Wandering The Fergana Valley

Road trips are fun. Especially if there are cool things to see. Which is the point of road trips.

Holy Brutalist, Socialist Monument! Right outside the city of Fergana (which, duh, is in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan) sits this impressive salute to the Great Patriotic War, otherwise known as World War II. Soviet built, full of their iconic themes of communism and military might.

Soldiers in sync under the former USSR flag. The identifying marks of the flag have been chipped away. Progress. 1941, a big year! A beleaguered yet proud citizenry gathered together. Big anvil for strength.

Moving on to the city of Kokand, visiting the famous Juma mosque and madrasa complex. Central minaret.

The highlight is the extensive portico with hand-carved, wood columns, some original ones on display. Nice capitals. Looking up, wood ceilings of the portico full of colorful designs.

You Are Now Entering An Important City. Back to Fergana, the big gate over the highway lets you know something special is ahead.

Walking The Streets Of Old City Baku

Baku likes to present itself as a cutting edge, modern metropolis on the Caspian Sea. All the new architecture says so. There is still an old, original core neighborhood, well preserved and a nice piece of history that is a refreshing diversion for visiting.

Imposing. The big Maiden Tower, kind of a Welcome to the Old City landmark.

A typical street, pedestrian sized, cobblestones, wood balcony, quaint. Another landmark, the Juma mosque.

The covered arcade of Bazar Square.

A little modern life in the old city, a giant mural. Birds and blossoms. A little ancient life, foundation remnants of a bathing complex.

On guard. Much of the old city sits within impressive, castle-like tall walls.

Seeing The Sites In Turkistan

There are other ancient sites to see in Turkistan, Kazakhstan beyond the main, amazing site, the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. Time to take a little wander.

The delicate, simple, Juma mosque. A traditional design of whitewashed walls and a portico of wood carved columns.

Kahn's mosque. Small courtyard, nicely restored plaster interior.

Mausoleum of Rabia Sultan Begum. Octagonal, domed, strong.

Inside the Begum mausoleum, a group of gravestones. Sometimes all that is left are foundations. The Khan Ordasy complex.

Ancient meets modern meets fake ancient. The old Silk Road era fortress walls with a modern sculpture in front of it. The sculpture imitates a typical old caravan of traders and camels.

Old Khiva

Khiva is one of the big three Silk Road cities in Uzbekistan and its unique feature is that it's still a walled, ancient, intact town. Walk through a gate and jolt yourself back about 500 years. It's all mud brown madrasas, minarets, maybe a mausoleum, throw in a mosque. The old city, Itchan Kala, is one big museum with landmark buildings at every turn.

The West Gate. Why not, as good an entrance as any other hole in the mighty wall.

Probably Khiva's most famous site, the unfinished, stumpy Kalta Minor minaret. Mohammed Amin Khan commissioned the work in 1851. He died on a Persian battlefield and so did his dream. Or maybe it was a lack of funds. Both!

The mysterious Juma mosque, a sea of wood columns and impressive joinery.

Something new, passing as old, a camel. Ride it if you've got it. At sunrise, the whitewashed Amir Tura madrasa.

At sunset, the mighty minaret, Islam Khoja, gets the pink treatment.