Khiva, Uzbekistan

I woke up really early and decided to go for a walk around Khiva. I walked through the Eastern gate, through a hallway (that I later learned was the slave market) that opened onto a beautiful enclave of madrassas (Muslim schools). I got chills! It was the slightest taste of what it must have felt like to have been travelling the Silk Road hundreds of years ago, coming across complex, beautiful and exotic oasis cities.

Khiva is a fort city that survived more or less intact but was further restored during the Soviet era. The dazzling array of minarets, madrassas and mosques were the highlight of the trip so far and a hint of what lies on the road ahead.