Today we left Bukhara and headed off to Samarkand with a glow from last night’s wedding.  It was an experience we will treasure forever. How generous were they to invite complete strangers to their wedding? We, Canadians should take a lesson from the hospitality of the Central Asian people and the next time we notice tourists in Canada we should try to make them feel welcomed in our Country.

In the early morning, as we left the 2,000 (plus) year old section of Bukhara we saw the usual scene of women outside their homes or businesses sweeping their dirt streets clean from debris. We also noticed the burning of plants from the desert used to kill bacteria in the air and to keep evil spirits away from their homes and shops. Everyone was getting ready for a new day of action.

Just as we were leaving the city, Russ noticed that his spot was missing. The boys went back but it was gone, never to return again. Luckily for us Mitch was soon joining us and he brought another spot with him. The spot was used as a GPS device to track our adventure over the Internet.

The weather had dropped to 26 degrees C. versus the 36 degrees C. we had been getting. Everyone welcomed the new temperature because it was very comfortable. The skies were still blue and we still could wear our sleeveless tops.

The Korean Daewoo vans were very popular in Uzbekistan and many were used as taxis for the local people. These vans were workhorses just jammed packed with riders as they drove up and down their highways. I was thinking they would work pretty good in our neck of the woods as well because many times I had noticed an empty large bus going from White Rock to Vancouver. The smaller vans could work out cheaper in low usage times??

After driving a couple of hours outside of Bukhara we started to notice camels again.  We had missed seeing camels since Khiva but the terrain had turned back into desert and the camels thrived in the desert. We also saw lots of cows and donkeys but in irrigated areas. Tomatoes were sold roadside by the vendors as we drove along. The further we drove, the more we noticed trees and less desert area. In Bukhara and its surrounding area, other than the irrigated areas, there were no trees just sagebrush and sand.

We had lunch at a spot owned and operated by a family in Shakrisabze.  It was a private restaurant off the highway that catered to tour groups. Situated at their house in the village away from businesses it felt awkward when we stopped but we soon found out their courtyard was very large and allowed them to cater to the bus tours. Plus their kitchen was equipped to feed many people all at once. The menu was set and very good. We met our new guide at this stop; her name was Larisa, which translated into seagull. She was an Ukrainian/Russian living in Uzbekistan.

According to Larisa, the Silk Road started 1, 000 years ago, around 1,000 AD and it lasted until the 16^th Century. In Uzbekistan, Timur, or Tamerlane as we called him, was a hero and there were several monuments dedicated to him.

When the Mongols attacked Central Asia during the 13^th Century, they raped, pillaged and took slaves for 150 years in Uzbekistan. They didn’t occupy the areas they attacked; they destroyed and stole everything they could. When the Uzbeks collected themselves and started to rebuild after a Mongol invasion, the Mongols would attack them again.  It wasn’t until Timur (Tamerlane or Tamerlane) came and united the different tribes of Uzbekistan that they conquered the Mongols and began to prosper in the late 14^th and early 15^th Centuries.  Timur was said to be half Mongol and half Turkish. He spoke the Turkic language.

From the Internet “Timur was regarded as a military genius and a tactician whose prowess made him one of the world’s great conquerors. Timur’s armies were ferocious, feared throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe. Independent scholars estimated that his military campaigns caused the deaths of 17 million people, amounting to about 5% of the world population. The historian of Islamic Asia John Joseph Saunders summarized that “Till the advent of Hitler, Timur stood forth in history as the supreme example of soulless and unproductive militarism””.

Here in Uzbekistan Timur was a hero and there were statues of him everywhere. He defeated the Mongols and united the tribes of Central Asia, reigning from 1370 until 1405. Timur, was also known as Tamerlane. He injured his hip in a battle, which left him lame and he walked with a limp. Tamerlane morphed into Tamerlane. Born in 1336, he died at age 68. Emir Timur founded the Timurid Dynasty and was the grandfather of Ulug Bek, the astronomer and ruler of Central Asia from 1411 – 1449.

Timur was also the great-great-great grandfather of Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, who ruled from 1526 – 1530. Interesting facts about Babur were that his father’s lineage was from Timur and his mother’s lineage was from Genghis Khan. And his great-great-great grandson, Shah Jahan was the 5^th Emperor of the Mughal Dynasty who built the infamous Taj Mahal in India.

Emir Timur’s first wife was the wife of a good friend of his. When his friend betrayed him, Timur ordered his death and married his wife. Shakhrisabs (or Shakrisabze) meant green city and it was the birthplace of Timur. We stopped to visit a huge monument of Timur and behind the monument stood two sides of a huge gate constructed in the 14^th Century by Timur. At one time these gates were entrances to a palace, called the White Palace, which was destroyed by Abdullah Khan who belonged to the Shaybani Dynasty. He ordered the palace to be destroyed because Timur had inscribed over the gates “If you doubt our power look upon our buildings”. The Khan did not like the inscription and ordered that Timur’s Palace be destroyed. Too bad, because these gates were beautiful, decorated with mosaic tiles and stood over 131 feet high. Originally the gates were more than 50 meters high and only 38 meters remained standing today.

Next we visited the Dorut Siadat (Dorut Tilavot) burial complex. Inside were the Kok Gumbaz Mosque and the Mosque of Hazrati Imam. I must say that to research all of this ancient history got to be really confusing. I would read the guidebooks and they would say one thing and then go to the Internet and that would say a different thing. What the heck? One said that Timur buried his favorite son here and the other would say his grandson Ulug Bek buried his favourite son here. I give up, you chose. Somebody’s son who apparently fell off a horse and died at age 22 was buried here.

Many people living in Central Asia were superstitious.  This area of Uzbekistan was no different. Inside the Mausoleum at this complex were 7 stones marking graves. I believe one was Timur’s father but I am too confused to be sure. One of the stones had an indentation where families would pour water into and an Imam would bless the water. The ill person would then drink the water and hope to be cured.

Included at the complex was a blue domed mosque called the Kok Gumbaz, meaning Blue Dome. Ulug Bek (Timur’s grandson) built this Friday mosque in 1437 to honor his father, Shah Rukh.  Located immediately behind the Kok Gumbaz Mosque was the so-called “House of Meditation”, a mausoleum built by Ulug Bek in 1438 but apparently never used for burials.

After we left Shakrisabze and got closer to Samarkand we were into the mountainous area of Uzbekistan. Russ and I took our Range Rovers over a mountain pass to get to Samarkand; whereas, our guide and bus driver took a longer route around the mountains to get to our destination. We arrived at our hotel a couple hours ahead of the bus so we were very happy to have taken the short cut. We were just finishing our dinner when the guides and driver caught up to us.

This morning we had to stop by our seamstress’s house for a final fitting. This was a fun morning and we were surprised how well she had made the outfits without any patterns. With just a few minor adjustments we left her house with a little girl guide, to return later that night for our final products. I found Barbie and Bea’s outfits to be exquisite.  The detail in the trim was amazing plus their fabrics were glitzy, which suited them and the Uzbek dress style.  Terry and my outfits were also nice but a little more subdued and casual. All of our fabrics were velvet but Barbie and Bea’s had bolder designs with jewels embedded in the velvet. If I ever get a chance to do this again, I will pick a “blingier” velvet fabric.

Someone told me there was a book written, called “Dead Souls” about farmers having extra people on their payroll who were not really working on the farm. This was a situation happening in Uzbekistan. Businesses had people on their payroll that did not actually work in the business. The person who was supposed to work in the business got credit for working there and accumulated a pension fund. The managers who allowed the extra person on the payroll kept the absent person’s pay cheque (less the taxes which were paid to the Government). The companies filed the tax returns not the individuals. There was corruption in Central Asian countries because wages were so low that people had to be creative in ways to increase their pay and standard of living.

For lunch Yuri took us to his apartment.  They had a feast set up for us and we met his wife, two children and mother-in-law. The food was fantastic and his daughters were darling. We especially enjoyed the company of his daughter, Kyra who was around 7 years of age and loved her daddy. This was an extremely generous experience for Yuri to organize because Yuri was not our guide until we reached Tajikistan. He just wanted to introduce us to his family.

Walking through the city of Bukhara there would be missing manhole covers so you had to be careful, especially at night.  We always took flashlights with us to walk home. Apparently the manhole covers could be sold as scrap metal to China so it was hard for the local government to keep covers on their manholes.

For dinner that evening we were invited to a local wedding and we were very excited to attend.  Batir had arranged for us to meet up with the groom and his friends on a street near his house. The groom had to go get his bride from her home and we got to follow him and watch the traditional wedding procedures from the start.

While waiting for the groom and his friends we visited a local neighbourhood mosque. Previously, wealthy people would build minarets or mosques for people in their neighbourhoods to enjoy because every good deed balanced out bad deeds and they felt that building these structures for the people would go well for them on Judgment Day. This particular monument was unusual because it had 4 minarets all decorated differently. That was because the man who built the mosque had 4 daughters, all with very different characters. He built one minaret to represent each daughter. Today the mosque was not active; it was shown as a monument of the past history in Bukhara.

Most families in Central Asia wanted sons because daughters got married and left them to live with their husband’s family.  Sons stayed with their parents and continued the lineage of the family name. Batir said that when his grandmother got married (matched marriage) she did not know that her husband had already been married before her. His first wife had died and they had two children. His children were sent away to live with relatives. When his grandmother got married, they had the celebration and three days later, two children arrived at their house. She asked who are these children and was told they are now yours! Big surprise!! Yikes, wonder how that marriage worked out?

Most marriages today were still arranged in Uzbekistan but a little differently than in the past. Usually the sons were asked if they had a girlfriend? If yes, they tried to arrange a marriage with that person. The boy’s family paid the dowry, which usually covered the cost of the wedding. (Previously, it was money paid by the husband directly to the bride because if they divorced the bride had nothing but her dowry money. To get a divorce the man had to say three times, I divorce thee! And poof they were divorced). Today, the costs were shared and the girl’s family bought all the furniture and supplies for the couples new home.  But because they moved into the son’s family home I couldn’t imagine it would be all that much.

If the boy did not have a girlfriend the women in the family (mother, sisters and aunts) would make a list of eligible girls to review.  The women interviewed suitable girls and their families to see who would be a good match for the boy. They would check out the cleanliness and order of the household. They would review whether they were hospitable, could the girl do embroidery, etc.? They were concerned about the suitability of the girl and her family with their family. I have to say I think this was a good process because whom you picked as your partner could determine the happiness in your life. Maybe by interviewing the family you could save yourself a lot of grief later on?? If they all smoked and you hated the smell of smoke, don’t marry the person! That type of thinking is good.

After meeting each other the two families would consider the viability of a marriage between the couple. Not all of the girl’s families accepted every offer. They too wanted a suitable match for their daughter. Agents representing the groom’s side would have another meeting with the bride’s family to negotiate the terms of the dowry. If the girl’s family were not interested they would give a diplomatic reply such as “sorry our daughter is too young at this time, to consider a marriage”. They would never be direct and say no way! If everyone were in agreement to the union, the families would arrange for the boy and girl to meet each other to see if they approved. If either of the couple did not want to be married to that person, the process would start over again with someone else. The boy would bring a small gift for the girl. If he was interested he would give the girl the gift and if she was interested she would accept the gift from him. If the girl came home with a gift the family members would know each of the couple were interested in each other.

The two families would then meet again over a tea and bread ceremony. When the bread was broken and shared around it meant that the deal was done and the couple was now engaged to be married. At that time the relatives, friends and neighbourhood were all told about the good news of the engagement. Previously, the couples were young when they got married, 18 – 21 for the girls and 20 – 23 for the boys.  Today the couples were a little older, 18 to 25 for the girls and 25 to 30 for the boys. Batir, our guide guessed that today 40% of marriages were arranged and 60% were based on the couple being in love.

On the day of the wedding the boy’s family served plov to the neighbourhood men early in the morning.  The government had now fixed the time between 7 and 9 a.m. because it used to be too early and it disturbed too many people not included in the ceremony. While they served the rice dish they played music and made loud noises announcing the wedding. The men in the neighbourhood plus an Imam would come for free plov (pilaf) and they would say special prayers to people who had previously died and they made good wishes for the future of the new couple.

Later in the day, the couple went to the civil registry office to be married in front of witnesses and received a marriage certificate. Sometimes the couple went to a mosque or at other times an Imam would go to the bride’s house to give a blessing and a prayer for the couple to have a good life together. In the past men in Uzbekistan could have 4 wives but now they could only have 1 wife legally. After the marriage was registered the couple went to city monuments for pictures. The wedding celebration would be held in a “Toy” building that evening with usually 200 to 300 guests.

After the wedding night the bride would move into the groom’s family home and for 40 days afterwards the bride would dress in special brightly coloured and sparkly clothes with lots of makeup as she was introduced to the groom’s family. They called it “showing her face” and she received gifts and got to know her new family. We noticed lots of young new brides in the market, all dressed up during this 40-day tradition (they wore special hats so they were easy to spot).

Having children was very important in this society. If a couple did not have a baby within 5 years or so, the groom’s family would put pressure on him to divorce his wife, pick another woman to marry and have children. The Prophet Mohammed stopped the custom of killing female children. (Apparently the Arabs used to bury them alive because they wanted a son). The Prophet said that both boy and girl babies were gifts from God and no babies were to be killed.

We waited on a street corner in the groom’s neighbourhood for our wedding couple to come back from their photo session. The bride was returned to her house and the groom with his friends met up with us near his house. There were 3 young boys all dressed up and walking on stilts with castanets. They danced down the street while a drummer and four men with long horns blasting out the announcement of the marriage to the neighbourhood. Nobody would be sleeping through this noise; it was really loud and exciting. The groom changed out of his suit into a traditional costume with a long black cloak embroidered in gold thread and a golden turban on his head. Two additional men carried flaming torches. The fire was a tradition carried over from the Zoroastrian religion. After announcing his marriage to his neighbours we all boarded a bus and went to the bride’s house a few miles away.

At the bride’s neighbourhood, the boys on the stilts, drummer, horn players and fire carriers were all back in full force, dancing and making loud noises as they walked to the bride’s house.  The groom was encircled by his friends as he was trying to walk to the girl’s house and they were preventing him from doing this by pushing and pulling him every which way except towards the bride’s house. It was all in fun and made the walk to the girl’s house go very slow.  Outside of her house the friends of the groom made a large bon fire and the groom with his friends still trying to stop him walked around the fire 3 times for purification, another Zoroastrian tradition.

The groom finally got to the door of the bride’s house and from somewhere in all of the chaos a large bouquet of flowers was handed to him to give to his bride. Then out came the bride and groom towards the cars. An Imam or elderly relative blessed them as they walked towards the crowd standing around outside. The bride was dressed in a beautiful wedding gown and she was absolutely stunning. A very petite, and beautiful girl with dark hair pulled up in a bun under a white veil. She wore a white wedding dress with a full skirt and the bodice was decorated in pearls and jewels. The night was jet black but the yard was lit up with the bon-fire and this beautiful bride, looking like a movie star, in her gorgeous dress, walked up to us foreigners with her groom and bowed 3 times. We were in shock! She bowed to us; we should have been bowing to her! Then she was helped into a car and they drove away honking the horn.

We all ran to our bus and drove off towards the “Toy”, wedding reception hall. At the wedding hall, the horns were blaring, and drum beating as the bride got out of her car with the help of the groom. She bowed 3 times to the fathers of the bride and groom to show her respect. The bride kept her head down, looking at the ground the whole time, as they walked her up the steps and through a large pink heart covering the entrance doorway.

When we got inside the hall, which was packed. There were way more than 300 guests in this room. We were escorted to our table, which was situated right beside the bride and grooms table!  This was another shock, we thought we would be in a corner in the back of the room but no we were on display right beside the bride and groom. Oh dear that was a little bit of a problem, us being on display but it was a blessing as well because we didn’t miss a thing during the whole wedding celebration as we sat in our primo spots.

At the other tables, women were at one table and the men sat at another. We sat beside our spouses at the only mixed table. The bride and groom sat at a raised table on a platform so everyone was able to watch them.  There was a drink table beside them and people came up to the bride and groom, toasted them with vodka or pop then had their photos taken beside the couple up on the platform. The bride and groom drank juice or pop, no alcohol at all. The whole time the bride kept her head down and bowed at the people who came up to toast them. The groom stood tall with his right hand over his heart to thank everyone who came up to them.

The strangest thing for us to watch was the bride with her head bowed the whole night!  How could the bride have fun looking at the floor all night? Her neck must have ached by the end of the night? Anyway it was the tradition in Uzbekistan for brides to keep their head bowed because she wanted to show respect to her family and not be happy to be leaving them, to go live with her husband’s family. And it was demonstrating respect to her husband and new family that she would be submissive (I am thinking).

The rest of us sure had fun. We danced with the guests and each other.  Watched the entertainment of belly dancers and paid money to them just like at Cosmos Restaurant. We gave toasts to the bride and groom and had our photos taken with them.

At one point the friends of the groom took him down from the platform and started to throw him up in the air and catching him. They did this for 5 or 6 throws. Lucky for the bride they didn’t drop him. The bride and groom danced for about ½ a waltz and the rest of the time they sat or stood on their platform. They didn’t even eat. I do not know how much fun they had? Their guests, including us, sure enjoyed themselves, eating, drinking and dancing the night away.

Today we visited the bazaar. This was always my favourite stop, shopping at local bazaars! We started off in taxis and then looked out the window to notice Brad walking down the street so we stopped and picked up another taxi! The girls had decided to have traditional Bukhara outfits made and a little girl (around 12 years of age) was taking us to the bazaar with her father and mother to pick out our fabric. How great was that? These strangers were helping us buy fabric and took us to a seamstress to get our outfits made. They were selling nothing; they were just helping us get the job done. They had a little car and somehow six people fit into that car. The rest of us took taxis following them.

The bazaar was really busy with the local shoppers and fabric was sold everywhere. We all selected our fabric, Bea, Terry, Barbie and myself. Then we needed zippers, elastic and trim.  It was a blast picking all this out with every other shopper wanting the same stuff as us. We managed with the little girl’s mother’s help. She somehow kept us organized and away from all the bargain items we wanted to purchase. The father drove us back with all the taxis driving our men behind us. We stopped at the tailor’s house.  She worked in her bedroom with one little light and her sewing machine beside the window. She sewed all four outfits with matching pants and trim in one day and night.  I think she must have stayed up all night to finish these outfits because they were all very different from each other.

Prior to dinner we had a lecture by a historian by the name of Mahsuma who was educated during Soviet times in Tashkent. She studied archeology and had to learn how to excavate the mud bricks used in Central Asia, which was different than other places in the world because they had fired bricks when excavating. According to her it was much more difficult to excavate with mud bricks. Historically, Uzbekistan and Central Asia had two types of people living there, settled people and nomadic people. The Tajik people were the Persian and settled people whereas, the Uzbek people were the Turkic, nomadic warrior people. Today 80% of the residents in Bukhara spoke Tajik because that was the language of trade along the Silk Road.

There are many myths; folk stories and legends from historical times and the archeologists used their expertise to determine through their findings what stories were true and what were myths. Many foreign archeologists worked with the Uzbek archeologists and by combining their knowledge and skills they had a synergy, which helped to determine the world’s history.

As mentioned previously, in 6^th Century BCE, Bukhara and part of Uzbekistan was settled by the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BCE). In 4^th Century BCE, Alexander the Great went through this area (336 – 323 BCE). After Alexander the Great, the Bactrian Empire (Greek) reigned the area. (Interesting note, this Bactrian Empire was called the same as the two humped camel).

The Silk Road along the Central Asian sections of the trade routes were expanded around 114 BC by the Han dynasty, largely through the missions and explorations of Zhang Qian, but earlier trade routes across the continents had already existed. In the first Century, in the year 751 AD, China fought with the Arabs for power in Central Asia. Christians lived in Central Asia since the Bactrian Empire and from the south; Buddhism was introduced from India and spread across Central Asia via the Silk Road. Zoroastrian, Shamanism and other pagan religions also thrived during these times.

During the 2^nd to the 10th Centuries AD trading between Central Asia and China via the Silk Road was frequent and dominated by the Sogdian people. There were different colonies of the Sogdians throughout Central Asia during this time period. In addition to the Sogdians, the Turkic nomadic people occupied the Central Asia as well. The Göktürks became the new leading element amongst the disparate steppe peoples in Central Asia, after they rebelled against the Rouran Khaganate. Under their leadership, the Turkic Khaganate rapidly expanded to rule huge territories in Central Asia. From 552 to 745 AD, Göktürk leadership bound together the nomadic Turkic tribes into an empire, which eventually collapsed due to a series of dynastic conflicts.

Then Arabs conquered and invaded Central Asia in the 8^th Century AD. The Arabs spread their Islamic Religion, pushing out all of the other religions by taxing them higher, threatening or even killing the non-Muslim people. There was a large revolt by the Zoroastrians dressed in white clothing. It was called the White Revolution. Avesta was the book written for Zoroastrians from the 6^th Century BC. An author by the name of Mary Boyce wrote a famous book on the Zoroastrian Religion from the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan. We were told the Zoroastrian Religion started here in Uzbekistan and after the Arab invasion when everyone was being forced to convert to the Islamic Religion the Zoroastrians migrated to India. Previously we were told the opposite that the Zoroastrians migrated from India. I will leave it up to you to investigate what was the true history.

The Arabs ruled by appointing governors to rule over the conquered people. Because the people were basically forced to become Muslim by the Arabs, today’s Islamic religion in Central Asia had many of the other religious traditions incorporated into their Islamic religion. For example the fire traditions of the Zoroastrians were continued during today’s wedding celebrations.

The 9^th and 10^th Centuries AD were considered the best times for Central Asia and the Samanid Empire in Uzbekistan ruled this area of Bukhara. Even though Samarkand was the capital city of Uzbekistan, Bukhara was always the capital city for the soul! Bukhara was always considered a very intellectual and religious city.

During the 11^th and 12^th Centuries AD, the Seljuk Turks followed by the Khwarizmi Empire governed here. Then in the 13^th Century the Mongols invaded and in the late 13^th and early 14th Centuries Timur (half Mongol and half Turkic) conquered the Mongols and started the Timurid Dynasty all of whom were Muslims. Interesting, there was a law stating that all leaders had to be related to Genghis Khan or they could not be a leader.  There were many rumors of how Timur was related to Genghis Khan; one being that he married one of Genghis Khan’s daughters. In the 15^th Century AD, Ulug Bek, Timur’s grandson ruled the area of Uzbekistan.

In the 16^th Century the ruling family was the Shaibanids. This was also the time when there was a split between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims. There was a famous fight with Babur during this time period. Babur was the great, great, great grandson of Timur (Tamerlane). Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur was the conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty in the Indian Subcontinent and became the first Mughal emperor. The 16^th Century was also the time period that Uzbeks were recognized as a race inhabiting a territory called Uzbekistan (land of Uzbeks) within Central Asia, under the leader of Uzbek Khan.

In the 17^th Century there were 3 main Empires in Uzbekistan. One in Khiva, one in Bukhara and the third I believe was Samarkand. The Ashtarhanid Dynasty ruled these Empires. Then in the 18^th Century the Manjits invaded and ruled the area. Central Asia was actually a mish-mash of tribes. Some settled and others nomadic. The Uzbek and Turkic tribes had fierce clashes over territories. As well as clashes with the Persian rulers. The borders of the now known Central Asian countries were non-existent and local Khans controlled areas. The Koquand Khanate fought the Chinese and took them as slaves, cutting off their traditional pigtail, called queues, worn by the worn by the Manchus from central Manchuria and later imposed on the Han Chinese during the Qing dynasty. The trading using the Silk Road eventually stopped and Russia became the trading partner with the unsettled Central Asian people.  These conditions of fighting and economic unrest between the Tribal Khans made Central Asia easy pickings for the Czar of Russia to invade and be the protector of the area in the late 19^th Century. The Soviets followed shortly after in 1920 and occupied Central Asia for 70 years during the 20^th Century. In the 1800’s when Russia first invaded, there were 97 tribes around the Bukhara area of Central Asia.

Many of the people living in Central Asia today, still had the Turkic/Asian look of their Chinese and Mongolian invaders. Most had brown skin, dark hair with round faces and dark coloured Asian eyes, others looked more Persian or Tajik with their dark coloured round eyes and fine features. Some Uzbeks were blonde and blue eyed inherited from the Russian and Soviet invaders that were added to the mix during the 19^th and 20^th Centuries. It was very interesting to see the results of all of these wars and occupations.

For dinner we went to a new restaurant in Bukhara. The owner had actually gone to London and worked for five years to save and come back home to open this restaurant.  It was very nice, upstairs and had ganch plaster decorating the walls. During dinner, Yuri our previous MIR manager came and joined us.  He lived in Bukhara and he was also the first person to suggest we come to Uzbekistan and Central Asia on one of our trips. We were surprised and very happy to see him.

Today we visited the Bakhaudin Nakshbah Complex. A mausoleum and mosque complex dedicated to Bakhaudin Nakshba a 14^th century Sufi mystic and founder of the Nakshbandi order of Sufis. This mausoleum complex has grown over the centuries because every Emir (King) of Bukhara added something to the complex as a status symbol. Royal family members were buried here to be next to the saint (probably hoping that would make them closer to Allah). Added to the complex, inside the courtyard, were a beautiful pond and avian (covered gallery/walkway) plus a women’s mosque. Today this spot was used as a meeting place for dignitaries and for special events. The buildings had all been restored but the original artwork was left in spots for a comparison of the old to the new.

Locals came to this complex to pray and if their prayers were answered they would come back to sacrifice an animal. Our guide wanted to show us an animal being sacrificed but we refused to see this and walked past the sacrificial area. She said some tourists took pictures but I wouldn’t be able to sleep ever again if I watched something like that!

Just before walking into the Mausoleum there was an Imam sitting outside on a bench in a small courtyard. People paid him to pray for them. This was interesting to watch. One lady brought a box of donuts for him and everyone around just walked up and took a donut for themselves without even asking him.

Inside was the traditional metal flag and pole announcing the burial of a saint. There was also an old Mulberry tree trunk lying sideways in the outside yard of the complex.  People made wishes and walked underneath the roots and around the trunk three times for good luck and to clear themselves of all evil.  We all did this. Not sure if our luck was better because of the walk around or not?? Legend said that this tree was once the walking stick of the saint buried here. Some of the people even tried to break a piece of the bark off to carry with them as an amulet, for good luck.

Our guide explained Sufism to us, as the mystical sect or branch of the Islamic religion. The Sufi’s goal was to get closer to God (Allah) by disposing of their worldly possessions and pleasures. They meditated (prayed) and fasted. There was a special fast for 40 days each year. Whirling Dervishes were one branch of the Sufi sect.

She explained that there were 4 stages to Sufism.

• Sharia: An exoteric law, this first stage was their initial preparation where they must follow the Muslim laws to the letter.
• Tariqah:  An esoteric law or practice, during this second stage the individual must deny himself and submit completely to a spiritual teacher that he wanted to follow. The practice of Sufism revolved around a Murshid [guide] or Master, who was the teacher of the Tariqah or order of Sufis. This individual had Muridin or students, those who seek knowledge/nearness of god. A Murshid in Sufism was also known as: Sheik, Master, Pir, or Teacher.
• Marifa: Intuitive knowledge [Gnosis], the third stage was said to be the stage of enlightenment where the individual renounced his worldly pleasures and material possessions. He spent his time speaking God’s name and of God’s qualities. The Sufi was said to experience spiritual ecstasies during this stage.
• Haqiqa: Truth [Enlightenment], The last stage was described as truth and explained to us as follows: Someone who had no desires; he spoke but had no speech in his mouth; he saw but he was blind; he ate but he tasted nothing. He had no emotions. Wow, I cannot understand why any person would want to be like that!  In my mind, that described a crazy person. There are many articles on Sufism on the Internet if you are interested in exploring more about them.

Our guide in Turkmenistan said that Sufism was outlawed in his country because they could not be controlled and they were dangerous because they did what they believed Allah wanted them to do.  In my opinion, a person who did what was described above could easily be brainwashed because they did not think for themselves, they followed what they were taught to the letter. But to be fair, the articles on the Internet said otherwise, that if a person wanted to leave the Sufi way of live they could leave without any hassles or problems, therefore it was not a cult.

In addition to the 4 stages above there were 3 levels or degrees of Sufism. (Some articles on the Internet described 7 levels of Sufism, not 4 stages plus 3 degrees). The first level was called Dervish, (Derv) meaning door in Tajik (Persian). At this stage the Dervish walked from door to door asking for lodging and food. I missed the other 2 levels, sorry. Our guide said that the Dervish was allowed 2 sets of cloths, a donkey and a jug for water that was all. They relied on charity to survive. Why they were revered as mystical was a mystery to me but then again I admit I am still at level 1.

Our guide had a Sufi book called “Gayan” a book of Sufi sayings that I really liked. “A wise man without willpower is like a head without a body”. “Be true or false because you cannot be both”. “A life with a foolish companion is worse than death”. “Life is a journey of imperfection to perfection”. “No one can be human and not make a mistake”. “The desire to develop one’s personality is the real purpose to human life”. “There is no better companion than solitude”. “Wisdom is attained in solitude”. “When envy develops into jealousy the heart turns from sour to bitter”.

My two favorites were: “What science cannot declare, art can suggest, what art suggests silently, poetry speaks out, but what poetry fails to explain in words, is expressed by music”. And  “He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool, avoid him. He who knows not but knows that he knows not, is a child, teach him. He who knows but knows not that he knows, is asleep, wake him. He that knows and knows that he knows is a wise man, follow him.”

Legend said that a Sufi teacher was retiring and he had to select the next teacher to replace him from his students. He gave each student a chicken. He then told them to sacrifice their chicken where no one could see them and then return back to him. All the students did as he asked except for one student who came back with his chicken. The teacher asked the students where they had sacrificed their chickens? They replied in the basement, down the alley etc. Then he asked the student with the live chicken why he did not sacrifice his chicken? The student replied that everywhere he went, God was watching him! This was the answer the teacher was waiting for and that student became the next teacher.

Next we visited a cemetery, which was unusual in that the family members were added to the same grave. As long as it was 6 months from the last burial, you could keep adding bodies to the same gravesite. The bodies were wrapped in a cloth, which I guess disintegrated in less than 6 months. (They must use natural fabrics with no plastic synthetic material. I know bad joke; I must be tired). That was why men in Central Asia wore turbans. If they died they had their shroud (turban) to be buried in.  Remember this was a nomadic and war torn area. Now that the people were settled and civilized (less fighting) there was no need to wear turbans. Today, most men wore skullcaps or ball caps.

Muslims did not cremate their dead because they believed in the Day of Judgment, when all people would be revived for judgment. They believed everything had a seed and should be buried, even people. (An apple seed turned into apple tree).  When the bodies were buried the tradition was to place the head north and the face turned towards Mecca.

The Muslims were very clean because their Islamic tradition was to wash their feet, genitals, face and hands five times per day (3 times for Shiites) before entering a Mosque to pray. Their prayers required them to kneel on the floor and bow down to touch their heads to the floor, which was good exercise and helped to keep their bodies flexible and limber.  There was a different prayer for each prayer time, which had to be memorized. Because the prayers were in Arabic, a language they did not always speak, this helped with their memories. I actually think the reason for this Islamic tradition was to keep people clean, exercised and their minds sharp.  I say this because I actually mean it and I am not being sarcastic in any way. Meditation, yoga and cleanliness are all good for us.

We drove out to a village called Nayman to visit a school and have lunch at a family home.  On the way to the village we stopped at a cotton farm. A lady who had been picking cotton since she was 13 years old demonstrated how they picked the cotton. She had socks on her hands to protect them from the prickly cotton pods, which had been all dried up by chemicals sprayed on the plant. By drying up the plant the pods opened up and allowed the pickers to pick a cotton bush clean with one picking. 150 kilos was the most that this woman had ever picked in one day. There were 50 pickers at this farm and they made $15 per day plus a hot lunch. The pickers brought their own bags, which held approximately 6 to 7 kilos. At the end of the day, the picker collected his bags and brought them in to be weighed and loaded onto a truck. They hoped to pick 100 kilos (or 50 kilos, I heard different amounts from different people) each day. It was very hot and hard work.

Our next stop was the village school. We visited a grade four classroom with around 30 kids. They were really cute. We told them a little about Canada and our families. They sang a song for us and asked questions. Then we took pictures and gave them gifts from Canada. It was a lot of fun for all of us.

Next we visited a family at their home. One of the specialties of Uzbekistan was pilaf or pov. A rice dish layered with meat, carrots, onions, garlic, chickpeas, cumin and sometimes raisins. (Plus lots of salt). The family taught us how to cook this meal on their outside stove fueled by dried up cotton plants. They also had a tandoor oven and showed us how to make bread. They used a metal stamp for piercing the bread. Traditionally, they stamped the bread according to the number of children they had. I have got to say that this was the best bread I have ever eaten in my life!  It was warm, flaky and crisp. It melted in our mouths. Yummy! One of the women cooking our lunch was the principal of the school we visited. She turned out to be the daughter of the family hosting us for lunch.

We walked through the courtyard with lots of fruit and vegetables growing.  They wrapped their grapes with newspaper to keep the birds away. I might try this at home because the birds ate all my cherries this year.  The weather here started to get cold in November and was really cold in December and January then started warming up again in February. Luckily for them they had a long growing season for their fruit and vegetables. It was in the high 20’s today, in mid September.

Driving back to the hotel we noticed huge lineups for cars waiting to get gasoline from a gas station and the next few gas stations would have no cars at them.  We were puzzled about this until our guide explained the situation.  The owners of the stations made contracts with the government agents for their fuel. The owners would pay extra to get more fuel or a longer contract. Some gas stations ran out of fuel and others who paid more did not. Also there was no price listed for the fuel at the stations because the owners had to recoup the extra money they paid for the fuel contract so prices varied. Sometimes a car could get fuel from a closed station if they were able to pay a premium to the owner. We did this and parked our cars on the street behind the station. The man pumped fuel into the cars by pulling the hose through a crack in the fence!

The average salary for an Uzbek was 200 – 250 US dollars per month. Many Uzbeks worked 2 or 3 jobs to support their families. 65% of the 30 million people that populated Uzbekistan were under 30 years of age. Life expectancy of both male and female Uzbeks was 72 years of age. Families had to be resilient and self-sustaining to survive. They grew their vegetables and usually had no refrigeration. Potatoes and carrots were stored through the fall and winter by burying them. Melons were stored in straw and onions were dried out in the sun and then stored on shelves in the attic of the house below the roof.

A tradition we had noticed throughout Central Asia was that both the girls and boys had shaved heads until they were around 6 years of age. They believed this made the girl’s hair grow in thicker and stronger.

Our last stop on this very full day was at the Summer Palace of the last Emir in Bukhara. The last Emir was not supposed to be the Emir, his older brother was in line for this position but he died before his father, leaving the second son to be Emir.  While listening to the last Emir’s story it sounded like he was a good person but too soft to fight the Islamic Leaders. The Muslim leaders did not support the Emir’s leadership and fought it at every opportunity. This Emir had studied in Russia and tried to bring changes to Bukhara simulating what he learned in Russia but the Islamic clergy was very conservative and did not support his efforts. They actually started unrest with their Muslim followers to stop the Emir from bringing in any changes. During WWI the Emir did not send his countrymen into war. Instead he sent money to Russia to support their efforts and to fight on his behalf, saving many Bukhara lives. The Emir opened the first factory for paper money in Bukhara but the Imam protested.  The Emir acquiesced and went back to using heavy coins as money. Ironically Russia then overtook Bukhara moving the Emir to the Summer Palace.

This palace was located outside of Bukhara and was meant to keep the Emir politically impotent but in luxury while the Russians took control of Bukhara in the early 1900’s. There was a two-story harem building within the complex and legend said that the Emir would watch the harem girls swim in the pool and throw an apple into the pool. Who ever caught the apple would sleep with the Emir that night.

This last Emir of Bukhara fled to Afghanistan in 1920 when the Soviets came to Bukhara leaving his 4 wives, 3 sons and 4 daughters to survive on their own. He managed to leave with his treasury but forgot his family who were sent to Moscow. But to be fair, he did not have an army to fight the Soviet invasion he only had his two bodyguards allowed by the Russian protectorates. He really had no choice but to escape when he did. He eventually got his wives and daughters back to live with him in Afghanistan but not his sons. There was a book written in 1956 on the history of Bukhara by Richard Fry, which was said to detail all of this information.

My favorite room was the white hall decorated with white ganch designs over mirrored wall panels. A delicate and effective décor with the walls and ceiling all white on white, I found it to be quite stunning. The other rooms were very colourful with murals on the walls. They added egg white and camels milk to make the colours last.

In 1927 there was a woman’s revolution because they had to wear heavy cloaks and horsehair veils to go outside. This added an extra 10 pounds of weight and made it 10 degrees hotter under the clothing during their hot weather.  The women did not like it, especially after the Russians took control of Bukhara and the Russian women did not dress that way. The Uzbek women rebelled burning their veils and cloaks in the street. Many of these women were actually killed by their husbands or family for this act of rebellion, but they won the war because the women today no longer dressed that way.

We were staying in a cute little B & B hotel called Amelia, located in the Jewish section, right in the center of Bukhara’s old town. The house was purchased from a Jewish family who had owned the home for generations and the new owner was very proud of his purchase. He had converted the house into a hotel but had left the original decorations of the house. The dining room was especially delicious with little niches in one wall where they stored their treasures and ganch (decorative design patterns carved into plaster) on the other walls.  Each room had a different theme; our room was the camel room with scenes of camels painted on the walls. He reminded us of the hotel owner in the movie “The Exotic Marigold Hotel”. The proprietor was always running around asking us if we were happy with his hotel?

For centuries thousands of Jewish people had lived in Central Asia because they were traders on the Silk Road. They eventually settled in various villages along the Silk Road, many chose to live in Bukhara, to do their trading business. During Soviet times there were 5,000 Jews living in this section of Bukhara but after Uzbekistan’s independence from the Soviets in the 1990’s most of the Jewish people had moved away, mostly to America or Israel. Today, there were approximately 300 Jews living in the Jewish Section of Bukhara.

The weather on this trip was absolutely perfect we had been away one full month with no rain, other than one day when it sprinkled for approximately 10 minutes. Otherwise, we had blue skies and sunshine everyday. Evenings were especially wonderful because it would cool down to room temperature with a slight warm breeze, very comfortable and no need jackets.

We started off our day with a city guide named Noila. She took us on a walking tour of the city.  The streets in Old Town were once all named after Russians, i.e., Lenin Street, and Stalin Street but the residents of Bukhara were slowly turning their street names back into Uzbek Hero names. There was a huge canal across the street from our hotel and it ran through the center of Old Town. The canal was built in the 12^th Century. It was very pretty with little bridges across it every so often and brick walls. The only problem was the water had dried up in the canal, our guide said that the water came from a river that had been swallowed up by the desert! They now got their water from the Oxus or today called the Amu Darya River! We know all about that river by now!

In the central square of old town, Bukhara had the largest, Madrasah in Central Asia named Kukeldash Madrasah. It was built in 1568-9 and had 160 rooms called Hujras. Madrasahs were religious universities where men lived for several years to get educated. They were organized and run by the Muslim Religious Leaders. Most men at that time were illiterate so to become educated they lived and went to school at Madrasahs. When their education was complete they would become Imams. Imams were missionary/teachers/counselors who would spread the word about Islam and other subjects to the villagers. If the students did not become Imams they worked for the Islamic organization in another capacity. The men learned many things not just their Islamic religion. They also studied astronomy, medicine, etc. Women were not allowed to go to Madrasahs.

To enter the Madrasah we walked through a high façade entrance with a large archway all decorated in glazed tile work and two very large carved doors. Inside the courtyard, on one side was a large classroom and on the opposite side was a Mosque. The student rooms were situated on two floors of the courtyard perimeter.

During the 1920’s the Soviets closed all religious centers. Bukhara had around 120 Madrasahs, 219 Mosques and 68 Caravan Sarays before the Soviet occupation.  After the Soviet occupation the Bolsheviks turned the Kukeldash Madrasah into a hotel. Today Bukhara had only 57 Madrasahs and 68 Mosques. Prior to the Soviet invasions Bukhara was the center of Islamic education that was why there were so many Madrasahs and Mosques in the city. Until 1920 (when religion was banned by the Soviets), Bukhara was recognized as a very noble and holy city because of their Islamic scholars. One such scholar, Imam al-Bekhari, (who died in 870 AD) wrote a very famous book (Hadith collections) called Hadith Alsaihih meaning the trustworthy legends of Prophet Muhammad.

25 years later, after WWII because many Muslims participated in the war, Stalin reopened the Mir-I Arab Madrasah in Bukhara. It was the only Madrasah allowed to operate in the whole Soviet Union. The Chechnya Presidents (current and past “Kadirov”) studied at this Madrasah. It was rumored that Ubaydulla-khan sold 3,000 prisoners and gave the money to Mir-I Arab to build this Madrasah.

The Nadir Divan Beghi building constructed in 1620 was originally built as a Caravan Saray. But at the opening of the Caravan Saray, the Khan came and said to Nadir, the builder, “nice Madrasah you built here.” Nadir replied no this was built as a Caravan Saray! The Khan replied “nice Madrasah you have here”. Nadir had no choice but to turn his Caravan Saray into a Madrasah even though it did not conform to the regular construction of a Madrasah. It did not have a classroom on one side and a mosque on the opposite side, (which side depended on where Mecca was situated), like all the other Madrasahs. Another huge difference was the decoration of the façade entrance, which showed a bird with a pig. In the Sunni Islamic religion there was to be no human or animal decorations, especially a pig, which was against the Muslim religion to eat. Sunni ornamentation was always geometric designs, flowers or Arabic writings from the Koran. It turned out that the builder was from Iran and was a Shiite and apparently they could put living art in their decorations plus the original plan was for a Caravan Saray. The builder thought the living decorations would be okay.

The stork was the national bird of Bukhara and previously they had many storks in their city. The ponds had frogs, which fed the storks. But in the 1920’s there were many diseases in the city like Malaria and different skin diseases because of the stagnant water in the ponds. The Soviets drained and filled in all but two of the ponds. The storks disappeared after the ponds were filled in. Today when there was a group of trees growing in an area that was a good indication that the area used to be a pond.

One of the two remaining ponds in Bukhara was located in the central square of the Jewish center. A wealthy man built the Caravan Saray and Mosque (I guess he was a Muslim Jew?) and he wanted a reflection pond between his two buildings but he had a problem. An old woman lived in a house located smack in the middle of the pool area. He asked to buy it from her and she answered, no. He purchased the surrounding land and began making the pond anyway, surrounding and flooding her property.  She had no choice but to sell him her house (or stay in the middle of the wet pond). The Mosque and Caravan Saray were still beside this pond and the lady’s house had been long gone.  The pillars from the Mosque reflected into the pool making it seem like there were 40 pillars when there were actually 20!

In 1997 Bukhara celebrated its 2,500th year of existence. Russ and I were surprised to see artists painting excellent miniature artwork and selling their work in the markets in Bukhara.  We had thought that miniature paintings were only done in Iran. How naive were we?

We visited Bukhara’s carpet museum located in a 12^th Century Mosque that was built on top of a Zoroastrian Temple. During Soviet times this building was turned into a bar. Next we stopped to tour two Madrasahs (Kosh Madrasahs meaning double or twin) one of which was built by Timarlane’s grandson in the 1400’s. This Madrasah was called Ulug Bek after his grandson and was much lower than the other Madrasah. The other Madrasah, called Abdulazyz Khan (directly opposite Ulug Bek) was built in the 1600’s and was never finished. There were timbers sticking out the sides of the archway that should have been used as supports for the twisted columns, which were never made. Apparently another war broke out and the Khan had to flee the area. There was also a stork nest on top of the Abdulazyz Madrasah.

We toured inside the Abdulazyz Madrasah where they had a small museum. There was an example of a whirling dervish’s cane with a snake winding itself around the stick and an elephant head carved into the top. We also visited inside the rooms used for students at the Madrasah. The residence consisted of two rooms, one on top of the other. There was a square indentation in the middle of the top floor to make a fire, niches in the walls to store items and the ceiling was decorated. The bottom floor had a stove and pots to cook with. It was small but very cute.

All the houses built in Old Town and the rural areas had flat roofs because as the families grew (lots of children in most families) they built another floor or another building within the courtyard if there was room. Their compounds all had the windows and doors of their houses facing inside their courtyards and many times no windows faced the road. Each family compound created their own oasis around the courtyard, and excluded the goings on of the desert city outside their walls. The beauty of their homes was hidden inside their houses and courtyards. The walls and buildings gave protection from the wind. They had their own gardens and animals all enclosed around them. Most of the houses were made of mud or clay bricks. Whereas, all the public buildings such as Mosques and Madrasahs were made from fired clay bricks. Every so often there would be a row of wood placed between the bricks. The wood would be used as a stabilizer in case of an earthquake. Mud mixed with straw was then smoothed over the mud bricks and usually the house was painted white with a lime solution. The lime kept the bugs out.

The streets in Old Town were purposely narrow to make shade from the hot summer sun and in the winter the narrow streets kept the walls warm.  It also added a romantic feel to the city as we strolled along their streets and alleyways.

We ate lunch across from a very high minaret called Kalon. It was built in the 12^th Century and had survived many wars and earthquakes. One of the theories it was still standing was because they constructed the foundation first and let it stand for two years before building the minaret higher. When Genghis Khan attacked Bukhara much of the city was destroyed. Legend said that Genghis Khan lifted his head up to see the top of the Kalon Minaret and his hat fell off. To pick up his hat he had to bow down. When he stood up he said if any building could make a great leader like him bow before it, it should not be destroyed. So this minaret was not destroyed and was still standing.

Minaret comes from Arabic meaning lighthouse. At first minarets were used as lighthouses by burning oil lamps at the top during the night and the glazed ceramic tiles were used to reflect light during the day for the traders travelling along the Silk Road.  Then the mosques used the minarets for their call to prayer and last they were used for executions by pushing people off the top. There was a legend of one lady who was sentenced to death for adultery. The police took her to the top of the minaret and asked her what her last wish was before they pushed her off. She said she would like all the dresses her husband had given her. They brought the dresses to her and guess what? There were 40 dresses! She put all of the dresses on and when they pushed her off the minaret the dresses acted like a parachute and she landed on her feet at the bottom and walked away.

Every so often we would notice a metal flag on top of a pole with a crown above the triangle flag. This flagpole signified that a saint or special person was buried at that site. For example at one Madrasah they had turned the classroom into a Mausoleum for an Emir and there was one of these poles outside to signify that a special person was buried there.

We visited a museum of a prison called a Zindan. There were 4 separate cells. The first was for people who owed money. They were allowed to make crafts inside their cell the jailer sold the crafts to get money to pay off their debts. During judgments there had to be 2 women versus 1 man. If it were one man’s word against one woman she would be found guilty. The architect who built the Summer Palace for the Emir was put in this prison because he drank wine, which was against the law. The 4^th cell was known as Kanakhona or bug pit! It was 6.5 meters deep and covered with an iron grill. The only way in or out was by a rope. Prisoners either died in the cell or were executed.  Two famous Englishmen were put in this cell and then executed in the 1800’s.  The story about them was in the book called The Great Game.

Today there was money scattered around in this pit. Apparently, people came to this cell to pray to the patron saint of prisoners (whoever that was?) and paid money by dropping it into the pit for their friends or relatives who were in jail. Hoping that their prisoner would be set free.

In 1920, 80% of Bukhara’s Ark, the center of the Bukhara Emirate statehood, was bombed and destroyed by the Bolsheviks. The 20 meter high wall around the Ark was originally built in the 4^th Century BC and the Emirs lived inside these walls until the early 1900’s. The Ark was a city within the city of Bukhara. It was the Palace of the Emir and included all of the Emir’s administrative buildings with approximately 3,000 people living and working inside the walls. The Ark was the center of Bukhara’s gossip and trading. Information and goods were exchanged (plus public hangings) on the square outside the walls.

Our next stop was at Job’s well. Legend said that the people were tired and very thirsty from their travels across the desert. Job took his staff and hit the ground with it making a well with curative cold fresh water. This well was 20 meters deep and still functioned. It was enclosed in a building and considered sacred.

The mausoleum of the Samanid family located very close to Job’s well was built in the 9^th Century. The walls were very thick and made from fired brick with 18 different brick laying designs. All 4 sides of the mausoleum were identical. The entrance was on the Eastern side.  It was constructed with a dome on top and a cube on the bottom. The cube represented life on earth and the dome represented the heavens; the two combined represented the universe. We walked around this building three times (as was the tradition) to make our wishes come true! I had made a friend with a little girl, who gave me a rose and walked around the building with me.  She was amazing, she spoke around 8 languages, enough to say hi, what is your name, do you want to buy something, etc. Even our guide was amazed by her language skills! I wanted to take her home but her mother was waiting for her at their little kiosk.

History Lesson gleaned from the Internet on Central Asia and Uzbekistan:

The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BCE), sometimes known as the First Persian Empire, was an Iranian empire in Western Asia, founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation. The Medes had originally been the dominant Iranic group in the region. The Persian Empire was named after an Indo-European tribe called Parsua. The name Persia was a Latin pronunciation of the Indo-Iranian people Parsua who named their territorial borders Persis. We visited Persepolis in Iran last year, it was an amazing city built during the rule of Darius the Great (Darius I) after Cyrus the Great, and completed some 100 years later.

At the height of its power after the conquest of Egypt, the Achaemenid Persian Empire spanned three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. At its greatest extent, the empire included the modern territories of Iran, Turkey, parts of Central Asia, Pakistan, Thrace and Macedonia, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Afghanistan, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya.

Zoroastrianism and the Persian language (today referred to as Farsi or Tajik) were spread by the Sogdian rulers throughout Central Asia in BCE. Many people living in Tajikistan spoke Tajik today. They could communicate with people living in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, etc.

Turkic Tribes also migrated into Central Asia from Siberia during the 6^th Century BCE. Today the Turkic and Tajik people all lived together peacefully in Uzbekistan (& Central Asia). They shared similar traditions and may even look alike but they spoke different languages. The Tajik people were originally from Persia and the Turkic people were originally Tartars from Siberia and/or China. The term Turkic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people including existing societies such as the Turkish, Azerbaijani, Chuvashes, Kazakhs, Tatars, Kyrgyz, Turkmens, Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Bashkirs, Qashqai, Gagauzs, Yakuts, Turkic Karaites, Krymchaks, Karakalpaks, Karachays, Balkars, Nogais and as well as past civilizations such as the Göktürks, Kumans, Kipchaks, Avars, Bulgars, Turgeshes, Khazars, Seljuk Turks, Ottoman Turks, Mamluks, Timurids and possibly Huns and the Xiongnu. Today the people who spoke Turkic understood their cousins from Turkey, Azerbaijan, some parts of Western China and other Central Asian Countries.

It amazed me how many languages the people of Central Asia could speak. All could speak Russian because during Soviet times Russian was the main language. All spoke either Turkic or Tajik and many spoke both plus Uzbek, plus English and on and on. It put us Canadians to shame as we only could speak one language.

For dinner we ate in one of the courtyards of a Caravan Saray and were privileged to have an architect join us to explain the building designs of Bukhara. According to our speaker, Bukhara was originally built on 650 hectares and had a 9-kilometer wall surrounding it with 11 city gates. In the early 19^th Century Bukhara had so many ponds it was known as Venice in the desert. The city was divided into sections (approximately 220 sections). In each section would be a skill, craft, trade or ethnic group. For example there would be a bakers section, a shoemakers section or a Jewish section.

Bukhara was a famous city (Khanate) because it was the center of commerce and trade as well as the center for education and the Islamic religion along the Silk Road. One of the reasons for Bukhara’s success was the number of Caravan Sarays in the city.  These buildings shielded traders from both the hot summers and the cold winters and allowed them to continue their trading of ideas and goods all year long.

There was a white marble quarry 70 kilometers north of Bukhara, which provided much of the marble used in the construction of the buildings. The marble was traded with Russia to use in their construction of buildings in Moscow. He also told us that the builders in Bukhara started using fired clay bricks as early as the 6^th Century!

While we were listening to our lecture and eating dinner a cat suddenly jumped up on our guide’s lap (Batir) and lunged at his chicken dinner.  This really surprised all of us it happened so quickly. The owner came out and shooed the cat away but we felt sorry for it and snuck some food out to it behind the restaurant.

Walking around this ancient city with their amazing Muslim architecture you couldn’t help to notice old buildings made of mud, dirt alleyways and broken up sidewalks but I have to say it was immaculate. Each morning and evening the owners were outside sweeping up the dirt, taking the garbage away and everything was neat and tidy. It was amazing really to see a spotlessly clean dirt walkway. Nobody was lazy; everyone was busy working at something. I highly recommend visiting Bukhara an amazing, interesting and friendly city.