Foto: The Kukeldash madrasa in Tashkent (bron: Ronald van der Veer)
Uzbekistan - I take a taxi to the Plov Center. Plov (or pilaf) is the national dish of Uzbekistan — a one-pot meal with rice and lamb. Uzbeks come to the Plov Center to eat plov for lunch. I sit down at a table and order a plate of plov. Then I continue to the old town. Along the road, I raise my hand to hail a taxi. A young man in a private car immediately pulls over. He's willing to take me to the old town for a small fee. I get out at the Chorsu Bazaar. Inside the market hall, beneath a large green dome, fruit and vegetables are being sold. In the streets around this market hall, there are many small shops offering all kinds of goods. I head to the Kukeldash Madrasah in this neighborhood. I enter its remarkable inner courtyard. An old man is sitting in the shade on the grass. He gestures for me to come over. From his gestures, I understand that he wants to know where I come from. I don’t understand his Russian or Uzbek. He grabs me by the arm and shows me around the madrasah. He takes me to the classrooms, the kitchen, and the restaurant — explaining everything continuously in what I think is Russian, though I can't understand a word. I wonder if he even realizes I don’t understand him. He leads me into a student room where two boys are studying. To my relief, they do speak English. They are practicing calligraphy. Especially for me, they write my name in Arabic calligraphy. I feel genuinely honored.
Enchanting Khiva
Uzbekistan - The old town of Khiva is enclosed by a 10-meter-high mudbrick city wall. As I enter through the west gate, souvenir vendors are already lining up to sell me all kinds of items. Unfortunately for them, I’m not buying. I head for the 12th-century palace ...
Mosques and madrasas in Bukhara
Uzbekistan - Bukhara is best explored simply by walking around. The old city center is relatively small. Many of the squares around the bazaar are surrounded by old madrassas (Qur'anic schools). Some are still in use, others have been taken over by tourist vendors. ...
Samarkand Registan Square
Uzbekistan - When I arrive at Registan Square, it’s already busy with tourists. I walk onto the square. Immediately, a guard approaches me. “Ticket, ticket!” he says. I look around in surprise. Apparently, tourists need a ticket just to walk onto the square. ...
The ruins of Timurs palace
Uzbekistan - Shahr-i Sabz – a city in Uzbekistan, Central Asia – was intended by Timur to become his capital in the 14th century. The town or village forms a rectangular enclosure surrounded by a wall about 4 km in circumference and up to 5 meters thick in places. ...