Today we were real grown up tourists having organised a driver and guide for the day. Desert Fortresses were on the menu for today. These mud fortresses were built from the 1st Century and variously invaded and destroyed by marauding Mongols, Turkmen and other enemies. These forts, built on small rises of the otherwise plateau landscape, appeared to have one major fail - they all relied on water sources from canals external to their walls. So incoming unfriendlies would simply besiege them and wait for them to thirst themselves to surrender. Alternatively, if they did have a siege-water plan, their enemies would think longer term and reroute the canal leaving the once verdant fields parched. Eventually the lack of water forced the occupants out and they became deserted of the desert.
Our guide and driver were lovely. I quizzed our guide on all things Uzbek. I learnt that they manufacture Chevrolets in Uzbekistan which explains their prevalence. I asked about taxis, trains, crops, local goods, climate etc. Melons appear to be the national fruit with an annual melon fest held in Khiva late this month. Cotton is grown a lot here which, considering its semi desert, is a hard one to keep going.
The first fortress was Kyzyl Qala. This is one of the closest to old Urgench and therefore the early warning system for Topra Qala, the larger nearby fortress. Smoke signals alerted other citadels to attack. This fort is being significantly refurbished to arrest its decay. The walls in Khiva are made of mud and straw whereas these fortresses are just mud which makes them more vulnerable to environmental erosion.
Our second fortress, Topra Qala, was much larger containing a large area for residents’ dwellings. A single double gated entrance was the norm, then a temple and the chief’s quarters.
Apparently lunch was part of the price so we were taken to a local cafe. After a bit of negotiation our guide convinced the chef to cook me a vegetable kebab and chips (rice didn’t appear to be on the menu) so whilst the others ate meat skewers, bread and a random savoury donut with minced meat, I ate their onion garnish and my veggie kebab. The chilli was a bit of a surprise
Before our next fort our driver took us past an incongruous local site. It’s a Russian jet of unknown vintage. No idea how or why it’s ended up in suburban Uzbekistan...
Our third fort was Ayaz Qala. This is a massive construction, again with a nearby small garrison fort which, being lower down, was easier from which to repel attackers. We climbed up to the main fort from the yurt village near its base (strange little garden hut here). Then we returned to visit the smaller fortress.
On our return to Khiva we pulled in at a melon market. We watched the laborious process of unloading the melons one-by-one and sorting them in size. Our driver bought us a melon and we stood in the market eating the fresh melon. Superb. Our driver bought four bruised and leaky melons. Before I could ask our guide smiled and explained “they’re for his sheep”.
There was a lot of sand to wash off on our return (I emptied my trainers outside the hotel) then a pack and supper out. JC wandered off to take night photos for which I have limited patience. So I decided to have a drink and read whilst he took the shots. Admittedly he takes excellent photos, they just take a while to shoot as they require tripod set up and various 30 second exposures in different apertures. And then it’s a photoshop job to combine the best of the images to obtain what the eye sees.
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