Our Silk Road Train Journey, Pt. 7: Wrapping Up Our Trip In Khiva And Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Our two-week Central Asian adventure was coming to a close with only two days and one night remaining. We had spent the past couple of days in the ancient city of Bukhara and now it was time to visit the first of our final few of stops.
Sunday, April 20, 2025
For the bulk of the night our train had been standing still at Urgench, Uzbekistan which came with its pros and cons; the pro was that there was no rough ride while we were trying to sleep, but the con was the power doesn’t work when the train isn’t moving, therefor it had gotten a bit warm overnight and dusty with the window open in the desert. However, the train started moving again while everyone else was having breakfast and about half an hour later we were in the city of Khiva:
Khiva is a district-level city of approximately 93,000 people in Khorazm Region, Uzbekistan. According to archaeological data, the city was established around 2,500 years ago. In 1997, Khiva celebrated its 2500th anniversary. It is the former capital of Khwarezmia, the Khanate of Khiva, and the Khorezm People’s Soviet Republic. Itchan Kala in Khiva was the first site in Uzbekistan to be inscribed on the World Heritage List (1991).
The woman in the centre was definitely the most talented
All of the groups on the train exited and we were greeted one final time by another traditional band and some dancers, some of the guides deciding to join in on this occasion (right). All 90+ passengers were on the platform at once, but somehow the guides at the conclusion of their performance successfully managed to round up the right people, get us all on the correct buses, and drive us all down to the Old Town. Now, we had visited several old cities on this adventure, but they would all pale in comparison, because if you read those details about Khiva, you would’ve noticed a place that happens to be on the World Heritage List, Itchan Kala, and that’s where we would be spending the bulk of our day:
Itchan Kala is the walled inner town of the city of Khiva, Uzbekistan. Since 1990, it has been protected as a World Heritage Site.
The old town retains more than 50 historic monuments and 250 old houses, dating primarily from the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries. Juma Mosque, for instance, was established in the tenth century and rebuilt from 1788 to 1789, although its celebrated hypostyle hall still retains 112 columns taken from ancient structures.
According to the legend, the clay from this area was used to build sites in Medina during the Prophet Muhammad’s lifetime; and the lake (which appeared later) is also considered to be sacred. In another legend, it is said that the sacred water channel of Khiva, known as the Xeyvak Canal, was dug by Shem, the son of Noah, who was said to have a miraculous spade.Similarly, according to the tales, the construction of Khorezm began with Shem.
We walked past a statue of some men on camels to enter gates through the ancient wall, one that has a total circumference length of 6.25 km (3.9 mi), and once inside it became abundantly clear why we were going to be here for a few hours. The streets were endless with market stalls running down the sides and I’m glad my head was above the crowd, because the sheer number of people walking around inside was immense. At first there were kids waving at me as we walked around, which happens a lot when we’re in countries where I am far from blending in, but then something else began to occur; people wanted photos with Anna and myself, either on their phone or even mine, it was almost as if there were a small paparazzi following us. I once had some local guys want photos with me taken on my phone in a temple in Madurai, India a decade ago, but this was something else, even women wanted in on it! What they didn’t want, however, was our irritating traveling companion, the notorious Ms. P charging over and crashing their photos with Anna and I, her somehow coming to the conclusion that they wanted her in them with us as well, something that continued even in their own private images that didn’t include us until someone finally managed to get the message across to her. It was then that she saw a bench and decided to get some reprieve from the scorching sun by scooting under someone else just as they were about to sit.
Our first impressions of Itchan Kala:
As we were spending the bulk of the day in Itchan Kala I ended up with a lot of photos so instead of just a bombardment of them, I might as well add some context with a bit of information about the locations.
The first two were difficult to find the exact details about, because most sites just referenced Konya Ark which is a much larger area of the citadel, but I think I eventually managed, Summer Mosque of the Ark:
The summer mosques were built as open spaces with soaring wooden columns, intricate carved wooden ceilings and exquisite tiles.
This mosque was built in 1838, and is located immediately to the right of the main entrance.
It’s the first building one stands in front of in awe.
The iwan decorated in blue majolica tiles has a wooden roof accented in red, orange, yellow and gold.
Like the first mosque, this one was a little difficult to get up close for photos of the exterior, but inside Kurnysh-khan Palace was more impressive anyway:
One of the significant constructions of the old citadel Kunua-Ark is Kurnysh-khan Palace which was erected in 1806. The architecture of the building is traditional oriental décor with numerous rooms, decorated with beautiful majolica patterns. Kurnysh-khan Palace was the residence of the governor, intended for official receptions.
We’ve seen our share of madrasas on this trip and I’ve snapped photos of them all, but they all kind of fade into one after a while, as is the case of the Muhammad Rahim Khan Madrasah:
The Muhammad Rahim Khan Madrasah is one of the largest in Khiva, and is located directly opposite the Konya Ark citadel. It has a size of 62 meters by 50 meters. It was built in 1871 on behalf of Khan Said Muhammad Rahim II (reign 1863 to 1910), who was also a well-known poet under the pseudonym Feruz Shah.
It was built as the last of the large madrasahs in Khiva. The rectangular building has a courtyard with four iwans. There are also small towers on the corners. The large entrance portal has a complicated vestibule with a five-span arcade. The student quarters of the madrasah are covered with Balkhi type domes. In addition to the living rooms, the madrasah also has utility rooms. There is a domed mosque in the south wing.
A lot of mosques on this trip have been similar as well, but Juma Mosque stood out from the rest and was definitely a highlight of Itchan Kala:
Juma Mosque is a 10th–18th century mosque in Khiva, Uzbekistan. It is one of the principal monuments of Itchan Kala, the walled old city of Khiva, which is a World Heritage Site. It stands in the middle of Itchan Kala, on the road connecting the west gate (Ota darvoza) and the east gate (Polvon darvoza). The mosque was first documented in the 10th century, but it was rebuilt in 1788.
It is a large one-story brick building with a flat roof, supported by 212 wooden columns in 17 rows. Its total size is 55 x 46 m, and its minaret is 42 m high.
One our last stops inside before we exited from a different gate and wrapped up our tour of Itchan Kala was inside and around the Pahlavon Mahmud complex:
The Pahlavon Mahmud complex, Pahlavon Mahmud mausoleum or Polvon ota mausoleum is a memorial monument in Khiva, Khorezm. The mausoleum complex has a total area of 50x30m, and was originally built in 1664 as a miraculous dome over the grave of Pahlavon Mahmud. Pahlavon Mahmud (1247-1326) was a local poet who emerged from humble craftsmen, and was also famous for his heroic strength as an unbeatable wrestler, and his ability to heal people. His tomb has been and is still considered a sacred place by representatives of Uzbeks, Turkmens, Karakalpaks and other peoples. This complex is also known in Khiva as “Hazrati Pahlavon Pir”.
By the time we had exited it was after 1:00pm which meant it was also time for lunch so we took the buses back to the main city and arrived at Hotel Asia Khiva. As this was going to be another buffet lunch everyone tried to take their seats quickly and form groups in order to not have to sit directly next to Ms. P, our Czech friends once again taking a bullet for the rest of us.
When lunch was done we had a few hours to explore Khiva, but due to not being a particularly large city, unless we went to another museum again it was easy to see the bulk of it in an hour or so and we still had quite a bit of time before we were back on the train for a final night. One way we could kill some time would be to climb the Itchan Kala citadel which was going to cost more money once we had reentered so we exited the complex once again and walked for ages to find an ATM, got out the amount of cash we thought we’d need and returned to the citadel, only to find that we had confused the zeroes in the currency like we always seem to do and only had a tenth of the amount we needed. We couldn’t be bothered going all the way back to the ATM so what better way to spend the cash than a mini pub crawl. The weather was perfect so we found a couple of good outdoor bars to soak in the sun with some post lunch libations, however, Ms. P was sitting in our first option so we moved on to another fine spot. Once done there we tried one more place and it turned our the Czech women from our group were there so we pulled up seats and chatted before eventually joining the others to catch the bus back to the train.
Our final dinner in the dining cart consisted of speeches from all of the crew and rounds of toasts and thank yous for all of the people working on the train and involved in all of the day to day action behind the scenes that we never got to witness. We topped off the night with our guide, Rustam, joining us with a bottle of vodka in tow in our tiny cabin where some of our other companions joined us for a drink and a chat as we continued on to our final stop of the rail journey.
Around Khiva in the afternoon and our last evening aboard the train:
Monday, April 21, 2025
We rolled into the Uzbek capital of Tashkent at 9:30am and it was time to exit the train for good. We said a final goodbye to the staff while our luggage was whisked off to Hotel Inspira-S, where the rest of the group would be spending the night, Anna included, but due to my Indian visa having been rejected, where the two of us were supposed to begin our journey almost three weeks earlier, I was now on a different flight to her and would be departing that night. One of my old friends, Andrew Needham, now lives in Tashkent and he would be flying back from Kazakhstan that night too so the plan would be to hang out at the airport with him for a bit.
It was nice being back in a major city again and like all of the other former Soviet Union cities we had visited on this adventure, this one was absolutely beautiful as well. A little about Tashkent:
Tashkent, also known as Toshkent, is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is one of the most populous cities in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. It is located in northeastern Uzbekistan, near the border with Kazakhstan.
Before the influence of Islam in the mid-8th century AD, Sogdian and Turkic culture was predominant. After Genghis Khan destroyed the city in 1219, it was rebuilt and profited from its location on the Silk Road. From the 18th to the 19th centuries, the city became an independent city-state, before being re-conquered by the Khanate of Kokand. In 1865, Tashkent fell to the Russian Empire; as a result, it became the capital of Russian Turkestan. In Soviet times, it witnessed major growth and demographic changes due to forced deportations from throughout the Soviet Union. Much of Tashkent was destroyed in the 1966 Tashkent earthquake, but it was soon rebuilt as a model Soviet city. It was the fourth-largest city in the Soviet Union at the time, after Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv.
For a city that has been destroyed twice, the last less than 60 years ago, things here were going great and the most impressive examples would be one of the first places we would visit. We said goodbye to one of our favourite staff members, Irina, and after leaving the train station, walking down tree-lined streets, and passing more of the statues and monuments that we’ve become accustomed to in this part of the world we were there; the Tashkent Metro. Generally most people would think that a city isn’t all that special if the highlight is its underground rail network, but those people haven’t seen this one. Every station has its own individual theme with the architecture and materials used reflecting the station’s name, the perfect example being the space programme-themed Kosmonavtlar station, and the stations also all include original artworks. Our short underground journey would begin at Alisher Navoiy station, named after the Timurid poet and painter, transfer at Paxtakor station, which literally translates into “cotton growers”, reflected by a tiled cotton flower mosaic on the platform walls, and take another train to the very next stop, Mustaqillik Maydoni, formerly called V. I. Lenin Maidoni (Vladimir Lenin Square). We walked down a tiled hall with elaborate ceilings, Rustam went off to buy our tickets, and we were soon on the platform lined with marble columns and patterned tiled walls. Our bright blue train arrived and we were off , well we all were until we had to transfer, because unfortunately one of our British group members got caught up in the hustle and bustle on the platform and was unable to board the second train. That wouldn’t be too much of an issue though, as this train system is really efficient. I’m originally from Melbourne, Australia and it’s kind of sad when a country I couldn’t even spell before this trip has better infrastructure than one of the World’s Most Liveable Cities. We got out at our stop and while we waited for our compadre on the next train I had a moment to walk around our new platform and snap some photos of its white pillars and ceilings, complete with giant chandeliers its entire length.
Walking to the metro and on the platforms:
We exited the metro and wandered around Tashkent, through more parks and an arch adorned with birds that would eventually lead to the World War II Memorial and then we continued on past the nearby Prince Romanov and Turkiston Palaces. This is Uzbekistan so just like when we had visited Samarkand a week earlier there were plenty of tributes to the national hero Timur so it was inevitable that we’d end up in a place called Amir Timur Square, resplendent with yet another statue of the man, once again forged from melted down Lenin statues, but something else caught my eye; a nearby flea market! We only had at most 10 minutes to check out the entire thing before we had to be at lunch so I didn’t waste time taking photos, just looking at all of the crazy stuff you can find at secondhand stalls in the former Soviet Union. However, in the time it took me to circumnavigate the market and purchase a few items Ms. P had wandered off, absolutely nowhere to be found. People’s nerves were frayed with this woman, Rustam’s included, so the rest of the group waited as he went to find her, quietly seething. She was eventually located, Rustam wanting to berate her, yet opting to bite his tongue and we wandered down to lunch, me quickly being able to snap a photo in front of how I had originally thought most of the buildings in this region would appear, the hideous Hotel Uzbekistan. Anna and myself did a little jog to make sure we were with the others and soon found ourselves at what seemed like a home-kitchen with a large Uzbek feast before us and even more dishes being prepared and served by the four women working there. We couldn’t stay too long, however, because there was one more plan for the day.
Around town and at lunch:
There had been a reason why we had needed to be on time for lunch and that was because we would be attending an exclusive concert of classical music played on traditional Uzbek instruments at the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan. We entered the building’s blue tiled lobby and were ushered to our seats where for the following hour we would hear many pieces we recognised, but not completely in the way that we knew them with lute sections, interesting percussion, and enormous horns occasionally bursting out among the traditional strings.
The final event I would be attending on our adventure through the ‘Stans:
We returned to the hotel after the performance where the others would relax for a bit before dinner after being informed about the death of Pope Francis, myself not aware that the rest of the group had no idea I’d be leaving for the airport in a matter of minutes so we said our goodbyes, exchanged personal details, and I was soon on my way. Unfortunately Andrew’s flight from Kazakhstan was delayed so I didn’t get to catch up with him at the airport, but I did get an interesting text from Anna while I was waiting; apparently our traveling buddy who had missed the train earlier in the day finally snapped at Ms. P at dinner and yelled at her for “Eating all of the f_cking food!”, leading to a heated discussion that I would’ve loved to have witnessed, but it wasn’t too big of a deal, because, over the past two weeks:
-
Our windy journey
I had also partied by myself in Almaty, Kazakhstan due to arriving a day early. When Anna joined me the next day we spent a couple of days exploring this fantastic city and eating constantly, feasting on horse meat and bone marrow, as well as shots of fermented horse milk, plus some more standard fare too.
- We met our fellow travellers and went up to the snowy peaks of the mountains surrounding Almaty, saw new parts of the city including a market where, if we wanted, we had the opportunity to buy fresh pig heads, blood still dripping from the snout, and then finally departed on our train.
- Ventured into Kyrgyzstan to go sailing on a freezing cold lake, see falcons being trained for hunting, unsuccessfully try to spot snow leopards while hiking, and then stayed in the city of Bishkek where Anna spent a night dancing in a bar to early 2000’s R’n’B with people half her age.
- Made our first journey into Uzbekistan to see the stunning buildings of Samarkand both by day and night, saw paper made and carpets woven in traditional methods, and made one of several visits to an ancient city.
- Attended a traditional wedding in a family’s driveway and visited the remains of another ancient city before entering Tajikistan to marvel at bad taxidermy and an incredibly ostentatious teahouse in Dushanbe.
- Returned to Uzbekistan and explored the old city of Bukhara, dropping into a puppet museum and a blacksmith making insanely sharp knives, all the while seeing more mosques, mausoleums, madrasas, and minarets and then continuing on to yet another ancient city to see even more.
This was another of those once in a lifetime experiences and we enjoyed every second of it. On top of that we met some really cool people and still remain in touch with some of them. In fact, we hung out with one, Richard (third from the left in the picture, below) when we were in London recently, but you’ll have to wait until I have time to write about that one.
If you ever want to go on an extremely unique trip where nothing is really as you would’ve expected, especially in the major cities, go to Central Asia and it’s even better on a train.
We made some great friends on this trip
Any Questions or Comments? Leave Them Here!