A Hospital In Samarkand

Sarah had a chance to visit a client in a local Samarkand hospital. Care was amazing. For James, the facilities were also amazing to photograph.

Mighty exterior.

Patient room and off to imaging.

A little foyer decoration.

White kitchen. Another patient room.

Down a hallway.

Exploring The Cemetery Around Shah-i-Zinda

The Shah-i-Zinda site in Samarkand is so overwhelming and beautiful that it's easy to overlook that its collection of mausoleums is just part of a large cemetery. There's more to the area than blue tile.

Graves are everywhere, sprouting up like plants along the hillsides.

Good headstone etchings. Do you prefer to be forever known as a casual smoker or a fierce military medalist?

The back to Earth movement with simple mounds.

Stone details. Having your eyeglasses with you in the afterlife is a must. Looking a bit like a profile on the half shell. Or a dime.

Work is life and, evidently, also death.

The House Museum Of Poet Orif Gulkhani

Orif Gulkhani was born in 1879, worked as a teacher in a madrasa, hung in Samarkand literary circles, and became one of Uzbekistan's most famous poets. His traditional house is now a museum and it's a nice mix of personal artifacts and a chance to peek inside a classic, iconic building of its time.

The traditional front porch. Deep overhangs, carved columns. Relaxing.

Traditional interior. Make sure to layer your carpets.

Carved, white plaster bookcase. Intricate.

Book collection and chapan (robe) collection. Gotta be comfortable when scanning a classic tome.

Artifact room. Lots of photos and totems of tribute.

The Samarkand Train Station

Most of the train stations in Uzbekistan are generic in design, modern, white cube looking things that have been repeated throughout the country. Make sure you read the city sign to confirm where you are. Not so for Samarkand, which has something of a modernist statement. You have arrived!

The station is kind of monumental. Big clock tower, powerful columns with funky, splayed tops.

Funky, diamond shaped designs and an overhang that really hangs.

Columns are repeated in the main waiting area.

Interior details, round, stained glass inserts and a round opening for a stairway leading down to the tracks.

Looking a bit like a cathedral for transportation.

Remnants Of Afrasiyab In Samarkand

If the Silk Road heyday of the 15th or so century seems too new for you, head way back to 500 B.C. to the ancient town of Afrasiyab, part of present day Samarkand. The place was occupied until the Mongol invasion around the 13th century. It was the center of Sogdian culture.

Today, there's an Afrasiyab museum next to the location of the city and the city itself is a largely un-excavated open space of eerie silence.

The museum. Simply known as MUSEUM.

Inside the museum, a loose collection of artifacts, models, detritus.

Outside, the still city site.

The highlight of the museum is a set of murals, uncovered in 1965 when a road was being constructed. Good find. Shelf of skulls. Long head.

Back at the site, a small sign of development. A sign.

Picturing The Cemetery At Khodzha Abdu-Darun

Cemeteries in Uzbekistan have a visual flair to them. Rugged terrain, ancient graves, fresh mounds, an interesting variety of images on headstones. Time to wander and look in the cemetery at Khodzha Abdu-Darun.

Overview. Graves are scattered randomly, following the mounds, valleys, family histories.

Typical headstone portrait and typical decorated burial mound.

A couple into eternity. Happy?

Last week's flowers. Looking formal for a final portrait.

Flowers in the dust.

Taxidermy At The Samarkand Museum

The main museum in Samarkand has a bit of everything. Archeological artifacts, period rooms, some Jewish history. If you're into old animals, plenty of interesting examples of taxidermy critters.

One of the gallery rooms. Vintage all around.

Lions, tigers and bears? Well, a bear, a fox, some prairie dog things, and other beige stuff. Colorful fowl.

Birds of these feathers probably don't flock together. Unless stuffed.

A hare, danger coming from the left. Bear torso, sewn.

More danger. That mouth could use some dental work.

Details Of Samarkand, Part Five

More great things at which to look in Samarkand.

Under construction.

The cliffside through the forest through the trees. The fake mountain through the forest through the trees.

Simple lunch.

The outside chair. Nuclear medallion.

Rainy day at the created convention center park.