Postcard from Khiva

We arrived in Khiva and were immediately speechless. While Samarkand still had a few old buildings and Bukhara was about half still there and with a bit of imagination you could imagine what it was once like, Khiva was still (almost) like it was 150 years ago. We stayed for two days and wandered around trying to see everything. There is way too much explaining to do of all the things below so I'll just summarize a few here and let the rest speak for themselves. To truly appreciate this city you have to see it yourselves. We rank it up there with the best we have seen like Angkor Wat.

The Kalta Minaret is the nearly solid blue and stumpy mosque below (not the tall one with a top. It was commisioned in 1852 and was supposed to reach a staggering 70 meters (230 feet) but was abandoned when he died two years later. It would be truly stunning if it were actually finished.

The Camel's name is Misha if you were wondering. Also the Yurt (tent like thing) is pitched in the throne room where I am sitting. The Khan's like to still sleep in Yurts during the winter so all of the throne rooms had round platforms for their yurts. Not pictured is another prison with gruesome pictures of different torture methods that the Khans like to use including impaling on a stick, flaying and putting in a bag with cats and then beating. The caretaker of the jail loves to point all this out.























After our two full days in Khiva, we caught the bus and taxis back to Krgyzstan. We almost weren't allowed back across the border but managed to talk our way through. It was a great relief to be out of Uzbekistan since it is the first competent police state we have been in yet. There are checkpoints everywhere and tons of papers to be filled out twice, stamped, restamped then frowned over and carried for the rest of your trip. We made it though.