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Bukhara to SamarkandOct 18, 2008
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Young Provincial Ladies
Cotton Harvest
Cotton Harvest
| October 18, Saturday (Bukhara to Samarkand) We began the 5 hour drive from Bukhara to Samarkand at 9 AM sharp. The landscape was generally desert scrub that looks much like it did ten centuries ago when camel caravans plodded along the road now paved with heaving asphalt. There were occasional stretches of irrigated cotton fields that were ready for harvest. Crews of twenty or thirty were engaged in picking the plants and stuffing the white tufts into worn bags. Because of the labor intensive nature of the cotton harvest, I gather that many of the laborers are conscripts. I am not clear on who qualifies for conscription and whether or not they are compensated for their efforts. We arrived in Samarkand in the early afternoon. After lunch we visited two of the city’s highlights Timur’s Mausoleum (more commonly known as Tamerlane in the West) and one of the architectural highlights of the trip, The Registan. The colorful tile work, the exotic marble carvings, the domes and minarets combine to offer a stunning visual feast. There are few places in the world that will stimulate your imagination more than these two sites. Heavy, dark clouds fractionally diminished the splendor of the site but tomorrow we will have another look. |
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