After a good night’s sleep and breakfast we headed out to tour the old city of Khiva.  The external walls of the city still exist along with four gates, one at each compass point.  Walking through the gates highlights how thick the walls are at the base—about 20 feet.  We spent the day visiting the different sites in the city— mausoleums, the palaces, mosques and a master craftsman in wood.  Walking through the city streets the buildings are deceptively simple, plain brick walls broken by one or two arched entrances, perhaps a tower or two jutting out at the corners.  All of the complexity and character of the buildings, regardless of function, face inward.  The palace had many different courtyards with different rooms off of each, some of which hosted artifacts and historical information.  The walls, ceilings and doors were ornate and a mix of renovated and original decorations.  Rather then try to describe the buildings, I will tell the story with pictures.

First thing to do on our tour—try on the local hats. They are wool and supposed to keep you warm in winter and cool in summer although I do not get that last one.

.Out hotel was an old madras and this was the courtyard that our rooms opened out into. Great place for lounging except for the heat of the day.

Mausoleum in the old city. Remember the pictures of the roadside cemetery in Kyrgyzstan? this structure is the VIP version. There were other burials nearby but they were completely overshadowed.

The courtyard outside the throne room of the palace.

The throne room just off of the courtyard.

This is another area of the palace and the courtyard for the family. Note the space for yurts.

And…what self respecting palace does not have a quarters for the harem?

And I’ll take a moment to comment on the harem.  There were several back ways into the harem so the Khan could come and go without it being obvious.  The girls were found by searching the community and in some cases, the women who ran the community baths would tip off the palace staff when they spotted a particularly attractive girl, whereupon the staff would go to the girl’s parents to fetch her into the harem.  Once someone “aged out” of their prime responsibility (nothing more needs to be said) you became a teacher for the incoming girls, ran the harem or in rare cases, could be rewarded with a small stipend and leave the harem.  (Apparently that did not happen often, because after a life in the harem—leaving was scary.) Sigh.

It’s always important to look at the ceilings ……

…. And doors. Both are amazing works of decorative art.

Throne room of new palace built by the son of the Khan that resided in the old palace. The son was paranoid about being assassinated (with reason as his father had been) and had mirrors installed in his throne room so he could see 360 degrees at all times. Ironically, he was killed by one of his body guards- in the throne room.

Wall construction. While the palace walls, and other important buildings, were brick, i noticed as we passed some of the other construction,, that hay and mud was the prime material

Another example of why you cannot judge a book by its cover in this part of the world. We walked through a non-descriptive door set in a boring brown wall to this amazing restaurant for lunch (this kept happening— amazingly beautiful decorated rooms popping up once inside non-descript buildings)

Many of the cafes had outside seating such as this which were very picturesque but not very occupied during the day when it was super hot. Very much in use in the evening, however.