Visiting Uzbekistan was truly remarkable. It is a place so exotic and unlike anywhere else, I sometimes think such a land could not really exist. Yet as I scan these pictures I am reminded that I really was there, as if transported by a magic carpet and deposited on the desert floor of the ancient Silk Road. Located deep inside the former USSR, the country had been off limits to outsiders for decades before its independence in 1991. For the most part, it is now forgotten by the West. This is unfortunate. The country is devoutly Muslim, yet the Uzbek people are disarmingly approachable. And as the pictures below will attest, the country sports some of the most breathtaking architectural wonders on Earth.

Now that the countries of central Asia have been freed from the grasp of the former Soviet Union, the once ubiquitous red hammer & sickle banners have been replaced by more colorful national flags. The flag of independent Uzbekistan shows the crescent moon found on the flags of most Islamic countries.

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It was by pure coincidence that my visit to Uzbekistan took place in the middle of their independence anniversary celebrations. Many large buildings in the capital city, Tashkent, were decorated with colorful flags & banners.

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On summer nights Tashkent comes alive with the sounds of traditional dance teams rehearsing for independence day competitions. The photo below was taken in a parking lot where dancers were assembling. These girls had just come off a intercity bus when we approached. We indicated that we wanted to take a picture of their beautiful costumes, and they obliged by formally posing for us.

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Journeying to the interior of the country to the fabled Silk Road city of Samarkand,
where glittering green & blue tiles of the Registan sparkle in the sun almost as if a mirage.

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On the left, the tomb of Amir Timur, revered as one of Uzbekistan's founding fathers.

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Stalin used the forgotten hinterlands of the USSR -- locales like Uzbekistan -- as a place to exile and dump his empire's unwanted and persecuted peoples. An unintended consequence of these brutal acts is the wide diversity of ethnicities of Uzbekistan's people today. Uzbeks range from blonde to brunette, with shades of everything in between. These girls had just finished practicing their dance routines and were now clowning around for my camera (before leaving one of the girls handed me a slip of paper with her address written in Cyrillic so that I could send reprints).

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Moving further into the desert, to the ancient city of Bukhara and its glistening acquamarine domes. Just walking through the streets of the city seeing views like this left me speechless. The tall minaret in the background is the largest in central Asia.

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This building was used as a Muslim school in times of antiquity.

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The imposing Ark fortress in Bukhara.

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Enjoying a cool drink of water in front of a faded, peeling world map centered on Uzbekistan.