Khiva, Uzbekistan

Today we had the full day to see Khiva. I got up at daybreak to get some pics of sunrise from our hotel’s rooftop terrace. There were clouds on the horizon, so there wasn’t much colour. A group of people were watching the sunrise from the West Tower, and a couple of other photographers were on other hotel rooftops.

Breakfast at the hotel was good, a sour yogurt, some fresh cheeses, and an omelette (including dill, which is a very popular herb in Uzbekistan and appears in almost everything). The tea was pretty good, too.

The chairs in the dining area were the largest I’ve ever used. They were like thrones.

We were out touristing shortly after 8am. Decided to randomly find things in the old quarter rather than follow a map, although we did start at the east end, so the sun would be in the right direction when we climbed the minarets (we had bought the VIP ticket which included these).

The actual sites in the old city are mostly various museums housed in former madrasas (schools). My favourites were the minarets because of the views from the top. The climbs are up steep spiral staircases, with people passing in both directions. The top of the minaret can get crowded. The first one we climbed in the morning was pretty empty; the second one, later in the afternoon, barely had any room at the top to stand.

Because it was Sunday, the old city was crowded with school kids from the city and surrounding areas. It’s free for kids on Sundays, and it’s great there are so many school trips here. We were asked to be in a lot of pics with kids from non-touristy places that don’t see many foreigners. Once one kid asked from a group, then all the rest would follow. Anyway, if you’re on Instagram, maybe you’ll see us! (Heather - for some of the kids, it was also a good way for them to practice their English with us. They were all really polite and nice kids :))

Our 2 day ticket for Old Khiva got us access to about 17 sites. We hit about 14 of them in our random touring, and didn’t bother trying to find the remaining ones.

The traveler we met at the gas crater in Turkmenistan (Judy) had recommended a vendor in Khiva that had quality fabrics. We actually found the vendor and ended up buying a couple silk/cotton scarves. I also picked up a silk cocoon as a souvenir.

We finally found the path to walk along the West Wall (it’s at the North Gate). The terrace from our hotel room faced the walkway, and, from our room, we saw people walking on the wall. The views on the wall itself, though, weren’t that great; there were lot of antennae in the way. We had better views from our hotel rooftop.

Tonight we had dinner at our hotel rooftop. It was much colder and windier than yesterday, but we stuck it out, and got some great pics as it got darker. Finished our drinks inside for the warmth and wifi.

Khiva has a compact old city centre which makes it easy to walk and see everything. It’s a little sterile, but it’s beautiful, especially wandering about at night.

Overall, one full day was about all the time we needed to see Khiva. If we had a second day, I’m not sure what we would do - probably just relax on a rooftop and catch up on reading or blogging.