Khiva, Uzbekistan
Itchan Kala
Our impressions of Khiva
Impressively well-restored open air museum: We were amazed at how well-restored the Itchan Kala (old city and one of the last stops on the silk road) of Khiva was. Walking around Khiva is like walking through a living museum – you have no idea what amazing madrasa or minaret might be waiting around the corner. With this “power” comes an onslaught of tourists compared to Tashkent (nothing compared to Europe or Morocco), but we still found ourselves alone on city streets often enough
Quirky and craft-filled: For all of its antiquity, Khiva has some modern quirks and charm. Loud music plays near the center of town and vendors sell an interesting slate of items – ranging from traditional Uzbek fur hats (we joked about buying them for our treks), hand-crafted silk scarves and coats, cell phone chargers and sunglasses, and jolly Uzbek figurines. Khiva is also home to a number of craft shops – our favorites were the carpet workshop (Jessie happens to be reading a book about Khiva by its founder) and the wood workshop
Delicious local delicacies (but not every restaurant does them well): Khiva’s food is different from other Uzbek regions. We loved trying the local specialities and found most of them to be delicious. There was definitely variation based on the restaurant (more details below)
What we saw in Khiva
Itchan Kala: The entire old city of Khiva (Itchan Kala) is an open air museum, so just walking around is a site in and of itself. We wandered into a few places on our first day and had a guided tour on our second, which helped contextualize the history of what we were seeing. All of the places below are located in the Itchan Kala
Pakhlavan Mahmud Mausoleum: You have to buy a separate ticket to this site (it’s a steal at $2), so we went in here on our first day in Khiva before we purchased the ticket to the rest of the Itchan Kala (we stayed in the old city, so could enter for free). The inside of the mausoleum is jaw-dropping – all of the walls are covered in intricate, hand-painted designs and Arabic calligraphy. The building operates as a community mosque, so we had the opportunity to witness the afternoon prayer that was led by an imam with an amazing voice
Kalta Minor Minaret (unfinished minaret): This turquoise, super-wide minaret is the most distinctive site in Khiva. You can’t go inside of it, but we had a fun time walking by, taking pictures at different times of day to see how it caught the light, and learning about local legends. It was never completed with lots of speculation as to why. Some say it was the perfect height to get a glimpse at the khan’s harem in the nearby palace, while others say construction was stopped once the khan realized that if it was any taller people that climbed up it would be able to see his harem. Other local legends suggest that the builder was asked to construct an even taller minaret by another ruler once complete and, upon hearing this, the khan ordered the builder to be killed causing him to flee the city before its completion. Jury is still out on this one
Mohammed Amin Madrasa: There are many madrasas in Khiva commissioned by various khans and their ministers throughout the city’s history, but this madrasa is the tallest and most unsuspecting. Situated right next to the Kalta Minor Minaret, the madrasa has been turned into a hotel but has retained its original features. The courtyard is lovely and the architecture is simple but beautiful
Islam Khodja: This complex was one of our favorite places in Khiva – it has a ton of history (where the khan lived and received dignitaries), mini museums (including a currency one, where we learned that silk was used as bills when as it was cheaper than paper), and the best view in the city to watch the sunset. We loved marveling at the blue tiles, ornately painted ceilings, and wooden pillars and enjoyed spending time on the top taking in the sunset
Woodcrafts Workshop: Ana, our guide, took us into a local wood workshop, where we met the owner and learned about how and what they made from book holders to full-size doors (largely through hand gestures and broken English). It was super neat to see and worth a quick stop
Friday Mosque: Compared to the ornately decorated palaces and madrasas, the Friday mosque has a much simpler design. It’s full of 200+ wooden columns, each with its own unique carving. It also smells great from the wood (or so we thought)
Stone Palace: This palace was beautifully designed, but the history was the highlight. The harem is located opposite of where the khan lived and received guests with a secret door connecting the two. The khan’s mother managed his harem (full of women from all over the world due to various conquests). We’re sure Freud would have had a field day with that one if he ever studied Central Asian history
City Walls: We took a quick walk around the city walls and upped our step count for the day. There’s not much to see and the view from Islam Khodja is better, but it was relaxing and a nice way to pass some time
Where we ate and drank
Khiva Moon: After our 16-hour train ride to Khiva, we were in need of a good meal. Khiva Moon did not disappoint! Located on the outskirts of the Itchan Kala, the restaurant is situated in a peaceful courtyard with traditional Uzbek tables (see above). We started with an eggplant salad followed by two local specialties – shivit osh (dill-infused, hand pulled noodles) and pumpkin manti (dumplings). Everything was vegetarian and delicious (definite correlation). Our favorite meal in Khiva
Terrassa Cafe: We spotted Terrassa and decided we wanted to have dinner and watch the sunset there. We got a great table (we were later displaced by elderly Germans) and had our first taste of Uzbek beer that had us feeling good (like we should…). We started with pumpkin gumma, which tasted like thin roti with pumpkin in the middle (read: amazing). Doug had beef shashlik (kebab) and potatoes and Jessie had tukhum barak (dumplings with scrambled eggs in the middle – interesting), while watching the sun set over the old city of Khiva
Cafe Zarafshon: We ran into Dutch-Ukrainian friends we had made on our tour and had a lovely lunch with them here. The food itself wasn’t anything to call home about (we wouldn’t go back), but it was a nice atmosphere and fun time with our new friends
Khorezm Art Restaurant: This restaurant is located inside of an abandoned madrasa, making it an amazing setting. We weren’t starving, but ended up eating (and enjoying) quite a bit of food. We ordered pumpkin soup, eggplant salad, and potato gumma (one of the best dishes we’ve had), followed by an apple cake and chak-chak (uniquely delicious) for dessert. The portions were small 🙂
Where we stayed
Guest House BOYJON OTA: This guesthouse was amazing! The location couldn’t be better – a 2-minute walk to the heart of the Itchan Kala – and the aesthetic is charming with a large garden in front. Our room was simple, but lovely with high ceilings, two twin beds (what we call the honeymoon suite), and a nice bathroom. The owner was incredibly kind and served a delicious Uzbek breakfast with nuts, dried fruits, fresh bread, eggs, coffee, and tea. She also arranged our taxis and tour with our English speaking tour guide, Ana. We don’t normally eat breakfast and had previously made fun of all of the booking.com reviews citing how great the breakfast was, but we get it now
Khiva travel tidbits
Amusement parks: There are not one, but two (!) amusement parks located in Khiva. While we didn’t go to either of them, we were intrigued at the contrast of these with the old city of Khiva
Costs: Khiva is slightly more expensive than Tashkent due to its touristic nature, but still remarkably inexpensive. An entry ticket into the Itchan Kala (which includes most of the sites of Khiva) ran ~$11 USD, while a sizable meal for two was $8-16 USD
Crafts: We had a lot of fun wandering around Khiva and checking out some of the local crafts. We didn’t buy anything as we didn’t want to add to our load, but it would have been a good place to stock up on souvenirs. Most of the crafts are made locally and it’s worth checking out the various artisan workshops (as mentioned above)
Khiva kids: Although there is no school in the Itchan Kala, the old city was often flooded with young schoolchildren, running around and playing soccer. They were also fascinated by the tourists, always running up to us to say “Hello!” or “What is your name?”. That was about all they understood, so the conversations were brief 🙂