The Holy Khast Imam Complex In Tashkent

The closest place to a Silk Road era holy place in Tashkent is the Khast Imam, Hazrati complex of a mosque and madrasas. Most of the buildings can be dated back to the 16th century with plenty of destruction and disrepair necessitating rebuilding in later, more recent years. The complex didn't become a unified area until 2007.

Here's the major mosque at the site, Khast Imam mosque.

Inside the main entryway of the mosque, a nice courtyard that features a wrap around, wood column portico. Inside, standard modern mosque design. Always good to go with a base of white.

Opposite the Khast Imam mosque, across the expansive plaza, sits the classic styled Barakhan madrasa. Good for group tour gazing. "My powder room would look good with blue and green tile."

These days, no learning is going on inside the madrasa, only souvenir hunting by tourists. Learn to bargain? Nearby, the shrine, mausoleum dedicated to Abu Bakr Kaffal Shashi. He was a 10th century poet, linguist, polymath, scholar. Maybe good with shoeing a horse.

The future is soon and it is massive. The current Uzbek president and some major donor oligarch have pushed through something called an Islamic Civilization Center. It sits near Khast Imam and will dwarf the complex upon completion. There goes the properly scaled neighborhood.

Shayhantaur Memorial Complex In Tashkent

A group of small, ancient mausoleums are nestled within a downtown neighborhood, old among the modern. The buildings are surrounded by a university and not easily spotted. Time to dig around.

There are three mausoleums. The namesake for the complex is Sheikh Kvavendi Takhur, a famous Sufi dervish who was busy spreading the faith in Tashkent. His mausoleum was built in the 14th century.

Simple, classic. Tan brick with green tile on the dome, good choices. Spoiler alert, rebuilt in the 20th century.

Two humps on the outside. Inside, an ante room has a couple of other graves. Family, pets?

The Sheikh's grave, under an impressive dome and next to a curious dead tree.

Next up, the mausoleum for Kaldirgoch-Bi. He was a Kazakh ruler of Tashkent. Build date, 15th century. Design, more of the same. The dome is more of a cone instead of an orb. Inside, a little gold bling on the stalactite work.

Last, and maybe least, the simple design of the mausoleum of Yunus-Khan, a descendant of, you guessed it, Genghis Khan. It's good to be called Khan. He also ruled Tashkent. The simple design seems like a radical break from the Silk Road dogma of brick and tile.

Yangiobod, Again

Every visit to Yangiobod flea market in Tashkent is different. Vendors, weather, stuff, junk. The place is begging to be photographed. Again.

Shopping for clothes during the apocalypse.

A humble cot within a grim hardscape. A history of Tzarist china on the tables.

The bicycle cave.

Art mashup. Old Russian Lada and Volga automobile parts.

Looking a bit like a major crime scene tenting.

A Visit To The Botanic Garden In Tashkent

Yes, Tashkent has a botanic garden. A bit of a triumph in such a dry, desert climate. The garden is mostly a rough park with meandering paths and ambitious signs about zone specific areas. It all kind of looks like flora in need of a trim.

There is a greenhouse, mostly filled with racks of plants, that looks a bit like a home center without prices. A nifty part of the building are mysterious, semi underground sections devoted to bigger plants. A minor wonderland.

A view of one of the little jungle-like areas.

Details. They've done their best to make everything natural. Still, the green painted walls and too smooth dirt give a lovely, surreal effect.

Squint and edit one's view and nature can dominate. Fooled. Sort of.

Radiators also give up the disguising. Which is OK, another surreal element.

Back to a wider view, featuring all of the natural and unnatural features. 

Tromping Around Temirtau, Kazakhstan

Temirtau is the steel town of Kazakhstan. You can see the giant steel mill from way out on the highway. It's hard to miss as the geography is wide open Asian steppe. Stalin said to put steel works there and there it still is.

In case you aren't sure what mammoth factory works is way on the horizon, the town has erected an impressive welcome sign next to the highway. Clever design, you've got the giant ladle bucket, pouring molten iron down. Power! Glory!

In town, a monument to the mighty steel workers. Also, a svelte, almost abstract memorial to the forgotten soldiers of the Great Patriotic War.

More fun with monuments. Some sort of ode to energy fountain thing, now neglected and without water. Where does that door go? Another universe?

The Gorodsky museum has some fun dioramas. Maybe accurate. Woolly mammoth vs big cat. Big lizard vs nobody.

It turns out, the mighty woolly mammoth is no match for a gang of hungry cavemen. Don't bring a tusk to a spear fight.

Seeing Life At The Local History Museum In Karaganda

Nothing better than finding out what a local museum deems worthy of display. What are the highlights, where is the pride? Time to take a peek at some exhibits from the main museum in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

It's always good to start with some nature. After all, those lovely animals were around before and probably after us messy humans. Nice coat.

Right, humans. They showed up a while ago and found caves and fire. Light it up. Or battle it up. Such an angry species, humans. Not the horses!

What makes Karaganda Karaganda, mining. Hero as driller.

The mundane and the exalted. Fixing a humble tractor and a drink from a gold bowl.

Fun with reality, an example of a typical family apartment from the 1950s. You've got a real table, chairs, a snazzy TV, stereo. Oh, you want real walls and a window? Forget it!

Monumental Sites In Karaganda, Kazakhstan

Or is it miner-mental? Karakanda is the mining capital of Kazakhstan, a cute, historic city about three hours south of the capital, Astana. The town has been around for a while and historic sites dot the place.

Here's a little scene at the entrance road to a mine. Generic sculpture of a miner and a sign that proclaims, "All Glory To the Miners." It's all about the miners.

In the center of town, a couple of historic highlights. The stele of independence. Colorful flags are in celebration of the annual Miner's Day. The impressive front facade of the Miners Palace of Culture, complete with archetypes of Soviet workers.

Monument to the famous USSR cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin.

Part of the impressive bronze frieze for victory in the Great Patriotic War. WWII for those peeps in the west. Nice mashup, a giant painting combining Van Gogh's Starry Night and Hokusai's Great Wave off Kanagawa. Brightening up a drab building.

Back to monumental bronzes, celebrating the reason for the city, a heroic take on the hard workers. Title? Miners Glory, of course.

More Gulag Life At The KarLag Museum Of Political Repression

Continuing the tour, hitch, sentence at the KarLag Museum. Here's the warden in his big office, looking kinder and gentler. Don't be fooled, Stalin is watching.

Pained woman in the infirmary. Unpleasant. The nursery.

A prisoner in the women's bunk. Passing time. Slowly.

One of the officers, maybe about to issue a torture directive. The torture room. Bloody hell.

It's not all drudgery at the gulag. A little traditional entertainment, casually monitored by a guard. We see you.