Uzbekistan - Khiva - October 2022

 Our flight to Urgench, the capital of the Xorazm Region, was very early in the morning. We left the hotel shortly after 4:30am with our boxed breakfast. The airport was busy even at this hour. We took off around 7:00 with a full flight. From Urgench airport we traveled by bus for about 6 hours to Khiva.

The first gate we crossed on the way to Khiva. There are over sixty gates to mark the ancient "Silk road"

Map of  the "silk road"

The first century mud and straw fort

Climbing up to the fort

View of the fort from across the river
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On the way to Khiva, we stopped for lunch at the Ulli Hovli Cultural Hall/center of  Xoarzm Region. It's located in the northwest of Uzbekistan in the Amu Darya River. 

Entrance to Zorazm cultural center - Uly Howly

Lunch at the Uly Howly

The yurt at the cultural center

Our Khiva hotel is just outside of the fort. Our guide, Khan took us inside the fort for dinner and entertainment. It was chili but we're glad to have an evening walk around the inner city after a long day bus ride. Some landmarks were lit up beautifully. The evening was enjoyable with tradition Uzbek food and entertainment. We can't wait to come back for the full day tour of the next day.

 

The fort wall - Our hotel is across the fort

The caravan sculpture on the wall by the fort main gate

The fort entrance

Itinerary for the inner city (inside the fort) visit 

Two wise men monument

Caravanserai rest stop

Itchan Kala Palace courtyard

Rooftop of the fort

View of the inner city from top of the fort

A close-up view from the top of the fort

Madrassa's facade

Symmetrical design of tile and marble

A wooden column - Palace courtyard

Easter gate - slave gate

Avenue of mausoleums

Abdulgazi Muhammad Rahimkhan (1775-1825) Tomb

The air museum

Like the evening before, we went back to the inner city for dinner on our own. We went to a rooftop restaurant highly recommended by our tour guide. We met up with some friends and had a great time.

The same facade, different view at night

View at sunset

The rooftop restaurant

View from the restaurant rooftop

Dinner on the rooftop

On our walk

Ice cream for dessert in a cold Khiva night with friends.

The fun evening concluded our visit to Khiva. In the morning, we will continue our journey with a long bus ride to Bukkara, another wonderful destination we look forward to visiting.