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TheWanderingCamel Says: ...named for a 9th century astronomer (al-Farghani - or to give him his full title - Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani), Fergana (or as the Uzbeks spell it - Farg'ona) was founded in 1876 to be the regional centre for the Tsarist regime that had annexed...
TheWanderingCamel Says: The Kokand khanate was both the newest, the largest, and the shortest-lived of the three khanates that dominated the region that is now occupied by Uzbekistan and parts of its near neighbors, Kyrgistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. Founded in the early 18th century, it rose to...
A medressah, a museum and a minaret
TheWanderingCamel Says: Kokand's Amin Beg medressah is being restored - a visit there was a chance to watch the young men working high above us, meticulously painting the intricate patterns on the ceiling, to weave through the maze of scaffolding and carved wooden pillars that filled the great...
TheWanderingCamel Says: Silken robes fit for khan, coral- and pearl-encrusted jewellery for his wives and concubines, weapons and armour, documents signed and sealed by the khan - who held the power of life and death over all his subjects, a collection of historic photographs, wooden carts (how...
TheWanderingCamel Says: 50 kilometres west of Fergana, the town of Rishtan sits on a bed of red clay so fine and pure it can be worked just as it is, without any further refinement. It's no surprise then to learn that potters of Rishtan have been stacking their kilns for a thousand years, producing...
TheWanderingCamel Says: Rasuljon Mirzaahmedov is the fifth generation of his family to practice the skilled craft of ikat design and, like his father, Turghunboy Mirzaahmedov, before him, he is dedicated to ensuring the traditional crafts of Uzbekistan are passed on to future generations. With the...
TheWanderingCamel Says: Wise and holy men known as Khodjas are revered in Central Asian Muslim culture and here in Margilan, a city where years of Soviet supression of religion never broke the faith of the local people despite the enforced closure and neglect of their mosques, medressahs and...
TheWanderingCamel Says: Margilan ikat designer, Turghunboy Mirzaahmedov was acknowledged as a supreme master of his craft, not only in Uzbekistan but all over the world. A visit to his home was both a privilege and a pleasure.The fourth generation of his family to practice the art, for years Usto...
TheWanderingCamel Says: The production of silk has been, and still is, Margilan's main industry for centuries. There's no record of just when the jealously guarded secrets of the laborious processes of sericulture arrived in Uzbekistan but it is well-documented that the industry was thriving in...
TheWanderingCamel Says: 11 kilometres and a thousand years of Central Asian history divide Fergana and neighboring Margilan. By the 9th century, when Russia's dominance of the khanates of the Silk Road was an unimaginable leap into the future, Margilan was already a thriving trading centre that...
nepalgoods Says: Andijan is a city located in the eastern Ferghana Valley. Andijan has about 350.000 inhabitants. Andijan was already mentioned in 9th century. 1483 Babur, the last of the Timurides, was born here. Her became the first of the Indian Mogul Dynasty. A big earthquake in 1902 has...
Chaikhanas everwhere: Always time for tea
TheWanderingCamel Says: The chaikhana is is central to life in Uzbekistan, and nowhere more so than in the Fergana Valley. This is where the old men come to while away the hours, drinking tea, chewing the fat with old friends, snoozing in the shade on a hot day. Families come too, several...
Askiya Cafe: Get the chicken with mushroom sauce
Wanderboy43 Says: This chicken dish had a great sauce. The waiter spoke English, and only 1500 for the dish. Nice and clean in the center of the city
TheWanderingCamel Says: Flying to Fergana from Tashkent meant a very early start to the day for us, though not as early as it might have been - our Thursday morning flight left at 0750, Saturday and Sunday's flights left at 0505 and 0550 respectively! 0750 was bad enough - it meant a 0600 pickup...
TheWanderingCamel Says: When we were putting the itinerary for our Uzbek trip together, there was a Sunday morning flight from Fergana to Tashkent, which fitted in with our plans beautifully - we could fly back to Tashkent in time for lunch and be in Samarkand before sunset. (Following a bad...
nepalgoods Says: Of course in every workshop or small factory is it possible to buy their products. Silk scarfs and fabrics of Margilan are very colorful and cheap. They are a bit more expensive than in China. They also feature mainly traditional patterns, which I personally do not like so...
TheWanderingCamel Says: ....that's what they call cotton in Uzbekistan. The country's most valuable export, it brings in money but exacts a harsh price. A thirsty crop, it requires copious amounts of water during the growing season. The rivers that once watered the Valley no longer flow so freely,...
TheWanderingCamel Says: The Syr Darya, one of the two great rivers of Central Asia, runs right through the Fergana Valley. 2,220km long, it begins with the confluence of two rivers, the Naryn and Kara Darya, that flow out of the Tien Shan mountains. 70 other tributary rivers flow into the Syr Darya...
Getting overcharged for a shared Taxi
Wanderboy43 Says: This seems to be something fairly common in Uzbekistan. After I agreed on a price from Tashkent to Fergana (5000) which was written on a paper, and then on arrival I was told it was 8000. I refused, and a guy at my hotel translated the argument. I did end up paying 7000 in...
TheWanderingCamel Says: Most little girls the world over love dressing up. In Uzbekistan, young schoolgirls get to dress up every day - the satin and frills these girls are wearing is their school uniform. I'm not sure that I could have got my daughter into something like this, and she certainly...
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Plan a Fergana vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and Fergana locals
This chicken dish had a great sauce. The waiter spoke English, and only 1500 for the dish. Nice and clean in the center of the city
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In Uzbekistan they say there are three things that are essential in Paradise - water, a fig tree and a pomegranate tree. We found all these things in abundance in the eastern reaches of the country, a...
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Ferghana and the Ferghana Valley
I do not have much to tell about Ferghana itself. So this will be a page about the Ferghana Valley including a bit about Rishtan, Margillan and Andijan. The Ferghana Valley is a wide fertile plain......
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A fertile land of markets and history
Fergana is great, and it's fantastic to think that Babur, who established teh Mogul dynasty in India, was from here. I've just arrived and have noticed some tension in the air (or maybe it is just the...
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