KHIVA, Uzbekistan -- After a hectic morning of sightseeing in Ichan Kala, the walled old city in Khiva, Uzbekistan, I was ready for a break from blue-tiled madrassas and minarets. While these monuments were jaw-droppingly beautiful, I needed respite from the relentless desert sun and the monotonous droning of my guide's voice. Shaking her loose, I retraced my steps toward a small doorway we had crossed a bit earlier in one of Ichan Kala's narrow lanes.
Khiva was once an influential trading post on the Silk Road, a network of routes that connected the East with the West for several centuries. Apart from the ancient monuments, I had been drawn to Khiva after reading British author Christopher Aslan Alexander's 2010 memoir "A Carpet Ride to Khiva," about setting up a carpet weaving workshop within Ichan Kala.
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