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.
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| Within the inner city, around the backstreets away from the main tourist attractions, kids happily playing soccer/football. |
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| Along the outer western wall that fortifies the inner city. |
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| Entrance into the inner city from the western gate. |
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| Within the western gate lies vendors lines their offerings near Kalta Minor Miniret. Construction started in 1851 and left unfinshed when Mohammed Amin Khan passed away. |
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| Mohammed Rakhim Khan Medressa |
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| Once known as a major slave trading centre on the Silk road, the eastern gate was known for the slave market. |
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| Wood craftsman at work. |
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| Slow day... |
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| The wooden foundations of Juma Mosque within the Inner City. |
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| Setset on the watchtower |
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| Free sunset alternative from the walls |
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| Islom Hoja Miniret to the left. Highest Miniret in Uzbekistan |
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| Main street linking the East gate to the West Gate. Centre: Juma miniret |
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| Islom Hoja Medressa and Miniret. |
Child Labour Season!
Cotton accounts for almost 20% of Uzbekistan export and they are the work number 6 exporter. Around September/October marks the start of the harvest as many schools in completely shut down and kids are forced onto the cotton fields to fulfil quotas. Not so far outside Khiva, the cotton field were packed with harvesters. A sad reminder of the current state of Uzbekistan and a common sentiment from many locals I spoke to.
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| One of the many cotton fields around Khiva. |
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| Taking a break |
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| A young girl working on the cotton field |
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| Covering up from the Sun |
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| Hard at work. |
Your pictures and comments are wonderful as always! The comments just added some new details to my perspective that I missed when I passed through there. It's always fun, and interesting, to compare notes about these kinds of things! Maybe I can add something to your experience as well, do you know about the Jewish community with their own dialect of Farsi? they're actually based more in Bukhara, but I believe I remember reading that they have (or had) a small community in Khiva as well...
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