Khiva

Day 29 0 km (9045 km total)

 

Some bike maintenance & a quick look around the wonderful sights of Khiva old city.

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Although there was still a couple of mm tread left on my Mitas e07 front tyre, it was'nt enough for the sort of roads around here & the way it kept slipping on the gravel & sand was making me nervous - I could't afford another tumble. So I decided to change to the spare I was carrying.

 

Found a local car tyre guy, who did the job for me doible quick time, entirely bu hand & made it all look so easy, and only charged £1.20! Now runnimg Continental TKC80 on the front & still the original Mitas E07 on the rear.

 

Russ had a slightly bigger problem with his chain that was slapping and rattling like an old traction engine. He decided to change the chain & sprokets to the spares he was carrying (Russ has got everything including the kitchen sink in his panniers!). We found a local blacksmith so that he could borrow his angle grinder to get the old chain off & then he set about the change.

With lots of willing local assistance of course.

 

All this took rather longervthan expected so it was late afternoon by the time we got navk to the hotel, so I dashed out to get some snaps of the old city before the sun went down. First a bit of history curtousy of wikipedia ...

The early inhabitants of Khiva were from Iranian stock and spoke an Eastern Iranian language called Khwarezmian. Subsequently the Iranian ruling class was replaced by Turks in the 10th century A.D, and the region gradually turned into an area with a majority of Turkic speakers.

The city of Khiva was first recorded by Muslim travellers in the 10th century, although archaeologists assert that the city has existed since the 6th century. By the early 17th century, Khiva had become the capital of the Khanate of Khiva, ruled by a branch of the Astrakhans, a Genghisid dynasty.

In 1873, Russian General Konstantin von Kaufman launched an attack on the city, which fell on 28 May 1873. Although the Russian Empire now controlled the Khanate, it nominally allowed Khiva to remain as a quasi-independent protectorate.

Following the Bolshevik seizure of power after the October Revolution, a short lived Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was created out of the territory of the old Khanate of Khiva, before its incorporation into the USSR in 1924, with the city of Khiva becoming part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic.

Now enogh of that, feast your eyes on these ....

It is a truly magical place to walk around as the sun goes down and the tourists have mainly left. Very quiet & peaceful with just the local inhabitants milling around. The city has a number of upscale hotels within its walls and several restaurants, which we ate in both nights.

Here's a few night shots

 

And finally the restaurant for the evening

Off to Bukhara in the morning ... More dessrt roads & fuel hunting ...