Camels and desert

We went to the huge market where they sell all kinds of livestock, and goods. We got a weaving for our table..$7. We saw Turk akhal-tele horses both on a farm and later in the circus. Visited Nisa, ancient capital of Parthian Kingdom of 3rd century BC. Our group was great, but it will be fine to return to California..25 hours leaving in an hour.

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan...white marble and gold

Natural gas makes this country rich, and the president ( re elected recently with 97% vote) is proudly building monuments in his country with white marble from Italy. There are broad avenues with new high rises... But we saw very few people. It looks fantastic to us foreigners. We toured national carpet museum and national heritage . We have seen NO other tourists.


Hal and I bought 1.5 liters for beer for $3.00 and are enjoying our hotel room view. Just bought front row tickets to a circus tomorrow for 70 cents. We fly home late tomorrow night.

Turkmenistan nan... Bread

Each baker stamps with their own design. (I bought a stamp for myself.). Another woman puts it on the side of a hot tandoor outside oven with a leather mitt. Don't know how long it bakes, but it is delicious right out of the oven! We bought 3 loaves for a dollar and fed the whole tour group of 17.

Night shots in Khiva, Uzbekistan

Hal got picked to dance with the natives. After dinner we took a walk in the old town. There were few tourists. The statute is of the man who invented Algebra. He is from this province. I did a college term paper on him.

Khiva handicrafts

Khiva is a small walled city in the middle of nowhere. Most tourists are French. New handicrafts are fur hats (NO we would not buy!), puppets, ceramics , wood carving, and knit slippers like Aunt Jackie used to make. This desert oasis has a wide range of temperatures....freezing cold winters below zero F to 122 degrees in summer. Today was in the 70's...perfect to walk the town for 6 hours.

11 hours through desert to Khiva on Silk Road

This was a long bus ride...but better than the camels... On a rough road. We got to Khiva, Uzbekistan in time for sunset. This is a small walled city that we get to explore tomorrow.

Women travelers

At the summer palace of the last emir of Uzbekistan we met a group of women travelers who seemed to be having a lot of fun on a group tour. They smiled and took pictures of us the same way we took pictures of them... Enjoying the differences and recognizing the similarities .
The white square caps are worn my new brides on the first couple months.... And they are traveling independently so soon. Who is liberated?