Back to medieval Turkestan, Central Asia

       Last week, while surfing Internet, I came across a website which contains great pictures of medieval Central Asia which used to be called Turkestan back in those times. Having seen these pictures, one may fantasize what an interesting people used to live in region and what a land it used to be. At present, one rarely may come across such scenes, except in cases of traveling to old cities and nature sites where people still adhere to old ways of living. The pictures portray different cities and various activities of people. 

Spinning Silk, Samarkand

Selling Yurts, Samarkand

The Interior of a Kirghiz Yurt, Central Asia

A Kirghiz Family

Inside a Turkmen Yurt, Central Asia

A Baluch Prayer Rug in Use

As you may have noticed, almost all ethnic groups of region were nomads or used to live a nomadic way of life in one or another way. If you would like to see more pictures, then visit the following website. It contains numerous pictures of not only medieval and contemporary Central Asia but also nice rugs and other artifacts of culture.

P.S. All above presented pictures are properties of Thomas Cole website, and I do not claim or have any property rights on them.

Meet The Stans, A film by Patrik Wallner

   Patrik Wallner, film maker and skateboarder born in Germany, presented his movie about crew of skateboarders' travel through Silk Road route. Travelers started their journey from China and went through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan  and Afghanistan. The crew was planning to visit Turkmenistan, but, it seems Turkmen officials did not give them visas for some weird reasons.   

The film features how nine skateboarders have been skating in different places of countries they visited. These skateboarders were Dave Bachinsky, Jimmy McDonald, Laurence Keefe, Daniel Zvereff, Stas Provotorov, Goasha Konyshev, Walker Ryan, Kenny Reed and Michael Mackrodt. 

Throughout travel period all participants of film have been sharing their impressions about the countries where they resided. Their impressions are very interesting. Commentaries made by them may be perceived in different ways depending on your  place of origin. If you are resident of one of the countries, then you may perceive these commentaries as negative remarks while people who never have been in these countries may find the comments as funny and unrealistic. In general the film is amazing and worth watching, enjoy it. 

P.S. If you would like to learn more about the film or see other works made by Patrik Wallner, then you may visit the following website: www.visualtraveling.com 

A book about Kyrgyz people living in Pamir

      This week on 15th of November, magazine Steppe devoted to Central Asia and topics related to this region, has made announcement about publication of a book about Pamir which is located in Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan. The book tells about land and Kyrgyz people who have been living in Pamir for decades. It contains not only stories, but also numerous photos of landscape and people. The photos are very impressive and convey messages about these people's lives. The authors of book are Matthieu Paley, Marielle Paley and Edward Callahan. As Steppe writes, they are committed to their work and have been documenting lives of Pamir Kyrgyz for ten years. At present the book is available in French and German languages. Hopefully, soon authors are planning to translate it into English also. Below you may see some photos taken from official website of the book.

Pamir, Forgotten on the Roof of the World

Pamir, Forgotten on the Roof of the World

Pamir, Forgotten on the Roof of the World

People living in Pamir are often highlighted in news of Kyrgyzstan. Since gaining independence, Kyrgyz government has been considering returning them back to their home country. So far the goal has not been reached yet, as the  process requires lots of time and finances. Most of research and news about Kyrgyz people living in Pamir, inform about harsh living conditions and high mortality rate among them. For example, according to Ulugbek Babkulov and his colleague, Egamberdi Kabulov  who have been in Pamir few months back, most of babies who are born are dying due to absence of medical facilities and good living conditions. In addition to this, level of literacy among people is also degrading year by year as there are few schools which are located far from their places of living. Certainly, this does not mean that this is fault of state and it should bear responsibility for these issues, however people living in Pamir need help...does not matter from where it will come. To learn more about the book, you may visit the website provided below, it is available in French, German and English languages:

Hell's Gate in Turkmenistan

"Hell's Gate" photo from Spot Cool Stuff website

Since start of blogging, I have written several posts about all countries of Central Asia except Turkmenistan. Current post is devoted to one interesting place in this country. First of all one should note that Turkmenistan is an interesting country with rich culture and history. In brief, the country used to be one of constituent republics of Soviet Union. After 1991, it became independent. The country borders with Caspian sea, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran. There is  Karakum desert in the middle of it. Turkmenistan  possesses fourth largest severves of natural gas in the world and exports it to Russia and Ukraine.

There is one interesting gas crater in Turkmenistan. Diameter of the crater is around 60 or 70 meters. Gas has been coming out of if for approximately three decades and it was on fire all this period of time. At present it still continues to burn. Just imagine huge hole on the ground with burning fire, locals often call it "Hell's Gate" or "Door to Hell" It is located in Karakum desert, near a village called "Darwaza" (also spelled Derweze) in translation into English  "Darwaza" means gate. Obviously the name of village was used for giving title to the gas crater.

After learning about this "Hell's Gate," I became curious about its formation. How did the crater appeared on its current place, was it a natural phenomenon or  it was man made? According to story in Cool Spot Stuff website, in 1971, the crater has appeared after land drills done by geologists. By that time Turkmenistan was part of USSR and Soviet geologists have been conducting expeditions in countries for finding natural resources. Guess what happened after formation of crater, lots of methane and other types of gas started to come out from it.  In order to clear it and continue work, geologist set the coming out gas on fire, since that time fire continues burning. I assume the idea was not wise, since all coming out gas could be used for export or needs of local population.

In plain language the crater can be called just an ecological catastrophe, which is very beautiful, as dubbed by Spot Cool Stuff writers. Indeed it is amazing, especially during night time when red flames shine to several kilometers. The crater already has been visited by many tourists who have been in  Turkmenistan. They took many photos and videos of it and uploaded to Internet. Below  you may see some of these content available online:

Photo from Vacation Ideas

View Larger Map

In order to find out more about the crater, search "Hell's Gate in Turkmenistan" and "Derweze" in Google or visit the following Wikipedia page. If you are in Central Asia or planning to visit the region, the crater can be a good sight to see. I wonder whether many people want to visit the place, if to judge by online search, many Internet users are interested in seeing pictures and videos. I think it is amazing and worth seeing. Have a nice day. 

Memorial museum in Samarkand, Uzbekistan

      

Few weeks ago Ministry of Culture and Sports of Uzbekistan has announced a news about launch of virtual tour website to memorial museum and an observatory of Mirzo Ulugbek,  Central Asian ruler who lived in region during medieval times.  His complete name is Mīrzā Muhammad Tāraghay bin Shāhrukh Uluġ Beg. He was grandson of Amir Temur (Tamerlane). In addition to being sultan of country, he also was a mathematician and astronomer. For conducting scientific research, Ulug Bek built up an observatory in place which is known as Samarkand in nowadays. His observatory is very interesting construction, may be one of the first observatories ever built.

The website is available in English, Russian, and Uzbek languages and  it contains information about biography of scientist and the observatory. There is no telescope in observatory, though. How come one can do a research without such an important instrument as telescope, you may say. Really, is it possible to study stars and other heavenly bodies without telescope? To find answer to this question, go to website, take a virtual tour in observatory, nearby memorial museum and find out your answer. In order to open the website click on logo or follow this link. Enjoy your time, it will take you few minutes to see the place.