- 5 weeks ago
Great Central Asian Railway Journeys - Season 1 Episode 5 - Bukhara to the Kyzylkum Desert
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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.
00:23What 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.
01:19My rail journey along the route of the Old Silk Road through present-day Uzbekistan is reaching its conclusion.
01:27I am in Bukhara.
01:29Which stands at the edge of a vast area of steppe and desert which occupies much of this country.
01:36I will visit the wilderness.
01:38I'll witness the Uzbek martial art known as Kudash.
01:42And I'll discover what became of the Bukharian Jews.
01:45One of the oldest ethno-religious groups in Central Asia.
01:52I began in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
01:56I travelled to Samarkand on the high-speed train to marvel at the ancient city set in a fertile oasis.
02:03I've been exploring Bukhara, the pearl of Uzbekistan, with its magnificent Islamic architecture.
02:10I'll end in Nevoi.
02:40Bukhara.
02:41Bukhara is broadly 2,000 years old.
02:45It was laid waste by Genghis Khan in 1220.
02:49But he spared the Canon Minaret, which was already about 100 years old,
02:55because he admired what was probably the tallest structure in Central Asia.
03:01In the late 13th century, that incomparable world traveller Marco Polo
03:07was stranded in Bukhara for three years while a civil war raged in the region.
03:14In 1370, it fell to Tamerlane.
03:17And much later in history, it became a so-called Karnate under an emir,
03:23whose dynasty lasted until the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
03:29Come, walk with me on stones that have been trodden by the great and the terrible.
03:40The beautiful city of Bukhara is world-famous for the medieval Islamic mosques, madrasas and mausoleums at its core.
03:49Although Islam is the dominant religion in Uzbekistan, other faiths coexist.
03:55Bukhara is home to a centuries-old Jewish community.
03:59In the Middle Ages, it was the centre of Jewish life in Central Asia.
04:03But the population has shrunk dramatically since independence.
04:09When I was a member of parliament in the United Kingdom,
04:12I corresponded with a Jewish man who had been persecuted and was imprisoned by the Soviet Union.
04:18So I have a vivid understanding of how the communists tried to squeeze out religious observance.
04:24Meanwhile, the Jews longed to leave, but they found themselves incarcerated in their own country.
04:31When the Soviet system collapsed, many of them took the opportunity to get away.
04:37Just a few are left.
04:39And here in Bukhara, there's a synagogue.
04:44Indeed, there are two.
04:52I have the privilege of meeting Shirin Yakubova, a descendant of this synagogue's founder.
05:02Shirin.
05:03Oh, hi, Michael.
05:05Very nice to meet you.
05:06Nice to meet you.
05:07Welcome to Bukhara.
05:08Lovely to see you, Shirin.
05:10And in this beautiful synagogue.
05:12How old is the synagogue?
05:14The synagogue is 420 years old.
05:19Our parents and our grandfathers, grand-grandfathers prayed here.
05:24In the Middle Ages, was Bukhara relatively a welcoming place for Jews?
05:32Bukhara was always welcoming, and the people's hospitality was always significant, both towards Jews and to other groups.
05:41And we, the Bukharian Jewish community here, that's one of the reasons why we assimilated and adopted the local culture,
05:48language, traditions and ceremonies.
05:55There's never been a difference in how Jews and Muslims lived here.
05:59Are you Muslim?
06:00Are you Jewish?
06:01No, we lived like one big family.
06:06At one time there were no synagogues, but there is a mosque where both Muslims and Jews were allowed to
06:12pray together, in the same mosque.
06:17How absolutely extraordinary.
06:20Is this synagogue still active?
06:23Yes.
06:24Our synagogue is active on Fridays and Saturdays.
06:28Ten Jews gather on Friday evenings, as required in Judaism, for a proper Shabbat prayer.
06:34In addition, Jews always gather here on the important Jewish festivals.
06:39At least 50 people come together.
06:4150 people come together.
06:49After independence, when emigration was made easier, many of Bukhara's Jews left, primarily for Israel and the United States.
06:58The exodus has left the synagogue without a rabbi, but the cantor Abraham Isakov leads the worship.
07:12Abraham?
07:13Yes.
07:14Abraham?
07:15Very nice.
07:16Michael?
07:17Abraham.
07:18Please.
07:19Tell me about your family.
07:21How far back does it go in Bukhara?
07:23I was born in Bukhara.
07:25I was born in Bukhara in 1950.
07:29My father was Baruch Ishakov, and my mother was Arkhan Ishakov.
07:35They were very important religious people.
07:39My father was a member of this synagogue.
07:42My grandparents, all my great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers were all here from Bukhara.
07:48We're not going anywhere.
07:50We live here.
07:52We live here.
07:55There aren't many of us left, about 200.
07:59There used to be 23,000.
08:00But Jewish life goes on, nonetheless.
08:04We celebrate the holidays of Passover, Sukhot, Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, everything.
08:09Everything is continuing here as it was before.
08:12We observe all the traditions and customs.
08:15We observe the traditions.
08:17Very interesting.
08:22Jewish traditions and customs are also maintained beyond the synagogue in the homes of this small Bukharian Jewish community.
08:31I've been invited for lunch at Shirin's home.
08:35Oh, thank you, thank you.
08:39Hello, everyone.
08:41Come on.
08:47This is my husband.
08:51It's lovely to see you all.
08:53For today's family lunch, Shirin is preparing bakhsh, a Bukharian Jewish version of the rice dish known across the world
09:01as pilaf and in Uzbekistan as plov.
09:05So it's going to have meat and garlic and onions and rice.
09:10Yeah.
09:10Oh.
09:11And herbs.
09:12Too much herbs.
09:13Too much herbs.
09:14Because of these herbs, the rice, it will be green. The plov, it will be green.
09:19Ah, I see.
09:20OK.
09:25So we have some beef, which has a little lamb grease with it.
09:33Oh, that is a surprise.
09:35Yeah.
09:35The rice goes in straight away.
09:39Now it's very interesting and important moment.
09:41Mm-hmm.
09:42We're adding...
09:43All the herbs.
09:44I would never have guessed that, but you put so much herb in.
09:48Yeah.
09:50Now Shirin reveals one of the great secrets of bakhsh.
09:53Michael.
09:54Ah, you're going to...
09:55You see?
09:55You're basically going to boil it in a sort of sock.
09:58Yeah.
09:59OK.
09:59You want to help me?
10:01Yeah, I want to help you.
10:02OK.
10:02Go on.
10:03I'll hold the sock.
10:04Ah, you...
10:05There we go, yeah.
10:05I see you know how to do it.
10:09Excellent.
10:14Beautiful.
10:16So fragrant.
10:18The rice is inside two bags.
10:21One plastic, the other muslin.
10:25And it goes into the water with a...
10:28Yeah.
10:29Plov.
10:30Bakhsh can be boiled for several hours to release all the flavours.
10:35Or with an impatient family, just until the rice is cooked.
10:39I think that it's ready.
10:49And one snip and it is free.
10:52OK.
10:56Oh!
10:57Still in its plastic bag.
10:59Yeah, it's plastic bag, you see?
11:01Yes.
11:01I'm opening, opening it.
11:03And now we have to chop it up.
11:08And the rice is beautifully separate.
11:11Can you add a little bit of oil, Michael?
11:13Yes, there's a wonderful fragrance coming from here.
11:17We're going to add a little bit of oil.
11:18Just a touch.
11:19Yeah.
11:26Lunch is ready!
11:27Wow!
11:29Wow!
11:32Wow!
11:32Wow!
11:37Mmm!
11:38The chewing is delicious.
11:40It's brilliant.
11:42Is this a meal you serve on special occasions?
11:45It's special for Shabbat.
11:47For Shabbat?
11:48Yeah.
11:48Yeah.
11:48Friday evening.
11:49Every Friday evening, Jewish Bukharian, they're doing bachsh.
11:55Benjamin, do you think these traditions of the Jewish community, will they be continued by your generation?
12:03Yes, yes.
12:04We will continue.
12:05And in the future, and now we will do it, and in the future, we will always do it.
12:10For us, this is very important.
12:14It's so good to see a Jewish community which, even though it's so tiny, is so observant and maintaining its
12:22traditions.
12:24You're welcome.
12:37I'm leaving the historic quarter of Bukhara for the more modern outskirts in the south of the city.
12:45Even here, you're never far from tradition, as I encounter one of Uzbekistan's oldest sports.
12:56Engravings on Egyptian tombs 4,000 years ago provide evidence of wrestling,
13:04and the sport was included in the ancient Olympic Games of 708 BC.
13:11This region has its own variant.
13:13It's called Qudash, and it now features in the Asian Games,
13:18and its advocates want to see it admitted to the modern Olympics.
13:26Qudash is a type of upright wrestling where the fighter grapples and uses leg sweeps to throw the opponent onto
13:34the floor.
13:41The aim is to land your adversary on the deck using force, speed and control.
13:50A fascinating sport.
13:52The wrestlers are very lithe and clearly very strong.
13:56There are long moments when there is tension between the two, not much movement.
14:02And those are punctuated by moments of furious activity when one succeeds in throwing the other to the floor.
14:16The chief coach at the Qudash Wrestling Centre is Ahun Samandaruf, who's been wrestling since he was 12 years old.
14:24Here, come on, come on!
14:27That's it!
14:28Come on, come on, come on!
14:29Come on, come on, come on!
14:30Come on, come on!
14:30Come on!
14:30Are you in the first place?
14:32Go on!
14:36Such a pleasure to meet you. Hello.
14:39Tell me about the history of Quraysh.
14:41How ancient is the sport of Quraysh?
15:03I am 400-100 wait a year.
15:13Someanı in South Africa,
15:13Awareness,
15:16couple,
15:17..and the Uzbek Kurash came back in the past couple of times.
15:24I was a kid and I was a kid and I was a kid and I was a kid and
15:28I was a kid and I was a kid.
15:34Traditionally, the rules of Kurash were passed down orally,
15:38but in 1990, attempts were made to formalise the sport.
15:41Since independence, it's increased in popularity, including amongst women and girls.
15:46There are now more than 3,000 female Kurash wrestlers.
15:55Thank you very much.
16:10You do me a great honour, a great honour. Thank you so much. Thank you.
16:16I've been presented with a ceremonial Kurash yaktak, or jacket,
16:21which is always in the colour of the Uzbek national flag,
16:24with the choice of blue or green.
16:28Every time I think I'm beginning to understand Uzbekistan, I learn something new which throws me.
16:36For example, the role of Kurash in Uzbek society.
16:41It's associated with births and weddings and circumcisions.
16:46That's quite a thought for me.
16:49But how wonderful to be gifted this beautiful tunic and belt.
16:55I feel that that is a real honour and it's so absolutely typical of the hospitality and generosity
17:02that I've experienced in Uzbekistan.
17:26I'm leaving Bukhara to continue my journey.
17:57I'm travelling to the city of Navarre.
17:59From where I can venture into the Kizulkun Desert,
18:03which stretches 300,000 square kilometres across much of Uzbekistan and beyond.
18:34This train is called Sharp, with a Q at the end.
18:39It's the Uzbek word for East.
18:43And it's not as fast as the new Talgo trains.
18:48It lacks the acceleration.
18:50This was the premier train until the Talgo was introduced.
18:54This is probably 25 years old.
18:57But this restaurant car has a vintage feel,
19:00which fills me with nostalgia for an age of slower and more stately travel.
19:10GROUND
19:10The World
19:10GROUND
19:11The GROUND
19:34The Grand Canyon
19:35built in 1958 on the site of an old settlement.
19:40It was once a halt on the old Silk Road routes,
19:44but today its economy is linked to the vast and mineral-rich Kisilkum Desert.
19:53I'll spend the night here before venturing into the wilderness.
20:09This desert covers around 40% of the country.
20:13Its mixture of sand dunes and scrubland once received nomadic tribes
20:18and Silk Road caravans.
20:20Only a small fraction of Uzbekistan's population lives here now
20:25and it's not hard to see why.
20:29This is the Kisilkum Desert and it's as flat as a sea
20:34with just little knots of scrub standing in for the waves.
20:38And I imagine the camels advancing their heads,
20:42going up and down like a prow through ships of the desert.
20:48And here too came the British agents and Russians too
20:54to glean information, charting the oases, the wadis and the passes,
21:01making a relationship with the local khans.
21:05I find this a pretty inhospitable landscape,
21:10but for one remarkable woman,
21:13this is the place she calls her beloved home.
21:26I've come to meet Iklima Yuraiva,
21:29a horse and cattle rancher who descends from a family of desert hunters.
21:34Taught by her father,
21:36she is apparently the only woman hunter in Uzbekistan.
21:57It's so wonderful to be here in the desert, such a beautiful landscape.
22:01A pioneer of eco-tourism,
22:06Iklima has created a camp where visitors can experience
22:09the old nomadic life of the Kisilkum Desert,
22:13which, like many Uzbek traditions, was suppressed under Soviet rule.
22:21Oh, what a beautiful yurt!
22:25It's so beautiful!
22:31It's so beautiful!
22:38Oh, that's beautiful as well!
22:41Oh, I love those colours!
22:44Oh, you're so kind!
22:48I love it, I love it!
23:00I'm admiring the beautiful yurt,
23:02its structure and its vivid colours.
23:05Are there people who still live in a yurt,
23:08in the desert like this?
23:35What are these lovely things that you've prepared?
23:52Yes.
23:53Yes.
23:59It's a lovely, oh, lovely nut.
24:06Horse meat sausage.
24:09Yes.
24:13Yes.
24:14Yes, yes.
24:15Very good.
24:17A lavish offering of food to the visitor
24:20is a strong part of Uzbek culture.
24:23So, too, are traditional folk music and dancing,
24:26enthusiastically performed everywhere you venture.
24:29So, I don't like it.
24:35And I love food for enriched
24:42Yes.
24:45So, how do I i bring up?
24:47Miami pictures.
24:48Yes.
24:49Yes.
25:02..and Iklima continues Uzbek customs beyond the camp.
25:14Like a desert nomad of the past, she keeps and breeds horses.
25:20Priced animals in Uzbek society.
25:30I like them very much indeed.
25:58These riders train for one of Central Asia's oldest and most dangerous equestrian sports,
26:04Kukkari, thought to date back to the era of Genghis Khan.
26:08In this fast-paced, polo-like sport, the horseman pushes through opponents,
26:14carrying the carcass of a goat or ram to score a goal.
26:20How many horsemen compete at once?
26:22People are always a good horse.
26:25We ride herd herd herd herd and buy herd herd herd.
26:30But we are celebrating these young horses with a horse,
26:31and the people, the horses, and the children,
26:36We live in the same way.
26:42We are grown up with the horses.
26:46We are grown up with the horses,
26:50the horses.
27:21Along the old Silk Road, once punctuated by rustic inns or caravanserai, there are now major cities, and the camel
27:32trains have been replaced by high-speed rail.
27:35The Soviet Union squeezed out the last emirs and khans and secularized the largely Muslim population.
27:44And from that communist cocoon has emerged a modern Asian state.
27:49In that torrent of change, the Uzbek people have remained bound together by connections of family and anchored by tradition.
28:01And amongst their customs, none is more enthusiastically observed than the welcome to the stranger.
28:10And I have been humbled and moved by the warmth of Uzbek hospitality.
28:23Next time, I start a new journey in Europe, exploring the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Corsica.
28:33Ha-ha!
28:34And surrounded by the shimmering Mediterranean, it's absolutely wonderful.
28:40Ha-ha!
28:40Ha-ha!
28:42Ha-ha!
28:43Ha-ha!
28:44Ha-ha!
28:46Ha-ha!
29:00Ha-ha!
29:06Ha-ha!
29:08Ha-ha!
29:09Ha-ha!
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