The Khorezm Fortresses, October, 2021, 42°00’03.6″N 60°42’02.5″E- ish

Last month we drove around to see the remains of mud-brick fortresses, some as old as the 4th century BC, that Genghis Khan’s destroyed.

Uzbekistan does not protect these forts in anyway, so we were free to walk around and the wild plants were free to grow.
Moon rise.
The moon rise was really really impressive.
Oddly a bunch of camels wandered by (for us, apparently super normal here, our camp even gave me camel milk tea, although I wish they hadn’t).
This wall is only 2,000 years old.
It seem like these places may be buried soon enough.
Emily made an appearance!

The Maldives, under the water, 5°14’12.5″N 73°06’27.5″E July, 2021

I have never done much underwater photography and bought an Olympus T6 (somewhere between what I am used to using and a point and shoot). I got better as time went by but still need practice.

These creatures are amazing and huge! This one was about 15 feet wingtip to wingtip. Taking their photos can be tricky however, as they are plankton eaters and to find them you go where they eat, which is full of plankton…
On my first dive.
Black tip reef shark
I have no idea what this guy is, but he was giving me serious side eye.
Nemo?

Tashkent post-vaccine-in color! May 31, 2021 41°18’46.5″N 69°17’04.3″E-ish

Em and I got to wander around Tashkent, even took the metro and had a beer in the city!

Our local metro stop.
Romanov Palace. What happens when you are a Duke of the Romanovs, a womanizer and insane? They build you a palace in Tashkent.
The grounds are full of animal statues.
The Space (metro) Station
Fun with fish-eye!
Every station is different and fancy.

Bukhara, March 2021 39°46’22.2″N 64°25’11.8″E

David in front of the Mogoki Attor Mosque, construction began in the 9th century
Look through the arch and you can see the Magoki Attor Mosque
The tile work everywhere was amazing, The sheer amount of time spent to build these places is unfathomable.
The roof of the Toqi Zargaron.
More of the roof of the Toqi Zargaron, with the Kalon Minaret in the background
The door and courtyard of the Kalan Mosque
The Bolo Hauz Mosque, one of the things I particularly liked about Bukhara is that it was alive whereas Samarkand felt like a museum. This was taken just as the call to prayer started.
Men at prayer outside the Balo Hauz Mosque
Mavzoley Samanidov, construction began in ~892.
The last remaining gate of the original city walls.
A couple cool things about this photo, first the story goes that when Genghis Kahn came to Bukhara he saw the Kalon Minaret off in the distance and was so impressed he spared the city, it was, at the time the tallest building in Central Asia. Also, “They have the Golden Arches, we have the…”
Just next to the Mac City Burger, you can buy spices by the bucket. We bought some paprika and then a spice mix the vendor crushed up for us. We put on chicken before we grilled it, pretty good.
On the walk back from the bazar, we came up on this wedding.
Sunset
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