Adventures in Asia: Khiva, Uzbekistan

I am heading by train to Bukhara late this afternoon, but I was able to spend the morning wandering Khiva some more. After a relaxed breakfast at my guesthouse . . .

. . . I took advantage of the relative cool of the morning to be the first person of the day climbing the Islam Khodja minaret.

I imagine the wooden staircase cannot be original, but it certainly contributes to the "I'm climbing a Silk Road minaret" vibe.

I had the magnificent view all to myself for about 15 minutes.

Eventually I headed down the spiral staircase . . .

. . . and back into the hot morning sunlight of the Khiva old city.

I spent an hour walking around, seeing some of the same sights as yesterday, and finding a few others. 

And that was enough walking for me, so I took a seat and enjoyed a coffee and water in the shade while I soaked up the atmosphere and read my book.

Around 11:30 I went back to my guesthouse to shower and pack up, and then, since by now it was much too hot to be outside, I went for a two hour lunch with powerful air conditioning!

Then I headed off to the train station. My guesthouse owner was kind enough to drive me over himself.

From here I will be heading to Bukhara on the 15:00 train.