Vignettes of the World
My Travel Journal
We spent a day and a half hiking with Mr. S and he shared quite a bit about his thoughts on the world as an Uzbek. I had this incredible privilege to learn about some current affairs in this region, which is not widely known …
We rose early. The hike of the day will be a full 7-hour hike onto the peak of the Nuratau Mountains Range. The ascent is between 900 meters to 1690 meters, almost 700 meters of altitude to climb. At 1690-Meter Altitude Unlike hiking in Hong …
Early in the morning we bid farewell to Samarkand. We would be heading to the Nuratau Mountains for a significant change of scenery from the ancient sites of Uzbekistan, and stepping into a wonderful embrace of its wilderness instead. A driver from the Syyod Camp …
Midnight in Peking, a book by Paul French Midnight in Peking has all the captivating elements that make it an amazing work of historical fiction. Based on a true crime that occurred in a time long past in the last century, it fuses history, diplomatic …
We took a quick lunch at the Siab Bazaar and then headed toward the Shah-I-Zinda. On our way, we passed by the Hazrati Hizr Mosque. The Hazrati Hizr Mosque The Hazrati Hizr Mosque was built in 1823. Although as compared to the myriad other ancient …
We woke up to a rainy morning in Samarkand. I had my Uzbek breakfast early in the morning and watched the rain as I ate. The weather was cool, perhaps in the low 20’s. We were going to see the Sha-I-Zinda that day, as the …
In our first night at the Bahodir B&B, we were quite disturbed by the group singing that went well into the depths of the night. The songs sounded like Christian songs to me, and I thought there were some evangelicals also staying at the hotel. …
Amir Timur ruled via the puppet khans in the khanate kingdoms in which he managed to consolidate his power. This was because Amir Timur himself was not a descendant of the Genghis Khan. Without this lineage he could not become the Khan. He became qurkan …
The Registan of Samarkand is the very soul of the ancient city’s heritage. Standing majestic in the heart of Samarkand, the Registan has witnessed the turns of history that shaped the ancient city as well as Uzbekistan. Its historic presence represents Samarkand’s legacy as an …
There is speed rail in Uzbekistan. We made it to our 7am train to Samarkand. About two hours later, we arrived in Samarkand. From the train station we took a taxi to Bahodir B&B, where we would stay for two nights until we headed out …