uzbekistan: khiva

Getting from Tashkent to Khiva in Uzbekistan wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd hoped. Uzbekistan doesn't have as much tourist infrastructure as I think it should, especially between some of the most popular places to visit in the country.

My day started when a taxi picked me up at 0600 to take me to the airport. My flight was supposed to depart at 0750, and we boarded on time. Then we sat. And sat some more while eating a snack. And sat.

Eventually we deboarded, and went back into the terminal. Announcements were made, but they were in Uzbek and Russian, so I had no idea what was happening. After a while we reboarded, and finally took off around 1015.

A few hours later the plane landed at Urgench airport. Since it was a domestic flight and I had my bag with me, I basically walked straight through the airport, out to the parking lot. 

My original plan had been to catch a bus into the city center, then catch another bus to my next destination of Khiva. Since the flight had been delayed, I no longer wanted to take the time to do that, and opted for a taxi instead.

I agreed on a price of $20 with a taxi driver, and off we went. He pointed out a few things as we drove (including cotton fields, one of the water hungry crops grown in this desert country,) and took me right to my guesthouse in Khiva. 

When he dropped me off he tried to raise the price, saying that I'd been by myself. I gave him the $20 we'd agreed on, and got out of the taxi. I hate it when people try to do that.

I was able to check in straightaway, something I always appreciate. I ended up taking a small nap, which wasn't my greatest move. I need to get better about checking in somewhere, dropping my bags and walking back out straightaway to start exploring, instead of wasting time.

The weather wasn't amazing, which was one of the reasons I ended up dozing off. It wasn't as warm as I'd expected, and it wasn't sunny. At all. It was windy, chilly, and constantly threatening rain.

My first area to explore was right across the street from the guesthouse, I think it took me about 3 minutes to walk to the entry gate. There is no entry fee just to walk around the area, so I opted to wait on buying an entry ticket. Also, the ticket office wasn't immediately obvious, another reason to wait on ticket purchase.

As I walked through the gates I could see a group walking along, including two women wearing wedding gowns. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were having wedding photos taken, I guess it was a double wedding. Very cool to see.

The old city of Khiva is still surrounded by its walls, which were first mentioned in history in the 10^th century. The khanate of Khiva is one of the areas that now make up Uzbekistan, but was independent and geopolitically powerful back in the day. 

The old city of Khiva is what visitors come to see, the modern part of the city isn't very interesting. (Though I do wish I had explored a bit more.)

I spent the next few hours wandering around the area within the walls. I found a short, very fat minaret that was never completed. I found a tall, skinny minaret that provides a good view of the entire old city. I found a couple mosques, and a couple madrassahs. I found quite a few museums, some of which sounded far more interesting than others.

I did pay one entrance fee for the day, to enter a mausoleum. I don't know why, but this mausoleum wasn't included in the ticket that covers the majority of the inner walled area. The tiling on the walls and ceiling was incredible, multiple shades of blue mosaic designs. I also noticed that prayers were being sung constantly, by one man who sortof sat in the corner.

I entered the Jama Masjid, the 'Friday Mosque' and could immediately see how old it is. Throughout the prayer area the roof was held up by carved wooden columns. Some of the columns were in better condition than others, not surprisingly. There were no windows in the walls, so it was really dark inside. I'm not sure what kind of lighting is normally used.

I noticed that I must've been traveling during low season, as the souvenir stalls were very lackluster. Many of them weren't stocked at all, and those that were open had very quiet vendors.

Another indication that I was traveling in low season was the closure of some buildings. I could be totally wrong, and those buildings are closed for another reason, but they just seemed so sad and empty.

It was impossible not to notice that every building was made in the same colour. A beige colour, very bland. The only colour came from the beautiful blue mosaic tiles used for decoration on the front of madrassahs, mausoleums, and mosques. With the gray sky, it seemed a bit ho hum.

Eventually I walked back out of the walls and went back to my guesthouse. The owner gave me some ideas for where to get dinner. Fortunately, one of the places was nearby, as I just wasn't in the mood for walking a long way. (I was cold, and not mentally ready to be cold, if that makes sense.) Food was good, and I came back to the guesthouse full and ready to sleep.

The next morning I got to experience a fantastic Uzbek breakfast. I ate a crepe, half a piece of French toast, sweet potato, another vegetable, rice, mashed potatoes, pickled something, bread, cookies, and tea. Not only did it all taste good, it was presented really well.

After a few more hours of relaxing, I went out for the day around noon. Yes, I wasted half a day doing a whole lot of nothing. I went back to the entrance gate, and paid for the city ticket, a whopping 100,000 som. (Which worked out to $11/12 US dollars.)

The ticket office also sold postcards, so I took advantage to get a few of those. The photos weren't nearly as good as I thought they should be, but I don't make the postcards.

I started my sightseeing by walking to another palace that I thought was included in the ticket. (My guidebook said it was.) It turned out not to be included, and the additional entrance ticket would've been 40,000 som. 

Since I hadn't yet seen anything included in the first entry ticket, I decided to skip the extra palace, and hope that I didn't miss anything spectacular.

I walked back to the old city area, and found a palace inside there, called the Ark. (Not the one Noah sailed when the world flooded.) I'm not sure what each section of the Ark was, I felt as though I was seeing a series of stages. I'm sure I could look it up, but I never got around to it. 

The appearance of each stage was quite fantastic, with nice decor, and wide open areas. Each tile design was different, and the undersides of the ceilings were awesome.

I found stairs which led me to the top of part of the Ark, which provided views over the entire old city. I loved it, and if it hadn't been so windy I would've stayed up there for at least an hour.

After leaving the Ark I visited a few of the museums spread out over the old city area. I saw the history museum, a music museum, and more. Despite the season (winter,) there was no heating in any of the buildings, so I was cold. The biggest museum I visited was the handicraft museum, which was mostly a wide open and empty space. There were small rooms around the area, also emtpy. The undersides of the ceilings were decorately with different designs, which were very very photogenic.

After checking out all the museums I found a set of stairs leading me to the tops of the walls around the city. I walked as far as I could in either direction, though some of the construction seemed rather soft in areas. It was nice to see the old city from a different level, and gave me some exercise.

After coming back down off the walls and walking through the area again I passed a couple school aged kids. They saw I had a camera and asked me to take a photo of them. Who was I to say no?

After the kids, I decided I was mostly done for the day. I walked back to the same cafe where I'd eaten the night before, and managed to clean my plates.

The next morning I got to have the same fantastic breakfast, then pack up my stuff and check out. The owner of the guesthouse had arranged a shared taxi for me to get to my next city, and it showed up on time.