Imagine being a 12th-century ruler who controls an important city on the Silk Road. You would want to build something great to impress not only your neighbors, but also those coming from places farther afield, wouldn’t you? After all, they have travelled weeks and months […]
The Spanish-built Afrosiyob high-speed train whisked us through a landscape that gradually changed from one filled with endless cotton fields at the peak of harvest season, to vast steppes, before eventually giving way to barren hills. We left the wonders of Samarkand behind and arrived […]
On our penultimate day in Samarkand, grey clouds persistently hung over the city. But we had anticipated this and decided that we would spend the day visiting the sites further away from the city center, on foot. I have mentioned this before, but we do […]
There are many ways to remember those who have died. However, it has been proven over and over again that a very special person usually gets a unique memorial that itself will be remembered for many generations. Of all the things mankind has constructed to […]
The taxi that took us from the train station weaved through the streets of Samarkand. We had just arrived from Tashkent on a two-hour journey now made possible thanks to the Afrosiyob, the first high-speed rail system in Central Asia which was named after an […]
When one strolls around the downtown area of Samarkand, the Registan will undoubtedly take the spotlight. It is to Uzbekistan what Machu Picchu is to Peru, the Great Pyramid of Giza is to Egypt, or the Great Wall is to China. Simply put, they all […]
Conquerors must be among the most divisive figures in human history. They are often regarded as heroes by the people they represent, whose territory grows following victorious military campaigns. But on the other hand, the conquered see them either as an evil force or as […]
Please forgive my absence in the past two weeks as I have just returned from a trip to one of the countries I most want to see. Uzbekistan had been on my wish list for more than a decade. One of the first things that […]
What an Amazing World! 