I thought I had more photos from Bukhara, but I think we spent heaps of time shopping rather than snapping away. So on to Khiva it is!
We took another shared taxi, through the desert and in the scorching heat (another balmy 43 degree day!). Many people have asked us if we ever felt unsafe or if we ran into any trouble. The answer is no, with the exception of this particular taxi trip. It was 6 hours of hell. Basically, our driver couldn't stay awake while driving a cool 140km/hr! On the wrong side of the road! And there were no seat belts! We were mounting pot holes and big sand drifts on the roads (probably some of the worst we had experienced) and dodging big semi-trailers. It was not a relaxing trip at all! Poor Andy was up the front keep the guy awake the whole time. We even contemplated getting to Andy drive.
Anyway, we eventually got to Khiva safe and sound (and very relieved!). It was beautiful and definitely made up for the trip. Khiva is a small walled city in the provence of Khorezm, near the border of Turkmenistan. An UNSECO heritage site, it is very well preserved and almost a bit museum like, with probably more tourists than locals. As it is small, it's a terrific place to walk around and explore by foot, especially in the early evening before dusk, with the golden light illuminating everything. Gorgeous!
Next: our day trip to Nukus and more from Khiva
We took another shared taxi, through the desert and in the scorching heat (another balmy 43 degree day!). Many people have asked us if we ever felt unsafe or if we ran into any trouble. The answer is no, with the exception of this particular taxi trip. It was 6 hours of hell. Basically, our driver couldn't stay awake while driving a cool 140km/hr! On the wrong side of the road! And there were no seat belts! We were mounting pot holes and big sand drifts on the roads (probably some of the worst we had experienced) and dodging big semi-trailers. It was not a relaxing trip at all! Poor Andy was up the front keep the guy awake the whole time. We even contemplated getting to Andy drive.
Anyway, we eventually got to Khiva safe and sound (and very relieved!). It was beautiful and definitely made up for the trip. Khiva is a small walled city in the provence of Khorezm, near the border of Turkmenistan. An UNSECO heritage site, it is very well preserved and almost a bit museum like, with probably more tourists than locals. As it is small, it's a terrific place to walk around and explore by foot, especially in the early evening before dusk, with the golden light illuminating everything. Gorgeous!
Next: our day trip to Nukus and more from Khiva
The snoozing cat is so adorable! The rest of the photos are amazing, of course. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds awful! Props to Andy... looks like he was successful in keeping the guy awake.
ReplyDeleteThat aerial shot of city with the turquoise dome is amazing! It just doesn't look like it can be real.
* Julia