A very early start today, as we woke up before the sun to depart at 5:45am for our flight to western Uzbekistan. Our destination was the ancient fabled city of Khiva, in the Xorazm province, near the border with Turkmenistan. We stumbled to the van, loaded our bags, and headed to the airport.
The best airline in Central Asia
Our flight was only an hour, and was thankfully uneventful. Uzbekistan Airways is hailed as the best airline in the 5 ‘stans, which may not be saying much, but it beats the heck out of Air Kyrgyzstan. We flew on a current-century Airbus plane, our seats were only the normal amount of cramped for economy, and they even distributed a semi-edible cheese sandwich — though I slept through that part. Actually, I pretty much slept through the entire flight, waking up only when we were about to land in Urgench.
Upon arrival, we met Valera, our Russian driver for the remainder of the tour, and loaded our bags on the van that will be our home-away-from-home for the coming days. Then it was a short 45-minute drive from Urgench to Khiva.
Fairytale town
Khiva is an ancient walled city full of the 3 Ms (mosques, minarets, madrassas) and old buildings and lots of monuments. We’re staying at a charming little guesthouse inside the city walls, which is really great because the town is quite compact and everything here is walking distance.
The day was blissfully cool and there was a slight drizzle. After checking in and leaving our bags, we set out to explore the town. Rustam took us through the narrow cobbled lanes, giving us lots of history about all the different structures and mosques and palaces. It seems Khiva was conquered fairly regularly, and a series of new kings each tried to leave their mark by building stuff.
We visited beautifully preserved tiled courtyards, palaces, a mosque that dates back to the 10th century and looks like a forest, and even a former harem. We learned about the gruesome ways that the kings used to execute people: impaling, burying alive, stoning, or putting into a burlap sack full of cats. Doesn’t sound like much fun.
Khiva is obviously very touristy, so we also saw lots and lots of souvenir stalls selling the typical scarves (silk and camel wool), figurines, and — rather unique to Khiva — fur and camel wool hats. Also, we saw quite a few wedding parties taking photos in the old town, which seems to be a thing here. Oh yeah, and we saw lots of women with gold teeth, which are apparently quite popular in Uzbekistan.
For lunch, we visited a small cafe where there were traditional style outdoor tables surrounded by banquettes (or supas, as they’re called here), where you can take your shoes off and sit cross-legged or with your feet stretched out. That particular cafe was more of a carnivore’s place, so I left the others and wandered off to find some food of my own, now that my appetite has started to slowly return. A cafe down the road was more veggie-friendly, and served me up some delicious homemade potato ravioli and pumpkin samosas, which I ate with gusto.
After that, we did some more sightseeing, and then we had some free time to explore. I headed back to the hotel for a nap, since I was still pretty knackered from the early start and the not-so-great sleep last night.
Folk show and dinner
Khiva is a city of music and dance. Before dinner, we went to see a small folk show put on in the courtyard of a madrassa. A family of performers — grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, cousin, and young kid of about 7 or 8 — played their traditional instruments, sang, danced and even got us up from the crowd for a grand finale. It was charming and pretty unique. I took some videos, which I’ll share once I have a better internet connection.
After that, we had dinner at another outdoor cafe, enjoying some local specialities and the atmosphere until it got to be time to head back and get some sleep before another early start tomorrow.