the Registan square by night
Choosing from 1800 pictures will be a difficult task, although I most of the time know which subjects I want to post on my flickr account.
One of these subjects is the Registan (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registan) in Samarkand. Samarkand (see www.flickr.com/photos/115540984@N02/48929016568/in/datepo...) is the stunning highlight of all the cultural things I have seen during my trip, although in Uzbekistan more of these cities show the immense richness of ages long gone (15th century). The big square is on three side flanked with big madrasahs, that once served as universities and schools. Nowadays they serve as shops that sell all sorts of crap. Inside the madrasahs there can be other buildings and gardens. Inside the Ulugh Beg Madrasa, that you can see on the left, there is the most splendid interior that I have ever seen, and I will post that later. Prepare for it, because unless you go for yourselves, there is not much that competes with those dazzling mosaics.
20 September I came back from my journey over a part of the Silk Road to and through Central Asia. 4 months of traveling through 14 countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran) before I flew home from Teheran. An impressive journey in countries that are extremely beautiful, with lovely and welcoming people and diverse cultures and history.
Intense traveling with more than 20000 kilometers in our mobile home on sometimes roads that hardly could be called that way. We saw many villages and cities (some wonderful, others very ugly), countries that are transforming from the old Soviet era into something more related to older cultures and the way people live, often funded by oil readily available around the Caspian sea. We saw the amazing mountains south of the Black Sea, the wonderful Caucasus, and the high mountains in the far east close to China with peaks over 7000 meter, and not to forget the (Bulgarian) Alps!
We crossed the great steppe of Kazakhstan. a drive of at least 5000 km, the remnants of lake Aral, once one of the biggest lakes of the world, saw a rocket launch from Baikonur (this little part is Russian owned), we crossed many high mountains passes, and drove the breathtaking canyon that comes from the Pamir, beginning at ca 4500 meter, and going down for ca. 400km to an altitude of 1300 meter, driving for 100's of kilometers along the Afghan border.
And then the numerous lakes with all sorts of different colors from deep cobalt blue to turquoise, and one rare spectacle in Turkmenistan where a gas crater is burning already for more than 40 years. And finally and certainly not the least to mention an enormous amount of wonderful, hospitable and welcoming people. The woman often dressed in wonderful dresses, and bringing a lot of color in the streets of almost of all countries we visited.
the Registan square by night
Choosing from 1800 pictures will be a difficult task, although I most of the time know which subjects I want to post on my flickr account.
One of these subjects is the Registan (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registan) in Samarkand. Samarkand (see www.flickr.com/photos/115540984@N02/48929016568/in/datepo...) is the stunning highlight of all the cultural things I have seen during my trip, although in Uzbekistan more of these cities show the immense richness of ages long gone (15th century). The big square is on three side flanked with big madrasahs, that once served as universities and schools. Nowadays they serve as shops that sell all sorts of crap. Inside the madrasahs there can be other buildings and gardens. Inside the Ulugh Beg Madrasa, that you can see on the left, there is the most splendid interior that I have ever seen, and I will post that later. Prepare for it, because unless you go for yourselves, there is not much that competes with those dazzling mosaics.
20 September I came back from my journey over a part of the Silk Road to and through Central Asia. 4 months of traveling through 14 countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran) before I flew home from Teheran. An impressive journey in countries that are extremely beautiful, with lovely and welcoming people and diverse cultures and history.
Intense traveling with more than 20000 kilometers in our mobile home on sometimes roads that hardly could be called that way. We saw many villages and cities (some wonderful, others very ugly), countries that are transforming from the old Soviet era into something more related to older cultures and the way people live, often funded by oil readily available around the Caspian sea. We saw the amazing mountains south of the Black Sea, the wonderful Caucasus, and the high mountains in the far east close to China with peaks over 7000 meter, and not to forget the (Bulgarian) Alps!
We crossed the great steppe of Kazakhstan. a drive of at least 5000 km, the remnants of lake Aral, once one of the biggest lakes of the world, saw a rocket launch from Baikonur (this little part is Russian owned), we crossed many high mountains passes, and drove the breathtaking canyon that comes from the Pamir, beginning at ca 4500 meter, and going down for ca. 400km to an altitude of 1300 meter, driving for 100's of kilometers along the Afghan border.
And then the numerous lakes with all sorts of different colors from deep cobalt blue to turquoise, and one rare spectacle in Turkmenistan where a gas crater is burning already for more than 40 years. And finally and certainly not the least to mention an enormous amount of wonderful, hospitable and welcoming people. The woman often dressed in wonderful dresses, and bringing a lot of color in the streets of almost of all countries we visited.