Along the Silk Road: From Tashkent to Samarkand

This morning we were up for breakfast, and then were off to the Museum of Applied Arts of Tashkent. I finally got an answer to what "applied art" means, as I was of the mind that all art is applied in some shape, form, or fashion, and unapplied art would really only be like an idea of something, but what "applied art" actually is, is art that has some sort of function, like wood-carved doors, hand-woven carpets, clothing, jewelry, etc., etc. This part of the world is famous for Suzane, which is derived from Persian for "needle". This makes sense, since a Suzane is an elaborate wall embroidery. Here are a few examples:





We also saw fabrics, scarves, clothes, and skullcaps. Lots of the designs featured chili peppers, which were believed to protect against the evil eye. We also saw ceramics, where we found out that the difference between porcelain and pottery is that animal bone (all ground up) is added to porcelain, it's not added to regular pottery/ceramics.





One of the neatest thing, I though, were the whistles made in the shape of various animals. Kids on the 21st of March use them to call Spring.


We also saw tons of silk and carpets and clothing. Silk was in high demand during the Middle Ages because not many bugs can eat them. So it was healthy to wear it back in the day. It's why people would pay so much for it and why it was in such high demand.

We also saw wood carving, jewelry, chests, knives, sisha pipes, copper tea kettles. He entrance to the museum was a work of art itself!


After the museum we took a ride on the Tashkent Metro. Each station was beautifully designed and decorated, and the whole system was impeccably clean... After we took the metro through several stops to have a look, we made our way back to the hotel, where we packed, checked out, then had lunch.

After lunch, we piled into the bus for the six hour drive to Samarkand. Along the way, we past by so many cotton fields. What was surprising was that they still pick the cotton by hand here... For a majority of the six hour trip (which included stops), we were talked to by our guides and our tour leader, Gary. At times I would have preferred quiet just to look out the window, enjoy the scenery, and to make my own judgments and conclusions about where we were, but such are the downfalls of group travel...

Eventually we made it to Samarkand, where we headed straight for the hotel. We had a quick bite to eat at the hotel restaurant, and then called it a night. It was a long day, and tomorrow promises to be a long day of sightseeing here in Samarkand!


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Location:Uzbekistan