My visit in Samarkand continued with Gur-e-Amir. Gur-e-Amir means “tomb of the king” and is not only the final resting place of the great Timur but also became the royal necropolis of the Timurid rulers. Timur’s two sons: Shahrukh and Miranshah, and his two grandsons: Muhammed Sultan and Ulugbek, as well as Timur’s spiritual advisor: … Continue reading Samarkand, Uzbekistan Part 2 Oct 2019
From Bukhara, I took the hour and half Afrosiyob train to Samarkand. The Afrosiyob is a Spanish built high speed train that connects Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, with other major cities like Samarkand and Bukhara. The high speed train cuts traveling time by at least half so many tourists and locals are now taking … Continue reading Samarkand, Uzbekistan Part 1 Oct 2019
The oldest, best preserved, and most original monument in Bukhara is the Ismail Samani Mausoleum built in the 9th century (between 892 and 943). The mausoleum was the resting place of Ismail Samani who was the founder of the Samanid Dynasty as well as that of his father and future Samanid rulers. The walls here … Continue reading Bukhara, Uzbekistan Part 2 Oct 2019
From Khiva in Uzbekistan, I continued south to its most fierce rival, Bukhara. I chose to take the one hour flight from nearby Urgench to Bukhara instead of the 7 or so hours drive. There is talk that there will be a high-speed train connecting these two cities but at the time of writing the … Continue reading Bukhara, Uzbekistan Part 1 Oct 2019
About 2 hours drive from Khiva in Uzbekistan is Ayaz-Kala which is an archaeological site with the ruins of a Khorezm fortress built in the 2nd century by the Kushan Empire. Khorezm is about 3,000 years old and is the oldest civilization in Central Asia and was called the country of “tens of thousands of … Continue reading Ruins of Ayazkala & Toprak-Kala Oct 2019
Unlike in other ancient cities such as Samarkand and Bukhara, there is only one blue tiled dome in Khiva belonging to the Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum. This mausoleum is one of the most beautiful as well as most important pilgrimage sites in Khiva. Pahlavan Mahmud was a furrier, wrestler, poet, and Khiva’s patron saint. He received the … Continue reading Khiva, Uzbekistan Part 2 Oct 2019
Bright and early, I flew from Tashkent to Urgench and then drove to Khiva which is about an hour or so away. Khiva was the former capital of Khwarezmia and the Khanate of Khiva and was the first place in Uzbekistan to be made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990. Khiva’s development didn’t begin … Continue reading Khiva, Uzbekistan Part 1 Oct 2019
An interesting place to visit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan is the Metro which was the first underground transportation system built in Central Asia. It resembles the metro system in Moscow with large and highly decorated stations. The metro stations were designed for the seismic conditions of the region as most of Tashkent was destroyed in the … Continue reading Tashkent Metro, Uzbekistan Oct 2019
From Shymkent, Kazakhstan, I crossed over to Uzbekistan using the border crossing at Chernaevka. This is a pedestrian-only border crossing so I had to leave the car and driver behind and cross on foot wheeling my luggage. In the parking lot prior to the border crossing, there are many money changers with their wads of … Continue reading Tashkent, Uzbekistan Oct 2019
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