Five years ago this week I was exploring Silk Roads and back roads of Central Asia. Officially I was with the Seattle-Tashkent Sister City Association, an invited member of its 35th anniversary delegation.
I’m surrounded by that legendary warm and welcoming spirit of Uzbeks, and of Uzbekistan (Bukhara, Uzbekistan, 2008)
Photo credit: Helen Holter
Shah-i-Zinda Necropolis in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (2008)
Photo credit: Helen Holter
It was wonderful meeting so many Uzbek counterparts on a local and national level.
Gracious Urgut women near the Uzbek-Tajik border (Urgut, Uzbekistan, 2008)
Photo credit: Helen Holter
Unofficially, I was hanging out with the most spirited folks whose curiosity and love for these ancient lands was as irrepressible as mine.
Double wedding day in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (2008)
Another enjoyable Uzbek evening! (2008)
Laughter, storytelling, and delight as we talked, ate, and drank into those nights, skies studded with Silk Road stars and wanderers’ dreams…
Photo credit: Helen Holter” width=”610″ height=”434″>
Intricate tiles and chandeliers inside an Uzbek mosquePhoto credit: Helen Holter
I feel as if I’m living a dream, walking through the places of my history-book studies in college – places I would never dare think I would see one day: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Silk Road oases of a thousand years.
And… here I am.
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