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Great Central Asian Railway Journeys - Season 1 Episode 2 - Tashkent to Samarkand
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00:01I'm embarking on a thrilling new railway adventure in Central Asia.
00:06Exploring the ancient Silk Road.
00:08This really is for me a dream come true.
00:11At a crossroads of civilizations.
00:13Amazing aromas.
00:15Where East met West.
00:17It is extraordinarily beautiful.
00:21I'll explore ancient cities.
00:24What splendor.
00:26Encounter breathtaking Islamic art.
00:29Brutalist Soviet architecture.
00:32And the doors begin to open.
00:35And magnificent railways.
00:37A legendary city deserves a great railway station.
00:41On my journey I'll see how since independence.
00:44Uzbekistan is shaping a modern identity.
00:48What a pleasure to meet you.
01:07I'm exploring Uzbekistan at the heart of Central Asia.
01:34My rail journey across Uzbekistan continues.
01:39And I will follow the route of the old Silk Road.
01:42Between Tashkent and Samarkand.
01:45A city that was conquered by Alexander the Great.
01:50Became the imperial capital of Tamalei.
01:53And was devastated by Genghis Khan.
01:59Uzbekistan is landlocked, bordered by Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
02:08This former Soviet Republic is almost twice the size of the United Kingdom.
02:13And with 37 million inhabitants is the most populous country of Central Asia.
02:22I've been scouting around the capital Tashkent.
02:25And will soon travel on the high speed rail route to Samarkand.
02:28A city forever linked to the ancient Silk Road.
02:32My journey will continue on the old Transcaspian Railway to Bukhara.
02:38A medieval city considered the pearl of Uzbekistan.
02:42And ended Nevoi at the desert of Kizil Kubla.
02:58My journey starts as I take one of Tashkent's fleet of electric suburban trains.
03:05Which will transport me out of the capital.
03:18Assalamu alaikum.
03:21Um...
03:21Bayt Korgon.
03:23Bayt Korgon.
03:24Bayt Korgon on me.
03:26Bayt Korgon.
03:32The last one is one of the fishers aren't they.
03:33What was that?
03:33By the way.
03:37My railway ticket has cost me 10,000 barbecue
03:40for a journey of about 40 minutes.
03:43Which sounds like an awful lot.
03:45In fact, it's less than 1 US dollar.
03:50It can be very disconcerting to me.
03:53Buying a few beers can cost hundreds of thousands of CERM.
03:57But just imagine what it's like when it comes to buying a car or a house.
04:04I'm heading northeast from Tashkent to the station of Bait Gorgon,
04:10where more mountainous terrain begins.
04:15At a time when humankind is struggling to emit less carbon,
04:19a lot of hopes are placed on the power of the sun.
04:23At school, I learned about the potential of solar rays
04:26when we would concentrate them through a magnifying glass onto a single point,
04:31producing enough heat to set fire to a piece of paper.
04:35In Uzbekistan, the Soviet Union built a gigantic machine to focus solar energy
04:41at a time when we used to speak about the white heat of technology.
04:57Bait Gorgon is the closest station to Pashkent,
05:02the site of this solar facility.
05:08High up in the mountains, in a once clandestine location,
05:13is this mesmerising triumph of Soviet engineering.
05:17A giant installation of Bond villain proportions.
05:23END
05:24END
05:24END
05:25END
05:25END
05:25END
05:35END
05:53Is this not the most extraordinary place?
05:56Bizarre!
05:57I mean, is it real?
06:00It's beyond the imagination, I think,
06:01of any movie maker or science fiction writer.
06:06A series of enormous mirrors stuck on a mountainside reflecting the sun.
06:12Nothing could be more obvious.
06:15And yet, when this was built in the times of the Soviet Union,
06:19it was highly secret.
06:22This is a solar furnace, one of only two in the world,
06:27where the sun's rays are reflected by 62 hill-mounted mirrors,
06:31known as heliostats, onto a giant parabolic mirror
06:35to create a single beam of heat
06:37that can reach temperatures of 3,000 Celsius.
06:43The head of laboratory has worked here since it opened in 1987,
06:48Dr. Sultan Suleimanov.
06:52Sultan, what a pleasure.
06:54Nice to meet you. Please welcome.
06:56Great to see you.
06:58Sultan, when did you first work on this project?
07:01I'm beginning to work in this project in 1974.
07:05In 1970, the first solar furnace was built in France.
07:11This solar furnace was funded by NATO,
07:14and all scientists of the Soviet Union there to give the proposal
07:19to create such solar furnace in the Soviet Union.
07:22When this was built, this was very secret?
07:24Yes, yes, yes.
07:26It really was the secret.
07:28What was the strategic purpose of it?
07:30What was the interest in doing this?
07:33The solar furnace is the first installation which I demonstrated
07:36how we can use the solar energy for material science,
07:41for the different testing.
07:43So your objective was to test materials and to develop new materials?
07:47Yes.
07:48During the Cold War years, the key Soviet objective
07:52was to create materials that could withstand extreme heat
07:56for use in weapons and in space.
07:58A small-scale version demonstrates the powerful effect achieved
08:02solely by concentrating rays from the sun.
08:07That is amazing.
08:09That has made all these holes in a solid iron bar.
08:16And I can smell the burning.
08:18Absolutely extraordinary.
08:20Because this form of energy is clean and essentially free,
08:24new uses are being explored today.
08:27Director of the Institute of Material Science
08:30is Dr. Adil Hajar Parbif.
08:33Dr. Parbif, this facility was developed more than half a century ago.
08:38What are the applications you're working on now?
08:39Right now, our institution is looking to our industry
08:44and to the business and try to develop technologies
08:48and materials for needs over to our economy,
08:51including the green technologies, green materials, smart materials.
08:55For example, hydrogen.
08:57As you know, hydrogen is a very important gas for our planet.
09:01It is the green energy.
09:03But hydrogen, unfortunately, is still expensive
09:06because it needs the energy.
09:08Yeah.
09:09But if you use solar energy, the cost will be further down.
09:14So you see this as making a big contribution to the green agenda.
09:19Yes.
09:20And at the same time, our colleagues from Germany,
09:23the design technical industry, they come to our institution.
09:25We have developed absolutely new technology
09:28using concentrated solar energy for producing carbon fibers.
09:32If you know the Elon Musk,
09:34he's planned to make some elevator to space.
09:37But it needed carbon fiber.
09:39So we can do it here in Uzbekistan, in our solar furnace.
09:45This furnace is fired up only around 100 times a year.
09:49Today, I'm granted exceptional access to the control room,
09:53which is located at the center of this huge mirror
09:56made up of 10,700 chessboard-sized panels.
10:01As I look through my goggles,
10:03the heliostats are being positioned.
10:05They are sending their beams of light
10:07towards this enormous parabolic mirror in which I'm standing.
10:10I'm seeing more and more light being cast on the doors of the furnace.
10:17And the doors begin to open.
10:21Today's experiment will determine the metal content of a piece of local clay.
10:26I can now begin to see smoke.
10:30Burning is beginning.
10:32Clay is catching fire.
10:33And I'm wearing my goggles,
10:35but I assume intense, unbearable light.
10:40In this procedure,
10:42the solar beam delivers temperatures of around 1,600 Celsius.
10:46It's become glutinous.
10:48It's moving around
10:50under that intense bombardment of solar energy.
10:54With a limitless source of clean energy,
10:57this Soviet-era solar furnace
10:59could play a role in a future of green energy.
11:05I'm heading back to the capital, Tashkent,
11:09to continue my journey westwards.
11:11And this leg starts from the city's central station.
11:15MUSIC PLAYS
11:30I'm thrilled to be taking the Afro-Syob high-speed train,
11:34which has been running in Uzbekistan for over a decade.
11:39MUSIC PLAYS
11:46The high-speed rail line between Tashkent and Samarkand
11:50was built by presidential decree.
11:53And, astonishingly,
11:55the 344 kilometres of track
11:58were made ready in just five months.
12:02The service opened in 2011.
12:05And that made Uzbekistan
12:07the first Central Asian country
12:09to enter the age of high-speed rail.
12:13The trains are Spanish-built Talgos
12:15and they reach 250 kilometres per hour.
12:27As-salamu alaykum.
12:28As-salamu alaykum.
12:30Welcome to Tashkent.
12:31Have a good morning, sir.
12:32Coach number 8, to the right.
12:35Thank you, man.
12:35Seat number 23.
12:49To the burst of acceleration, we're off.
12:56I'm travelling southwest from Tashkent
12:59to the ancient city of Samarkand,
13:02a distance of over 300 kilometres.
13:07With a journey time of around 2 hours and 10 minutes,
13:10it's a silk road for the 21st century.
13:20Uh-huh.
13:31In the first few minutes,
13:33the number of offers that have been made,
13:36coffee, nuts, sweet things,
13:40it's like a travelling bazaar.
13:43It's like a caravan,
13:44but delivered by people in smart uniforms
13:47with broad smiles.
13:54On my journey,
13:56I'm joined by Sophia Nina Berna-Esefi,
13:59a writer who specialises
14:00in the railway and transport routes
14:02of Central and South Asia.
14:06Sophia.
14:07Hello, Michael.
14:08Lovely to see you.
14:09Ah, so we're travelling together to Samarkand.
14:12What a joy.
14:13I know, exciting.
14:14The train scene's pretty full today.
14:16Is that typical?
14:17Yes, this is definitely kind of a usual day
14:19in kind of the high-speed train life in Tashkent.
14:23I mean, it's kind of really, really helpful
14:25to book in advance.
14:26I think that's kind of the general tip.
14:27Tell me about the development of railways
14:30through Uzbekistan.
14:31Yes, so railway development
14:32through Uzbekistan can be kind of
14:34looked at in three phases of history.
14:36So the first you've got in the second half
14:38of the 19th century, the Russian Empire.
14:40You've got the development
14:41of the Caspian Military Railway Line
14:42and the Tashkent-Orenberg Railway Line.
14:44And then you've got the second half of it,
14:47which is the Soviet Union.
14:49So that was development of railway lines
14:51through the cities all the way north
14:52towards the centre of the Soviet Union,
14:53which was Moscow.
14:54And that was primarily built around
14:56the discovery of new mineral deposits
14:57and also exporting commodities
14:59like cotton, gold,
15:00all the way up into Moscow.
15:02And then you've got the third phase of history,
15:04which is post-independence,
15:05which is after 1991,
15:07where kind of Uzbekistan particularly
15:09started developing railroads,
15:10not north, but now towards the south,
15:12the east and the west.
15:13Tell me about the Belt and Road Initiative,
15:16the BRI.
15:17So the Belt and Road Initiative
15:19was launched in 2013
15:20by President Xi Jinping.
15:22It's considered its grand strategy,
15:24connecting China with Eurasia,
15:26with Africa,
15:26all the way up to Europe.
15:28And it is made up of six economic corridors.
15:30And Asia's a key venue for the BRI.
15:32So when we're looking at Central Asia in particular,
15:34the BRI project that's going on
15:36in Uzbekistan at the moment
15:37is the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan
15:38railway project.
15:40Sources of funding come from a range
15:41of Chinese state-owned banks,
15:43but also Chinese state-owned enterprises.
15:45Also, Uzbek government funds
15:47a certain percentage of it.
15:49Thinking about Central Asia generally,
15:51is this building up a lot of debt,
15:53a lot of obligation
15:54between Central Asian countries
15:56and China?
15:57I think so.
15:58They say that there's no strings attached,
15:59but in fact,
16:00there is strings attached.
16:01You've got the political sense of it
16:03in the sense that it does buy in
16:04and translate
16:05into some kind of influence
16:06in the country.
16:07And economic in the sense
16:08that there is a repayment,
16:10you know,
16:10it's a debt at the end of the day.
16:12That's where
16:13a sense of realisation of occurs
16:15between
16:16the need to diversify
16:17your transport routes,
16:18but also the fact that
16:19in order to diversify,
16:20you would need some extra funding,
16:22you need investment,
16:22and the largest investor
16:23is China.
16:25This new railway line
16:27connecting Kashgar in China
16:29via the Torugat Pass
16:31in Kyrgyzstan
16:32to Andijan in Uzbekistan
16:34will cut freight transit times
16:36from China to Europe
16:37by eight days
16:38and would avoid passing
16:40through Russian territory.
16:41It's due to be functioning
16:43in 2031
16:44and could put Central Asia
16:46once again
16:47at the heart
16:48of global trade routes.
16:54I have arrived in Samarkand.
16:57The city rose to great importance
16:59as a major hub
17:00on the old Silk Road trade routes.
17:03It later went into decline
17:04and by the late 18th century
17:06was uninhabited.
17:08After being absorbed
17:09into the Russian Empire,
17:11Samarkand's fortunes revived
17:12with the arrival
17:14of the railways
17:14in 1888.
17:18A legendary city
17:20deserves a great railway station.
17:23They've rebuilt the one
17:24at Samarkand
17:25again and again.
17:27The latest incarnation
17:28has the feel to me
17:29of a palace.
17:31And certainly,
17:32I appreciate a railway station
17:33that has stained glass
17:35and chandeliers.
17:54Samarkand is one of the oldest cities
17:58in Central Asia,
18:00dating back
18:00over two and a half thousand years.
18:04It's position
18:05as a halfway point
18:07on the Silk Road
18:08led it to be romanticized
18:10by writers,
18:11travelers and poets.
18:15It has survived
18:16the rise and fall
18:17of empires.
18:18In the 14th century,
18:19under the legendary ruler
18:21Amir Timur,
18:22also known as Tamerlane,
18:24it experienced
18:25a spectacular renaissance
18:26and Registan Square
18:28became its commercial
18:29and spiritual heart.
18:35This really is,
18:36for me,
18:37a dream come true.
18:40Samarkand
18:40has meant to me
18:41since childhood
18:44legends,
18:45exoticism,
18:46things that I heard about
18:47in stories.
18:49And at least
18:50when I was a child,
18:51I had no idea
18:53at all
18:54that I would ever
18:55be here.
18:57And funnily enough,
18:58I'd never thought
18:59very much about
18:59what it was going
19:01to look like.
19:01And it is so
19:05extraordinarily beautiful.
19:06I think about
19:07the most beautiful building
19:09that I've ever seen,
19:10the Taj Mahal.
19:12And this
19:14is like three Taj's
19:16in one place.
19:19Built between
19:19the 15th
19:20and 17th centuries,
19:22during the Timurid period,
19:24these madrassas
19:25were the universities
19:25of the day
19:26and mark
19:27a great rebirth
19:28in artistic,
19:29cultural
19:30and scientific learning.
19:31The oldest,
19:33built in 1417
19:34by Ulug Beg,
19:36the grandson
19:37of Tamerlane,
19:38reflects his passion
19:39for astronomy.
19:40So accurate
19:41were Ulug Beg's
19:42charts and calculations
19:43that they were
19:44consulted by scientists
19:46for centuries after.
19:48In the centre
19:49of the three
19:50is the Tilakori
19:52madrassa,
19:53built in the 17th century
19:55and restored
19:56by the Russians.
20:01The Tilakori,
20:03that means
20:04gold work.
20:05And this
20:06is the
20:07golden mosque.
20:08And the gold
20:09is stunning,
20:10but to me,
20:11just as exquisite
20:12is the beautiful
20:13blue cup.
20:14and above me,
20:15a dome
20:16which seems
20:17to rise high
20:18above us.
20:19But no,
20:20it's a trick of the eye,
20:22a trompe l'oeil.
20:23It's almost flat.
20:25The artistry here
20:27is just
20:28superb.
20:41In the courtyard
20:43of the Sher Dor
20:44madrassa,
20:45the music
20:46unique to the region,
20:47known as
20:48Shashmakom,
20:49is regularly
20:49played by
20:50Uzbek musicians.
20:53MUSIC PLAYS
21:15As-salamu alaykum.
21:17As-salamu alaykum.
21:18That was fantastic.
21:20Thank you very much indeed.
21:21I enjoyed that
21:21so much.
21:22You know,
21:23I noticed
21:24that when you were
21:24playing,
21:25you were smiling.
21:26Of course,
21:27yes.
21:27Which was so lovely.
21:28Yes, yes.
21:30I'm enjoying
21:31from our music.
21:33I like our culture,
21:35music,
21:35you know,
21:35traditional music.
21:36Because when I'm playing,
21:38I'm happy every time.
21:40And this instrument,
21:42very,
21:42very unusual to me,
21:44an Uzbek instrument?
21:45Yes,
21:45this is Uzbek
21:46and Central Asian
21:47musical instrument,
21:48I can say.
21:49Name of this instrument
21:50is a tar.
21:51Tar.
21:52Yes.
21:54Bobor Sharipov
21:55plays with great skill
21:57and is a master
21:58instrument maker.
22:00So,
22:01now,
22:02you're welcome.
22:03Just mind your head,
22:05please.
22:05Two times,
22:06two times.
22:06Okay,
22:07you're welcome.
22:08Oh,
22:09what a beautiful place.
22:12This is all
22:13our traditional
22:14musical instruments.
22:15And you make
22:16all of these?
22:17Yes,
22:17in our workshop.
22:18So,
22:19I've already
22:19seen a tar.
22:21Yes.
22:22Next one.
22:23Yes,
22:24what is that?
22:24This is also
22:25one of the
22:26very ancient
22:27musical instruments.
22:28Tambour.
22:29It has a different,
22:31little bit different,
22:31shape.
22:32And it has
22:33four strings.
22:34But we need
22:35special metal
22:36plectrum.
22:38Tambour.
22:56Beautiful.
22:58Did you learn
22:59from your father,
23:00perhaps?
23:00Yes,
23:01I learn
23:01from my father.
23:03We have
23:03a young
23:04generation
23:04learning
23:05from us.
23:06Yes.
23:07We are
23:07keeping
23:08our traditions
23:09continuing.
23:10Well,
23:11thank you.
23:11I've had
23:11such a pleasure
23:13listening to you.
23:14You're welcome.
23:15And long
23:16may your
23:16traditions
23:17continue.
23:17Thank you
23:18very much.
23:19You're welcome.
23:20You're welcome.
23:27From the
23:28centre of
23:28Samarkand,
23:29I'm heading
23:29to the
23:30northeastern
23:30part of
23:31the city
23:31to Afrosiob,
23:33a huge
23:34area rich
23:35in archaeology
23:35where an
23:36ancient city
23:37once stood.
23:38Founded in
23:39the 7th century
23:40BC,
23:41it was home
23:42to the
23:42Sogdians,
23:43highly influential
23:44Iranian-speaking
23:46traders who
23:47created city-states
23:48along the
23:49Silk Road.
23:50It's been
23:51extensively
23:51excavated and
23:53is one of
23:53central Asia's
23:54most important
23:55sites,
23:56not least
23:57because of
23:57the discovery
23:58of some
23:59exceptional
23:597th-century
24:00wall paintings.
24:04Archaeologist
24:04and deputy
24:05director of
24:06the museum,
24:07Dr Samarad-Din
24:08Mastavakulov,
24:09has worked here
24:10for over 40 years.
24:11Samarad-Din,
24:12what a fantastic
24:13sight.
24:14Tell me about
24:15the peoples
24:15who lived here.
24:16Samarad-Din,
24:17theус of Samarad-Din,
24:19the land of Samarad-Din,
24:20the land of Samarad-Din,
24:21the land of Samarad-Din,
24:23the land of Samarad-Din.
24:25And this was on
24:26the Silk Road.
24:27So do we find
24:28evidence of
24:29people coming
24:30from far
24:30and wide
24:31who were passing
24:32through Samarad-Din?
24:34Samarad-Din,
24:45Samarad-Din,
24:56The paintings from the 7th century that were discovered, how were they found and what do they tell us?
25:04In 1965, Samarkand was a project for the 25th century.
25:13It was a project for the Afro-Syab-Hudu.
25:15It was a project for the development of the Afro-Syab-Hudu.
25:18It was a project for the Afro-Syab-Hudu.
25:31It was a project for the Afro-Syab-Hudu.
25:39The wall paintings were discovered in a private villa.
25:43They were excavated and are now displayed in the Afro-Syab-Hudu museum.
25:48The painting known as the Ambassadors is one of the best preserved examples of Sogdian art.
25:56This is very exciting for what it reveals.
25:59It takes a little bit of interpretation and I've mugged up a little bit.
26:03This is the principal wall.
26:05It shows the arrival of Ambassadors who are paying tribute to the Sogdian king of Samarkand.
26:11We begin with a display of spears and shields and grotesque masks, which are Turkish.
26:17Here are Korean Ambassadors identified by the feathers on the hats and by the round pommel on the sword.
26:26A number of other figures here.
26:29Another recognisable feature is these Turks who wear their hair long in black ponytails.
26:37The king would have been situated above. Unfortunately, the painting of him has been lost.
26:43But look at these Ambassadors here.
26:46They are arriving with necklaces of beads.
26:51Beautiful gifts to pay tribute to the monarch.
26:55So, we have an idea of the ceremonies, the rituals of these people.
27:02A picture is worth a thousand words.
27:04A picture is worth a thousand words.
27:23Ever since I first heard the name Samarkand,
27:27It has held a romantic fascination for me.
27:31And I am thrilled to be here.
27:34When I saw those paintings at Afro Siob, I was carried back 1,300 years.
27:40And here at Registan Square, I am at the heart of Tamerlane's empire.
27:46New railways and other infrastructure are modernising Uzbekistan.
27:51But history and tradition exert a strong influence.
27:57This country will not become a Western clone.
28:00Its future will be as distinctive as its past.
28:09Next time...
28:11You can just tell by your hand whether the temperature is right or not.
28:15Oof! It's quite hot in there.
28:17It killed some thousands of people.
28:19Some say that he built the towers of head.
28:25Of severed heads.
28:26Yes.
28:28Sometimes we say, carpets, they will talk to you themselves.
28:32They show their beauty.
28:34The carpet will talk to you.
28:36Exactly.
28:51To avoid it, it will turn up to you abort.
28:56The light is完成.
28:58It turns out the floor over 20 is alive.
28:58To bring COVID to drive второй�� and thessats.
28:59What an apple quarter will try.
28:59To bring it to the clouds too.
29:07It lands a big year on the starved campus.
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