Today, Uzbekistan is a magnet for curious travellers interested in culture, history and exotic countries. The architectural monuments are the pride of the locals, as they have survived the ages and represent the heritage of their ancestors. Places such as the Ichan-Kala complex in Khiva and the historical centres of Bukhara and Samarkand are on the UNESCO list of “World Heritage Sites”. The unique monuments, magnificent mosques and madrasahs in these cities tell stories from an era that significantly shaped the country. Despite numerous attempts by foreign cultures to change the traditions and customs of the Uzbeks, these have been preserved over the centuries. The influence of Islam, spread by the Arabs in Central Asia, has strongly characterised the customs and traditions, but at the same time they are closely interwoven with the local culture and deeply rooted in the everyday life and minds of the Uzbek people. Despite the destruction of some historical buildings during the invasion of Tsarist Russia, they still remain witnesses to millions of people who appreciate art and culture.

Don’t forget to try the bread in Samarkand…
…there is no tastier bread than flatbread from Samarkand. A genuine flatbread from Samarkand should be edible for three years. All you need to do is sprinkle it with water and heat it in the tandur (clay oven in which flatbread is baked). Anyone who has ever been to Samarkand never leaves the city without Samarkand flatbread. This tradition has survived to this day and…
…every region of Uzbekistan has its own traditional cuisine, and the world-famous pilaf is prepared here in around a hundred different ways.

The Silk Road:
The history of this ancient trade route hides many secrets. Entire cultures have blossomed and faded, civilisations have appeared and disappeared, travellers have made groundbreaking discoveries, artisans have created monumental masterpieces. For centuries, the path of this route has remained intact, connecting China with the regions of Eurasia. No wonder that many legends and stories have been preserved along the “Road of Life”.

From the second century AD, it was silk in particular that was transported by Chinese traders to distant lands. Despite its high price, this compact and lightweight product attracted the attention of many traders along the caravan route, from Central Asia and Turkestan to India, Rome and Alexandria. Cleopatra seems to have had a passion for luxurious silk clothing, and in the early Christian centuries there was even a special silk market in Rome. One legend tells of Emperor Justinian of Byzantium in the sixth century, who commissioned two monks to bring precious mulberry silkworms from China. The monks are said to have hidden the “treasure” in a bamboo stick, as the discovery of the cocoons by the Chinese would have meant the death penalty for the clergy.
The exact circumstances are difficult to confirm today, but the centuries-old secret of silk production was finally revealed.
In addition to silk, bronze mirrors, porcelain, ceramics, paper goods and metal products were also shipped from China to distant lands. On the other hand, there was a strong demand in the Middle Kingdom, as China was known at the time, for jade from Hotan, lapis lazuli from Bodakhshan, Indian carpets, glass from the Mediterranean and horses from Fergana.

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IMPRESSION

…and at night the cities of Uzbekistan glow with a unique oriental flair:

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>>> Amir Temur

>>> Ulug beg 

>>> Avicenna oder Ibn Sina

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…to some countries you travel with the worst fears. It was just in November 2022, after two years of fighting in Tigray, that a ceasefire was arranged by the African Union. It is estimated that half a million people have been killed in the conflict and two million people have fled. According to UN human rights experts, executions, rape, sexual violence and starvation of civilians have been a method of warfare from the beginning. But the public does not perceive the war, especially not in Europe. 

According to World Hunger Aid (WHH), around 22 million people are not getting enough to eat. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world.

Nevertheless the Ethiopia I saw also had a very different side: heartiness, love of life, openness and gratitude. There was laughter in every greeting, passion in every action to show the best of Ethiopia. And there was this pleasant pride. Pride in Ethiopia’s 3000 years of cultural history, its independence, its central importance to the heritage of modern man. Anyone who studies religion in the world will find a unique kind of Christian faith here. An open and intensely lived religion that is nevertheless highly traditional. I have rarely seen people follow their call of the soul so impressively, with devotion and depth. Ethiopia is one of the first Christian kingdoms in the world.

The north of Ethiopia impresses with its highlands, all over 2000 m above sea level. The Jelada herds in the mountainous grasslands (Simien Mountains) are spectacular and unique in the world. Ethiopia’s highlands is also the source of the Nile and, with Lake Tana, an enormous source of fertility and diversity. Ethiopia is one of the eight genetic centres of the world, especially for cereals and vegetables.

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IMPRESSION

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>>> UNESCO World Heritage Convention – Lalibella

>>> Vavilov center

>>> Simien Mountains National Park

>>> The World Factbook

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…I first read this proverb in Mongolia, but now, in the light of the headlamp on the nightly way to the mountain peak, nothing better described this unique moment. While the legs in diligent obedience, step by step, overcame the difficulty of the way, the spirit soared towards the glittering sky, illuminated by the thousands of stars of the Milky Way. Not far and it was done. The darkness slowly gave way to the light of the sun and a new day dawned. 2285 meters above sea level the air was particularly clear and the cold air streamed through the lungs and made the heart beat a little faster. Was it the height or the moment? Laughing, we stood on the Djebel Musa (Mount Sinai), at the foot of which the time honered St. Catherine’s Monastery was build, isolated and never destroyed since the 6th century AD. Unreal like the moment, was also the fact, that 1400 years before us supposedly enlightened humans, Islamic rulers in the sign of respect and in the principle of peace, guaranteed the uninterrupted existence of the Christian monastery on Muslim soil.

The orthodox St. Catherine’s Monastery is one of the oldest monasteries in Christianity and one of the few places in the world where Jewish, Christian and Islamic cultural history meet each other. According to history, this is the place where Moses received the 10 holy commandments after leaving Egypt.

The outstanding and unique library is probably the world’s oldest surviving collection of early Christian manuscripts and icons. The library contains more than six thousand manuscripts in Greek, Christian Palestinian Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, Georgian, Armenian and Ancient Ethiopian, including first editions of Homer (1488) and Plato (1513), and the Comedies of Aristophanes (1498). Also discovered here and dated to the 4th century was the Codex Sinaiticus. Alongside the Codex Vaticanus it is considered to be the oldest almost completely preserved Bible manuscript.

IMPRESSION

>>> Mount Sinai Monastery

>>> The Ashtiname of Muhammad 

>>> Saint Catherine’s Monastery