The American University of Central Asia is housed next to a phantom shadow of the Lenin. Its main building was once headquarters the Kyrgyz’s communist party and supreme council. Eager students here study journalism, law and politics as the larger than life Lenin statue looks on with disapproval.
This ancient city is the one of the oldest Silk Road stops in the region whose history spans across 2,5oo years. Istaravstan is one of those places where travelers can just spend the day getting lost in this living museum. It’s also hard not to notice the more recent Soviet presence in the city after passing a statue of Lenin or signs written out in cyrillic.
The area around Dishon-Qala in Khiva is ubiquitous Central Asia: every view contains layers of history to be sifted through at any moment. What arrests your vision first? The ancient fortress in the background? Perhaps the playground with prominent Soviet ‘Cosmonauts to the Stars’ theme? Or perchance the newly painted color scheme reflecting the thoughts and desires of the present day?
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?
