September 14, Khiva

Woke up far too early for my Spanish class by accident by mixing up the days, but it turned into a silver lining, it gave me a chance to catch up with everyone back home. 

Once the sun was up, Dan and I went for a morning run. It was so enjoyable to see the ancient city completely empty, all the sandstone and adobe monuments sitting quietly as if set up just for our viewing joy.

Afterward, we had breakfast at our hotel. A group of Italian tourists really outdid themselves, I mean, we are far from perfect travelers, but these guys were something else! Zero concept of personal space. Dan felt violated while waiting for his coffee to be made at a not strategically located spot.

Later, we walked around watching the diminutive marshrutkas (the local minibus cabs) zipping around, taking people where they needed to go. It was cute seeing all the school kids walking to class, dressed sharply in their crisp white shirts and black bottoms.

Then we met up with Fainka and Mishka for a 3-hour guided tour around Khiva. Armed with our entry tickets, it was pretty cool walking inside the various museums, madrasahs, and royal palaces. Our guide was a young, introverted Gen Z girl who took herself just a bit too seriously, which was fun to gently tease her about. She was clearly powering through the job to earn some money and polish her English before starting a PhD program in English Literature, and honestly, her English was insanely, impeccably perfect.

Here is a quick list of what we saw with her on that day:

Kalta Minor Madrasah (Mohammed Amin Khan Madrasah): Built in the 1850s by Mohammed Amin Khan, this was intended to be the grandest, tallest madrasah in Central Asia, with a minaret meant to reach 70 meters so the Khan could see all the way to Bukhara. Getting in and securing a spot as a student here was notoriously difficult, it was heavily funded by the Khan's royal treasury to attract only the elite Islamic scholars, poets, and scientists of the era. Though the Khan's death in battle left the minaret unfinished at just 29 meters, its vibrant, fully glazed turquoise tilework makes it one of Khiva's most iconic sights. There is a cool legend associated with it that the architect was forewarned that he will be killed once he completes it so that no other ruler would solicit him for a taller one. So he fled by making wings from paper and wax and leaping off the minaret. The legends are sometimes more interesting than the real thing.

Tash Khauli Palace (The Harem): The harem rooms inside this 19th-century palace are surprisingly minimalist in their layout, yet wildly ornate in their details, covered floor-to-ceiling in hand-painted majolica tiles, blue ceramic patterns, and carved wooden doors. Built by Allah Kuli Khan, it housed his four official wives and dozens of concubines in separate, high-walled courtyards designed for absolute privacy. Low key pretty modest, bare living situation for the woman folk but pretty interesting to see the back of the woman's rooms having separate doors and a passage way through where they would be solicited for their happy times with the ruler - this way no one would see who and when.

Juma Mosque & Its Legendary Wooden Columns: The Friday Mosque is a cool masterpiece, featuring an open hall supported by 218 individually hand-carved elmwood columns dating anywhere from the 10th to the 18th century. One of its famous royal patrons was Muhammad Rahim Khan II (who wrote celebrated poetry under the pen name Firuz). A forward-thinking ruler, he was a huge patron of the arts and notably allowed early photography and printing within the Khanate. According to local legend, no two wooden columns in the mosque are identical because whenever an old mosque or palace in the region fell into ruin, locals would bring its most beautifully carved pillar to Juma Mosque to preserve its spirit—stitching centuries of regional craftsmanship together under a single roof.)

A bit of local peculiarity that we first saw in Khiva and continued to see in other cities.... the attendants in the museums are engaged knitting socks or whatnots, and/or there are a ton of stands selling souvenirs inside museums, madrassahs, palaces - everywhere. And they don't sit there passively. They call on you to check out their goods. As it there are no identical goods sold outside of these historical places. It is not a good practice and hopefully should stop at some point. 

Also, another local thing, no knives at the table setting - there is a spoon & a fork, but no knife. Kind of weird if there is large pieces of stuff to cut or when you need to move your food around the plate to manipulate it onto the fork. 

So after the (fairly low energy) tour ended, we were exhausted from that and from the heat, and so ducked into a local coffee shop where we opted for traditional low table seating with lying-down cushions. For the first few minutes, it was kind of nice to sprawl out and feel like an Uzbek patrician... and then we promptly got over it!

After our rest, Dan and I decided to climb the 100-plus steps up the Islom Khodja minaret. After our little climb yesterday, our leg muscles were not so gently asking us "WTF?" as we tackled these half-meter-tall, incredibly steep steps in the dark narrow stairwell. But the panoramic view from the very top was 100% worth the burn.

We continued our elevated exploration by climbing up onto the massive clay city walls and walking along the top, an amazing way to see Khiva from above. Not a single person was up there in the heat of the day, though as the afternoon cooled down, more people started trickling up.

Afterward, we went looking for ice cream, but on account of our money situation, we couldn't get the local ATM to work, we had zero luck getting any. But after a quick break, we stumbled upon a marionette street show, which was so amazing and fun! The puppeteers went around the crowd and actually dragged me out to dance alongside the puppets and other onlookers. Oh well... I guess I have to practice my moves just in case we get invited to a local wedding again!

For dinner, we headed to another rooftop restaurant. It was the same average food with a slightly better view, but the real treat of the evening was chatting with an older traveler couple at the next table who had already visited 120 countries! Hearing their stories was so inspiring and a truly great way to wrap up the day.

Happy Birthday to my Dad & Mark!!

And on that happy note, we headed back home and straight to sleep.