Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Romanian Experience
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Uzbekistan tour & travels
I like to reflect on a tour when I return, all that I thought worked well, and flag any tweaks.
In April it was our Uzbekistan Textile & Culture Tour.
I have been sssooooo busy [yes I am bragging and yes!! I have a big smile on my face 😁] that although I started this months ago, this is the first moment I had to add pictures and polish it up.
We toured Uzbekistan as we meandered along the Old Silk Road.
I loved the place so much when I did the walk through last year ... then the moment of truth when you bring guests.
And boy! was I happy.
Another brag- Creative Arts Safaris has the best adventurous souls to travel with - we are so lucky they choose to come with us and have fun.
From the moment I arrived in Uzbekistan, logistics were seamless, thanks to my trusty travel co-ordinator.
Transport arrangements, including flights and trains, were punctual and comfortable, making it easy to get around. The local guides I linked up with were exceptional, offering insightful commentary and great translations so they we felt we were talking directly with our hosts. Lot of laughs and fun as were learnt about the culture.
Due to a funeral Altaney asked we visit her on the day we arrived in Nukus, she had put a lot of effort into a felt making workshop for us and working out what a vegetarian meal really was.
Uzbeks are huge on hospitality and feeding people- she was inviting us into her home and had every intention of feasting us- then I said 4 vegetarians in the crowd- for weeks messages flew back and forth- no meat? like No meat? not even chicken- she was scratching her head- so where is the meal with no meat? Rahmat our guide in the Fergana Valley had a similar conversation with me- so funny.
We had feast none the less and everyone enjoyed themselves.
Back to Altaney- she had the whole day planned but we arrived late because of the change around- she really wanted to get started with the workshop- that vegetarian lunch was cooking but COULD NOT start until she had offered us tea and treats. Throughout her beautiful welcome I could see her desire to make sure we fit everything into her programme. What a wonderful experience.
Altaney lives out past Nukus, her forebears were Turkmen origin and she is a felt maker extraordinaire. Many of her family were/are farmers. It is hard to call- the shrinking of the Aral Sea to become the Aral Desert means the salt rises and good farmland has to be abandoned. She sells her felt products in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and her grandsons are joining her to learn the craft.
I wonder what other people in the area do when they can't farm anymore and don't have her entrepreneurial spirit to create a new source of income? Drift away from the homelands I guess- so sad.
To me Nukus and the warm welcomes we received, the feeling of being a long way, away from anywhere really capture The Silk Road and Uzbekistan.
There are few who make the effort to get out there and yet the place is so wonderful.
The Savitsky Museum is a Treasure Trove of Art. Nukus is renowned for the Igor Savitsky Museum, a cultural oasis in the heart of the desert. The museum looks a simple enough building, but stepping inside your jaw drops.
Icing on the cake was a performance by the Karakalpakstan Puppet Theatre in the forecourt of the museum.
Time with Gulnara, who not only showed us how to stitch Karakalpak embroidery but brought her very she appreciative to model a Karakalpak wedding outfit. There are always tea and treats where ever you visit.Fergana Valley and silk, silk and more silk.
the time consuming task of weaving a silk carpet.Early morning train- comfortable and with endless tea supplied takes you to the valley. It is nestled amidst the majestic Tian Shan mountains, and the cradle of silk production: a cultural heritage that spans millennia. Also the birth place of Babur who was the first of India's Moghul Empowers.
Ceramics and silks and fruit and vegetable production this fertile valley is a hive of activity.
Hand woven Silk Velvet is a cloth of wonder 😘
and then , and then there are the big 3- Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand- just beautiful. Well restored and easy to wander around, they are a delight.
I think Bukhara is my favourite, I like the local market, the variety of workshops and the easy pedestrian access. Next year this will be the place for a rest and explore day- there is a Hamman to check out and a moment to catch your breath, say pinch me- I am really here type thing.
I had included a visit to a yurt out on Adyar Lake but although beautiful it really was too far out to offer a restful time. Staying an extra night in Bukhara will be great.
Travelling you want to pack in as much as you can but if you don't stop and draw breath it can become a a sensory overload. I do like to keep an eye on this .... it is hard because for all we get to do, I have a backup list of "Wish I had to time to squeeze that in too" list.
The little everyone knows about Uzbekistan centres around the remarkable buildings- and they truly are amazing.Anyone who travels with me knows I put thought into when is the best time to visit a place- often the best advice is to be there as it opens- most tourists are sleepy heads and you will get it mostly to yourself.
It pays off- the remarkable Shah-i- Zinda of Samarkand was all ours
I have so many lovely images- look back through Facebook or Instagram. Eye candy if I do say so myself.
I keep using words like feast and delicious- I suppose because the pleasure of travels is a full sensory thing.
Look at the most beloved meal of Uzbekistan- Osh or Plov- it really is delicious
All the sides that go with a wonderful Osh Lunch- never dinner!Uzbekistan was a true delight and I look forward to our my next jaunt- you are welcome to share it with us.
Sometimes an opportunity pops up- it might seem a bit suspicious- but give it a go I say.
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Shekawati
Wonderful place to stay- there is even a modern dip pool out the back now.
Fascinating that it is believed that Ramgarh Shekhawati in 1900 had the richest per capita income in the world!
A town with eight centres of Sanskrit learning, patronage of the arts, architecture, building technologies, Vastu and Ayurveda, and great Vedic knowledge. It was also known as the ‘Doosra Kashi’! Kashi is another name for Varanasi, implying that this was one of the greatest learning centres of the world.
From an article by Dr. Shruti Poddar. I love the story of how the town came to be- makes the Chhatris seem even more amazing.
The rather small garden is just stuffed with different temples and monuments almost falling over each other. You can see where the caretakers Cow is housed in a beautiful temple. Needs must 😊
Just up the road, in an even sleeper little village is a full blown castle or fort!
It is huge, originally founded in 1768 there is the old part a fort with many newer buildings- think 4 story sprawling mansions built late 18/1900's spreading around it.
Due to large families and inheritance and the complexities of Indian joint families there are now 9 families who own sections of the place and it does not seem they are the best of mates.
The Thakur [title from Indian feudal times= lord] Mr Singh inherited the oldest part which really is a medieval castle. He told us he was a lawyer in Jaipur and had not expected to inherit the family title and home.... but there you, this is how the Gods wanted it.
There are some stunning old rooms, but not much modern at all, it is not a one person job looking after it or even just living in it.
Power lines are tacked along the walls, water is hard to get to the different rooms, toilets that flush were not a thing at the time of building.... Mr Singh and his lovely wife have had it open to guests for many years, their hospitality and kitchen impeccable in a crumbling but loved old fort.
Finding a fort out there in the desert is extraordinary, but even more boggling is the Sone-Chandi ki Dukan or Gold & Silver Shop just outside the ramparts. The murals painted on the ceilings are so fine it is hard to see them, you need a ladder. Note the more details a mural the more it cost to paint, so although they wanted to tell the story of the Gods, they also wanted to point out how well life was treating them. Apparently the trade was in opium which necessitated a gold store.
Think later Opium Wars with China- English colonial powers like to increase their chance of success by destabilizing populations with intoxicants. Some of the great Mughals and other noblemen were already known for their excesses, too.
Next to the Gold Shop is an old Haveli, it must have once been so beautiful and was renown for its soirees. It has a ballroom with Belgium Crystal Chandeliers, unfortunately now home to bats.
There are lights starting to shine, recent googling shows up a few places that have been or are being renovated into boutique hotels- Yeh!
I can't even tell you where this is.... we were taking a back road, searching out an amazing Women's Enterprise we had heard of.... another story.
Anyway trying to find our way we were driving through what seemed like inhospitable desert when over a small rise this came up.
Stunning!!. No idea who built it or why, no one to ask. It was just a moment of Shekhawat magic.
By the amount of goat poo around it is obviously appreciated by the locals.
If anyone knew it was there I am sure many would drive by to appreciate it's beauty.
Sums up Shekawati region really. I want to tell you about it, but it would be nice if it was our well kept secret.
Yet being pragmatic, it is visitors' enthusiasm that will save it. Visiting and filling the beautiful boutique Havelis that are around will encourage others to love up more of the old beauties.
Progress, some of it is based on loving and looking after the beauty and creativity of our ancestors. They lived out here and lived well in a hot, hot desert before modern electricity and AC. What could we do with our buildings after looking at their methods?
Plan on visiting again in October 2024