Back to the Aeolian city, Uzbekistan

Hello! If you remember last fall I talked about my first trip to Aeolian city. When I climbed its stones, I did not leave the thought of how beautiful should be here in the spring. Green grass and a blue sky should go well with orange-reddish stones.

And so, at the last decade of February "Mysterious Uzbekistan" issued an announcement on the recruitment of the group and I immediately signed up. First, I wanted to admire the Aeolian city again. Secondly, I was hoping to make picturesque photographs.

Although it was raining in Tashkent in recent days, the organizers promised clear weather on the day of the trip. Finally, it was Sunday and at 5 a.m. I was already at the meeting point. Despite the promises of the organizers, the weather was not very clear. There were clouds in the sky and everything was shrouded in fog. It was even a little creepy to watch the outlines of cellular towers or power lines appear out of the fog. As if they were shots from some Hollywood horror movie like “The Mist”. I started to worry - what if all day the weather would be like this and I cannot make the photos?

But the heavenly office took pity on me. Gradually the fog began to dissipate and the sun peered through it. This gave me hope that the clouds would disperse.

Indeed, when we arrived at the starting point of our track the sky began to gradually clear. Like last time, we climbed a hill to explore the surroundings. Grass has already begun to break through the ground and flocks of sheep grazed on the hillsides. They were guarded by vigilant dogs. Although they did not rush at us but barked, showing us that we shouldn’t come closer.

Climbing the hill, the guide gathered us in a circle and began to tell the story of this region. Do you see the snow-capped mountains in the photo? This is Tajikistan.

And once all this territory was part of the Ustrushana state. The ancient state, which included the territory of modern north-western Tajikistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Kyrgyzstan. This state arose in the IVth century A.D. and lasted almost five hundred years.

The most important role in the development of Ustrushana was played by its advantageous geographical location on the Great Silk Road. Thanks to caravan trade, the local economy and culture developed rapidly. Ustrushtans even had their own alphabet.

Here, nearby are mines, where the ustrushtans mined silver, gold and iron. By the way, some of these mines are still rich in gold and silver, and these metals are still being mined. The favorable location and developed economy allowed Ustrushana to maintain independence for a long time even after the Arabs conquered Central Asia for a century. The Ustrushans continued to mint their own coin and did not accept Islam, preserving Zoroastrianism. By the way, remnants of Zoroastrianism are still found among local residents. However, in 893 this freemen ended when the Samanids incorporated Utrushana into their state.

We listened with interest to this short historical lecture and went on.

Last year, we went down the hills, crossed a stream and went to watch the cave with bats and then went to aeolian formations. However, this time the Kurpa-sai creek was still quite full of water and it was difficult to jump over it. Therefore, we decided to change the program a bit - first call in the Aeolian city, and from there already into the cave.

When we got to the Aeolian city, it seemed to me that he had changed a little. The guide confirmed my guesses - unfortunately, due to wind and rain, the Aeolian due to the influence of natural forces.

To approach the Aeolian city is necessary to cross the courtyard of one of the locals. They are already accustomed to the constant influx of tourists and therefore do not mind the fact that strangers roamed in their backyards. Unfortunately the local dogs objected, but with an affectionate word and slices of sandwiches with sausage buttering the tailed guards up and they were inspired to trust us. Moreover, they decided to keep us company on top of the Aeolian city. Looking ahead, I’ll say that their presence helped us a lot.

In Jizzakh region, it is felt that winter is ending - the grass got out, the first flowers bloomed and ladybugs appeared ...

On the way back, local watchdogs from neighboring yards ran up to us with barking. Apparently they also wanted their share of sausage sandwiches. Unfortunately, we have already eaten everything. The guide said that we should walk calmly, not provoke dogs and not try to run. Then they just mourn and calm down when we go beyond their territories.

The dogs we fed from the very beginning walked ahead of the group and looked around from time to time. When it seemed to the leading dog that we were lagging behind, he barked softly, like it saying – hey, let’s walk faster!

However, the alien dogs did not lag behind and continued to run after us with a bark. Our guide dog escorted them a couple of times with a growl. Apparently there were some long-standing insoluble disagreements between the persecutors and our shaggy defender, because two dogs pounced on him and they arranged a dump. Then it’s our turn to stand up for “our dog”. With whistles and shouts, we drove offenders.

Fortunately, the danger was over and we calmly got to the car. Last time we still drove into the gorge, but after the rains the road was in a terrible state and the driver did not dare to go further. The general vote decided to return back through the cave.

Last time, I did not go deep, limiting myself to a couple of photographs taken at the entrance. But this time, I firmly decided to explore this cave. I even specially bought a headlamp. We climbed inside. The walls of the cave narrowed and narrowed, soon had to literally squeeze through. About 30-40 meters from the entrance it became quite narrow and I decided not to go further. Imagination began to draw a picture from the cartoon about Winnie the Pooh, who was stuck in a rabbit hole. However, more slender members of the group squeezed deep into another 10-15 meters.

This cave is full of bats and the floor is covered with a thick, soft and very odorous layer of their waste products. Despite the fact that I turned my head in all directions, I did not see bats but I saw another inhabitant of this cave - scolopendra. It seems that it is :-).

Having got out of the cave, we loaded into the car and drove back.

On the way, in one of the courtyards I saw an old Soviet wagon. How he got here is a mystery!

Since we did not go to the gorge, there was still a lot of time and by universal suffrage, a decision was made to drop into a local cafe and taste the famous Jizzakh samsa (a pie with meat and onion) . A huge samsa, which barely fits in two palms, filled with finely chopped meat, floating in its own fat. By the way, this samsa is very, very fat, but the locals eat it, pouring on top with still vegetable oil mixed with vinegar. When I saw this, I almost felt sick.

On the way back, the heavenly office considered its duty fulfilled and my limit on the clear sky was exhausted. Clouds gradually gathered and it became cloudy. Well, this did not bother me anymore - I completed my mission. On the way, I saw stork nests on poles.

And in the nests and its inhabitants themselves. Well, then spring came to Uzbekistan ...

I decided to expand the geography of my travels a bit and in mid-March I plan to go to the Fann Mountains of Tajikistan. There is still winter and I hope to see the frozen Marguzar lakes. Of course, immediately after returning I will publish a report on the trip :-)

!steemitworldmap 39.914247 lat 67.849545 long Back to the Aeolian city, Uzbekistan d3scr