Chiva - once capital of Chorezm

At four a.m. we had breakfast to catch an early morning flight to Urgench. At the Tashkent Domestic Terminal we had to queue up behind Mecca returnees whom we met again at our destination and who all carried holy water in 5 l bottles.

Hotel Chiva (formerly a medressa)

Our plane was a small Antonov 24 and we were served twice juices and water from the only flight attendant on board. In Urgench, we were greeted by Lena (our German speaking guide) and Igor (our Russian speaking driver for the whole trip). They took us to Chiva that is 35 km away.

Map of Chiva's Old Town

We settled into the Malika Chiva hotel and then went for a sightseeing tour with Lena to all the interesting places in the old city. In the 19th century the reigning khan was very rich and the town was the capital of the khanate Chorezm, so there was a lot of construction of religious and worldly building where formerly only houses had been.

Kalta Minor (the unfinished minarett - you could see into the harem, so it was not completed and access was forbidden by the khan - even today!)

Now there live only 4,000 people in the old town and it is overwhelmingly full of medressas, mosques, minaretts and two palaces.

View on Chiva from above

We enjoyed our first Uzbekan meals here in different restaurants tasting plov, manty, shashlik, shyot ashi and many more.

shyot ashi - special dish of Chiva

In the evening, we enjoyed wondering among the sights, taking pictures and negotiating with the local souvenir sales people.

A medressa by night - here lived and learned the students.

After two days, we got ready for our trip through the desert by buying fruits and nuts at the local market.

That's not what we bought, but it made an amazing picture!