Recommend May 2013 - (Page 60)

CARLA HUNT (2) of Russian avant-garde art. Savitsky also collected artifacts of the steppe that presents one of the largest assemblages of archaeological objects, folk art, and applied and contemporary art originating in Central Asia. Hats are the top purchase in Khiva. Applied Arts Museum), good markets and its “I-could-be-anywhere” but comfortable hotels such as the Dedeman, Palace and InterContinental. The highlight of the Uzbek capital is not above ground but below: the truly magniﬁcent Tashkent metro (the only one in Central Asia). It’s an underground odyssey of 29 stations all ornately designed in the 1970s by prominent Uzbek artists and architects. Rides cost just 30 cents, and foreign visitors have to present a passport. Also, because it seems that it’s considered a military installation no picture taking is allowed. Occasionally, patrolling station attendants are more smartly dressed than an airline hostess—complete with a la mode high heels. KYZYL KUM Fly from Tashkent to Urgench, then head into the Kyzyl Kum (Red Sand) desert plains, whose vast sandy landscape offers the company of camels, donkeys and wild horses; whose excavated mounds reveal fascinating fourth century BC to seventh century desert fortresses, partially buried in sand; and whose supreme attraction is an overnight stay at the Ayaz Kala Yurt Camp where guests make themselves at home in big round yurt-tents whose walls and ﬂoors are gaily decorated with handmade carpets and sherdaks (felt rugs). Bath facilities are in a separate building, and seated on rugs in the master tent, guests pick and choose from a parade of regional food specialties. NUKUS To get a preview of why clients must visit Nukus, recommend “The Desert of Forbidden Art,” a 2010 documentary highlighting the incredible story of how renegade art collector Igor Savitsky saved from destruction a treasure trove of Soviet avant-garde art deemed decadent and bourgeois by the Stalin regime. Between 1957 and 1966, he shipped thousands of paintings by rail from Russia and stashed them around the desolate desert town of Nukus, with the dogged assistance of his friend Marinika Babanazarova. She is now director of the Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art, and she was our guide during one fabulous tour of the legendary Savitsky Collection, part of which covers the walls with the vivid and expressionist paintings that make up the world’s second-largest collection 60 may 2013 58-61 AS Uzbekistan.indd 60 KHIVA In the sixth century, the fortressed walls and waters of Khelvak Well made Khiva a popular Silk Road rest stop; by the 17th century, it had become a center of the Persian slave trade. Today, Khiva is the most remote and intact of Central Asia’s Silk Road cities; its Ichan-Kala architectural complex showcasing an outdoor museum of homogenous Islamic architecture. For me, Khiva was stunning, but its walled-city charms compromised by a suffocating trade in tourist crafts. However, follow the narrow streets, past historic buildings with heavy carved doors, to ﬁnd an outdoor haberdashery displaying the ultimate purchase: a shaggy, sheepscented Turkman hat. We stayed at the ﬁne 34-room Malika Khiva, well-located just outside the west gate and nicely priced at $80 dbl with breakfast; the hotel’s garden restaurant dishes up delicious caday manti (pumpkin dumplings). BUKHARA Bukhara—the most complete example of a medieval city in Central Asia, says UNESCO—is captivating. Unlike Khiva and Samarkand, it is more of a living place, yet packed with monumental treasures. Sacked over the centuries by the Persians and Mongols, Alexander the Great and Ghengis Khan (who razed everything but the stupendous Kalon Minaret, in its day the tallest building on earth), Bukhara by the 16th century had rebuilt itself into almost the holiest city in the world cluttered with turquoise domes of mosques and madrassas. Among my favorites is the Ismael Samani Mausoleum, the oldest, best preserved and most original building in Bukhara and the Poi Kalon Ensemble, a vast square embracing the brilliantly tiled Mir-i-Arab Madrassah and Kalon Juma Mosque. Also still standing in the Old City are three of the original domecovered bazaars called toks. Here, among the tea-sipping sellers of hats, silks, carpets, puppets or jewelry, visitors may unearth the perfect buy in silk textiles in exquisite colors and texture, beautiful carpets, gold embroideries and interesting jewelry. For those with lots of sum (Uzbek currency) in their pockets, recommend they duck into the Minzifa Boutique whose inventory of traditional rugs, ikat textiles, antique jewelry and more is an education in ﬁne craftsmanship and tradition. The shop (in the part of the bazaar called the skullcaps dome) is located near the 34-room Malika Bukhara, a hospitable place whose most spacious rooms are on the ﬁrst ﬂoor; rooms have air conditioner, big bath and shower, minibar, and TV. Now that people are allowed to run their own businesses, there are B&Bs cropping up all over Uzbekistan, but some of the best are located in Bukhara. The prettiest and probably the priciest ($80 dbl, breakfast included) is the family-owned and hands-on managed Sasha & Son, occupying a Jewish merchant’s 16th century house that was renovated and refurbished in 1996. Well located, this boutique property has 18 gorgeous rooms decorated Bukhara-style by local craftsmen and painters and ﬁtted with air conditioner, minibar and satellite TV. Public spaces include a restaurant, traditional courtyard and small garden. The well-located Sasha is an easy walk to a touristy and a really fun evening out recommend.com 4/23/13 12:55 PM http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend May 2013

Editor's Notes
Hotel Desk: Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
Tour Talk: PerryGolf
Viking Aegir
A-ROSA Cruises
New York City
United States
UK & Ireland
Caribbean
Fairmont Mexico
The Road to Ruins-Peru's Northern Kingdoms
Kush Kelibsiz!: Welcome to Uzbekistan
Touring Israel & Jordan

Recommend May 2013