The Central Asian DNA Strand

Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara--all cities on the original Silk Road. All visited and (sometimes) trashed by Alexander the Great, Ghengis Khan, and Emir Timur, the unifying father of the middle ages. Uzbeks are a culturally complex people, historically.

Of the ethnic, non-European people we have met, most first identify as Tajik, Turkik, or Tatar, combined with the all-important ingredient, Uzbek. We met one gentlemen sitting on the steps of a beautiful madrassa (above) one evening. After chatting for a few minutes, and learning that he was Tajik-Uzbek, we were pleasantly interrupted by about 20 Iranian students whom we had met in a different town a few days earlier. They were all in a Master’s of International Relations program in Tehran.

I introduced Mosel to our newest friend Ruslan. In broken English, Mosel asked him “Do you speak Tajik?” In short order, they were hugging and kissing like they hadn’t seen each other in 700 years. In fact, they hadn’t; Ruslan’s ancestors were “invited” to settle in Bukhara, from Iran, by the aforementioned Emir Timur in the 1300‘s. It was an emotional reunion. The DNA strand is extraordinarily complex in this part of the world. I might even be from here.

Nina: thought I’d break it to you early--our Iranian friends (above) invited us, in all sincerity, to visit them in Tehran next fall. It’d be rude to say no.

Neglected Mosque

This mosque didn’t have a discernable name. It is located on a fairly busy street corner, on the University grounds in Bukhara. Completely abandoned and run down. We couldn’t find a door into it, but we did find a small bricked-up stairwell. All four of us went “Indiana Jones” when no-one was looking, and we crawled up a narrow, circular staircase. We just sat around on the roof, looking at the city, wondering how old it was (and how safe). As far as we could tell, it wasn’t a “World Heritage Site” or something that was meant to be preserved. Just a 1000 year old (?) collection of bricks in the shape of a building. Not something you see everyday.

Mosques and Madressas

Madressas are schools for Islamic study and mosques are, of course, for worship. Since the fall of the USSR in early 1900’s, both of these institutions have experienced increases in usage. In the 1920’s, the Bolsheviks closed more than 24,000 mosques in Central Asia.
Tragically, the mosque above was used as a warehouse by the Soviets. It’s big enough to hold 10,000 people. It was re-opened in 1991. Our guide-book reports that in Uzbekistan, mosques have been re-opening at a rate of 10 per day since the Soviets left.

The Caravan

Our hotel in Bukhara. It was quite a luxurious place to stay after we spent a few nights in some questionable “hotels.” It’s quite common for homes and hotels to have a secluded inner courtyard in Uzbekistan. It’s a great place to escape the heat and dust and wind in the summer. The outside walls of buildings were either plain or boring with very few windows, usually curtained closed. Our room had a balcony that looked into the inner courtyard.

Grave Robbers

We visited a fantastically beautiful mausoleum one evening. My kids are either callous, naive, in-sensitive, or greedy, because I told them if they stuck their heads in this recently robbed, deteriorating crypt, I’d give them each five bucks. I better just get used to paying.

Neo-Tradional Transport

This is downtown Tashkent. 2 million people. Clean, with lots of parks and green space.
I don’t know the difference between a burro, a mule, or a donkey, but this was a fairly common site throughout Uzbekistan. The odd thing was, no-one ever honked at them or got mad or irritated with them. They’d wait at red lights like everyone else, use hand signals, and cause mild congestion, and they were accepted by everyone as normal.


















And when they needed “fuel,” they’d pull over to the nearest park and fill-er-up. The bag that lady is holding is full of fresh grass that she hand-cut with a small scythe.

Two Cuties