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Bolo-Hauz (Children’s Reservoir?) Mosque was reportedly built in 1712 by the Ashtarkhanid ruler Abul Fayud Khan (1711-47) for his mother, Bibi Khanum. Later it was apparently frequented by the emirs of Bukhara who lived in the nearby Ark. Bolo Haus Mosque (click on photos for enlargements) Bolo Haus Mosque This short minaret was added to the complex in 1917 by Shirin Muradov, a famous Bukhara craftsmen.   Bolo Haus Mosque The entryway, or iwan , is a fairly recent construction, added to the mosque's eastern facade 1914-17 by the last Mangit ruler Sayyid Alim Khan (1910-20) Detail of entrance to Bolo Haus Mosque The porch in front of the Bolo Haus Mosque. The twenty columns are made from poplar, walnut, and elm wood.  Porch of Bolo Haus Mosque Detail of wooden columns of Bolo Haus Mosqueue Detail of wooden columns of Bolo Haus Mosque Detail of wooden columns of Bolo Haus Mosque

A third of a mile north-northeast of the Tomb Complex of Naqshbandi , the seventh of the Seven Khwajagan Of The Bukhara Oasis , is the tomb complex of his mother. It is a favorite pilgrimage site for women.  For more see Seven Saints of Bukhara: The Khwajagan, or Masters of Wisdom .  (click on photo for enlargement)

Muhammad Bahauddin Shah Naqshbandi (1318–1389) was the seventh of the Seven Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis . He is the eponym of the  Naqshbandi Order  which exists down to the present day. His mausoleum complex, seven miles east-northeast of Bukhara, is one of the most popular pilgrimages sites in Uzbekistan and is visited by Naqshbandis, other pilgrims, and tourists from all over the world.  For more see Seven Saints of Bukhara: The Khwajagan, or Masters of Wisdom .  (click on photo for enlargement)

The Fifth of the Nine-Nines—nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather—begins today, January 26. This is Tavisan Budaa Khöldökhgui , the time when “Cooked Rice Cannot Be Frozen.” I must admit I really don’t understand the definition of this period. It seems to me that cooked rice would be frozen at any temperature below freezing, and we can certainly expect colder temperatures than that during the last week of January and beginning of February. Anyhow, the Fourth of the Nine-Nines was supposed to be coldest of the Nine-Nines, but it turned out to be fairly moderate—yesterday the temperature got up to 6º F. in the afternoon. This morning, the first day of the 5th Nine-Nine, it was a mere 20 below 0º F at 7:00. As all you Devotees of Sin (the God, not the act) know, the Full Moon occurs tomorrow at 12:39 p.m. This is the Wolf Moon, the winter moon when wolves experience the most hunger. Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian New Year, begins in seventee

Sayyid Amir Kulal (d.1370) was the sixth of the Seven Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis . Sayyid Amir Kulal’s mausoleum complex is located eight miles east of Bukhara. Entrance to the mausoleum complex of  Sayyid Amir Kulal  . . . For more see Seven Saints of Bukhara: The Khwajagan, or Masters of Wisdom .  (click on photo for enlargement) .

I spent most of the morning tramping around the ruins of Varakhsha , the ancient city on the western edge of the Bukhara Oasis which once served as the seat of the kings of the region. Leaden skies loomed overhead and gusting winds swept snow flurries through the ruined walls and battlements. In the first millennium the city was well within the boundaries of the Bukhara Oasis; now it is on the very edge, with desert stretching off the west.  Ruins of Varakhsha   (click on photos for enlargements) Shortly after noon we left for the mausoleum of Muhammad Baba as-Samasi. My driver had been to the mausoleum before, but he had gone there directly from Bukhara. He was not quite sure how to get there from the ruins of Varakhsha. We drove north a few miles and found ourselves in the desert.  At a  crossroads we stopped to ask directions from a man passing by on a tractor. Desert at the first crossroads The wind had picked up, blowing fresh snow flurries almost vertically across the sand. Follo

The third of the Seven Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis was Mahmud al-Injir al-Faghnawi (1227–1317). He was the disciple of  Arif ar-Riwakri . His mausoleum, in a small village twenty-one miles north of Bukhara, is now a popular pilgrimage site.  Entrance to the al-Faghnawi Comple . . . For more see Seven Saints of Bukhara: The Khwajagan, or Masters of Wisdom .  (click on photo for enlargement)

The second of the Seven Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis was Arif-Riwakri (d. 1239). He was one of the four main students of Ghujdawani and the direct inheritor of his teachings. He was now buried in the village of Safirkon (apparently at one time known as Riwarkar), twenty-five miles north of Bukhara.  Mosque at the burial site of Riwakri . . . For more see Seven Saints of Bukhara: The Khwajagan, or Masters of Wisdom .  (click on photo for enlargement)

The Fourth of the Nine-Nines, known as Dönön Ükhiin Ever Khöldöne —Time When Four Year-Old Cows’ Horns Freeze—begins today, January 17. This is supposed to be the coldest of the Nine-Nines, nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather. But actually we are having a bit of a warm spell. Yesterday it was a mere minus 15 Fº (–26º C. for you unrepentant Celsius freaks) at 7:30 a.m. and today the temperature at 7:30 is the same. It got above 0º F the last several afternoons, and the high today is forecast to be 7º above F. (–14 Cº), virtually shirt-sleeve weather for Mongolia in January. So it is a bit warm for This Time Of The Year . 

Just south of Trade Dome #1 is Bukhara’s Jewish Quarter . There had been a big Jewish community in Bukhara for centuries and during the nineteenth century it seemed to have flourished, considering the luxurious mansions which many Jewish traders built at the time. After the fall of the Soviet Union many members of the Bukhara Jewish community emigrated to Israel, the U.S.A. and other countries. A few stayed behind and some have renovated the mansions of their families into Guesthouses . Others sold their properties to individuals in Bukhara who have either turned them into guesthouses or use them as private residences. Some were sold to gadabouts and adventuresses seeking second homes in Bukhara. While in Bukhara I visited one of these second homes which is now under renovation.  Street in the Jewish Quarter (click on photos for enlargements)  Entrance to mansion in the Jewish Quarter  The extensive quarters of the mansion are built around a courtyard. This is the main part of the com

Wandered by the Shah-i-Zinda (The Living Prince) complex in Samarkand , built in large part by Amir Timur (a.k.a Tamerlane , 1336–1405) as a burial place for his female relatives, although others are also buried here.  The entrance portal was added later by his grandson Ulugh Beg ((1394–1449).  Entrance Portal (click on photos for enlargements)   Entrance Portal and front of complex  Steps leading from the Entrance Portal to the mausolems  Front of one of the mausolems  Detail of front of one of the mausolems   Detail of front of one of the  mausolems Detail of front of one of the mausolems   Detail of front of one of the  mausolems Detail of front of one of the mausolems Detail of front of one of the mausolems   Detail of front of one of the  mausolems   Detail of front of one of the  mausolems Interior of one of the mausoleums. Buried here were Amir Timur’s favorite niece, her sister Turkhan Aka, and two others, one apparently a child. Not clear which tomb is which.   Interior of t