Of Samsas and Plovs

 If you should know anything about the Arun Kumar family, it should be that we do not waste any opportunity to travel. You should also know that we are quite merciless in this quest to explore places -  even the offspring are not spared. For our last trip to Japan, Child 1 ditched us for adulting (which he instantly regretted and made it a point to call and nag about every single day of our trip). This time, Child 2 decided football trumps travel (imagine!), and refused to vacation with us during the summer break. So we decided we'd actually take that break a bit earlier, when the whole world and their spawn are not gripped by wanderlust. Which is how April found us visiting the 'stans' as the Baa-Lamb likes to call them. Namely: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. 

First stop: Tashkent 

We arrive around mid-afternoon in Tashkent via Delhi. And true to form, we were rearing to head out and explore the city. So, bag-drop-and-freshen-up later, we decided to head out to Hazrati Imam Complex, which dates back to the 16th century, but the Hazrati Imam Jome Mosque in the complex is as recent as 2007. Of course, we'd promptly forgotten that it was Friday afternoon when we arrived, so it was slap-bang in the middle of the Friday prayers. (Jome- or Friday in the very name should've tipped us off, but clearly, it didn't strike us at all.) 

People lined up inside and outside for Friday prayers

We waited patiently outside for the city to finish with their prayers, while we wandered about. We stopped to photograph the flowerbeds, the folks praying outside the walls of the mosque, the few other tourists relaxing... and when the folks started filing out after prayers, it felt like the entire city had stuffed itself in there.  

waiting patiently for payers 

The men's section. 

What surprised us was the silence despite having vast numbers inside, which was in total contrast to any desi gathering of more than 5 people. 

The complex itself was undergoing renovations, so apart from the mosque, we couldn't really visit much else. but the mosque itself was absolutely stunning. I was also introduced to the first of many encounters with the local Uzbeks, who, after much discussion and debating amongst themselves, nominated one gent to come up and ask me if I was Indian. Upon confirmation, I was greeted with wide grins and a round of thumbs-ups and some (I hope) complimentary words in Uzbeki. What a nice feeling. 

Chorsu Bazaar wasn't too far away, so we decided to ask around for directions and wander over to have a gander. En route, we stopped for a bit of refreshments at a local choykhona — Tandir Samsas and Lemon cha. Absolutely loved it. 

Samsas baked in the traditional tandir. By the end of this trip, we'd had enough
samsas to last us a lifetime. Or even two. 

Chorsu Bazaar, we were told, was a must-visit for any tourist visiting Tashkent. It was singularly underwhelming. It is one of the oldest markets in Central Asia, and it is still functional. It consists of a massive domed structure with the open space sectioned off into areas for meats, vegetables,  spices and other miscellaneous stuff. Right at the back of Chorsu Bazaar was a local food market. 

Honim. We wouldn't find any more of this deliciousness for the rest of our trip. Sigh. 

This one has all the local faves like Norin (handmade noodles with horsemeat), Plov, Lagman, Kebabs and my personal fave- Honim (a yummy potato dish soaked in tomato sauce topped with chillies and onions).

We then decided we needed to walk off all that food we'd indulged in, so of course, it was logical that we'd take the metro. (What? Walking up and down the stairs to get to the metro is plenty of exercise.)

Alisher Navoy Metro Station- you can't help but keep looking up at the ceiling

Mustaqliq Maydoni station - love the chandelier

Kosmonatlavar: Those green textured pillars are beautifil 

Toshkent Metro depicts scenes from daily Uzbek life

 Tashkent Metro has 4 lines, and although we knew we couldn't cover all the stops, we decided to visit some of the most iconic ones. Each metro station has its own architectural language, and we absolutely love some of the soviet- era designs. One of my favourite stops was Kosmonavtlar. The theme they were going for was sci-fi/outer space, and their play of materials and colours is as un-metro-like as you can imagine. The Soviets clearly pulled out all the stops when it came to the Tashkent metro, including the stained glass, mosaics, chandeliers, and murals; they are just brilliant.

 

The famous 'book' hotel, Hotel Uzbekistan, serves as a backdrop to Amir Temur Square

That evening, we decided to wander around close to our hotel and explore eateries on a whim. Not a good idea- The baa-lamb wasn't in the mood for red meat, and finding a place that served chicken or just plain vegetarian fare was beyond Google Translate or us. Speaking of Google Translate, when we did stumble upon a local joint, it made some... interesting reading of the menu. 

Is it? Is it a fungus? The Shasliks were good, though. 

Stop 2: Bukhara 

The next morning, we boarded the train to Bukhara, in the south-central region of Uzbekistan, one of the key stops on the Silk Road that used to link China to the west. The whole place, especially the old part of the city, where we were staying, felt like a throwback to the past.  We joined a walking tour of the town, conducted by a lovely Pakistani gentleman who took us through a guided history of the city while showing us the sights. The historic centre of Bukhara is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and you can still see some of the structures from its former glory days. 

Magoki Attori Mosque - a XII century preserved mosque built on the ruins of a Zoroastrian Temple

We started off at the city centre and covered most of the key sites of Bukhara (which is beautiful). I loved walking through the Ulug-Beg Madrasah, 

The Ulughbek Madrasah and Abdulazizkhan Madrasah on either side of the street

 old Caravan Sarai sites, near the Namazgokh Mosque, the Toqi Zagaron (the trading domes where gold and silver were once traded), 

One of only 3 structures left by Chingiz Khan and his marauding army. 

the minaret of Kalon (from where Chingiz Khan allegedly loved to toss his enemies), briefly stopping for Namaz at the BoloHauz mosque 

The BoloHauz mosque, or the 40-pillar mosque.

before continuing to the Ismail Samani Mausoleum and the Ark of Bukhara. 

The Ismail Samani Mausoleum - the only roofed Islamic construction in this area. The design also incorporates pre-Islamic features like Zoroastrian and Hindu influences

I was also pretty taken with the cats- there were plenty around, and all of them, cute! Bukhara by night is beautiful; the monuments are lit aesthetically, and the night sky lends itself perfectly to show them off. 

In fact, I'd say the nights and early mornings are the best time to explore the city - unless you want to do a bit of shopping - and I wouldn't blame you for wanting to in Bukhara, it's pretty affordable and has quite a few beautiful hand-made mementoes (I didn't know that Ikat was a national tradition here). We ended the day with dinner at a lovely place called Joy. 

If you're visiting Bukhara, be sure to make reservations here; you won't be disappointed.  We also met a lovely set of people at our guest house, Sean and his lovely wife Liz, who are currently on an exciting two-year trip around the world and Carol, the eldest of our group, but as sprightly as they come. 

walking through the Ark and Toqi in the early morning

We spent the next morning walking through the deserted streets before sunrise, and the cats and us had the place to ourselves. And then making our way to Sitorai Mohi-Hosa Palace after a leisurely breakfast. 

loving the love they lavish on the ceilings

And chandeliers

Did I mention the ceilings? 

The Sitorai Mohi-Hosa Palace is the countryside residence of the Emirs of Bukhara and incorporates elements of both Russian and traditional Uzbek architecture. 

These days, it is quite commercial, with an 'artists' square', a choikhona and shops selling your regular souvenirs. There's also random peacocks wandering the palace, and if you look as Indian as I, you have as much chance of being in some random Uzbek family photo as the peacock.

The underside of the balcony needs decoration. Of course. 

The wandering peacock in q.

 And since you've already wandered a bit farther away from old Bukhara, where all the tourists congregate, do drop in to this lovely restaurant called Chinar to sample some traditional Uzbeki food at non-tourist prices and massive portions of it. It also has a fair share of vegetarian dishes on the menu, so that's an added bonus. 

(We made a short stop in Tajikistan before arriving back here, but that is for another post)

Stop 3: Samarkand

I'd heard so much about Samarkand that I was most excited about visiting here of all the places in our 'stan trip. I only hoped that it lived up to all my expectations. One of the things we love doing when we want to get a feel for a city in a short span of time is to book a walking tour. That way, we know what we want to revisit and spend more time later, besides knowing a little about the history of the place. The walking tour here started with the beautiful Mausoleum of Amir Temur Gur-e Amir. 

The restored Gur-e- Amir

This is the final resting place of Amir Timur and his grandchildren, including Ulugbeg. The mausoleum also charts the family tree of Amir Timur (all the way down to Babar and Akbar), apart from the history, what is fascinating is the lore behind Timur - the man was short and lame, by all accounts but the most feared conqueror of his time- and his legend lived beyond his lifetime. According to our guide, it was rumoured that when the Soviets excavated his tomb, against the wishes of the locals, they found the inscription: Whosoever disturbs my tomb will unleash an invader more terrible than I. And two days later, Hitler invaded Russia. Stalin gave Timur a proper Islamic reburial, and by pure coincidence, a month later, the Soviet forces recaptured Stalingrad. Just saying.

The intricate, textured interiors, with the play of light and shadows, made unbelievably, of paper

Of course, while the lore was gripping, what really took my fancy were the Papier-mâché interiors, which were some of the most intricately designed I've seen. 

We then walked across to the Registan (after a brief break for samsas at a local store - not the best ones we've had by far.  Give that a definite miss) - which, of course, in Persian, as in Hindi, does mean a sandy place, and is anything but. It was the erstwhile educational and religious centre of the city and is characterised by its 3 main structures: Ulugbek, Sherdor and Tallyakari. 

The lights at Registan on the Tilya Kori Madrasa

We were just in time to catch the sound and light show projected across the three structures, and it was beautiful, although I'm not quite sure how all that noise and light is going to affect the structures themselves. We stayed for the duration of the show (which was not in English for once)- Registan was also a lovely example of local culture and folklore weaves into the structures of ruling dynasties, while Islam doesn't allow the depiction of animals, Shedor,  as the name suggests, prominently features a tiger (granted there were a few creative liberties taken with said Tiger). 

The history of Samarkand on Registan's Madrasas

Ulugh Beg Madrasa

the gold leaf work inside the Tilya Kori madrasa

The optical illusion inside the Tilya Kori Madrasa - the dome is flat but looks curved because of the design.

Sherdor - Registan, the lion and sun, symbols of Samarquand

We then walked over to the Bibi-Khanym Mosque - which, despite being incomplete, is massive - and it was by design, after Timur's victory in Hindostan. (I did tell you Temur was quite a celebrity in these parts)

The Bibi-Khanym Mosque, built by Temur's wife (his favourite one, apparently) - that's all we know for a fact. After which, it runs into legend territory. One popular legend is that the architect fell madly in love with BK, and asked to kiss her in return for completing the structure on time. Needless to say, he met an unsavoury end on Temur's return.  

We also popped in to see the Hazrat Khizr Mosque (with a follow-up visit the next day to catch it in daylight), which is an early Zoroastrian temple - destroyed by Genghis Khan and built several times, but is one of the oldest mosques in Samarand. According to our guide, the colours and some design motifs are borrowed from India, signifying the ancient connections since the days of the Silk Road (I have not found this to be corroborated anywhere else, however, but let's go with it.) 

You can see where the guide would get that idea, considering the colour scheme of the rest of the structures in Samarkand

We made our way by train from here to Osh, Kyrgyzstan, but that, too, is for another post. Before we wander off to our adventure that involves yurts and horses and outhouses, I must talk about our lovely host in Samarkand, Dilnoza, who not only prepares a wonderful breakfast at her homestay but is also an ardent Bollywood fan and is up-to-date on the latest numbers. 

Noza's place, Nursultan Grand Guest House is definitely the most comfortable stay in Samarkand

Her place is a stone's throw away from Registan. I'd definitely suggest staying at hers if you happen to drop in to this city. We missed visiting the Fergana valley, but it was too early in the spring to see it in full bloom. That's a good enough reason to take the silk route again at another time. 

Leaving you with some of the cats we came across in case you weren't tempted enough to visit this country already.