samarqand trip
Dec. 14th, 2004 09:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
merchimerchOur trip to Samarqand was odd. It was wonderful and nice to take R to all the amazing historical places and also to fill in the gaps that I hadn't seen before. It was also amazing to see how much restoration work they have done on the various historical sights since I was last there, 2 years ago. Really some of the restoration is staggering. For a more long winded account,
The trip was a little odd. R and I were going to go on our own and get a hotel and have a little romantic get away/sight seeing excursion. Malika opa got wind of this plan and said that we should go with her husband since he is from samarqand, that way it will be economical and he will be able to show us around like a local. She also said that her husband knew a driver and all we'd have to pay is gas for our transport. Well the driver turned out to have a sick child, so we ended up taking a minibus there which was crowded and bumpy, but not too bad. I was smashed against a very nice old Tatar grandmother who quite literally talked my ear off the whole time.
Once we got to Samarqand, we went directly to Ulughbek's observatory, somewhere I hadn't been before. THey've excavated his humongus sextant and had a nice little museum dedicated to his work. I thought of Fox359 with all of the astronomy stuff that I wish I understood more of.
After seeing that we got into a different minibus and headed down to have lunch near the bazaar. I was beginning to feel that Malika's husband wasn't entirely comfortable having 2 guests with the expense, knowing what I do about Uzbek guesting customs, I thought it was odd that he complained about the price of lunch in front of us, let us pay our mini bus fare from Ulughbek into the city, and let us pay everyone's taxi fare home from Samarqand. Everything was just odd - he didn't like to go into any of the monuments or historical sites with us, ostensibly because he'd seen them all so many times before, but really I think he didn't want to have to pay the 20 cent entrance fees. It meant that he was perpetually waiting for us and made me feel odd - kind of like he was at least a slightly reluctant host.
Anyway, After lunch we went to Shahi Zinda, a huge complex of mausolems which are just amazing. They are doing restoration work on it now, and all the Uzbek workers tried to shout their 2 words of English at us and were floored when I spoke back to them in Uzbek. They kept saying a 3 word phrase that I can't remember now - Ziyofat *something* bo'lsin. It didn't make much sense to me, since ziyofat is reception and bo'lsin means "let it be." I asked Malika's husband and he said it had something to do with wishing us blessed funerals when we die or something, but maybe I really misunderstood him - it was all too wierd. At many of the monuments we were accosted by crowds of "lola" (gypsies) who were asking for alms - Malika opas husband was able to chase them off, but it was unsettling to see so many of them - the groups of them I've seen around Tashkent are much smaller.
After Shahizinda we went to Bibi Khanum's complex (she was Amir Temur's wife). I hadn't been there either, and was very impressed. The outer facade is just huge - bigger than any I've seen. Also, for some reason or another, bibi hanum was the most quiet and peaceful. There weren't any folks hawking souveniers or any beggars or lola. The whole thing was quite peaceful.
Then we went to Registon, which is always beautiful and impressive. I was sad to see that they have turned even the Gold Worker's Madrassah into souvenier shops now too. 2 years ago it was just the rooms in the Shahrux and Ulug'bek madrassahs that had vendors in them. Uzbekistan is trying to figure out tourism, I think, and installing souvenier shops in ancient monumnets seems to be one of the ways that they are trying to harvest tourist dollars. It always makes me sad. Also it is sad to see all the various vendors selling exactly the same stuff. This is true in the bazaar too - there are dozens and dozens of stalls that all have the same thing and the only really competition seems to be about price, not originality or diversity of product.
After this it was late and everyone was tired so we walked through the old city to Nurddin's sisters house where we would stay the night. They had 3 sweet kids, including a little girl who was very embarrased about her shaved head and kept a hat on the whole time. Her dad, Nurddin's brother, kept teasing her and pulling it off, making her scream and grimace. Uzbeks shave their children's hair when they are young in the belief that it will make it grow back thicker and stronger. The house was remarkably warm considering the complaint that their propane levels were so low, and they made us a bunch of steamed pumpkin dumplings. We slept in a separate room with quilts on the floor and were remarkably comfortable.
In the morning Bekmirzod, Nurddin's eldest son who is doing his obligatory year in the army in Samarqand, came to visit and we had a long drawn out breakfast of bread and cream. After that, Nurddin declared that we needed to go to have lunch with some of his friends and then we would see the last monument on our stop - Gur Emir.
The lunch turned into a very long affair with 2 bottles of vodka, chuchvara (ravioli) and shashlik (shishkabob). As a woman I get away with refusing vodka after the first toast, but poor R got stuck with a bunch of it, and it was only lunch time. Nurddin and his 2 friends Abdul Aziz and Abdul Somethingelse gave R and Uzbek name (I think because they didn't like trying to pronounce his name in English). He is now "Abul Rashid." After a long and heavy lunch we were treated to a couple of songs by Abdul Aziz on his dutar which was very oddly tuned and fretted. Abdul Aziz sang a version of Adolat Tanovari and Rajabi's Kuigai. After his performance, which was quite strident - his upper register is impressive, Nurddin joined in on a song that I didn't recognize. It was obvious that all the men were quite jolly from all their vodka and were enjoying a chance to show off for guests.
After lunch, it was a short ride to Gur Emir, Tamerlane's mausoleum, where they have done amazing reconstruction and restoration. When I saw it 2 years ago, the inside was full of scaffolding and only the very beginning of the restoration were visible. That restoration is done now, and apparently it took 4.2 kilos of gold to finish the inside. It is just amazing. The detail and the scale of everyhting is just unlike even the most ornate cathedral in Europe - really, there are no words.
After Gur Emir, we went across the street to the unrestored mausoleum of Amir Temur's teacher, where Nurddin knew one of the souvenier vendors. R trucked off to a little shop to negotiate a christmas present for me, and I stayed and talked to the woman who Nurddin knew. We traded stories of how difficult life is and when I mentioned that R and I are too poor to have children in the US, she was really shocked, but said it was probably for the best. She told me the story of how when she had one of her children it was the dead of winter and the propane had run out, so she curled herself up next to a woodstove with her and her newborn wrapped up in quilts trying not to catch cold. The poverty in rural areas really is so much more serious than urban poverty here.
Finally we went back to Nurddin's sisters house to pick up our backpack and leave for a taxi, or so we thought. The sister had begun making plov for us and I felt bad that we couldn't stay, but I thought we were hurrying off back to tashkent. I was wrong, actually what I thought was a taxi was 2 of nurddin's friends taking us to shashlik (and more vodka), then to the station where people catch buses, minibuses, and taxis. There were no minibuses going to Tashkent at the time, and taxis were very expensive. At the end we ended up all 3 in the back of a taxi smashed like sardines for $5.50 a piece. In the end the trip took longer than the minibus because the driver had to make a 45 minute stop along the way to try and negotiate the return of his cousin's passport which someone had found and was demanding a $50 ransom for. He ended up getting it back for $11 after a long negotation and we were back on the road. Nurddin sang a few Tajik songs for the woman in the front seat and eventually we all settled in and tried to sleep a little. It was crowded beyond belief and both R and I were so so stiff at the end. When we reached our apartment, murphey's law, the elevator wasn't working, so with stiff joints we got to climb 7 flights of stairs up to our apartment. The trip was great, but I was so happy to be home in my warm cozy apartment with a nice bed, running hot water, and an internet connection :)
The trip was a little odd. R and I were going to go on our own and get a hotel and have a little romantic get away/sight seeing excursion. Malika opa got wind of this plan and said that we should go with her husband since he is from samarqand, that way it will be economical and he will be able to show us around like a local. She also said that her husband knew a driver and all we'd have to pay is gas for our transport. Well the driver turned out to have a sick child, so we ended up taking a minibus there which was crowded and bumpy, but not too bad. I was smashed against a very nice old Tatar grandmother who quite literally talked my ear off the whole time.
Once we got to Samarqand, we went directly to Ulughbek's observatory, somewhere I hadn't been before. THey've excavated his humongus sextant and had a nice little museum dedicated to his work. I thought of Fox359 with all of the astronomy stuff that I wish I understood more of.
After seeing that we got into a different minibus and headed down to have lunch near the bazaar. I was beginning to feel that Malika's husband wasn't entirely comfortable having 2 guests with the expense, knowing what I do about Uzbek guesting customs, I thought it was odd that he complained about the price of lunch in front of us, let us pay our mini bus fare from Ulughbek into the city, and let us pay everyone's taxi fare home from Samarqand. Everything was just odd - he didn't like to go into any of the monuments or historical sites with us, ostensibly because he'd seen them all so many times before, but really I think he didn't want to have to pay the 20 cent entrance fees. It meant that he was perpetually waiting for us and made me feel odd - kind of like he was at least a slightly reluctant host.
Anyway, After lunch we went to Shahi Zinda, a huge complex of mausolems which are just amazing. They are doing restoration work on it now, and all the Uzbek workers tried to shout their 2 words of English at us and were floored when I spoke back to them in Uzbek. They kept saying a 3 word phrase that I can't remember now - Ziyofat *something* bo'lsin. It didn't make much sense to me, since ziyofat is reception and bo'lsin means "let it be." I asked Malika's husband and he said it had something to do with wishing us blessed funerals when we die or something, but maybe I really misunderstood him - it was all too wierd. At many of the monuments we were accosted by crowds of "lola" (gypsies) who were asking for alms - Malika opas husband was able to chase them off, but it was unsettling to see so many of them - the groups of them I've seen around Tashkent are much smaller.
After Shahizinda we went to Bibi Khanum's complex (she was Amir Temur's wife). I hadn't been there either, and was very impressed. The outer facade is just huge - bigger than any I've seen. Also, for some reason or another, bibi hanum was the most quiet and peaceful. There weren't any folks hawking souveniers or any beggars or lola. The whole thing was quite peaceful.
Then we went to Registon, which is always beautiful and impressive. I was sad to see that they have turned even the Gold Worker's Madrassah into souvenier shops now too. 2 years ago it was just the rooms in the Shahrux and Ulug'bek madrassahs that had vendors in them. Uzbekistan is trying to figure out tourism, I think, and installing souvenier shops in ancient monumnets seems to be one of the ways that they are trying to harvest tourist dollars. It always makes me sad. Also it is sad to see all the various vendors selling exactly the same stuff. This is true in the bazaar too - there are dozens and dozens of stalls that all have the same thing and the only really competition seems to be about price, not originality or diversity of product.
After this it was late and everyone was tired so we walked through the old city to Nurddin's sisters house where we would stay the night. They had 3 sweet kids, including a little girl who was very embarrased about her shaved head and kept a hat on the whole time. Her dad, Nurddin's brother, kept teasing her and pulling it off, making her scream and grimace. Uzbeks shave their children's hair when they are young in the belief that it will make it grow back thicker and stronger. The house was remarkably warm considering the complaint that their propane levels were so low, and they made us a bunch of steamed pumpkin dumplings. We slept in a separate room with quilts on the floor and were remarkably comfortable.
In the morning Bekmirzod, Nurddin's eldest son who is doing his obligatory year in the army in Samarqand, came to visit and we had a long drawn out breakfast of bread and cream. After that, Nurddin declared that we needed to go to have lunch with some of his friends and then we would see the last monument on our stop - Gur Emir.
The lunch turned into a very long affair with 2 bottles of vodka, chuchvara (ravioli) and shashlik (shishkabob). As a woman I get away with refusing vodka after the first toast, but poor R got stuck with a bunch of it, and it was only lunch time. Nurddin and his 2 friends Abdul Aziz and Abdul Somethingelse gave R and Uzbek name (I think because they didn't like trying to pronounce his name in English). He is now "Abul Rashid." After a long and heavy lunch we were treated to a couple of songs by Abdul Aziz on his dutar which was very oddly tuned and fretted. Abdul Aziz sang a version of Adolat Tanovari and Rajabi's Kuigai. After his performance, which was quite strident - his upper register is impressive, Nurddin joined in on a song that I didn't recognize. It was obvious that all the men were quite jolly from all their vodka and were enjoying a chance to show off for guests.
After lunch, it was a short ride to Gur Emir, Tamerlane's mausoleum, where they have done amazing reconstruction and restoration. When I saw it 2 years ago, the inside was full of scaffolding and only the very beginning of the restoration were visible. That restoration is done now, and apparently it took 4.2 kilos of gold to finish the inside. It is just amazing. The detail and the scale of everyhting is just unlike even the most ornate cathedral in Europe - really, there are no words.
After Gur Emir, we went across the street to the unrestored mausoleum of Amir Temur's teacher, where Nurddin knew one of the souvenier vendors. R trucked off to a little shop to negotiate a christmas present for me, and I stayed and talked to the woman who Nurddin knew. We traded stories of how difficult life is and when I mentioned that R and I are too poor to have children in the US, she was really shocked, but said it was probably for the best. She told me the story of how when she had one of her children it was the dead of winter and the propane had run out, so she curled herself up next to a woodstove with her and her newborn wrapped up in quilts trying not to catch cold. The poverty in rural areas really is so much more serious than urban poverty here.
Finally we went back to Nurddin's sisters house to pick up our backpack and leave for a taxi, or so we thought. The sister had begun making plov for us and I felt bad that we couldn't stay, but I thought we were hurrying off back to tashkent. I was wrong, actually what I thought was a taxi was 2 of nurddin's friends taking us to shashlik (and more vodka), then to the station where people catch buses, minibuses, and taxis. There were no minibuses going to Tashkent at the time, and taxis were very expensive. At the end we ended up all 3 in the back of a taxi smashed like sardines for $5.50 a piece. In the end the trip took longer than the minibus because the driver had to make a 45 minute stop along the way to try and negotiate the return of his cousin's passport which someone had found and was demanding a $50 ransom for. He ended up getting it back for $11 after a long negotation and we were back on the road. Nurddin sang a few Tajik songs for the woman in the front seat and eventually we all settled in and tried to sleep a little. It was crowded beyond belief and both R and I were so so stiff at the end. When we reached our apartment, murphey's law, the elevator wasn't working, so with stiff joints we got to climb 7 flights of stairs up to our apartment. The trip was great, but I was so happy to be home in my warm cozy apartment with a nice bed, running hot water, and an internet connection :)
