Autumn in Almaty

We have spent two very relaxing weeks in Alamaty in Kazakhstan. I had booked tickets into Western China but that was where our future plans ended, so, two weeks of catching up on schoolwork and planning was just what we needed. I was a bit worried it would be cold at this time of year but we have been pleasantly treated by the weather gods and have had two weeks of brisk air and sunshine. From our airplane Almaty looks like a city on the edge of a vast desert. The reality is far different with the city being surprisingly green and with constant views of the mountains. This is a city that claims the origin of the wild domesticated apple. It is from this claim to fame that Almaty was named - father of apples. November was the prime time to be in the city of apples as the markets were awash with many apple varieties. The city is very walker friendly with its broad tree lined sidewalks. It is also a very large spread out city so on our long long walks we were glad for the pleasant walking corridors. We were also glad for the endless playgrounds dotting the streets. We stayed a little out of the center of town in an apartment complex largely populated with families making for a very convivial property playground scene. Almaty in general seemed to be full of children. Perhaps it is the dual shift public school schedule that meant we were always seeing children around or the neighbourhood we chose to stay in, but, regardless it was nice having kids all around. Unlike Uzbekistan which has been slowly and intentionally drifting from its Russian past, Kazakhstan is still very much aligned with Russia and Russian seemed to be used and spoken as a main language in Almaty. We had the good fortune of going to a circus in town. Circus was an important part of Soviet culture and Almaty thus has its own permanent circus venue in the centre of town. We were wowed by the acrobats and underwhelmed by the seal (except for Levana). Super Silva's netless trapeze act (search for the video) literally had me holding my breath. Levana got to go trick or treating for the first time, and even though it was just door to door within our apartment and involved five candies, she loved it. We visited both the modern and state art museums and both were impressive and even held Tova's attention and imagination. The climbing gym as usual was also very popular. It was a pleasant and quiet two weeks that we have all enjoyed and recharged us for the next step of our journey. Perhaps we will make it back one day to do the endless number of hikes in Almaty's backyard. 

Fancy finding Tova's twin at a Yayoi Kusama exhibit here

The tiger

The circus ended with a real surprise marriage proposal

More Soviet style metro

The beautiful Russian Orthodox church

Winter sports are a big thing here and I really liked this painting for so many reasons. 

Museum break

Cold enough to warrant making her a hat

She finally decided to drop her bedtime milk habit and was thrilled with her prize. Fourteen years of breastfeeding - maybe I need a prize too?!

Farewell Uzbekistan

Our last two stops in Uzbekistan were Bukhara and Khiva.  Bukhara was a main silk road stop and main player in Islamic learning. In the 13th century Genghis Khan played a large role in the destruction of old Bukhara. Not all buildings were destroyed - legend has it that when he spotted the Kalyan Minaret he was awed by its beauty and left it standing. He also spared the Samanid mausoleum inadvertently as it was so buried in sand he did not realise it was there. After Khans destruction the city was built up bigger and grander. We can testify to what a great centre of learning Bukhara was as we walked through numerous madrassahs. Sometimes it seemed to us that Bukhara had such an excess of old school buildings they are at a loss of what to do with them. A town can only support so many museums and artisan workshops so Bukhara is rife with empty classrooms. I would dearly love to see someone create come schools out of the old madrassah as they really are beautiful set ups for places of learning. Bukhara is a popular tourist spot but we had the privilege of living in a very local apartment complex half an hour from the core. We really enjoyed the rusting and constantly used playground in our courtyard and the small but bustling market that got packed in the evenings when the deliveries of trays of cakes came in. 

Khiva is an old old oasis town that has the claim to fame of having been inhabited for over 2,500 years. Local legend has it that the town was first settled by Shem, the son of Noah, after the flood. Kind of a far walk from Mount Ararat but a nice legend nonetheless. The desert area past Khiva is rife with half buried ancient fortresses further attesting the long history in the region. There are many colourful stories associated with Khiva- it was a hub of slave trades, German mennonites were granted amnesty in the region, Khiva regularly raided the Russian frontier and took Russian slaves (part of the reason Russia eventually took over). and much more. Similarly, there is a richness to the architecture of the old city which is why it was eventually made the first UNESCO heritage site in the region. I like that the residents of Khiva kept living in the ancient city, and still do, even as it wore down with time.

Uzbekistan was a great place to visit. It was a true melding of cultures that was seen in diet, buildings, clothing and appearances of the residents. It is a country that is fairly modern while still holding onto its rich past. In Uzbekistan bread is sacred - it is made in visually pleasing designs, is never wasted, and is always given to any visitors. Uzbekistan is an interestingly desert heavy country while still having lush areas full of melons, pomegranates, and cotton fields. It used to be home to the large saltwater Aral sea before the Soviet irrigation projects caused it to dwindle into desert. In Uzbekistan they show their thanks and respect in a gestures of placing they right hand to their chest. They are not the only country where this is done but they do it with such grace and depth that somehow I now feel I am missing that gesture in my life.  

Saved by the sand

The more towers the better?

I would definitely want to go to school here

We like places where tea is the most important drink

Keeping Tova entertained

Empty Juma mosque turned out to be ideal for hide and seek

Singing with Levana

Beautiful Khiva

Neighbourhoods of old Khiva

She found her favourite part of Khiva

Sunset games of soccer in this courtyard seems like a great way to grow up

Trying the local dishes. The dill noodles were eaten largely by me. 

Desert fortress

They really liked getting to just run amok at each fortress

Desert explorers

Samarqand

 Even if you have never been to Uzbekistan you have likely heard of Samarkand. Samarkand is just one of those ancient places that once held such great importance in the world. From a vital stop on the silk road to the grand buildings of the TImurid rule it has captivated hearts and imaginations for centuries. Flecker expressed this historical longing for a city gone in his poem "For lust of knowing what should not be known...We make the Golden journey to Samarkand." Even Alexander the Great supposedly said "Everything I heard about Samarkand is true, except it's even more beautiful than imagined." The Soviets on taking over Uzbekistan had an equal fascination and enchantment of the city and country. Generally, The Soviets were not into bringing out nationalism of their conquered countries, however, in the case of Uzbekistan they veered from that policy. Ancient madrasahs and mosques were deemed so old and grand that they were disconnected from religion and would inspire citizens to allegiance and greatness and serve as a mecca of visitors once again. For decades the Soviets researched and excavated and renovated. Samarkand went from grand crumbling to grand. Some say the Soviets took too much liberty and enthusiasm in their revival of Samarkands historic buildings -  I disagree. The Soviets were masters of the art of mosaic making them ideal reconstructers of the great mosaic mausoleums. They have truly brought back to life a small sliver of what that most noble and grand city would have been like when Alexander set eyes on it. 

Samarkand has grown over the years and is now a large bustling spread out city. It has not grown in the same way as Tashkent - it retains its small town rural feeling over a large expanse. We stayed right close by Registan which meant that our evenings could be spent in the glow of Registan. We all really enjoyed sitting on the Registan steps watching locals and tourists take wedding pictures and selfies in front of the awe inspiring setting. We saw the oldest observatory and learned all about how astronomy was conducted accurately pre-telescopes. We wandered an ancient largely unexcavated village bursting with shards of ancient pottery. We visited so many mind boggling buildings. We tried local dishes and wandered around buildings until children started to protest. Samarkand is beautiful and I am impressed with the power it has had over people throughout time. The Soviets may have made a few blunders in their rule, but, bringing Samarkand back to life was an unimaginable and impressive feat. Now I am curious to see what the pyramids of Giza would look like if they were similarly restored. 

Such a nice place to sit in the evenings

Bibi Khanym mosque before and after restoration

The children loved the guest house breakfasts

The Soviets were more into buildings and mosaics than archeology based on this ancient town under mounds of dirt. This was Tova and Zadie's favourite place

The cutest part of the ornamentation

Photo taken by Zadie

This carpet seller has four sons and asked for a photo with my four daughters

Masters of geometry

The blues in the city!

Extravagant from ground up

Almost as busy as during its heyday

Children preparing for Samarkand cultural day

I can see why so many couples come to these buildings for wedding photos

Mausoleums at sunset

Nice that locals also make use of the buildings

Registan by day

Joy in the unexpected

We decided Uzbekistan was the place to be about a week and half before arriving. This didn't leave that much time for discovering why exactly Uzbekistan was the place to be and making it all happen. Mostly I did some internet research and read other people blogs to come up with a quick plan. Tashkent was one of the spots that reviewers seemed lukewarm on. Many travellers were of the opinion that it should be skipped completely. Those that enjoyed Tashkent generally seemed to go largely to see the Tashkent metro system. With expectations of the city set fairly low we were all pleasantly surprised. 

Tashkent is a large modern city. We had the good fortune of staying in an apartment right above a pedestrian zone beside the central park. This was an hip area full of cafes, ice cream stands and activity. After the speed of London it was so pleasant to be in an area where the main aim was a casual stroll with family and a leisurely meal. The well manicured city park won our hearts with its various activities, sculptures, greenery and large body of water. In the evening there is a fountain light show in the city park. We have seen many such fountain shows but this was by far our favourite. There is a pedestrian bridge that brings you quite close to the fountain so that the experience becomes immersive and wet. It was an extravagant fountain show with frantic plumes and sweeps and squirts of water and light. 

I worried that our view of Tashkent was rosy for the area we chose to stay in so we made sure to walk everywhere we could. Still, we continued to be impressed by the many parks and the general vibe. Even walking on large busy roads there were plenty of shops and other pedestrians making it an enjoyable experience. The Tashkent market proved an unexpectedly fun adventure. Having mixed up the conversion rate by a factor of 10 (hard to keep track of all those zeros) we ended up with 11 dollars CAD (100,000 SOM) in cash and our journey was transformed into a mission of how much a person can buy in the Tashkent market for 11 dollars. Turns out the answer is a small bottle of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, a bag of roasted unshelled almonds, half a kilo of figs, a pomegranate, two boiled corn cobs, two potato somsas and one marriage proposal. Not bad! Still worried that we werent seeing enough of town to be unimpressed we walked for an hour in the other direction the next day. It was a green walk that passed by many important buildings and more lovely parks. We ended up at a museum that was as grandiose in appearance as its history.

Eighty years ago there was a forced migration of ethnic Koreans near the border of Korea to Tashkent. Carted through the vast expanse of Russia in cattle cars many of those Koreans died. Those who didnt led hard lives of forced labour in their new home. A sad time in history but now there is a large culturally Korean community in Tashkent that shines through in many parts of the city. Seeing Korean writing and eating Gimbap really caught our fancy and we took full advantage of the Korean culture. 

The metro, built by the Soviets in the 60's to be earthquake proof, act as a nuclear bomb shelter, and showcase art, was interesting. Even though we went in the middle of the day it was quite crowded and I felt silly riding around in the throng for the joy of it. The children seemed perplexed by the hype and mostly chatted amongst themselves. So we learned, in a most agreeable way, that travel pleasures differ based on person and expectation.

Pedestrian area life

Market

City park

In case we forget where we are

Night life here was vibrant and full of families

Fountain show

Learning about Timurid history

Metro

Lots of chandeliers in the metro

Magic city -  a place where anything can happen

Luckily, in this meat loving country, there was at least one veggie item on the menu