Fergana to Margelin and Ritshan Day 24 23 rd May 2019
See the Photos of our day
What a day this turned out to be! I will be honest, given the description that “you will visit silk and handicraft workshops” I thought this would be a full on promotional tour and that we would feel under pressure to buy as we were steered from shop to shop. Well I was wrong!
We wandered around weaving rooms, had silk production explained, cruised through two bazaars, went to a bakery all the while with no sales pressure but rather broad smiles, lots of laughs and an informed commentary from our guide. And in spite of continued intervention from the Italian Olympic photo-bombing team it was a photographic bonanza.
We went first to Margelin, which celebrated its two thousandth birthday in 2007. The name we were told was a mangling of two Uzbek words for chicken and bread.There are several stories about where this came from but one is that Alexander the Great had a chicken sandwich for lunch here.Anyway it has been an important stop on the Silk Road as it is reputedly one of the best places in the world for the production of silk.Of course there is a story around this as well. In this case it involves the Chinese, who produced silk at this time.Apparently they wanted the horses that the Uzbeks bred (described to us as “sky-horses”).This trade had been banned as it was feared that the Chinese calvary would use their horses in future wars.Trade was only allowed if the payment was gold or princesses.The princesses turned out to be the daughters of concubines but things still turned out for the best. Why? because the story goes that one of them had a caterpillar in her hair which provided the start of the silk industry in Margelin.
Having a local guide here has turned out to be an absolute advantage and our guide in particular has been amazing with his fund of stories, local contacts and knowledge of the silk manufacturing process.
Walking through the bazaar with him took the whole experience to a new level and in fact he helped us buy our supper.One thing he got for us was the Ramadan treat Nishalda.
From there we went to a local bakery(the pictures tell the story) where we were made welcome and tried the product out of the oven-heaven!!
Then on to the silk factory and a full explanation of the process from silkworm to weaving.The women in the headline photo was in a room where the silk worms were bred and then the cocoons turned into silk.Then there were various processes to bundle the silk into usable cloth dye it and then weave with it.Our guide Kamol patiently explained all the processes along the way.
Then on to Rishtan a town famous for its pottery and ceramics and the studio of a master potter where we saw the master’s son produce a pot.Not only does this pottery produce plates and pots but also the most beautiful tiles.We saw artisans at work hand painting the tiles which they do starting from a template amazing to watch.
Our final visit before going back to Fergana was to a small home based pottery that was working with a relatively new technique that involved “dot” painting which gave the ceramics a textured look.
After returning to Fergana we had quick walk around the Bazaar to collect supplies then headed for a late lunch and back to the hotel.
