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Oct. 14, 2006 The phrase “Central Asia” is usually understood to mean the five countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, which were republics of the USSR until 1991. The history of the region, however, goes back over 2300 years, and archeology adds another 1000 years. Some people might think that these are forsaken, miserable little outposts of civilization, but that is entirely untrue. I visited the first three of the above countries in 1998. I skipped Tajikistan because of the war going on there, and I could not get a visa for Turkmenistan. I spent five weeks in Central Asia—two in Kazakhstan, one in Kyrgyzstan and two in Uzbekistan. The indigenous people of those parts are basically of Turko-Mongolian extraction, with admixtures of Caucasoid elements. Here’s what they look like: http://www.alovelyworld.com/webouzbek/gimage/ouz037.jpg However, there is a thick overlay of Russians and other foreigners in Central Asia , and the ordinary language in the streets is Russian. In fact, it was when I was studying Russian that I became interested in Central Asia. It seemed so exotic! Finally, I got my chance to go. My trip began and ended in Beijing, China, and I traveled by train, bus, plane and car. I’ve written several other articles about some of those experiences, but I’d like to recall them again. The first city that I visited was Alma Ata (or Almaty) then the capital of Kazakhstan. The capital has since been moved to Astana, because of a fault near Alma Ata. This is a beautiful modern city the size of Phoenix . Though the GDP per capita is very low, poverty is not terribly visible. Most of the buildings are substantial, attractive structures where I would have no problem living. I stayed in a room in an all-marble train station dating from Stalin’s time, for $4.50 a day. Here is a picture: http://www.katev.org/galery/almaty/pict0035.jpg With shashlyk (shish kebab) in the streets for 75 cents, I could have stayed forever. Downtown, in Panfilov Park , stand Zenkov Cathedral, a very ornate Russian Orthodox church. In the park, there are wedding parties, carriage rides, chess tournaments, a merry-go-round and Russian music from loudspeakers. http://asia.geocities.com/georgegeorgiev/kazakhstan/020615-zenkov-cathedral.jpg Visible from Alma Ata are the magnificent Zailiyskiy Alatau Mountains, part of the Tian Shan Range. Talgar Peak, at 16,500 feet is the tallest, but other mountains in Kazakhstan reach 23,000 feet. http://www.almata.kz/images/zailiyskiy_mountains/large/17.jpg I went by private car from Alma Ata to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan . This was a mad dash at speeds up to 100 miles an hour through the Pamirs, the second highest range in the world. Kyrgyzstan has mountains to 24,000 feet, but the ones I actually saw were somewhat lower. On the way, our driver, who had solicited me and two others at the bus station in Alma Ata, stopped at a hamlet of yurts where shashlyk was being grilled over open fires. Here are some yurts, which I saw also in Mongolia. http://www.wnights.com/img/kazakhstan/big/yurts.jpg Bishkek, called Frunze during Soviet times, is a very quiet city that was founded as a fortress by the Uzbeks in the early part of the nineteenth century. I stayed a week, as there was little to see or do. Everything was always closed, even when it was supposed to be open. From Bishkek, I took a bus to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan . Tashkent, about the size of Houston, is Central Asia’s largest city and the only one that has a subway, which could be ridden at the time for 15 cents. The stations were all works of art, each having its own design. Here is a picture of one station. http://mic-ro.com/metro/400/tashkent-mustaqilik-maidoni.jpg Uzbekistan was very much a police state in 1998. Policemen were everywhere, and you could count on being questioned again and again. I was robbed by four policemen in the bus station at Sobir Rahimov, the morning that I arrived. Nonetheless, Tashkent is a beautiful city, and I enjoyed seeing the sights. History enthusiasts may know about Prince Timur (Tamerlane), of the 14th century, Asia ’s second greatest conqueror, after Genghiz Khan, from whom he claimed descent. Timur has been revived as the great Uzbek hero, and an equestrian statue of him has been erected in downtown Tashkent, where a statue of Lenin once stood: http://image42.webshots.com/42/0/46/1/355104601aEkfMl_fs.jpg But Uzbekistan ’s real attraction is Samarkand , the second city, which was Timur’s capital. Samarkand dates back to before the time of Alexander the Great, and its ancestor city, Afrosiob, goes back to the second millennium BC. The most remarkable sight in Samarkand is the Registan, one of the treasures of Islam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Registan.jpg Incidentally, the English names of these countries and cities are merely the transcription of the Russianized names. The true names are somewhat different. For example, “ Kazakhstan ” should really be “Qazaqstan” and “ Uzbekistan ” should be “Özbekiston”. The local languages, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Kazakh, are all Turkic languages, related to Turkish, Azerbaijani and many other languages of Asia . Generally, they are spoken only among the indigenous folk. Russians usually don’t know them, but the Turkic people all know Russian. Central Asia was converted to Islam in the eighth century, when Arabs conquered and invaded. Today, Russian Orthodoxy and Islam exist side by side, but most people are irreligious. ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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