We explored the ancient walled town on foot today. The town existed from at least the 8th century as a minor fort and trading post on the Silk Road. Little has changed except restoration and sprucing it up. The small streets are a maze of mosques, minarets, and buildings but very few vehicles are allowed. Here, university’s of old (there are many) were used to teach woodworking and carving, metal working and engraving, carpet weaving etc. The large buildings have been turned into shops selling similar wares and also locally made socks, scarves, purses, jackets. Cotton production is big here, plus (fuzzy) hats made of fox fur, camel hair sweaters and socks. We didn’t buy any! We visited a couple of mosques, and a mausoleum with excellent tile work. It was busier than last night with quite a few groups. We did find a nice quiet restaurant restaurant for lunch, and sat in a lovely cool courtyard. We had some free time before meeting later for a quick briefing on how to prepare for our visit into Turkmenistan tomorrow, before going out for dinner to another terrace restaurant.
No comments:
Post a Comment