| From the editorial board |
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While I, we, dream of Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva, Turkistan and all the other fascinating Central Asian destinations the way they once used to be, while cloth sellers such as the one I recently encountered in a photo exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts in Tashkent are the type of men we wish to meet, reality anno 2005 is heading a different way... ...read more |
| Gourmet. Samsa |
SAMSA
Whose appetite is not wet by the very word and whose imagination is not fed with images of far flung lands where colorful sellers prepare this delicious finger food in the tandir oven, from where the wonderful aroma of freshly baked dough and the juicy meat stuffing fills the air... ...read more |
| Voyage. Ancient nomads of Altay |
| A picturesque valley in the foothills of the ancient Altai mountains, slopes covered with century-old woods, birch and fir trees, cristal clear rushing streams of glacier water, that is the scenery of Berel, right in the Kazakh border area with Russia, Mongolia, China... ...read more |
| People. Yakob Abu Bakar, interview |
| Yakob Abu Bakar is the General Manager of the newly established Le Grand Plaza Tashkent, a landmark building in the downtown area. His profession is his passion and his motto is "we don't wait, we do". A hotelier with all his heart he is among those who are dedicated to making Uzbekistan an even greater destination to travel to... ...read more |
| Focus. History of Bukhara |
| The earliest remains of human presence in Bukhara are to be found at a depth of about 20 meters an indicator of how long appoximately the town has been in existence. Various documents and scholars fix Bukhara's beginnings at 2000 to 3000 years ago. It is known that in 329 B.C. Alexander the Great conquered a town in this area. The name Bukhara starts appearing in written documents from the I century A.D. ...read more |
| Focus. Bibi-Khanum cathedral mocque |
| The constructions of this mosque started in 1399 after the victorious campaign of Timur to India and lasted 5 years. Timur declared that Bibi-Khanum mosque had to outshine everything he had seen visiting the other lands. The great architects, artists, masters and handicraftsmen from different countries of East were invited to participate in the constructions. ...read more |
| Voyage. Musical art of the Pamirs |
Conventionally, we refer to the land between the Alay Range in the North and the Hindu Kush in the South as 'The Pamirs'. In the East, the Pamirs are bordered by the Kashghar mountains; and in the West the Kuhilal and Darvaz. ...read more |
| Mountain passes on the Silk Road between Kyrgyzstan to China |
| The Silk Road which was used to transport goods between China and Europe was not a single road, but rather a complex network of routes. Some of these passed through the mountains which now form the backbone of the newly independent country the Kyrgyz Republic. ...read more |
| A visit to bulls and eagles |
| We stocked up on cheese and bread and fruit at a local bazaar, then headed south and east to the famous Yeti-Oguz (Seven Bulls) area, with its red sandstone cliffs. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the sun had fled behind some clouds. ...read more |
| 24h in... Turkistan |
| Turkestan is both the past and the present. A junction on The Great Silk Road, on the threshold of the great steppes and agrarian settlements, it was traditionally a trade and cultural center. From here, Sufi Khodja Ahmed Yasavi, the religious scolar, taught disciples from all over the Islamic world. ...read more |
| Saint Ascension Cathedral |
| One of Almaty's historic landmarks is the Cathedral of Saint Ascension, a modern place of worship in the long line of such sites in the region, each an expression of their specific era, such as ,the Kjodja Ahmed Yassawi Mausoleum in Turkistan, erected by Timur, the Aisha Bibi Mausoleum, which dates back to the epoch of the Karahanids, the Mausoleum of Juchy Khan, the eldest s?n of Gengis Khan, in Ulytau. ...read more |
| Focus. Baykonur |
| It was on February 12, 1955 that the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Ministers of the USSR by joint decision ratified the creation of a research ?enter for rocket engineering and testing. ...read more |
| Nature. Big Almaty lake |
| Upon studying a map of the foothills, you might think that if there is a Big Almaty Lake, then a small one should exist somewhere nearby. But that is not the case. Big Almaty Lake has no close relatives, so to speak. It is one of a kind. ...read more |
