Tag Archives: mosque

Galata Bridge to Haghia Sophia

Yeni Cami – The New Mosque

Yeni Cami’s inner courtyard

The first stop was also the first mosque we’ve visited in Turkey – Yeni Cami (pronounced “Jami”), literally “New Mosque”. Originally commissioned in 1597 by the then Valide Sultan (Queen Mother of the Sultan), it was to be besieged by her son’s death, and later fire, then lay derelict until it caught the eye of another Valide Sultan and was finally completed in 1663.

On a grey day, the exterior, though intricate upon close inspection, otherwise blended into the greyness, but we found the interior was anything but grey..

Inside Yeni Cami

Our guidebook wasn’t very taken with the interior of the mosque (“the interior is somewhat disappointing”), however we really liked it – the bright blue tiles of differing patterns that decorate the four main supporting pillars were vibrant, and also completely cover the main focal point of the mosque – the south-east facing wall with the mihrab which indicates the direction of Mecca.

Sirkeci Station – Terminus of the Orient Express

An old engine on display outside Sirkeci Station – the terminus of the Orient Express service. I doubt this engine was used as it’s a bit small..

Sirkeci train station gets a passing mention on the route, but given our love of overnight train journeys we were pleased to learn that this station was the terminus for the Orient Express!

Sadly, the Orient Express stopped running on the 13th of December 2009 so we’ll have to find another way back to Blighty..

Cağaloğlu Hamami

The 300-year old Cağaloğlu Hamami

Further up the hill we arrived at another institution of Turkish life – the hamam or public bath. Our guidebook helpfully notes two things: the Turkish bath is a direct descendent of the Roman bath; and this particular hamam is probably the most beautiful and famous in Istanbul. Built in 1741 by Sultan Mahmut I, the money it took was used for the upkeep of a library the Sultan built in Haghia Sophia.

We ventured as far as the camekân, or reception room before returning to the stroll, but not until we’d made a note of some of the famous people that have partaken of the Turkish waters here: John Travolta, Cameron Diaz, Jenson Button, Brian May, and Kate Moss, to name a few!

The Sublime Porte

The Sublime Porte, very nice but I wouldn’t go as far as to say ‘sublime’

Once the gate that led to the palace and offices of the Grand Vezir where most of the business of the Ottoman Empire was transacted, it now leads to the Vilayet or the government of the Province of Istanbul. Interestingly, our guidebook says that the gate became synonymous with the Ottoman government itself and ambassadors were accredited to the Sublime Porte rather than to Turkey, just as to this day ambassadors to England are accredited to the Court of St. James.

The Alay Köşkü

The Alay Köşkü, great for watching parades, keeping an eye on the state, or picking off your subjects..

Directly opposite the Sublime Porte is a large gazebo called the Alay Köşkü which translates as Review or Parade Pavilion, and is a tower in the walls of the Topkapi Palace where the Sultan could watch the affairs of the Sublime Porte gate opposite.

Our guidebook retells of one Sultan Crazy Ibrahim who used this vantage point to pick off pedestrians with his crossbow!

Haghia Sophia

The walk ends at the magnificent Haghia Sophia, which after seeing the queues outside we decided we’d leave for another day. Though there was time for our first proper Turkish coffee on the way home..

Our first proper Turkish coffee in Istanbul. How do you know by looking at it? It’s the lokum or Turkish delight on the side of course!

Khiva, Uzbekistan

Day 1 – A mammoth sightseeing session

First stop, the resplendent Pahlavon Mahmud Mausoleum

I’m sure you’ll breathe a sign of relief when I say I’m only going to mention our highlights of Khiva, as we managed to see nearly everything on the ticket!

First up was the Pahlavon Mahmud Mausoleum which isn’t much to look at from the street, but inside it reveals a tranquil courtyard with the main mausoleum straight in front and a room of tombs to the left. As we paused to take photographs, a family of worshippers followed us in with very smartly dressed children. The parents grabbed Julie and Jo for a spontaneous photo shoot..

Jo and Julie roped into a family photograph. This happened to us all quite a bit in Uzbekistan

Pahlavon Mahmud was a poet, philosopher and a wrestler (!), who later became the patron saint of Khiva. The tiling inside the main chamber and of Mahmud’s tomb is exquisite.

Inside Pahlavon Mahmud's mausoleum. Clockwise from top: The main dome (which needs a little seeing-to with a duster); Unmarked tombs of other khas to the west of the main hall; Pahlavon Mahmud's wonderfully tiled sarcophagus and tomb

Inside Pahlavon Mahmud’s mausoleum. Clockwise from top: The main dome (which needs a little seeing-to with a duster); Unmarked tombs of other khans to the west of the main hall; Pahlavon Mahmud’s wonderfully tiled sarcophagus and tomb

After a few more sights we took a break to climb the Islom-Hoja Minaret, the tallest one in Uzbekistan! The stairs inside were narrow and ascended anti-clockwise. The steps were steep which meant it was hard going but only took a little time to reach the viewing platform at the top.

Jo and Julie starting to climb the Islom-Hoja Minaret – Khiva’s newest (built in 1910) and Uzbekistan’s highest at 57m

Khiva from the top of the Islom Hoja Minaret

Having climbed his minaret, we then visited Islom Hoja’s Medressa which is also the Museum of Applied Arts. It seems that they’ve knocked through all of the student and teacher cells on the ground floor to create a long corridor of tiny rooms in which we found a very eclectic exhibition – woodcarvings, metalwork, carpets, clothing, books and stone carvings.

A taste of the variety on display in the Museum of Applied Arts. Clockwise from top-left: Walking through the walls of the medressa; Parcha robes for women (20th century); Stamps (21st century); A part of the ceiling from the Arabkhan mosque (17th century)

Next up we popped our heads into the Photography Museum which had a very impressive collection of old black and white photos of Khiva from the 1920s and 30s, including some exposed onto glass!

A small selection of the framed photographs of old Khiva on display in the Khiva Photography Museum

After we recharged our sightseeing batteries with tasty home-made somsas (triangular pasties about the size of your hand, similar to an Indian samosa but oven baked rather than fried) and copious amounts of tea in a little cafe in the bazaar just outside the East Gate, we tackled the lavishly decorated, massive Tosh Hovli palace – so big it’s in 2 parts!

The sumptuously decorated Tosh Hovli Palace courtyard

Details of the decorations in the Tosh Hovli Palace. Clockwise from top-left: The wooden pillars are just as elaborate as the tiled walls; Ceiling detail; Interior bedroom; Silk scarves for sale in the courtyard

In contrast to the Tosh Hovli Palace where seemingly every internal surface is decorated, our next stop was the Juma Mosque – my favourite of the day..

The underground Juma Mosque with it’s 218 carved wooden pillars was my favourite of the sights in Khiva

Just outside the walls to the north-west is the Isfandiyar Palace. We double-checked the map when we got there as it looked pretty non-descript from the outside and we were the only people there – besides a local guy sitting on the step.

Julie and Jo checking we’re in the right place, and reading up on the Isfandiyar Palace before we enter

But inside awaits the biggest assault to the senses all day..

CAPTION COMPETITION: Julie and Jo exclaiming over the chandelier in the completely over-the-top Isfandiyar Palace. It’s bold and bonkers and we loved it!

Every room overloaded our senses with colour and patterns. Somehow, it made complete sense that the only suitable furniture that wouldn’t cause further clashes would be mirrors..

We’d saved the Kuhna Ark for last because we’d read it was a good vantage point over Khiva at sunset. As we climbed up to the watchtower (which was 2,000 som extra, about 40p) we heard Uzbek pop-music, and found ourselves in the middle of a music video shoot!

Shooting for an Uzbek music video on the Kuhna Ark in Khiva

Dancer posing for us in-between shooting a music video in Khiva, Uzbekistan

Not only was she a great dancer, she was happy to pose for the multitude of tourists in between shots. We don’t know her name, but she was described as “the best” by the crew and, amazingly, we saw her again on the Uzbek MTV when we had dinner later that night!!

I got talking to a smartly dressed guy who was hanging around while the filming was going on, and through an interpreter I found out he was the singer who wrote the song she was dancing to! I haven’t been able to find his track (as I suspect it isn’t yet released), and there’s another famous Uzbek singer called Athambek. From his handwriting, I think his song is called “Noziga Boylaribgoldim” – if you find it please drop it into the comments below. Here’s a photo of Athambek..

Athambek, the Uzbek singer/songwriter I met in Khiva

The Kuhna Ark and city walls of Khiva, Uzbekistan

The Kuhna Ark and city mud walls of Khiva at sunset

Day 2 – Ancient Khorezm Mud Fortresses

As we’d seen pretty much everything on our list the day before, we arranged a 6-hour, half-day taxi tour of Ancient Khorezm. Here’s the introduction from the Lonely Planet..

The Amu-Darya delta, stretching from southeast of Urgench to the Aral Sea, has been inhabited for millennia and was an important oasis long before Urgench or even Khiva were important. The historical name of the delta area, which includes parts of modern-day northern Turkmenistan, was Khorezm.
The ruins of many Khorezmian towns and forts, some well over 2000 years old, still stand east and north of Urgench in southern Karakalpakstan. With help from Unesco, local tourism officials have dubbed this area the ‘Golden Ring of Ancient Khorezm’. The area’s traditional name is Elliq-Qala (Fifty Fortresses). – Lonely Planet, Central Asia, p202

The tour took us to three of the main qalas, starting with the square Kyzyl Qala. We caught a quick glimpse of it just before we turned off the main road and onto a bumpy dirt track, and as we rounded a small hill of dirt, the massive towering mud fortress stood in front of us..

The square Kyzyl Qala still standing after more than 2,000 years. An excellent example as we walked pretty much all the way around it before we found a way in!

Julie, Jo and I exploring Kyzyl Qala fortress. There aren’t any signs, fences or restrictions, which makes it all the more impressive that these fortresses are still in such good condition

Next up was the main temple complex of the Khorezm kings who ruled the area in the 3rd and 4th centuries, the massive Toprak Qala. We found a lot of the rooms were still visible, as were the doorways linking them. Nearby were the modern foundations of a recent excavation team.

Panorama of the massive Toprak Qala, home to the Khorezm kings in the 3rd and 4th centuries

Julie and Jo scaling the remains of Toprak Qala

The final stop on our qala gala were the 3 ruins of the very impressive Ayaz-Qala. Our driver gave us the choice to drive up the hill, walk down and pay an unofficial entry fee levied by the ger camp nearby, or park at the bottom and scale the walls, thereby avoiding the fee – we opted to storm the walls!

Saving the best ’til last – the massive 3-in-1 Ayaz-Qala. There’s a ground-level fort, the raised fort in the middle and main fortress on the edge of the cliff

Julie, Jo and I having scaled the walls of the Ayaz-Qala fortress. This one was our favourite as some of its tunnels were intact and we could crawl through them!

Thank you Khiva, the compact Silk Road city with the adorable stumpy minaret..

Silly poses with the Kalta Minor Minaret, Khiva

Us with the adorable, stumpy icon of Khiva, the Kalta Minor Minaret

P.S. Don’t forget the caption competition!

Bukhara, Uzbekistan: almost free

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This is a guest post from our good friend Jo who came out to tour Uzbekistan with us. Take it away, Jo …

Although it shares with Samarkand similar grand architecture, Bukhara is a very different place to visit – better-preserved, but because of that, more touristy.

The city has had a series of incarnations but has always been of significance, either politically or religiously. From the 16th century to 1920 it was the capital of a ‘khanate’ before being captured by the Bolsheviks. In 1924 the city was absorbed into the Uzbek SSR.

Despite the Russians, Bukhara is still at its heart a medieval city and most of the mosques and medressas survive in good condition. The most spectacular sight, which we returned to at several different times of the day, is the Kalon Minaret – built in 1127, this 47m high tower has survived the invasion of Chinggis Khan. It was partially damaged by the Soviets but has been well-restored and its golden brick patterns reflect the light beautifully.

Kalon Minaret

We began our three days of wandering around Bukhara’s baking hot streets with the Ark. Sadly this great construction does not float, although there was a solitary camel standing outside for tourists to have their photo taken with. Unlike much of the other architecture we’ve seen, the Ark is not a religious building but instead was a fortress and palace for the Emirs of the khanate.

The Ark and its walls

It’s also a bit like a reverse TARDIS, as much of the vast inside is inaccessible. Many of the buildings are now used as little museums of Bukharan history, some more interesting than others. We shared the experience with loads of tour groups, the first we’d really seen in any number, and as it was a Sunday, lots of locals too. Any prospective visitors should note that the entrance fee of 4,500 sum is separate from a 4,200 sum fee for a guide – we managed to get the latter back on exit as we a) hadn’t been offered a guide, and b) hadn’t wanted one.

Bukhara also has any number of smaller mosques and mausoleums. We passed several of these in our wanderings, including the Chashma Ayub Mausoleum, where apparently Job found water by banging the ground with his staff, and the lovely 9th-century Ismail Samani Mausoleum.

Ismail Samani Mausoleum

Of course we also looked at the bazaar nearby and had a truly excellent lunch of plov for the kingly sum of about £1 each, including free of charge a friendly conversation with the nice chaps at the next table, who didn’t seem to mind that we couldn’t understand more than a couple of words of what they said.

The plov restaurant

On day two in Bukhara we started out by visiting the cute little Char Minar, once a gatehouse for a medressa. The towers aren’t minarets but just decoration, we were able to climb to the roof to see the old town from a different perspective.

Char Minar

We also went into the Kalon Mosque next to the minaret. Julie and I went to the effort of putting on headscarves as it asked us to, but frankly we shouldn’t have bothered as nobody else did. The mosque, which can house 10,000 worshippers, is vast in size although it’s mostly an empty space with some more beautiful tilework. We felt it was a bit overpriced at 6,000 sum (£1.20 – but a lot in Uzbek terms!). We declined the offer to spend 45,000 sum (£9) each to climb the minaret, although we would have liked to.

The courtyard of the Kalon Mosque

On our last day in Bukhara we ventured off the beaten track a little, first venturing to a couple of medressas that were on the map but not described in the guidebook. One was closed, but the door was open to the other so we poked our noses in. There was (predictably) a souvenir shop but mainly the place was under renovation. In search of the stairs to the second floor one of the workers invited us into his workshop-come-living space, where he turned the lights on to show us a large owl! Apparently he’d brought it up from an owlet and it ate mice and snakes. An owl was the last thing we expected to find in a medressa, but it was a nice surprise.

The medressa owl!

We wandered through the streets of the old town to the Jewish cemetery in increasingly hot sunshine and finally retreated to the ‘small’ market for another bowl of good plov.

There wasn’t much left to see in Bukhara, so we spent a pleasant hour in a teahouse drinking spiced tea and coffee and eating local sweets, and also visited an excellent contemporary photo gallery full of portraits of local Bukharans.

Overall we enjoyed our three days in Bukhara. More would have been too long as it’s not the largest town in the world, but it was so hot it was nice to retreat back to our guesthouse (the hospitable Sarrafon B&B) in the afternoons for a rest in the shade.

After Bukhara, we got in a car and were driven seven hours across a flat and featureless desert to the next stop – Khiva.

Oh, and the title for this post? If you ask a Bukharan shopkeeper, everything they sell is “almost free”.

Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum

The city is littered with impressive looking mausoleums but without doubt the most spectacular is the Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum which houses the remains of Amir Timur, his sons and grandsons. It was a two minute walk from our guesthouse so we passed it at least twice every day and struggled to stop ourselves taking more photos each time!

It was very difficult to stop ourselves from taking photos every time we walked past!

Inside, the walls and domed ceiling above the marble grave markers are covered in blue and gold paintings.

Amir Timur’s tomb is marked by the dark coloured stone in the centre of the picture

At night the mausoleum is illuminated

Registan

On our first afternoon in the city, Andrew, Jo and I walked up to Registan Square to catch a glimpse of the buildings which had inspired us all those months earlier. The only word that any of us were capable of for several minutes afterwards was “wow”! We visited the site several times during our stay including at sunrise and at night and the magnificent buildings never ceased to impress us.

Registan Square (from left to right): Ulugbek Medressa, Tilla-Kari Medressa and Sher Dor Medressa

A medressa is an Islamic school or college. Historically they taught a range of subjects to educate their religious leaders. We figured that Samarkand’s medressas were probably a bit like the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge which originally were principally engaged in educating priests.

All of the buildings have been heavily restored and it was interesting to see photographs of how dilapidated they were at the beginning of the 20th century before work began. All three medressas have a similar structure; behind the elegant tiled facade is a courtyard surrounded on all sides by small rooms which would once have housed the students who were taught here. Nowadays most of the students’ cells house craftspeople and souvenir shops.

Souvenir shops in the Registan (clockwise from top left): scarves flutter beside a tiled shop entrance; display of Uzbek embroidery called suzani; costume dolls for sale; a calligrapher writing our names in arabic

Our first stop was at the oldest, Ulugbek Medressa, built by (and named after) Amir Timur’s grandson, it was completed in 1420. Ulugbek was a renowned scholar, particularly famous for his astronomical observations. During his rule, Samarkand became an intellectual centre.

Ulugbek Medressa at dawn

Tilla-Kari Medressa along the back of the square has a tree filled courtyard and also contains an elegant mosque with beautifully decorated walls and ceiling. One of the stalls inside the mosque was selling unusual ceramic Christmas decorations in traditional Uzbek patterns. We were very tempted but the vendor was asking a high price, in the end we walked away thinking we would see similar ones elsewhere but we never did.

Inside Tilla-Kari Medressa’s mosque

On the eastern side of the square is Sher Dor (Lion) Medressa with its distinctive tiled lions (which look more like tigers to us) above the arch of its facade. They’re famous throughout the country and even feature on the UZS200 note.

Tilework in a courtyard niche of Sher Dor Medressa

Registan tile details including Sher Dor lion (top right)

As we were leaving, one of the security guards pulled Andrew aside and asked if we would like to climb one of the minarets of Tilla-Kari Medressa for an extra fee of 6,000 sum (about £1.20). We’d read that it is normal practice for the guards to offer extras like this and agreed on 15,000 sum for the three of us. Tilla-Kari’s minarets are much smaller than those of the other two buildings but we enjoyed the slightly different perspective that a couple of extra storeys provided as well as the thrill of doing something illicit!

Andrew climbing the spiral staircase inside the minaret of Tilla-Kari Medressa

Bibi Khanym Mosque

North-east of the Registan the Bibi Khanym Mosque towers over the surrounding market and park. It is named for Amir Timur’s Chinese wife and was once one of the Islamic world’s largest mosques. Somewhat crumbling in places, restoration work is ongoing. We were interested to see the huge stone Qur’an stand in the courtyard built for the massive Osman Qur’an which we saw in Tashkent.

Bibi Khanym Mosque

Stone Qur’an stand [photo credit: Jo Harris]

Restoration work at Bibi Khanym Mosque (clockwise from top left): photograph of the mosque before work began; the interiors seem largely untouched; new tilework being prepared in one of the side mosques

Shah-i-Zinda and cemetery

Shah-i-Zinda, the Avenue of Mausoleums, translates as ‘Tomb of the Living King’ and refers to the central tomb which is thought to be that of Qusam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Mohammed, and one of the first to bring Islam to Central Asia in the 7th century. This is a place of pilgrimage today and there were far more Uzbek visitors here than at the Registan.

Entrance to Qusam ibn Abbas’ tomb

After he made Samarkand his capital, Amir Timur started to bury his family and favourites here too resulting in a concentration of richly decorated mausoleums lining the approach.

Shah-i-Zinda mausoleums

Inside, some of them are rather austere with plain whitewashed walls while others are even more spectacular than their exteriors with delicately painted and tiled walls and ceilings.

Andrew photographing the beautiful interior of one of the mausoleums

Shah-i-Zinda details (clockwise from left): Jo photographing one of the mausoleums; arabic script in the tilework over one of the arches; bright blue tiles

At the far end of the row of mausoleums was the equally fascinating city cemetery. The grave stones are all carved with a portrait of the deceased along with their name and dates. It was interesting to see how the deceased were presented in their portraits (smiling, looking serious, or with full military medals) and we speculated about whether you had to have a photo portrait taken as you approached old age for the stonecarvers to work from. Transliterating the names was good practice for our Cyrillic reading skills too!

Old town

On a couple of occasions we ventured off the beaten tourist path into the narrow twisting streets of the old town. Traditional Uzbek houses are arranged around a courtyard so all that is visible from the street is a blank wall and a double door. Nevertheless we found plenty of life in the street and everyone was friendly and curious about where we are from. It was fun to stumble across little local mosques, mausoleums and even a synagogue in the old Jewish quarter.

Old town (clockwise from top left): Rukhobod mausoleum; old town street complete with Lada; Hebrew texts in the synagogue; we even saw an occasional donkey cart

Wine tasting

As a change from the historical monuments we followed a lead in the Lonely Planet to a wine factory in the newer part of town. We were expecting something quite basic so were surprised to be shown into a room hung with chandeliers which wouldn’t have been out of place in an English stately home.

Table set up for our wine tasting

The lady hosting the tasting explained that because of the hot sunny climate of Uzbekistan, the grapes were high in natural sugars particularly suiting them to dessert wine production. We tried a mix of 3 wines, 6 dessert wines, 2 cognacs and a balsam (herbal liquer) and were impressed with the quality. Unfortunately, production is limited at the moment so you’ll have to wait a while before you see Uzbek wines in your local off-licence.

Our tasting guide with the wines that we tried

We ambled off slightly sozzled and reinvigorated for another day of sightseeing…

Shakhrisabz

On our final day in Samarkand we took a day trip over the mountains to Amir Timur’s hometown and his second capital, Shakhrisabz. This city was once almost as impressive as Samarkand but nowadays is something of a backwater and its remaining monuments are in a pre-restoration state. The government has decided to relandscape the town centre to ‘prettify’ it and for no readily apparent reason have dug up the whole lot at once creating a horrifically dusty building site for residents and visitors to pick their way through, though somehow our feet looked much dustier than the locals’.

View from the mountain pass between Samarkand and Shakhrisabz

The building site that is currently Shakhrisabz centre with Ak-Saray Palace in the background

Shakhrisabz’s most important sight is the ruins of the Ak-Saray Palace. This was Amir Timur’s summer palace but all that remains is the craggy ruins of its entrance arch which stand at 38m tall and are separated by what would have been the 22.5m arch span. Given the scale of the entrance I can only imagine how impressive the rest of the palace must have been.

Jo and Andrew at the base of one of the Ak-Saray entrance arch pillars

Crumbling but impressive ruins of Ak-Saray Palace

We wandered along the building site like main street, stopping in the dusty bazaar for somsas (Uzbek pasties) and tea for lunch. At the other side of town from the palace are some more monuments. The Dorut Tilyovat complex contains the exquisite Kok Gumbaz mosque and two equally beautiful mausoleums. The buildings are situated around a peaceful tree-filled courtyard which was a very nice respite from the dust.

Mausoleum of Sheikh Shamseddin Kulyal and Gumbazi Seyidan

Interior of Kok Gumbaz Mosque

Behind Dorut Tilyovat is the Khazrati Imam complex with its modern working mosque and the dilapidated remnants of what was once a huge burial complex. There’s the tall Tomb of Jehangir with a conical roof which houses the remains of Amir Timur’s eldest son. Tucked away behind this is a set of stairs down to a small burial chamber which it is believed was intended for Amir Timur himself. Unfortunately he died in the winter and the pass over the mountains was closed by snow so he was actually buried in Samarkand.

Tomb of Jehangir; Jo at the top of the stairs to the Crypt of Timur

There were far fewer tourists in Shakhrisabz than Samarkand and we found ourselves to be more than usual the subject of people’s curiosity. My curly hair in particular seemed to excite quite a lot of comment, we were talking to some ladies at a souvenir stall who, once they realised we weren’t going to buy anything, even asked if they could touch my hair!

Rajshahi, Bangladesh

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A day after our Sundarbans tour we took the early morning train 300km north-west to Rajshahi. The 7 hour journey was very picturesque passing through lush green countryside and many small towns and villages before crossing the huge Padma River (you might know it by its Indian name, the Ganges) into Rajshahi Division. The windows in Bangladeshi trains open right up so you can lean out and take photos too. Not something that the health and safety people are likely to approve of perhaps, but it added to the fun for us.

Crossing ‘Harding’s Bridge’ over the Padma River. We were excited to spot signs on the bridge showing that it was built by the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company from Darlington, England!

Puthia & Natore

On our first day we decided to head out to the village of Puthia, a 30 minute bus ride away which the Lonely Planet describes as

…positively bursting at the seams with dilapidated palaces and bewitching temples, and is one of the shining highlights of this part of Bangladesh. If Puthia were in almost any other counry the ruins here would be seething with camera-snapping tourists, but lost as it is in the remote paddy fields of Bangladesh, you’ll have it all to yourself

I was a little skeptical of such a gushing recommendation but it really was absolutely stunning. We were given a tour by the caretaker, Mr Bishwana, and it was just temple after temple, almost all well preserved and beautifully decorated with terracotta tiles.

The first temple we visited was the five-spired Shiva Temple (right) which stands beside a pond at the entrance to the village

Shiva Temple (clockwise from top left): Carvings over the doorway, many of the exterior carvings were defaced during the 1971 Liberation War, inside the temple is a huge black Shiva lingam, arches in the gallery around the temple

The other five temples that we visited in Puthia varied massively in size and shape but all had similar decoration, covered from top to bottom with terracotta tiles showing characters and stories from Hindu mythology.

Julie in front of a diminutive temple, Andrew with the huge Govinda Temple, both of us in front of the squat but wide Anika Temple

A tiny sample of the terracotta tiles of Puthia’s temples

Having finished our tour of the village’s sights by lunchtime, we decided to move on to Natore, another 30 minute bus ride away where the Lonely Planet assured us that there was a ‘magnificent but dilapidated’ rajbari, basically a decaying Bangladeshi stately home. The buildings of the rajbari are indeed beautiful, unfortunately we hadn’t factored into our planning the fact that it was Friday (aka the weekend) which meant that busloads of schools had descended for picnics, loud music playing, prizegiving and harassment of foreign tourists…

Boarded up rajbari building – I know it looks like there’s no-one else there but trust me, they were behind us…

Rajbari buildings reflected in a pond, stained glass and a glimpse of the interior through a boarded up door, small Shiva temple in the grounds, Mughal style arch

After about 45 minutes we were so sick of having our photo taken that we just had to leave. The only bright spot was the small boy who befriended us – I’ve never seen anyone look so pleased to receive an orange!

Lots of attention (clockwise from top left): Us swamped by a family wanting a photo, Andrew with the local boy we befriended, this woman grabbed me by the hand and led me across to where her family were sitting to pose with them, a bus group’s encampment complete with bright tent and loudspeakers

Rajshahi City

Rajshahi itself is a university city and as such packed with young, chatty students. We got a tour around the campus of Rajshahi College and its colonial architecture by a student wishing to practice his English, and an offer to be shown around the university campus by an equally keen student which we declined due to its distance from the city centre.

One of the colonial buildings which make up Rajshahi College’s campus

Whenever a local spoke to us about the city they almost always mentioned one or both of the following, the Padma River, and mangoes! The city is situated on the banks of the Padma and has an attractive promenade along the riverbank which is lively in the evening. The climate of Rajshahi is perfect for mango trees and we saw orchards in the countryside all around the city. The trees were in flower during our visit and although the fruit doesn’t ripen until June we heard that some can be as big as 2kg!

Sunset over the River Padma

The main sight in the city, other than wandering and looking at the architecture and markets, is the Varendra Research Museum which is managed by the university. It contains an impressive number of artefacts from nearby archeaological sites, in particular some beautiful Hindu carvings. We were again treated to a personalised tour, this time by the museum’s secretary who hovered over us a little bit at first but seemed to relax as the tour went on and told us some stories and history as well as shooing away anyone who started staring at us.

Varendra Research Museum exterior (no photos allowed inside)

Sona Masjid

The second day trip that we made from Rajshahi was to Sona Masjid, a vast site spanning 32 sq. km across the border between Bangladesh and India (where it’s known as Gaud). It is the remains of a huge city which was the capital of Bengal for many years. On the Bangladeshi side are a number of well preserved mosques, a palace and a mausoleum, some dating from as far back as the 15th century.

According to our guidebook the bus journey was supposed to take 3 hours, but after just 2.25 hours we were ejected at the side of the road beside Chhoto Sona Masjid (Small Golden Mosque). Somewhat shaken by the super fast journey we decided to grab a cup of tea, but at the local tea stand we were soon surrounded by staring men, so we supped up quickly and moved off to the mosque. It’s no longer golden, its name refers to the fact that its domes were once gilded but it is still impressive with stone carvings outside and a cool interior. The mosque’s imam rushed in during our visit, keen to engage us in conversation (and point out the donation box).

Us outside Chhoto Sona Masjid

Chhoto Sona Masjid decoration including an arabic inscription above the main door (top)

From there we moved down the road to the buildings which make up the Tahkhana complex comprising a small palace, a mosque and the mausoleum of Shah Niamatullah. Here we felt a bit persecuted by the over attention, having to fend off a tuk-tuk driver and various guides as well as getting annoyed by a group of lads who followed us around taking pictures on their mobiles. We don’t really mind if people want to take a picture of us or with us but it’s a bit nicer if they say hello and ask if it’s OK or at least just take one and then move on…

Tahkhana complex (clockwise from top left): Shah Niamatullah Mosque, Tahkhana Palace from across the pond, being stared at, Mausoleum of Shah Niamatullah

As we walked down the dusty road to the other two mosques, we were passed by lots of brightly decorated trucks making their way to the official border crossing point. We’ve noticed that all of the trucks in Bangladesh seem to be painted like this, I’m not sure if the colours signify ownership or if there’s some other reason but they’re very cheerful.

Brightly painted trucks

Thankfully both Darasbari Mosque and Khania Dighi Mosque were much quieter and we managed to have a look around in relative peace. It seems strange that so many elaborate and historic mosques are scattered around this area, tucked away in the farmland and miles away from any major centres of population. It made us think about the upheavals that must have happened over the last few hundred years to cause such shifts of people and marvel that these buildings at least survived relatively intact.

Ruined Darasbari Mosque is set in a peaceful location down a path away from the main road

Brickwork decoration and arches of Darasbari Mosque

Khania Dighi Mosque is surrounded by large old mango trees

We caught the last bus of the day back to Rajshahi, tired and dusty, but very glad to have made the trip. The bus was busy but fortunately not quite as crazy as the bus that we took in the morning and much closer to the quoted 3 hour duration.

two year trip

Andrew and Julie's Travelling Adventures