05/13 – Khiva

We started today with a walking tour of Khiva and it is amazing.  It feels like we have gone back in time to the 800's (give or take a century or two or three) when Khiva was a prominent stop on the Silk Road.  Much has been restored and it feels like we are truly in the middle of Central Asia a very long time ago.  Narrow streets teaming with shops, soaring minarets, colorful tiled mosques, bread baking in ancient ovens, and even camels (Bactrian, the two humped kind).  

There was a lot to see during our walking tour.

The walls are incredible.  In addition to towering over the city they are undulate along their route.

First stop was the Orient Star Hotel.  This was a former madrassah converted to a hotel.  It has a huge courtyard.  We asked Tara why we weren’t staying here.  She had looked into it but tours are allowed to come in all day so there would have been the constant noise of tour guides and tourists.  So maybe it is good we didn’t stay here.  But it certainly looks great.

Right outside of the hotel is the Kalta Minor Minaret.  It is huge.  And apparently is much shorter than its original size.  And it is covered with tiles so it is very colorful.  It can be seen from all over Khiva.

The streets were lined with many shops and stands and even camels (Bactrian – the two-humped type).

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More Kiva Markets
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And people watching was fun. 

Many were tourists, just like us. 

     

There were interesting statues

and we watched a woman baking bread in an oven right on the street.

We also visited a wood carver.  One of the featured items was a wooden book stand that was made from a single block of wood.  It would fold up and down in many different configurations. 

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Video of book stand
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We visited the Juma Mosque with 212 wooden pillars holding it up.  Only 3 are original.

The Kuhna Ark was quite large with much to see.  Beautiful buildings…

and a small throne room.

At one place in the Ark the group climbed up to the top of a tower for great views of the city.

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More Khiva Ark
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There were many groups of school children out on field trips while we were there.  It is near the end of the school year so they are out visiting their heritage. 

We also visited the Museum of Khorezm Khans that had a lot of coins, ceramics and other artifacts

The Sayyid Islom Madrassah Museum had a variety of displays.

We saw a bridal couple out for their photo shoot.

The restaurant was a lovely large room (we had eaten on the rooftop the night before).

There was a large square…can’t find the name but again it was lovely.

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Video of square
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And this minaret was lovely,

especially at night.

We all really enjoyed our time in Khiva.  Visiting it was like going back in time.  It was absolutely one of our favorite stops.

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More Khiva
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More Khiva Doors
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