The King of Samarkand

Actual Kings, years ago, where young like this.
This is, could be, a picture from a Millenium ago.


What would you change ?

The colors ?
The People ?


The same bread is still baked today. The girls are still this pretty. Even the woman in the background still looks this old today. This is the Silk Road.

Choose your Bliss - Alma Ata

It is said that everybody who will come and put their hand into the book will be saved.




The ones that do this will be blessed with eternal bliss.
Unfortunately you have to go to Alma Ata to find the book.

Alma means 'Apple'
Ata means 'Place'

No, eating Apples will not be a substitute.

Plenty of food to be had in Central Asia

Plenty of food



Fresh Food



Everybody makes a living



An assortment of basics



Dried nuts and fruits

Close up of tile work

You can see the buildings are old, still the tiles held up. Amazing !

Imagine all the tiles on just this ONE building

Just imagine how much work it took, all done by hand, to build this complex. Tiles everywhere!
Can you imagine how much time, effort, labor and money it took to build this ?
Nothing of today compares to it....... believe me !

Tile work

Imagine all the work involved in creating just this small patch of tiles.
Forming the tiles
Burning them
Applying colors.
Burning them again.
then filing down the edges
finally installing them on buildings.

HUGE buildings,

All done by hand....... a 1000 years ago !

The old phone system works in most of the former Soviet blocks. Not too well but it works.
To make a phone call means you have to be lucky.
The connection depends on this guy, if he does something wrong or has had a bad day, then....... the phone will NOT work.

Blame Him !

( I tell my my wife it's his fault that the phone did not work )
That way it's ok if I don't call home.

Tea time

Hot tea is wonderful on a hot day.

on to Bukhara, Uzbekistan

All day nothing but sand and trouble.








This was when the machine ran. Not for long, mind you, but I made about 100 Miles before the bike gave up it's ghost.

Break down on side of road, Uzbekistan

Trouble with a borrowed bike.









What do you do when you are on the side of the road with a bike you don't know ?
This old 350 Jawa, two stroke bike, was overhauled but still did not run.
I tried and tried, but it seized all the time, ran on one cylinder and finally died.
Only remedy was to wait until it cooled down to start it again.

Khan hats in Xiva (Karacul )

Even so it is hot in the desert the native population believed that wearing a hat keeps the body cooler.
These hats are made out of lamb fur.
The fur is taken from 'unborn' lambs to keep the curls very tight.
Yes, they slaughter the mother, then take the baby lamb. (Naturally, they eat everything they slaughter, too)
Notice: I did NOT buy a hat.

Xiva, Uzbekistan

Overlooking Xiva, Uzbekistan.

The last strong hold of the Khan.
This was an empire that was ruled by tribal kings until 1924 when it was taken over by the Soviets.

It is still, very much, an oasis in the desert.
About 100 Miles Sout East of the Aral Sea.

The name, Xiva, means "Sweet Water" in the local dialect.