Tag Archives: Silk Road

uzbekistan-bukhara-fort

The Fort in Bukhara Uzbekistan

uzbekistan-bukhara-fort

The Emir of Bukhara who was responsible for the deaths of Stoddard and Connelly, a pivotal event in the Great Game, lived in this fort in Bukhara, Uzbekistan (also known as the Ark).

When we visited, I was in history-junkie heaven. My kids? Not so much :)

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Books About the Silk Road

Kim
Rudyard Kipling’s book describes an India and a world that no longer exists but the writing entrances like an old-time storyteller. I re-read this book while we were traveling across Central Asia and the story pulled me in as deeply as when I was first introduced to Kim, his Holy Man and their adventures on the Great Trunk Road.
Tournament of Shadows
This is the book I bought a few years ago to really learn about the clash of empires and culture of spies that evolved along the old Silk Road between Britain and Russia as they wrestled for mastery in the region. It is a tome but the cast of quirky characters and the epic scale of the events mean it reads like a modern adventure story.
The Silk Route
I picked this book up for my boys as a way to introduce them to the depth and breath of history of the Silk Road. This is a picture book intended for a younger (early elementary) audience but it is a great primer for a child of any age.
Stories From The Silk Road
I love teaching kids about history and culture via stories and this book is a classic example of that. The book is intended for older elementary aged kids but is a fun read even for teens and adults.
Insight Guides The Silk Road
I picked up a copy of this guidebook at the airport in Shanghai – just because the photos are so gorgeous. I tend to prefer more detailed, text-heavy guidebooks with plenty of listings. This is entirely different not least because it’s got so many stunning photos. We did use it with a Lonely Planet but this is the book I’ll be keeping as my memento of our trip.

The Passports with Purpose 2012 online fundraiser starts in just one week!! I’m extremely excited because this year I have a Silk Road-themed prize donated by Intrepid Travel. Check back on 11/28 for all the details.

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Why Did I Go to Central Asia?

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“Marco Polo! We should follow the Silk Road!”
As my husband grinned, thrilled with his brilliant idea, I blinked, lifted my jaw from the floor and shook my head.
He’d done it again. My knees were weak. A falling-in-love again moment. I’m doomed by the way this man and his madcap, audacious, why-the-hell-not ideas get me every time.

Marco Polo. Silk Road. Afghanistan. Samarkand. Adventure.
Time slowed down and I felt the adrenalin surge into my body. My stomach lurched and flipped at the same time.
“Done. But we’re NOT taking the kids into Afghanistan.”
“Details, details, Duffy. We’ll figure it out.”

We were standing in a bookstore in Seattle leafing through travel books. We’d committed to doing a round-the-world trip with our kids but were still in the planning stages. This Marco Polo idea ended up becoming a central organizing theme for part of our journey and yes, it was adventurous. It is not easy to travel independently from Xian to Turkey but we did. Even with all the fussing about visas and travel passes and illicit street-corner money-changers it will always be decidedly a high point in our year of travel.

uzbekistan-bukhara-fort

I’ve been thinking a lot about Central Asia lately, you’ll find out why when the Passports with Purpose 2012 online fund-raising event starts on November 28th :)
Apart from the travel memories (good and bad), the photos and the certainty that I know I’m not done with this part of the world, what I also found myself mulling over was my initial reaction to Murph’s suggestion. He tripped a fascination I didn’t know I had, but there was definitely something there, where did it come from?

Taking it from the top, how did I get from Marco Polo to Adventure?
1. Marco Polo. Sure everyone knows who Marco Polo was and that he traveled from Italy to China. Easy. Not exciting.
2. Silk Road. Part of the Marco Polo baggage. He went to China and brought back silk.
3. Afghanistan. Hmm. OK. A little geographic fuzziness happening here. I think MP went through Afghanistan but he may not have. It’s in the general area though. Aha! There’s the first source of my adrenalin rush: nothing like pondering taking your children into a war zone to get a fight-or-flight response going.
4. Samarkand. Golden Samarkand. Peaches. Tennyson. Or maybe it was Keats. Did he go to Samarkand or did he just dream about it? Oh! Here, we go, itch scratched…
Rudyard Kipling.
Kim.
That’s it!

I remember being 10 or 12 and watching the classic movie Kim. I was entranced. In this post-Harry Potter era it’s interesting to note that this is one of the few movies from that time with a child as the central character. Maybe that’s why the story fascinated me so much. I found a copy of Rudyard Kipling’s book at the library and read it. I pulled out encyclopedias and tried to find out more about the “Great Game” – and trust me, I had books A (Afghanistan), B (Britain), I (India), E (East India Company) and U (USSR) all open on the floor around me by the time I was done. I’m sure I dreamt about being independent enough to travel alone as Kim did.

So, now that I’ve been to Central Asia what do I think?
I plan to go back. There’s too many points on the map above that I didn’t get to see.
You should go. I mean it. This is one of the few places where you will actually feel like ye olde adventurer when you’re there.
Interested?
Check back on 11/28/2012. I might be able to help.

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Silk Making in Uzbekistan

Part II on our visit to a traditional silk factory in Margilan, Uzbekistan. This time focusing on the process used.

Silk Making: Silk Worms

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It starts with harvested silkworm cocoons…

Silk Making: Extracting the fiber

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Then soaking the cocoons to soften so the fiber can be extracted…

Silk Making: Spinning Thread

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Then stretching the raw fiber and weaving it into a thread using this machine…

Silk Making: A Skein of Silk

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To produce a skein of raw silk just like this…

Silk Making: Natural Dyes

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Which, in this traditional factory, is dyed using natural dyes made from plants and plant extracts.

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Traditional Silk Factory Margilan Uzbekistan

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These women are silk-weavers at the Yodgorlik Silk Factory in Margilan, Uzbekistan. This “factory” is the largest traditional silk factory in Uzbekistan – with silk-worms, mulberry bushes, drying cocoons and reels of hand-spun natural silk.

On the day we dropped by (unannounced), we were the only visitors and I think these weavers were a little put-out that we were disturbing their gossiping. They were also particularly surprised that we were even bothering to visit Uzbekistan. I held up our Insight Guides Silk Road guidebook in explanation at which point one gal, the one in the pink dress above, imperiously held out her hand for the book. I handed it her open on the page referencing the factory. She took it, flipped back a couple of pages, yelped in surprise and called to her co-workers to come see (I’m assuming that’s what she said because they came over – my Uzbek is non-existent). There was much fussing over the book and pointing at pictures and giggling, as we stood by confused and bemused. Thankfully the owner – who was playing tour guide for us – explained: the women had spotted a friend in the photos in our guidebook. If recognized a friend in a guidebook on Ireland (or Seattle) I’d find that pretty trippy too.

Ice duly broken, the women showed us all around the weaving section of the factory. They explained how they translate patterns, showed us how the looms worked and generally made us feel like we could sit down and join the crew if so inclined. Their work was exquisite but unfortunately too large and too heavy for our backpacks. I made do with a green silk scarf that felt like water in my hands. (It ended up almost causing me an Isadora Duncan-style demise in Tehran, but that’s a story for another day…)

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Bukhara Uzbekistan

Bukhara-Uzbekistan-Kalon-Minaret

Genghis Khan sacked Bukhara Uzbekistan in 1220AD. The story goes that he chastised the citizens of the city saying, “If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me”. Whether he actually said this or not, you have to agree that it’s a great plundering conqueror line. But, even in his eagerness to lay Bukhara to waste, Genghis was impressed enough by the Kalon Minaret (pictured above) to order it spared. So, this building, constructed in 1127 and noteworthy, purportedly for the first use of decorative glazed tile in Central Asia, stands proudly today.

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Khiva-Uzbekistan

Khiva Uzbekistan

Khiva-Uzbekistan

There’s little to do in the old center of Khiva, Uzbekistan except sit and admire the view. The dusty sand-colored buildings are ornately tiled in blues and greens. The minarets stand like lighthouses in the desert over an old town, frozen in time, and a new town sprawling out around the 17th-century walls.

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Osh Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan-Osh-Mt-Suleiman

I should have read the itinerary provided by CBT Kyrgyzstan more carefully. How could I have thought that a guided tour of Osh would be a good idea after six hours in the car? All we needed was a lazy walk to stretch our legs. The kids nearly flipped when they heard that we were meeting a guide and that there were museums on the afternoon’s agenda.

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May Snow in Sary Tash

Kyrgyzstan-Pamir-Alay

The road from Irkeshtam Pass to Sary Tash, the first Kyrgyz town of any size, twists and groans up the Pamir Alay. The Pamirs in Tajikistan are visible on your left, the Tian Shan on your right. On the day we passed there was no line between earth and sky, the clouds and the snow just shifting shades of white and grey. We climbed into the clouds and back down into a world of color, the Alay Valley a flat, worn carpet of greens and browns. On a clear day you can see Pik Lenin standing tall over the valley, but not today.

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Women of Kashgar

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One of the things which I found endlessly fascinating in Kashgar, China was the variety of womens’ dress. In the photo above, you can see plenty of Uzbek ikat-patterned sik in blue and purple. Every woman is either wearing a long skirt or has leggings on to cover her legs. Yet even as you notice this, look at the little girl on the left, she’s in a frilly, flouncy red dress.

Curious, the next day I took myself and my camera to the main square. It took a little time to find a spot in the shade in front of the mosque given that this is where the town elders seem to congregate. They stared a little as I sat there snapping but returned to their own conversations pretty quickly. For all I know, they could have been discussing the people I was photographing walking across the square.

kashgar-china-women-2The young women in the photo to the left were most typical of the women who passed by that day. Conservatively dressed in rich but heavy fabrics, heavy tights and with scarves of the most outrageous colors tied back to cover their hair. Many of these women wore the tails of their scarves over their shoulders maybe as a replacement for the plaits that were tied up behind.

I found the woman in the photo on the right most intriguing. Her clothing is very stylish and she’s wearing high heels but the only the upper part of her face is visible. I wasn’t sure if the white mask was for religious reasons or just to keep the dust off.

kashgar-china-women

In the heart of Old Town Kashgar most women are dressed like this: with an overdress and a heavy brown woolen veil over their heads. I had a hard time not staring: how does she see? that wool is not even close to transparent. And check out the pink frilly skirt just showing beneath her overdress and her daughter’s brightly-colored dress and pants. I think this is a woman who likes pretty things. How sad that she can’t preen when she’s out in public.

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Information on traveling to China with Children.

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