Khiva to Bukhara: The Road Less Traveled

(6/11)
Khiva is absolutely stunning at sunset. The sun hits off of the different buildings, mosques, medressehs, and minarets (M3) to form a dazzling array of colors. Now I know what it must have been like to see that Mausoleum in Merv with the turquoise dome that traders could see from a day out as it shimmered in the sun. And when the heat of the day leaves and the cool breeze comes it's just blissful here.

I enjoy sitting in the shade enjoying a pot of tea at a Chaikhana (tea house). Because Khiva is mostly intact I have spent little time thinking of what it must have looked like. But I realized that despite it's completeness I need to use my imagination. Khiva today, at least the walled city, is very much aimed at tourists. Of the 50,000 residents of Khiva only 4,000 live within the walls. Khiva of yesterday was a bustling oasis town, a main stop along grueling caravan trade routes. But what Khiva is most well known for was its activity in the slave trade. I read somewhere that the etymology of slave comes from Slav, the people most likely to be seen for sale outside of Khiva's eastern gates; not the cherries and dates for sale
today. The streets must have been filled with camels and merchants. There were even Jewishes. In fact, the older Khorezem language was written with Hebrew script. No doubt attributed to the Jewish scribes(who most likely knew each other through Jewish means∆▼*). Oh yes, and one of the Khan's favorite methods of torture and execution was impaling. That way it took a good two days to die. Others included being thrown off of a tower, being buried alive upside down, being sewn up inside a sack with wild animals, and the civilized method of stoning (I can only think of Monty Python). So I guess my point is: even though Khiva's walls and M3 are intact and fully there for any visitor to see, there is still much that needs to be imagined to envision the times of the Silk Road.

It took six hours to drive from Khiva to Bukhara. Just think, camels used to go 40k/day and I was going 100k/hr. Although at points the roads began reminding me of those in Turkmenistan. My mother and I have been having some trouble with our travel agency: our driver doesn't speak any English, they keep on giving us guides on day #2 in a city rather than when we first arrive, and they booked us in what Lonely Planet calls "popular with the backpacking crowd." We moved to a different B&B.

After settling into Sasha & Sons B&B we took a stroll around the town. An aside: the B&B used to be the private home of a Jewish merchant and is in the Jewish Quarter. Why is it that Jewish Quarters are tres hip these days? Marais and Lower East Side come to mind. Right, we were strolling. We happened upon the Synagogue, which is still functioning, and went inside for a look around. I spoke with the caretaker in Persian. Wow, all those months at the Farsi Farm paid off for something. He told me about the history and I was able to relay this to my mother and ask questions. Who knew I could speak Persian? Not me.

My mother and I then wandered on a few more streets and set out to find me some birthday ice cream. We found a teahouse instead that was located along side a Huaz (or pool), which functions as the center of town. In fact, it was just like sitting in an Italian piazza. Instead of churches there are mosques and medressehs. And instead of cappuccino there is green tea. And in this case, instead of an actual
piazza, there's a pool. This one had ducks, which in my book one-ups cobblestones. Then we got up to see if a puppet show was starting nearby. It was not. It will show tomorrow night and we will go. The puppet costumes looked great and it got rave reviews (I know that sounds very odd). So I wandered a bit more and found an ice cream cart where I bought Super Choc, a chocolate covered chocolate ice cream bar. It was no Baskin Robbins Mint Chocolate Chip, but it'll have to do.

After ice cream my mother and I walked across the "piazza" once more to see what was advertised as a fashion show. It was a mixture of a fashion show – some modern and some traditional dresses – with traditional dancing and music. All in all the show probably lasted about an hour. It was great and some of the costumes and fashion show items were nice. I'll go check out the stores tomorrow. We had more green tea and I had an Uzbek beer; nothing to write home about…and yet here I am writing home about it.

After the show we returned to our B&B for a birthday feast: tuna, cucumbers, tomatoes, fresh bread, hummus, and a birthday candle. There are two small groups that seem to be traveling along the same route and more or less at the same pace as us. One group is Jerry and Miles, I've already mentioned them. The other I met in Khiva. Lauren and Paul are from San Fran and started out in Pakistan then flew to Kyrgyzstan and are now traveling the Silk Road before they head out to Turkmenistan. So we've been trading tips (and books) back and forth. They have a tour guide that is with them and she was telling this story about how she was in Queens, NY and visited some of the Bukharian restaurants (which are owned by Jews) and how she was in their homes (again, Jewish Bukharians). Anyhow, she was insulted that they wouldn't serve her meat dumplings with yogurt and how they could offend a guest like that. Paul and Lauren thought this was hilarious as why would these Jews break kosher laws for a guest. We concluded that this is the culture gap. As Americans we tend to be
accommodating and adapt to our situations. For instance, you would never travel to Iran and expect someone to serve you pork or wine. But the culture here is that you do everything and anything for your guests. And so there arises a cultural misunderstanding. Their guide also seemed horrified that someone would be paid $5 as an immigrant just because that's a lot of money "back home." Again, we noted that
it had little to do with economic relativity and much more to do with the minimum wage laws. Alas. Try explaining that.

So far so good. I look forward to exploring Bukhara and further updating you. Thanks for reading. And btw – I love comments.d


* I hope somebody got these jokes…just ask if you need clarification.