Ugly truth behind Khiva (and Uzbekistan)

Just outside the little beautiful old city of Khiva where most of the inner city, fortified by a 10 metre remains intact, lying just outside the western gate of the inner city, lies a empty block of land about 200m by 200m where only 3 guesthouse stands. Intrigued by the empty land, I asked the guesthouse where I was staying about it only to find out by the owner that a few years ago the government declared the residential block as "unsightly" for tourist and ordered the whole block to be knocked down. Of that, only the 3 guesthouse/hotels remains with most of their neighbours now relocated and living in the capital, Tashkent.

Beyond the tragic effects of tourism, Khiva remains a beautiful town with much to offer and see. Walking through the inner city lies a beautiful and well maintained city with friendly locals.

Within the inner city, around the backstreets away from the main tourist attractions, kids happily playing soccer/football.

The not so tacky Uzbekistan: Bukhara

Moving on from the Samarkand, I headed west towards Bukhara. Once a major trade centre of the the ancient silk road, Bukhara was also known as a religious centre. Today, much of the town remains preserved and one can see reminiscence of the past without the flashiness of Samarkand. I found Bukhara a much more intriguing city. While lacking the sights at the scale and beauty of Samarkand when looked at individually, the sum of it parts is what makes Bukhara a much prettier city in my opinion.

Outside Nadir Devon Begi Madrasah 

Into Uzbekistan! Mixed feelings on Samarkand!

Leaving Shymkent Kazakhstan, I hopped onto a shared taxi towards Chernayeka where I was dropped off on the main highway. Having no tenge to spare, from the main highway it was a 3km hike to the border crossing and probably one of the most chaotic border crossing I've experience Central Asia. For those trying to use this border, careful of changing money here as they are all a bunch of cheats! My advice, over the Uzbek side after leaving customs, walk 1km to the little town and try to change in a shop there and ask around there and then try to hitch a ride into town from a local as everyone seems to be a taxi driver here(taxi are bona fide arsehole here).

Border crossing from the Kazakh side.

Having spent more than 2 months surrounded by mountainous landscape, I was quite excited for some cultural and historical enrichment of the ancient Silk Road and escaping from my short and relatively expensive stay in Kazahkstan. Having read about the great Silk Road city of Samarkand, Buhkhara and Khiva, I must say I was somewhat disappointed by Samarkand to some extend, having been so heavily restored during the early 1900s by the Russians, it felt like something built in the last century as opposed to some centuries ago albeit still magnificent sites. No better example of this can be seen than Resgistan Square in Samarkand surrounded by the 3 majestic madrasahs. One is left to imagine about it's glorious original form.

While there were many sights to see, I found myself picking and choosing and being rather selective where to visit given the entrance fee of going into such places. It didn't help that Uzbekistan liked to charged foreigners five to tenfold what the locals pay.