The Uzbek culture and traditions circuit, Bukhara (Day 4 afternoon) - The 10th of September 2013

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After lunch we visited the house of a former astrakhan fur merchant and were thus granted the privilege of "feeling" what it was like to have lived in the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, as far as high social status was concerned.

But we were also given the opportunity of getting to know what dressing was like in that epoch and what restrictions were imposed when women went out. Looking at dresses and wearing them is entirely different as I would soon find out upon having volunteered to wear some of those upon request on the part of the local guide. 

The weight of some of those "layers" of clothes was beyond what anyone might have imagined as the tissues looked and felt  rather smooth and light and yet were not once put on, but it was the covering of the face with a long thick black veil (the "parandja" worn till 1920) that really set the tone to what it really was like being a woman then.

 I had never tried anything similar before and must confess that I finally understood what I had read some time ago in regards to some Afghan women accounts on the actual "safe joy" of being able to see without being seen, because I could clearly see everyone and everything around me and upon having asked the group colleagues whether they could see me or my facial features whilst wearing the "parandja" the answer was negative.

Robert put on the male clothes of the epoch which were slightly simpler to wear than the ones female had to, as we walked up and down the room in a "modern" adaptation of the long gone ritual of the man walking in front and the woman slightly behind.

It was a very interesting experience because it did provide me with a much thorough perspective of the traditions associated to clothing and behavioural codes.

We were soon shown how babies are tied up to their cots and the awkward "apparatus" placed in between their legs, so that they may pee during the night without wetting their beds. Bed sheets and covers have to obviously have a hole so as to accommodate such an "instrument". Though the whole scenario looked rather complicated it does make life easier for the mothers and according to what we were told it is still used nowadays, at least in the villages.

We had access to many of the rooms, which were profusely decorated and did naturally catch our attention. No matter where I looked there was artistic beauty and good taste to the slightest details.

Outside the house  stood the statue of its owner, Khodjaev with a rather humble looking expression on its face, surrounded by a beautiful little garden where unimaginably beautiful flowers (I had never seen before) grew.

(to be continued)