Christmas Trees In Tashkent

It's the season and the fuzzy cones are out and about in Tashkent. Sort of. Celebrating Christmas in a post-Soviet, Muslim country is a muted affair and the green tree is more associated with a New Year's blowout. Capitalism creep means the tree is back for Christmas or, might as well let it preen for both holidays, the whole season.

Ho hum. Just stake a tree, zero decoration, benign neglect. "Hello? It's the holiday season? I hadn't noticed."

Putting the little in a little cheer with a tiny fake tree at a street vendor spread. Upcycling? A restaurant knows how to whet customers' thirst with its bottle tree. Needs a little filling in at the bottom. Drink up!

Another undecorated tree, this time with Santa sporting clown shoes and mittens, pushing coca-cola.

Government, corporate minimum requirement decorating. "We have zero budget this year, just do something!"

The metro stations get trees. And dwarf Santas, a lot creepy.

Greeting Cards From Soviet Holidays Past

One can find all sorts of old stuff in Tashkent, plenty of relics, detritus from the Soviet era. For this holiday season, time to look back at how Christmas and New Year's were celebrated in greeting/postcards during Soviet times. Happy Holidays, comrade.

The Kremlin wishes you a Happy New Year. Officially. What, you didn't think that giant communist operations put out corporate greeting cards as if they were IBM?

More of a traditional card, all decked out in folksy design cues. Santa partying with the animals. Tea for him, a carrot for the rabbit. Slurp it down and chomp it up.

Good thing that rabbit has been fed. Forget reindeer, go with a juiced-up bunny.

Rabbits suddenly not available? No problem, Santa can take a rocket ship or even a snowmobile, whatever was hip that year.

Getting back to nature with white birch trees from way up north.

Going with the 1960s-1970s stop motion block look. Giving mad props to local, Uzbek symbols, places. Notice the cotton bud filigree and the center clock graphic featuring the Lenin Museum and the adjacent clock tower on an office building. Cotton is the country's biggest crop and the buildings can still be found in downtown Tashkent.

The space race, planting a tree on the moon. Staked!

Happy Holidays to everyone! It's Sarah's and James' last year in Uzbekistan. Next summer, they will move to Canberra, Australia for three years. A new adventure and new holiday traditions to explore. 

Turkistan At Night

Let's light it up!

Desert bling. Looking at the new outdoor mall shopping area, golden nest egg theater on the right.

A sign of celebration in front of the timeless Silk Road site, the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. Nayryz is a huge Kazakh New Year celebration, starting March 21. Modern mosque, the Masjid Khoja Ahmad Yassavi.

Glitzy fountains, funky mushroom lighting and a new museum in the new development area.

Preening park attractions, a welcoming gate and a memorial to past Khans.

It all comes back to the heavy of Turkistan, the iconic attraction, the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. Glowing.

The Mighty Mausoleum Of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi

Central Asian ruler Timur loved Turkic poet Khoja Ahmed Yasawi enough to commission the re-building of his mausoleum. Work started in 1389 and continued until Timur's death in 1405. No ruler, no finish. No matter, what was left is still the most impressive Silk Road era site in Kazakhstan and a highlight along the whole of Central Asia's Silk Road. Sleep well, Khoja Ahmed Yasawi.

All hail the magnificent structure! The front facade hints at the building's unfinished state, wood logs still sticking out of the top arch section and no intricate tile work.

Ah, that great tile work. It's present on other sections. Crazy columns in the corners, a maze of designs along the side walls. Heading inside, airy. Underneath the central dome.

To see the full fruition of the classic design of the mausoleum, head around to the back of the structure. Fluted dome, full tile work on display in late afternoon light. Golden.

Big mausoleum, room for the whole family, groupies. Interior tile work detail, an original piece highlighted with a frame.

Sun up on another day, always looking impressive.

The Uly Dala Eli Ortalygy Heritage Museum In Turkistan, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is looking to develop more tourism around its most significant Silk Road era site, the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkistan. The government has recently developed expansive parks, a 4D (or 5D, 10D, 123D, who knows?) theater, an outdoor mall and a major heritage museum. Attractions to up the attraction.

Fancy exterior of the new Uly Dala Eli Ortalygy Heritage Museum, all modern blue tile with a traditional yurt stuck in a corner.

The lobby has a giant, shiny tree sculpture. Sure. Checking out the exhibits, gazing at ancient warrior garb.

A big diorama devoted to the nomadic culture. Toy horses and a turntable will get you there.

A throwback miner, a backbone industry for the country. Display detail, a bit of a harsh transition from foreground foliage and background, blown up photo landscapes. Funky.

There's a large diorama depicting everyday Silk Road living. Give your camel a break, have a little rock side chat.

Visiting The Home Of Sattar Yerubayev

Central Asia loves its house museums. In Turkistan, Kazakhstan, the writer, Sattar Yerubayev's house is now a museum, semi-filled with a random collection of family artifacts and mementos. Yerubayev was active in the 1930s, writing socialist poems and a novel, My Peers, focusing on working class Kazakhs in the coal industry.

The humble house, built in the typical Tsar era brown brick style. Welcome.

Inside, some words, some objects. How about a random yurt scene? Note to self, don't stack the table so high you can't see your dining companion.

Dueling portraits and a landscape. And some theater chairs.

Boy toys, tools to produce various media.

Another room, another mishmash of artifacts. Textile portraits are always impressive.

The Silk Road (Sort Of) Comes Alive At The Citadel In Shymkent

The citadel complex in Shymkent is about what one would expect, all big outer fortress walls, an expansive complex of buildings within. Me ladies need room to rule. The condition of the place runs the gamut from sites not yet explored, old, original foundation walls as active digs and all the way up to Disney worthy period/new structures.

To add a little life to the place, period diorama genre scenes are placed throughout the tour. Alive, the Silk Road is alive!

Mother and daughter doing some shared sewing. Life before Tik Tok.

More knitting. The message for women, never stop crafting. Bed chamber, not holding back on color.

At the market, poppa's got to sell a brand new vase.

Heavy metal, heavy smacking. The blacksmiths and their manly hands.

A meal at home, waiting for the rest of the big family. Count those wooden bowls.