Old ships rest on the bottom of what was once the harbor in Moynaq, Karakalpakstan. The Aral Sea has retreated hundreds of kilometers to the north leaving a vast seabed exposed to the blazing sun in its wake. When will humanity learn the consequences of its actions?
Category Archives: Central Asia
Unfinished Business
The 19th century Kalta Minor minaret stands magnificently in the afternoon sunlight. Its architect, having completed only 26 meters of the structure, fled after fearing that he was going to be put to death by the Khan. As good excuse as any I suppose for leaving something so beautiful incomplete.
Reticulum of Light
Dreaming Under a Multitude of Stars
Konye-Urgench (“Old Urgench”), once one of the greatest cities on the Silk Road, was the architectural inspiration for much of the region until it was finally laid waste by Timur in the fourteenth century. The hypnotically elaborate facades of this style exude a deep perception of geometry, proportion, and color that is utterly captivating. PerhapsContinue reading “Dreaming Under a Multitude of Stars”
In the Light
Darkness envelopes the cool desert night with only the flickering of the crater to guide our way.
Into the Realm of Hephaestus
Riding on the Edge of the Abyss
Our Land Rover sits a little too close for comfort on the very edge of one of the ‘mud holes’ at Dervaza (Turkic for “The Gate”) on the Turkmenistan/Uzbekistan border. These enormous sinkholes go down for hundreds of meters and open up into vast pools of molten earth. One has to take care of theContinue reading “Riding on the Edge of the Abyss”
Oasis of Sand
The ancient Silk Road city of Merv in the Karakum desert (Turkic for “Black Sand”) reminds me of a bit of the fate of ancient Carthage. Tracing its origins to the 3rd century BC, it was the largest city in the world in the 12th century only to be razed to the ground some 300Continue reading “Oasis of Sand”
The Pious Payout
When Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedovmade completed his first Hajj, it was the perfect time for citizens of Mary to ask him for the funds needed to finish the building of Mary’s mosque. The money was awarded and the inauguration of the Hajj Gurbanguly Mosque commenced two years later. The President proclaimed its’ opening was “evidenceContinue reading “The Pious Payout”
Farflungistan 