La Jourdinarie our place in France

Traces of human activity dating back to the 4th-2nd millennia BC show that long before the beginning of the Parthian Empire the area of Nisa was already colonized by sedentary populations. It is believed that there was a large settlement there as early as the 1st millennium BCE. Nisa underwent a major development in the mid 3rd century BC, when impressive buildings were erected by the Parthians, who decided to build a royal residence, probably the first of the Parthian dynasty. The name of the site, Mithradatkert, and an indication of the date of its foundation are known from an inscription written on one of the 2,700 administrative ceramics (ostraka) found at Nisa. Mithradatkert means ‘the fortress of Mithidrat,’ referring to King Mithradat I (174-138 BC).

The down side is that is it another place the Mongols did for, and after several thousand years it went the way of many of these ancient places although it is believed that there are lots of things yet to be dug up.

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The place is on an outcrop with a huge flat plain below and huge mountains in the distance over which you could fine Iran.

Now there is an illuminated path we can see not too far from us and it is famous as part of “Health Week” where the president decreed that everyone should walk up this path as part of a health drive.

Now a couple of points to note a) it can get up to 115 degrees here during the day so the walk is done at night and the path is lit. all of the government cabinet had to complete this and the president congratulated each one of them at the summit (he came up by helicopter).

Next is the mausoleum of the late president (the helicopter guy) Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov  died in 2006 and lies with his family in Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque or Gypjak Mosque in the village of Gypjak about 7 kilometres west of the city. I think the mosque now dwarfs the village which was his birth place. The current President is less of a totalitarian and you see less of him than his predecessor.

There are of course no pictures allowed inside but again the gardeners (who outnumber the visitors) are all completely covered up to protect themselves from the sun and the heat.

 

 

Well for lunch we have a challenge we are going to another bazaar and we have to find our own lunch, first we have to get some more Manat though.

After all this history we are back on plan and off to another airport (TAZ) Dashoguz Airport to be exact and we are off to (  ASB  ) Ashgabat Airport .

Now if you search for this flight on the web it will say it does not exist and if you check the airports they both say there is not a flight between them which is weird as I was on it but whatever.

Anyway we are at a very small airport indeed probably 1/3 of the size of the last one although it still has several scanners just to keep us in check.

Our group of 20+ is quite a lot for such a small place and quite a novelty and it is getting very very crowded happily it does have some facilities including a snack bar for coffee.

I have already changed some money in preparation so no repeat of the Amir Timur square debacle. The Turkmenistan Manat is around 3 to the $1 or 4.5 to the GBP either way we can’t buy a coffee this time because they have run out and only have tea.

We get priority boarding allowing us to stand outside first but I doubt this is anything other than something to get us out of the way so the locals can settle down on the few chairs they have scattered around.
PS don’t even think about using the toilets. 

Given I am almost the youngest of the group I manage to overtake everyone and get on the plane first which Judi would be proud of.

Not much of a flight 270 km so quick up and down only thing to note was none of the locals turned off their phones and many did not even stop their calls at any point during the flight. 

Next you know we are putting cases on another coach and driving off to our hotel The Grand Turkmen which is 30 minutes away.

This is a business class hotel and as you would expect it is full of businessmen plus some United Nations Development personnel who seem to have a conference going on here.

 

 

Interestingly the whole Hotel smells of cigarettes which in this day and age is quite unusual, you only get to smell cigarettes outside shopping malls and office buildings.

Quite nostalgic, although I gave up a couple of years ago I still feel the pull every now and again (by that I mean every day) but know I can never let it happen again.

 

A small room on the 3rd floor with a balcony and 2 ashtrays with matches, these people know how to set up a room.

Nip down to the bar to meet up with Mike and get a coffee (well I had been waiting a couple of hours).

The bar is on the 1st floor (2nd for you Americans) and as soon as you get out of the lift there is a sort of disco blaring out.

Large loud speakers and a spinning glitter ball and a DJ looking the part in rather shiny white shirt and flared trousers.

I order my coffee and notice the three “Natasha’s” sitting in the corner. Young, good looking, 4.5 inch killer heels, tight dresses and all focused on their mobile phones.

Not exactly sure what they are doing there but one could speculate. (the following day Jonathan explained they were working girls which might be a euphemism)

 

Finish the coffee and Mike his beer and try and put the bill on my room only to find out it is a cash only bar which is a pain as I used up most of my Manat but that is the least of my problems as there is now a Saxophonist adding more noise to the disco and both are a little close to the lift for me and as I get out on my floor I can still feel the place vibrating however the smell of cigarette smoke distracts me.

Up for breakfast which is also on the 1st (2nd) floor and just about ok not stunning but adequate. We are off on a city tour but we are told to be careful as photography is restricted in many areas.

 

The photos are not from the original settlement (unsurprisingly)
but from the post Timurid period (there’s that name again)

This is the Turabeg Khanum Mausoleum described in my book as and I quote “One of Central Asia’s most Perfect buildings” a giant calendar, 365
sections, 24 pointed arches 12 large arches and 4 big windows not sure anyone
would have worked this out from what I saw but maybe after renovation it will
return to its former glory.

  

 Gutlug Timur Minaret built 1320’s  59 meters tall (it used to be taller).

So we board the plane and after a few more seat shuffling we settle down I am in row 4 with only locals in front of me.

A couple of business men a stout fellow in the seat in front of me who is trying to get the seat to go back but failing to press the button so he is just bracing himself against the floor and heaving which sort of works as he breaks the chair and it is now tilted on one side only so all he can do is look directly across at the guy in the window seat, he looks like a wrestler so I think it best not to comment (it is a small plane after all) there is a woman at the front with a red plastic bucket the sort you might use with your mop but this one had a muslin cover over it no idea what is in it or how she managed to get it through the scanner.

We take off and by the time we get to our cruising height we are on our way down again.  Whilst waiting for our bags I try and get a peek at the red plastic bucket but it is being closely guarded and so it will remain a mystery to me.

Leaving the terminal building some guy wants to check the tags on our baggage against our slips but we don’t have them the tour guide Jonathan checked us all in so he has all the tags stuck on his ticket. After a few minutes trying to match the first tag to a bag he realizes it’s a lost cause and lets us all through.

Outside we can see our coach which is good but there is a fence between us and it which is bad. We have to walk the best part of a kilometer around the new building works to get to it.

It seems wherever you are in the world these days that the Chinese are helping people build airports and roads and here is an example. Add to this the inability to get pavements to meet roads or pavements to be level and you have our route which is actually broken ground.

We fling our cases into the coach and off we go. We are not staying in Urgench we are off to Khiva which is our first dip into the silk Road Route.

Now we are staying outside the walls, right outside them actually in the “Hotel Asia” and they have laid on some Broth for us as we are arriving late which is nice and a local beer helps relax us after quite a long day.

A few random pictures I took during the day to keep the post colorful.

 

Breakfast is a surprise because even at 6:30 the place is busy, well its not a surprise that the people filling the place are Germans but lucky of us they are not off to the border like us they are headed in the other direction.

Jonathan gives us the good news bad news script. Good news is the border is closed to local for some reason which should make it marginally quicker the bad news is that the bus which ferries people across no-man’s-land is not running so we will be pulling our own cases across the 1km to the other side.

Well “it is what it is” is my response so bring it on.

After an hour or so on the coach we arrive at the border 21 people all dragging their bags towards a young chap in a nice smart uniform with a big shiny machinegun strapped across his chest this is the “before you get to the border check, check”

He looks at our passports one by one randomly flicking through the pages not sure what he is looking for but I learnt a long time ago you don’t mess with people at customs points you just keep quiet and let them do what they need to do.

 

Well past the first hurdle now 100 mt to the next checkpoint. Heave the bags up the steps (no ramp) now all our passports are collected and taken away to be processed.
Now in reality each passport should not take that long however they don’t give them back until all of them have been processed so this does take a little time. This is extended as on of our group (no names Michael) seems to have a different passport number to the one on the list which seems to be catastrophic and something which can not be rectified here at the border so the member will be left behind in Uzbekistan on his own whilst the guide tried to sort it out. 

After arranging transport back to the hotel and someone to look after them we are making sure the team member has lots water, fruit, boiled sweets, telephone numbers and are saying our goodbyes where behold a solution is found (after the guide takes some staff member away into a quiet corned and talks to them) and we all get back in line excitement over for now.  

 

They eventually bring our passports back and we are called through in some random order scanned and then have to talk to one of the customs people.

When you enter Uzbekistan you fill out a form which notes all the different currencies you have and you do the same on exit and they using a calculator work out how much you have spent. They then put this back onto the form you gave them stamp it twice and let you go to the next checkpoint where
they type all your details into their computer and eventually stamp your visa
(I never told you how much fun we had getting the visa in the first place, another time perhaps).
Once stamped you get to go and wait outside whilst everyone else goes through the same process. Now some of our party seem to be taking out more money than they brought in which is a bad thing and there is plenty of changes being made and lots of head scratching going on.

After an hour and a half we are all through and assembled now we have to get across no-mans-land and off we go it is not really a road more packed earth and stones so progress is not particularly fast, more steady.

Half way across we have to show our passports again to some nice young man in a smart uniform with a big machinegun. this is the last of the Uzbekistan checks however 10 mt on and we do the same with the first Turkmenistan checks by a nice young man in a different smart uniform and a machinegun across his chest.

We set off again and I note we cross a river which is probably the actual border. There is someone stationed every 150 mt along our route smiling as we pass.

We arrive at the Turkmenistan checkpoint and our passports are collected again
and taken away again (we all have visas so this should not present too much of
an issue and 45 minutes later they come back and we are scanned through with
passports stamped. Only one more young man in uniform with a gun to go and we are now getting onto our next coach for another adventure.
All in all about 3 hours which our guide says is not bad.

 

The is not really a problem with all of this process you have to remember that until 1991 they did not have borders as they were all part of the USSR so they have no process and they had to create border crossings and everything which goes with them add this to the fact that 20+ foreigners turn up all at once and I think everything went fine. 

No pictures sorry its not the done thing at borders

 

So our last night in Khiva and we are in the center of the town at an open air restaurant where the food is “interesting” soup and stuff in sticks with lots of bread and beer and of course some local vodka, well it would be rude not to.

The highlight is a group of people playing local instruments and a lady singing with a couple of kids helping.

It was a lot better than I am making out and they play and sing with a lot of gusto and polish, this team have done this a lot.

There is the obligatory get the tourists up to dance section which some of our groups seem more than happy to assist with.

 

The small amounts of local vodka which were consumed I believe may have added to the joviality.

 

As much as we are enjoying ourselves we have to leave and get some sleep.

We have our first border crossing in the morning and breakfast is at 06:30 bags on the coach at 07:00 with us leaving at 07:30 and we are already being warned will be long and tiresome.

We continue to drift around this charming place during the later afternoon I say charming the guide put a lot of emphasis on the large slave market they used to have which reduces the charming to chilling.

Khiva has Madrassa and museums plus a real life Harem to potteraround where they put on a very weird / interesting little “activity” which may have been a play or a historical reenactment of some event but given none of us speak Uzbek it was almost impossible to decipher but the main character did have some groovy boots on.

 
A lot of very delicate tile work and plenty of things to delight the eye even a carriage acquired from the Tsar of Russia and a Medieval Friday Mosque. 
 

We are advised that nominally there are three types of mosques an Everyday Mosque, a Friday Mosque and a Special Celebration mosque.

The everyday ones are normally small and local to the community and the Friday Mosque is one for weekly gatherings the last is fairly self explanatory.  

 

As I said before we are trying to get some sunset shots of Khiva and we have found a 3 story building just by the East gate which we can climb up onto which for some reason is not crowded with other tourists trying to do the same thing.

There are no “Health & Safety” officers here so stairs with no banisters and flimsy wooden posts to stop us falling to our doom are the norm and you just keep climbing and don’t look down.

Whilst waiting for the “right” light (like I know what I am talking about) acouple of curious local girls want me to take their picture, they then of course want to see it,



in return they show me how to clamber across the roof tops of the houses below us which gives me some great shots from a different angle.

 

OK job done and a quick dash back to the hotel for a shower before dinner which Jonathan says will be special so who knows what we will end up eating.

 

We are quite often in awe wandering around Khiva, open mouthed and gawping at the intricate and colorful buildings not to mention the colorful people.

We are also reminded that we are in an ordinary town as we bump into two wedding parties looking stunning if rather somber given the occasion

 

We are lead to believe that it is traditional not to smile and we should not worry about them.

Another happy group we bump into are these and whilst the adults look very pleased and proud the youngster dressed in silver should be less impressed.

Although he probably does not understand it he is off to his circumcision which happens to boys when they are either 3 or 5 no idea why the gap but  I think earlier rather than later would be his response if asked.

The lady holding the child is noted for her gold teeth which are all the rage, everyone and I mean everyone has gold teeth. Not sure but I imagine they go to the dentist not as much for a checkup but a revaluation.

We are enjoying Khiva very much and spend the rest of the time hanging around and drinking coffee watching the locals and haggling for souvenirs.
They have lots of carpets, wall hangings, paintings chess sets and trinkets although i am biding my time until we get to Buchars where Jonathan says the is more choice and keener prices.

As the day starts to wind down we are hatching a plan to come back later to try and get some sunset shots from a highpoint we have spotted before meeting up with the group for dinner somwhere in the center ofthe town.

 

Well this is what we want a real honest to goodness ancient walled city. Legend has it that Khiva was founded when Shem son of Noah discovered a well here although there are several other theory’s.

Whatever the origin it has been around since the 6th century and was a fort and trading post on the Silk Route and capitol of the Timurid empire in the 16th century with a very busy slave market.

It is a Unesco World Heritage site and this stops development inside the walled area which ensures it keeps its ancient look and feel.

Here is their representation of the original Silk Route with Khiva right in the middle

and here are the walls of Khiva

 

Up early for a day touring the place with some free time in the afternoon to wander around. Entering the town through one of the ancient
gates we are confronted by a maze of streets which eventually lead us through
ruins and great mosques. It is a very picturesque place with several Madrassa
museums minarets and the slave cells inner citadel (Kunya Ark) and quite a few
people selling items which they are touting as hand made.

 

Khiva is split into two parts. The outer town, called Dichan Kala, was formerly protected by a wall with 11 gates. There is a picture below notice to the right hand side of the picture these are tombs which are a ruse as attackers were not allowed to walk over graves and so it was a sort of extra protection for the city. 

The inner town, or Itchan Kala, is encircled by brick walls, whose foundations are believed to have been laid in the 10th century. Present-day crenellated walls date back to the late 17th century and attain the height of 10 meters. The old town retains more than 50 historic monuments and 250 old houses, mostly dating from the 18th or the 19th centuries.

Djuma Mosque, for instance, was established in the 10th century and rebuilt in
1788-89, although its celebrated hypostyle hall still retains 112 columns taken
from ancient structures.

 
It’s difficult to imagine what exactly ancient Khiva was like, considering the historical areas were restored to a scrubbed and squeaky-clean look by the
Soviets in the 1970s.
It is not often the Soviets are praised for their work but this time you have to take your hats off to them an this place could so easily have been lost given how close Bukhara and Samarkand are to it. 
The clustered array of mosques, madrassahs and tiled minarets within a area of less than 3km give you a sense of how crowded and bustling this town must have been throughout its history. It was noted as being very crowded with so many people inside the walls it was difficult to make your way around.