Schlink Attack: Termez: Heavy on Highly Rated History

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Termez: Heavy on Highly Rated History

Forget about those men who think about the Roman Empire. In Uzbekistan, it's the Macedonian Empire that men (and women) think about. More specifically, they think about Alexander the Great, whose empire reached parts of Uzbekistan over 2,300 years ago. Ye old Sasha set up a city called Kampirtepa near present day Termez, on the Amu Darya River that runs along the border to Afghanistan. Today you can walk on top of its archeological leftovers, a convenient half hour drive from the city. Carved rooms, stairs, and pottery remnants are easily seen throughout the site. It was marvelous thinking about what the resident's daily lives were like back then - did they have as much fun as much as we were having, looking at rice paddies and river life, enjoying the faint breezes of autumn? Sure, why not?

The name Termez means "place of transition" and it fits because although the majority of the population has Muslim roots, there are traces of Persian, Turkik, and Buddhist roots too. Equally not far from the city, is a Sufi religious site called the Al-Hakim At-Termeziy, a complex containing a mausoleum, mosque, museum, and gorgeous walking space with manicured flowers. My colleagues and I greeted a Sufi priest on his way to sing and bless his followers, and he responded with a hearty "Go Joe Biden!" and fist pump. On that same day, President Biden would later meet up with the Stans' presidents (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, aka C5+1) and everyone was excited about it. We stopped by the Kirk Kiz (40 Girls) Fortress, where, according to a nice man in a white hat theorized, that 40 girls from all over the region might have studied in female only madrasa. Or, perhaps the fort was for 40 girls conscripted to fight intruding nomads. Either way, the community has been taking care to restore the 9th century fort.

We walked through farmed cotton fields to visit the Buddhist Stupa of Zurmala, and later to Fayoz Tepa, the remants of a 2,000 year old monastery. Our guide, a man with leather skin, freshly dyed black hair, and set of gold teeth unlocked the sacred dome housing a tchotchke-adorned stuppa. Now, if presenting lengthy and vague history about ancient monastery rooms and clay ingredients in Uzbek was a competition, he would have taken first place. My poor colleague gave up trying to translate on my behalf, which was okay because I had stopped listening. We finished the Buddhist tour by driving to another monastery on a nearby hill. Rustam and I ran into all of the tunnels and rooms making dumb jokes about ancient plastic bottles of water that were left behind. Hanging out with him on archeological sites was like going to the bar with your bestie and your favorite song comes on. His energy and enthusiasm was so infectious.

The town of Termez itself is lovely, green, and quiet. We enjoyed the typical Uzbek cuisine of meat kabobs, bread, and pitchers of chalap (drinkable yogurt with minced tomatoes, cucumbers, dill, and carbonated water). I learned that one never simply orders shots of vodka, but it is custom to order the table an unopened bottle which must be empty at the end of the night. I also learned that Yanni is still hot and beloved around here. Back to back videos of his orchestra playing at historic places like Petra and the Taj Mahal washed over us as we ate a savory, lamb neck dinner at the Golden Barrel one evening. We heard his music on the radio and in the grocery stores. There was lively talk about whether he'd ever do a comeback tour. I'd be down, and I bet Sasha would fully approve too.