Uzbekistan Tips & articles

Aug 23, 2010 11:31:42 PM

Travel literature review: A Carpet Ride to Khiva

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Tilla-Kari Medressa in the Registan.

• Andrew Bain
• Lonely Planet Photographer

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A Carpet Ride to Khiva: Seven Years on the Silk Road by Christopher Aslan Alexander

Rating: 4 out of 5

Reviewed by Steve Waters

Steve Waters once crossed the Torugart Pass in Kyrgyzstan twice in one day having been refused entry by sandshoe-wearing Chinese border guards.

One hundred and twenty-two years after British soldier and adventurer Frederick Burnaby’s epic Ride to Khiva, NGO volunteer Alexander lobs into Uzbekistan by a somewhat saner route. Posted to Khiva, Alexander (“Aslan” to the locals) first toils on an internet guidebook (poor bugger!) before hatching the idea of establishing a sustainable carpet workshop. With the aid of UNESCO and newfound Uzbek friends, “Aslan” forms a crew of local disadvantaged women and unemployed youths, and embarks on a journey to create carpets using forgotten traditional patterns and natural dyes.

Though subtitled “Seven Years on the Silk Road”, with the odd exception (like crossing into Afghanistan looking for madder root) this isn’t a road trip – “I didn’t want to travel to Khiva, but to live there”. Instead, A Carpet Ride to Khiva provides a fascinating look at post-Soviet life in one of Central Asia’s more secretive ‘stans, and it’s not always pretty. Islam and Russian culture clash head-on (who else would serve vodka at a mosque opening?) while the authoritarian government rules with an iron fist. Corruption penetrates every level of daily life, women are second-class citizens, and the donkeys are scared.

While Alexander diligently details every aspect of carpet making, it’s his ability to weave together threads of history, social commentary and everyday customs that make this memoir entertaining. “I remembered the golden rule not to flick but to wring the water off my hands, as each drop flicked would become a jinn”. The author’s humanity and decency shine from every page. We follow the outcast weavers and dyers – poor, disabled, written-off – as they become empowered through the simple act of co-operative, self-sustainable employment. Illustrations, maps, glossary and index complete an engaging book, though leave the prologue to last if you dislike spoilers.

It was a joy being transported back to Central Asia, with its dust and decay and rounds of flat bread, its corrupt officials and wonderful hospitality, the piles of plov and greasy lamb mantis, its pomegranates and paranoid border crossings all washed down with gallons of tea and lashings of vodka. However, for me, the single most powerful évocateur of the Silk Road will always be the carpet.

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