Still catching up from '07
Hello all. Before I get into documenting all the exciting '08 stuff that's already in store, I really need to clear out my backlog of '07 stuff to do. The biggest thing that's been nagging at me is that I have an album on Flickr that I haven't made public until just now. It's my elusive third Uzbekistan album and it's behind this link here. If you don't have the time or patience to look through all the pictures, I implore you to at least take a peek at my five favorites behind the cut (plus one bonus picture that's now a lot funnier in hindsight).
I took this picture on our 7-hour drive from Bukhara to Khiva. This stretch was mostly desert, with all the stereotypical desert stuff that goes along with it - tumbleweeds, lots of sand, random desert animals, etc. It was an interesting leg of the journey, but we were so glad to finally get to Khiva that evening.
These Bukhara girls cracked me up. The one on the right with the long grey vest spoke perfect English with almost no accent. They're all ceramics vendors, and they followed us around insistently while we were in the center of town. I loved Bukhara. Getting to know that city was my favorite part of the whole trip.
More cute youngsters, but we found these ones in Khiva. They all had the day off school in observance of Nav'roz, the Turkic Muslim New Year. We attended some Nav'roz festivities in Bukhara before we set off on our epic drive to Khiva.
I honestly didn't notice that kid on the far left had a toy gun in his hand until after I got home and reviewed all the pictures. Ha!
Here's a Bukhara butcher's shop. We stopped here so Nola, our guide, could buy some cow's feet for a soup she was making that evening. They sell every single part of the animal, and if you look closely enough at this picture, you'll understand exactly what I mean.
On the morning we departed for Khiva, we all agreed to wake up before sunrise to climb the Kalyan Minaret in Bukhara's Old Town to have this beautiful view of the city. Now I'm not a morning person, but this was definitely worth the early rise.
And for the last laugh...
Yes, that's me. This is a picture from my Khiva house call. Two hours with two nurses, plus all the scary needles and medicine I could handle for the low, low price of 25,000 Uzbek sum. That translates to about $20USD. Yes, twenty dollars. It was worth every penny. And the company paid for it! Mark my words: next time I'm in the former U.S.S.R., I will NEVER, EVER brush my teeth with local tap water.
So that's it for Uzbekistan, folks. My next post will be about Scotland!
I took this picture on our 7-hour drive from Bukhara to Khiva. This stretch was mostly desert, with all the stereotypical desert stuff that goes along with it - tumbleweeds, lots of sand, random desert animals, etc. It was an interesting leg of the journey, but we were so glad to finally get to Khiva that evening.
These Bukhara girls cracked me up. The one on the right with the long grey vest spoke perfect English with almost no accent. They're all ceramics vendors, and they followed us around insistently while we were in the center of town. I loved Bukhara. Getting to know that city was my favorite part of the whole trip.
More cute youngsters, but we found these ones in Khiva. They all had the day off school in observance of Nav'roz, the Turkic Muslim New Year. We attended some Nav'roz festivities in Bukhara before we set off on our epic drive to Khiva.
I honestly didn't notice that kid on the far left had a toy gun in his hand until after I got home and reviewed all the pictures. Ha!
Here's a Bukhara butcher's shop. We stopped here so Nola, our guide, could buy some cow's feet for a soup she was making that evening. They sell every single part of the animal, and if you look closely enough at this picture, you'll understand exactly what I mean.
On the morning we departed for Khiva, we all agreed to wake up before sunrise to climb the Kalyan Minaret in Bukhara's Old Town to have this beautiful view of the city. Now I'm not a morning person, but this was definitely worth the early rise.
And for the last laugh...
Yes, that's me. This is a picture from my Khiva house call. Two hours with two nurses, plus all the scary needles and medicine I could handle for the low, low price of 25,000 Uzbek sum. That translates to about $20USD. Yes, twenty dollars. It was worth every penny. And the company paid for it! Mark my words: next time I'm in the former U.S.S.R., I will NEVER, EVER brush my teeth with local tap water.
So that's it for Uzbekistan, folks. My next post will be about Scotland!