How to make a wish in Central Asia

Where ever I travel people's different beliefs always amazes me and as you can imagine its not always easy and possible to observe people when they are in a ritual. But I was quite lucky to get some interesting shots as well as joining the crowds who were talking with angels while travelling in central Asia....

So lets start with some common ones, like visiting the tomb of a holy man or woman and rotate around the tomb couple times while praying.. (photo from Turkmenistan)

 or tying piece of fabrics to a branch that is close to the tomb..

What would you do if you need a house? Build a model one around a tomb where you believe a holy man lies

What about a baby? Start building a small crib and place it near a tomb which is known for answering the prayers for a child.

and what about if you want to see and talk with the angels. Here is me on the mission..Did I see and talk with them? Sorry I am not suppose to tell anybody, thats the rule...

Another way is to make a wish and try to rotate a stone on your finger. If it makes a full turn your wish will soon be granted. I tried... believe me its difficult.

To pass under a fallen tree trunk where the holy man once seated under it. İt might remind you of Buddha but these following two photos are from Uzbekistan from the tomb of Sufi Saint Baha al-din Naqshbandi. As being the founder of the powerful Naqsbandi sect in Islam, it is an important pilgrimage site for its followers.

and the last but the most dangerous one is again from Turkmenistan. There is a rather small hill which ends up in a cemetary. So if you have a wish, you are paying a small amount of money to the man sitting there and he is wraping you with a quilt and pushes you down. According tothe information given to me if you go straight, your wish will soon be granted, if you go left , no chance and if you go right there might be a possibility so you have to try it again sometime later.. 

Unfortunately I couldnt observe this ritual eventhough I waited for some time. The locals were very shy about the foreigners watching them. However our guide later sent this photo for my blog that he took couple years ago. Although it is not very clear it is still giving an idea..

 So have a nice weekend and I hope all your wishes come true whereever and however you are praying for them

Tamarlane's City : Shahrisabz

Although Samarkand was the capital city of Tamerlane’s vast empire, Shahrisabz which is about 50 miles South of Samarkand was where his heart belonged to.


This is the birth place of a man who became a legend while he was still alive. He spent his early periods in this city and also had his first palace built here. Although only the entrance door remained, it could easily give you an idea about the grandeur of this mighty man.

While we were travelling from Shahrisabz to Samarkand, I long gazed the vast green pasture. It is a beautiful area. It makes me wonder why he left this amazingly serene place to conquer the world.

He initialy had built his tomb here but later changed his mind and ordered a new one in Samarkand. He left his tomb in Shahrisabz to his son Jahangir who died at an early age.

Today it is possible to visit the tomb of Tamarlane in Samarkand where he was buried with 7 other people; his children, Grand children and a favorite teacher. His one piece jade tomb carefully placed under the feet of his teacher’s.

Tamerlane’s legacy continued long after his death. When a Soviet anthropologist exhumed his body in 1941 he found these words carved inside his casket. ‘’ When I rise the world will tremble. Who so ever opens my tomb shall unleash an invader more terrible than I’’ and guess what??? Only hours after his exhumation, Germans started to invade Russia.

Today Uzbeks also like to tell you as an urban legend that Soviets only started to defeat the Germans after they have flown the Tamarlene’s body 7 times over the city of Stalingard. Well, there might be a certain truth in that as they re buried him in 1942 just before the Soviet victory in Stalingrad..

I have to mention that although there are many books writen about Tamarlane, there is one I enjoyed particularly. ‘’Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of the Timour’’ It is a wonderful travel and historical memoirs of the Spanish Embassy Clavijo. I strongly recommend who wants to read further on this subject.

Samarkand

Today let me take you to another city on the ancient Silk Road. A beautiful and a rich one. Actually, on those days it was on the central position between China and Mediterranean. It was the capital city of mighty Tamerlane. It was the the city where another great conquer Alexander the Great fell in love with a slave woman. The mother of his one and only child. He named this place Marakan. It was the city where Marco Polo walked on her streets with curious eyes.

The main center of the city is Registan square. Three beautiful madrasahs (schools) are the jewels of this square. As it is the case everywhere in uzbekistan, inside of these old schools are full of small shops wher you could find lovely hand made products..

As it was the capital of Tamerlane, he had built large palaces, mosques and his tomb in this city. But as he was an impatient ruler, he wanted all the buildings to be completed at his lifetime. Unfortunately as speed is more important than duration, most of the those buildings started to collapse soon. Here is the Bibi Hanim mosque completed in an incredible period of 1,5 years with the golds Tamerland brought back from India. Bibi Hanim was the Chinese wife of Tamerlane..

Another fascinating place in the city was its necropolis - Shah-i Zinde..Most of the tombs belong to the women's of the Tamerlane family. Later the city cemetary developed around this historical area. A fascinating place where they have painted the face of the death to blues and turquoises..

But as always my favorite place was where I could find the living. No better place than the market to find them...

Bukhara

I know that nowadays I am neglecting to write, but it is more tempting to get a book and lie on a cool place with a book on these long and hot days. Swim, read and nap. My wonderful trio for the summer.

Anyway, I also realize that I also neglected to post more photos from my trip to Central Asia. So let me take you to one of the high lights of my trip: Bukhara

This wonderful city mostly built during the 16th century under an Uzbek dynasty and most of the buildings in the city succesfully survived until 1920s. When the Russians came, they have restored the city instead of demolishing and thanks to them, today we are having a chance to travel back in time. A time when Bukhara was an important trading center on the silk road.

Today the impressive caravanserais,mosques, palaces and schools are as alive as they were centuries ago. Merchants on small shops are as keen as their predecessors to sell you something. My favorite, beautiful Uzbek embroideries -Suzenis- are every where and if you are patient enough to dig deep like me, you could find some old and handmade ones for a bargain but let them to be the subject of another post.

Every traveller has his/her own taste and I usually do not like to give advice but if you are someone like me who finds her best moments when travelling towards east, dont hesitate to add Bukhara and Semerkant -the subject of my next post- to your list.

Khiva - Uzbekistan

Samarkand and Bukhara were the magical cities on the silk road that called and lured me for so many years, but I wasnt aware that it was in the town of Khiva, I surprisingly found what I was looking for.

I am sure we all know some of the stories Scheherazade tell to King Shahryar to save her life in 1001 Nights or Arabian nights. For years I always dreamed of a place just like Khiva for the background of those stories.

It is a very well preserved town and a world heritage site, where you can jump into the history easily and be a character in one of the stories.

 The only unpleasent thing I remember from my day in Khiva was heat. Although it was early May, the weather was so hot, making it difficult to walk in the beautiful streets of the town.