Do you remember the story of Noah and the Ark? You know, 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits; animals two-by-two; rain for 40 days and 40 nights? The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days. But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with … Continue reading
We began this day with a short drive to the town of Etchmiadzin (also known as Vagharshapat), a little over 10 miles west of Yerevan, to visit another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Etchmiadzin is the administrative seat of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the residence of its Catholicos, that is, its … Continue reading
After a free day in Tbilisi, we said goodbye to our Georgian traveling companions. We will be on our own for the remainder of the trip. The Californians continue elsewhere in Georgia; the others are all homeward bound. On Thursday morning, May 8, Dale and I left Tbilisi and Georgia to met our new guide, … Continue reading
The Greater Caucasus Mountains, stretching from the Black Sea on the west to the Caspian on the east, constitute a formidable barrier for transit between Russia and Georgia. As consequence, the ridgeline coincides with the political boundary between these two nations, also separating, geologically, the continents of Europe and Asia. Mt. Erebus is the highest … Continue reading
The Kura River, also known to Georgians as the Mtkvari River, rises in eastern Turkey, flows east across Georgia and through Tbilisi, then across Azerbaijan, emptying into the Caspian Sea. The Mtkvari is to the Southern Caucasuses what the Mississippi River is to North America. Upstream on the Mtkvari River, about 50 miles northwest of … Continue reading
The rain and cold weather caught up with us again in Tbilisi. Nevertheless, we made the most of the situation and went on a day-long walking tour of the old city with Irakli leading the way. We started from our hotel, dead center of the old city of Tbilisi. That’s our hotel in the background … Continue reading
The Alazani River valley is the heart of the Kakheti wine region (red dot on map, below), the “Napa Valley of Georgia” where people have been producing wine for 8,000 years. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Georgian wine: The roots of Georgian viticulture have been traced back by archeologists to when people of … Continue reading
Early Sunday morning, April 27, we flew over the Caspian Sea from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to Azerbaijan, arriving in its capital city, Baku, a little before noon. With a population of over 2,000,000, Baku is the biggest city in the Caucuses. The Caspian Sea today is physically landlocked, although it was once connected to the Black … Continue reading
We spent Saturday walking around Khiva’s ancient fortress city known as Itchan Kala, the capital of the Khanate of Khiva, an independent city-state from 1511 until 1747, when it was briefly under the control of Iran. In the 1800s, the Russian Empire launched several invasions into the khanate and Khiva ultimately became a protectorate of … Continue reading
The Karakum Desert covers about 70% of Turkmenistan. Nearly all of the cities and towns are situated along the country’s periphery. Very few people live in the barren interior. There are only two highways crossing the desert and only one connecting Ashgabat to the north. Today’s post is about our drive north across Turkmenistan with … Continue reading
On Thursday morning, we drove to Old Nisa, an ancient Parthian fortress city ten miles to the northwest of our hotel, at the foothills of the Köpet Dag Mountains that separate Turkmenistan from Iran. The complex of Old Nisa, together with nearby New Nisa, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. The inhabitants … Continue reading
Given the morning Wednesday to catch our breath, we repacked our bags, incorporating cleaned laundry, then lounged around the madrassa/hotel. At noon we were transported to the border crossing from Uzbekistan into Turkmenistan, Farap-Alat, another hectic immigration point. We hiked across No-Man’s-Land beyond border stations to meet our Turkmen guide, Byrat, a gregarious wheeler-dealer who … Continue reading
In my last post, I mentioned that Ismail Samani united the various Sogdian city-states of Central Asia into a single dynasty in 892 AD. Samani made the fortress city of Bukhara the capital of his family’s brief dynasty, which lasted until the end of the first millennium, that is, until 999 AD. Like Samarkand to … Continue reading
We spent Sunday night in Penjikent, a city of about 35,000, making it the tenth largest city in Tajikistan by population, a small town by American standards. In the morning, we headed out to see the nearby ruins of ancient Penjikent, a Sogdian city-state abandoned in 722 AD when the Arabs invaded. On the way … Continue reading
Sunday morning we left Samarkand and drove to the Jartepa border crossing between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. I didn’t know what to expect. When the Soviet Union invaded and took over Central Asia in the 1920s, it ostensibly drew the boundaries of the then Soviet Republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan based on ethnicity. The result … Continue reading
Inhabited since 700 BC, Samarkand is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia. Arab armies captured it in 710 AD. At that time, Samarkand was a diverse religious community of Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Hindus, Manichaens, Jews and Nestorian Christians. In most cases, upon conquering territory, new Arab rulers would neither settle nor impose Islam on … Continue reading
We are ready now to ease our way back into the past. Our tour itinerary will take us first to Samarkand, one of the oldest, continuously inhabited cities of Central Asia. After a brief detour into neighboring Tajikistan for a trek up into the Fann Mountains to visit the Seven Lakes, we will pick up … Continue reading
Recovered from jet lag, we met our guide and the other members of our touring group in the hotel lobby Friday morning. We were also greeted by our travel agent, Severa, who has been extremely helpful in making all our travel arrangements. I was not surprised to learn she is one of Advantour’s most senior … Continue reading
We usually plan our own journeys and travel alone, but this time we booked an arranged tour through an Uzbek travel agency, Advantour, a small group excursion they call the Essentials of the Silk Road. The tour is scheduled to begin on Friday morning, April 18. We arrived a few days early to have time … Continue reading
When the internet first became a “thing” back in the 1980s, I could sign up for any service with my username being my first and last name, like “markulmer@aol.com.” As the years have gone by, however, I’ve discovered that there are a surprising number of people that share my name. So many that when I … Continue reading
The Road Less Traveled 