Hotel Arkanchi Khiva

Sunrises and Markets and Bus Rides<br><br>October 14, 2009<br><br> We started the day quite early as 5 of us got up to see the sunrise over the ancient rebuilt town of Khiva. There are 4 gates into the old city and we headed towards the north gate to get up onto the city walls. There was a ramp leading up and then we had to scale a 4' wall to get onto the wall itself. That may sound fairly easy but not to someone with ...

Khiva, October 13, 2009<br><br> Arriving in Urgench by train this afternoon, we had a 45 minute bus ride to Khiva which is an old city in history and under UNESCO heritage. However, much like Warsaw, it has been destroyed numerous times, either by invaders or by fire or by earthquake. At least better than Warsaw, what we are seeing here will be several hundred years old and on occasion, the true age of many ...

... salt lakes and some villages! Interesting to see that there seem to be more 'death people' villages then &#8216;living&#8217;ones! The graveyards are impressive here with amazing tombstones. Within 5 days we cross into Uzbekistan: Central Asia Silk Road country. Our welcome could not be more hospitable. The first day we spend with 2 truck drivers, who escort us across the desert, share meals with us and help us out in many ways. Ochin Spasiba! Hope to meet you in ...

... outside looks simple but inside a colorful decorated table is waiting for us. It's a habit in central Asia to leave your shoes at the entrance and sit on pillows on the ground, same here. Starter is tea and Wodka&#8230;.Ai! Until now I succeeded in being a non-wodka drinking person even in Russia but today there is no mercy. I will have to be brave and drink this poison. Well, one glass I will survive ;-) After a delicious salad, lamb or sheep (still don&#8217;t know what I ate) and ...

... here in school - the speed is fascinating.... <br><br>The last days, we planned our ongoing trip: after the Iran, we will take a boat to the VAE, from where my friends will travel on to India. I will cross the border to Oman, fly to Jordan and travel to Egypt, Israel and hopefully can bord a freighter ship that takes me back home to Europe. We will see if ...

... and savage ruler who used to throw people to their deaths from the top of the minaret in Samarkand - and is, strangely, Uzbekistan's national hero). Poor Timur's horse - some local vandals cut off his male bit, leaving only the gonads hanging. Of course, a horse without its male bits will always steal the show. <br><br>Our train trip to Khiva was supposed to be 17 hours, but stretched into 20. The first 6 hours were hideous - there was no air ...

... long Uzbekistan was providing two-thirds of the output of the world's second largest cotton producer. The downside to this was massive soil degradation, groundwater pollution (from over fertilisation) and most obviously the start of the ongoing slow-death of the Aral Sea. Prior to being diverted for cotton production the rivers flowing into the Aral Sea provided 55 cubic km of water to the lake a year. The amount (intentionally) siphoned off for irrigation of the ...

... visit in the morning and sleep or try to sleep in the afternoon. <br><br>Dragonman had promised us a local guide to take us out of the city and perhaps to the dusty Aral Sea. However this did not happen so life became uncomplicated. Rest and reading. Our first night in our $35 a night hotel saw the power cut at midnight, forcing us to try to sleep in over 40 degrees. <br><br>Just imagine trying to sleep in a dry sauna and you get close. This was nose ...

... stop over at nearby Urgench airport before flying on to Nukus. All we had to do was to disembark at Urgench. <br><br>This sounded ominous. Our problem we pointed out was that we were ticketed to Nukus. "No problem" beamed Odil, &#8220;Your driver to the airport will explain at the check in. No problems. All you need to do is to get off at Urgench. Don&#8217;t worry!&#8221; <br><br>We WERE worried. We knew well that a LOT of things can go wrong, especially when language is a problem.<br ...