The Fabric of their Lives: Central Asia Astounds Us

Greetings!

A nine-hour sprint from Bukhara to Nukas, then back to Khiva, before crossing into Turkmenistan on Tuesday, our Stans travel is coming towards an end.  We're stocking up on some really gorgeous fabrics (tailored coat, hat, door or wall-hanging, pillow cases, etc), and realizing that the real fabrics here are the people and their cultures.  Seldom have we seen such care being taken to nurture, support, and enrich the lives of those around us.  We encourage everyone to come experience these countries, to engage their residents, and form your own opinions.

We have been welcomed warmly by everyone, and made as comfortable as possible within the resources available.  Our preconceptions that we would find a vastly rural and poor set of countries has not been born out.  In fact, we found cities cleaner and safer than many areas of the developed world in which we have traveled.  We found rural, sustainable countrysides, where progress is being made to provide all of the necessities of healthy living standards.  We are overwhelmed with the generosity and friendliness of all we meet, and only know we stand out by the constant photographing of us by locals.  We have also enjoyed helping every young person practice their english-speaking skills and they're very good).

And we know it's coming to an end when we are consciously trying to run out of local currency.  That's a good thing, since the exchange rate is 5,000 to one.  Carrying around bags of money may make it seem like you're rich, but it can get tedious counting out 35,000 of anything.

To see the photos taken on Saturday and Sunday, click on:
Saturday, April 30th
Sunday, May 1st