and so it ended - trip to Uzbekistan and Turkey

the last evening spent in Khiva, in Uz, turned out pleasant and interesting as Dilshaad our wonderful driver invited us to his home to meet his family. His wife Muneera had laid out a wonderful spread for us......... as we seated ourselves comfortably on the floor cushions to enjoy the dinner his three children, Gulnara, Mutluba and Dil Murad joined us. With interest and curiosity in their eyes they watched us, the language and shyness was a barrier but the netbook and the pictures and video helped break the ice. Soon we were all walking outside as we saw the figs, pomegranates, tomatoes squash and other fruits and vegetables growing in their big back yard.............

we flew from Urgench to Tashkent later that night on a two propeller plane......it was a roller coaster ride, and a lot of focus on the breathing and the belly helped keeping what belonged inside the body in............at Tashkent we got a reprieve of two hours in the very new and posh hotel park turon, before the wake-up call and incessant knocking on the door, to help us get out in time for our flight; even at that early hour of 2:30 am we were given a bag of sandwiches, fruit and yogurt as a take away breakfast.

after the flight delay and being unsure of making our connecting flight we arrived in Istanbul, the hotel turkoman had sent the car and driver and soon we were settled in to our rooms..........the hustle bustle and the gorgeous weather was too enticing to sleep..........the haman or the Turkish bath was a real treat.....we were relaxed and later that night the sleep was much awaited and very refreshing........our final day in Istanbul was spent meandering the streets, and we ended the evening by taking the enjoyable ferry ride on the Bosporus to the asian side and met up with our friend Sevil Oren and her friends Kate and Jill at the yatch club........watched a beautiful sunset

the highlights of the last four weeks has been the discovery of different sites and sounds at airports, hotels, streets, and learning the history of the place..................all the people we met and saw will be remembered as they weaved themselves into our experience.