhara 22



Today you get a History lesson gleaned from various sources

Persian prince Siyavush, who built a citadel here shortly after marrying the daughter of Afrosiab in Samarkand, is the traditional founder of Bukhara city, but its growth has for centuries depended largely upon its strategic location on the crossroads to Merv, Gurganj, Herat, Kabul and Samarkand. The early town was taken by the Persian Achaemenids in the sixth century BC, by Alexander the Great in 329 BC and by the empires of the Hephalite and the Kushan.


Bukhara city was left largely unmolested until the fire-worshipping city was taken by Qutaiba in 709 in the first leg of his jihad against the lands beyond the Oxus (more about the Oxus and Alexander in a few days)


As usual Genghis Khan had a hand in what happened next. In March 1220 the Mongol tide of calamity was spotted outside Bukhara’s gates, its troops more numerous than locusts, each detachment like a billowing sea. Thirty thousand defensive troops sped to meet them and were slaughtered to a man. “From the reflection of the sun the plain seemed to be a tray filled with blood.” Their leader Genghis Khan, The Wind of God’s Omnipotence, rode to the Namazgokh Mosque, and proclaimed himself the Scourge of God. “If you had not committed great sins,” he said, “God would not have sent a punishment like me”.


The citadel was taken, the city put to the torch and razed to a level plain. No man was spared who stood higher than the butt of a whip. trains of slaves were seen snaking away from the charred remains of the holy town, to be employed as human shields in the forthcoming assault on Samarkand. (This was part of the Merv thing from a few days back remember when they killed his ambassador and he got pissed off with them)


Due to its ideal location on the famous Silk Road, Bukhara had long been a center of culture, religion, trade, and education. At one time in the history Bukhara was the largest city in the world with 300,00 people living in or around it. Described as a beautiful place full of vegetation and tree lined roads but including a protective wall which stretched of an incredible 30 km it was also very much a center of education and scholarly study. In fact, Bukhara became known throughout the East as The Center of Enlightenment. Many well-known philosophers, scholars, astrologers, educators and writers were either from Bukhara or came to this city to work and study. It was also an extremely important commercial center.


But by the time it was conquered by Genghis Khan, Bukhara had already been operating and flourishing for well over one thousand years. The only thing he spared was the Kalan Minaret, which actually still stands today.


The Kalan Minaret, one of the wonders of both the ancient and the modern world, stands nearly one hundred and fifty feet high. At one time this minaret served as a beacon to caravans on the Silk Road, letting them know they were approaching Bukhara.




Perhaps one of the most infamous episodes to take place hre was the killing of
British officers Col. Charles Stoddart and Capt. Arthur Conolly in 1842. Victims of a misunderstanding between the Emir of Bukhara and the British government (which failed to supply its emissaries with the appropriate gifts and royal letters of introduction), the two were imprisoned in the Bug Pit at the Zindan (city jail), then forced to dig their own graves before their ceremonial beheading in front of the Ark (the Emir’s palace).

In 1848 it had no fewer than 38 caravanserais, six trading arcades, 16 public baths, and 45 bazaars. Bukhara was also the largest centre for Muslim theology with over two hundred mosques and more than a hundred medressehs.


This indeed was a place to rival Samarkand


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Uzbekistan 21



Our next hotel is slap bang in the middle of Buchara town and whilst we can not get the coach near there are several young boys who eagerly rush around looking after our bags.

 


Now I don’t normally show pictures of hotels but this is an exception as it is a restored merchants house so lots of courtyards and rooftop terraces and they have retained much of the local culture and decoration so this is quite a change from the Soviet style we have become accustomed to.


  
 


See very nice indeed,


We arrive in the early evening and after settling in we go off for dinner which is had on a restaurant rooftop which serves to remind us it is still very warm around here (we were told to expect a continental European climate so late Sept we were expecting to need jerseys and coats not shorts and sunscreen)


A little bit of background from Wikipedia



Bukhara and the region around has been inhabited since around the 6th century BC, and the city itself has existed for half that time. Located on the Silk Road, the city has long been a center of trade, scholarship, culture, and religion.

The historic center of Bukhara, which contains numerous mosques and madrassa’s, has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Persian-speaking Tajiks constitute the largest element of the city’s population remember I told you Stalin had changed the borders and it use to be in Tajikistan hence the people speak Tajik.

The city has long had a mixed population including Jews and other ethnic minorities, (more about these people in a day or two)

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Uzbekistan 20



So onward we go towards Bukhara with a stop off at the Chor Bakr Necropolis a few miles outside the town.

Before then we have a minor traffic jam involving a heard of goats and spotted the end of the pipeline not sure where it starts but this is possibly where it ends

 


The Necropolis (city of the Dead which is a fancy title) is very well presented although the hawkers seem to have got the sent of money and seem to be a little more push then normal.


The memorial complex of Chor-Bakr was built over the burial place of Abu-Bakr-Said, who died in the year 360 of the Muslim Calendar 970 AD to you an me, and who was one of the four of Abu-Bakrs (Chor-Bakr) Fazl, Ahmed and Hamed, all direct descendents of the Prophet Muhammad (which believe me was quite a big deal both then and now). They appear to have forgotten exactly which tomb is which but not sure that matters too much.


The complex includes the necropolis of family tombs of wealthy who by being buried close by hope for salvation through association, there are several courtyards with enclosed with walls surrounding the area.



Note in central Asia people are not buried under the ground (well not until the Russians insisted anyway) they place people on the ground and then build a shell over them it is at first a little spooky but its just what they do.

 


   

Some of the other building in the complex seem to have been given over to local crafts people who have set up small workshops in them which at first seemed a little odd but on reflection sounds like an excellent idea.

 

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Turkmenistan 19



We now have a very long drive across some desert plateau with only one “bush” stop which I have to say seem more hygienic that actually trying to use the toilets around these parts.

Mike is trying to find our exact location but not sure how accurate the map is or how knowledgeable the local guide is.

 
 

We have a one night stay in an interesting hotel the “Jeyhun” which whilst looking impressive actually leaves a lot to be desired. Who puts 14 steps up to a hotel reception and no ramp and a bell boy who watches you haul your cases but does nothing to help.


The only interesting thing is the food is actually quite good. Home made Manit (no not the currency) which are steamed dumplings with minced something in and quite tasty and as usual lots of bread.



There is a supermarket across the road which we think might be useful for some nibbles although the 3 lanes of dual carriageway either side don’t look too inviting however as ever we are up for the challenge.


It is just a small shop with the usual, crisps (chips) nuts, coke, chocolate and lots and lots of water and vodka. In the end not sure that is was worth it but we do buy some bits to keep us amused during the long coach trip we are constantly taking so mission accomplished.



Up early for breakfast and whilst looking for the right place to eat I stumble across a bar a a snooker room we were not told of that would have made the evening a little more entertaining but too late now.


Breakfast is not our usual buffet but a proper cooked one, well I say proper it was pseudo full English with some local replacements and I say cooked but there were some pink sausages which were actually chilled so not just not cooked but actually just out of the fridge. These I declined to eat as my life is dangerous enough without adding to it.



Back on the road and across another border this time back into Uzbekistan what joy, (I never told you about us arriving in Tashkent and taking around 2 – 2.5 hours to clear the customs and immigration queue.


Needless to say this crossing is as good as the last and we hang around for a couple of hours while lots of important people do lots of important things none of which are designed to help us on our way.


It might be this border (I lost count) where the no-mans-land was actually 2km and although there was a little shuttle but (and I mean little) it only ran half way so we had to wait right in the middle of nowhere for everyone to arrive and then walk the last 1km dragging our cases although to be fair we are getting used to it now. Its not like in the movies where you see people leaving one and getting a warm welcome at the next no we get the same treatment from both sides.



All this said we do make it across and we are now on our way to Buchara which is quite exciting Jonathan has been telling us that this is his favorite place on the trip.



We stop for lunch at which was “ok”


 



and I meet a friend although not sure he is happy about it.



 

I note the toilets were disgusting and we had to pay as well Doh!!!! maybe they are saving up to build some half decent ones.


Luckily they are far away from the food.  

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Turkmenistan 18




Some facts you are possibly not aware of Turkmenistan is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. It is largely a desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated areas, and huge gas and oil resources. In terms of natural gas reserves, it is ranked 4th in the world. Regarding agriculture, the two largest crops are cotton, most of which is produced for export, and wheat, which is domestically consumed.

Turkmenistan is among the top ten producers of cotton in the world.



It is all because of the American Civil War. In the 1860’s the import of cotton from the US to Russia was disrupted and so the price shot up. This made it an increasingly important commodity in the region so they decided to grow it themselves, well they had lots of space and cotton had been grown for thousands of years in Central Asia although its cultivation was on a much lesser scale than during the Soviet period.


The cotton trade at first actually led to improvements in the region the Transcaspian Railway from Krasnovodsk to Samarkand and Tashkent, and the Trans-Aral Railway from Orenburg to Tashkent were constructed.

In the long term the development of a cotton monoculture would render Turkestan dependent on food imports from Western Siberia as they swapped food growing for cotton growing.



These days there is a lot of debate on the topic of cotton. There is a lot of talk about the “Aral Sea” a large body of water in Asia which is rapidly diminishing well guess what started it all cotton.


The Russians needed to irrigate their cotton fields so they used water from this lake.

This is what Wikipedia has to say.

In the early 1960s, the Soviet government decided the two rivers that fed the Aral Sea, the Amu Darya in the south and the Syr Darya in the northeast, would be diverted to irrigate the desert, in an attempt to grow rice, melons, cereals, and cotton. This was part of the Soviet plan for cotton, or “white gold”, to become a major export. This temporarily succeeded, and in 1988 Uzbekistan was the world’s largest exporter of cotton.


The construction of irrigation canals began on a large scale in the 1940s. Many of the canals were poorly built, allowing water to leak or evaporate. From the Qaraqum Canal, the largest in Central Asia, perhaps 30 to 75% of the water went to waste. Today, only 12% of Uzbekistan’s irrigation canal length is waterproofed.


Another discussion point is the use of children to help pick the cotton. half the population work in agriculture and there is an “expectation” that everyone helps pick the harvest and that really means everyone. No matter where you live or what job you do you are expected to volunteer to assist. The picking is almost all hand done.

There was a campaign a couple of years back to outlaw children working in these fields (which are everywhere, trust me everywhere) so the President passed a law which forbade children picking cotton. I am not sure how well it is being enforced. We did see a lot of cotton picking and to be honest I can’t say I actually saw children working in the fields there may have been some but certainly not huge numbers.


Interestingly there was a comedy show on the other night called “The Ambassadors” staring Mitchell and Webb and this topic was part of the script which was quite a spooky coincidence.



whilst you are not supposed to take pictures of people picking cotton here are a few random shots which resulted as my camera went off (several times) whilst I was cleaning it.










Yes these really are mounds of cotton who would have guessed



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Turkmenistan 17




Well we are up an out at the crack of dawn and before you know it we are on a plane and off to Mary Turkmenistan’s second largest Airport and off to Merv which is another one of those very ancient places we will visit.

This and Kunya Urgench (see posting 12) were once the jewels in the crown of this area in the 3rd to 6th century BC and again this place upset Genghis Khan



Merv was known as Margiana or Margush in Alexander the Great’s time. Under the Persian Sassanians, it was considered religiously liberal, with significant populations of Christians, Buddhists and Zoroastrians cohabiting peacefully. As a centre of power, culture and civilisation, Merv reached its greatest heights during the peak of the Silk Route in the 11th and 12th centuries, when the Seljuq Turks made it their capital.


Legendary Merv may even have been the inspiration for the tales of Scheherazade’s The Thousand and One Nights.


Merv suffered a number of attacks over the course of its history, but instead of being re­built on top of the older ruins, Merv slowly spread west. In total, five cities were constructed next to each other, largely because of the shifting rivers. The oldest section was the Erk Kala and in later centuries most people lived in the vast walled city called Sultan Kala once noted as the largest city in the world.


All of this was completely eradicated in 1221 under the onslaught of the Mongols. In 1218 Genghis Khan demanded a substantial tithe of grain from Merv, along with the pick of the city’s most beautiful young women. The unwise Seljuq response was to slay the tax collectors. In retribution Tolui, the most brutal of Genghis Khan’s sons, arrived three years later at the head of an army, accepted the peaceful surrender of the terrified citizens, and then proceeded to butcher every last one of the city’s inhabitants, an estimated 300, 000 people although this was the low estimate and it could have been closer to 1,000,000. What is know is each Mongol soldier was tasked with killing several hundred people the only people spared were around 400 artisans


Merv made a small comeback in the 15th century and was soon at the centre of a territorial dispute between the rulers of Bukhara, Khiva and Persia. Persian influence eventually won out when a noble named Bairam Ali rebuilt the dam, which allowed the irrigated region to prosper and encouraged free trade. The Emir of Bukhara struck back with military force, captured the city, and utterly destroyed it in 1795.


So as you see little is left of the place apart from some ruined mud buildings and a very large circular mound.

   
Who can resist a heard of camels



 







One rather interesting if a little odd anecdote was that as we were wandering around a car pulled up and the passenger started randomly distributing bread to us.


Not sure if we looked hungry or if it is a custom either way it was very welcome. 


 


As we travel towards Turkmenabat where we are staying for the night we visit the Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar one of the most powerful Khorezmian Rulers
of Iran.


 

(This shows how the borders have shifted) if you get 5 minutes you might want to Google him as he had a long and interesting life.


The Mausoleum seems to be in the middle of nowhere.


Interesting bus in the car park not ours I hasten to add.