I’m back home, sitting in the sun. It’s beautiful here in the spring. Just gotta get through the dark times.

We saw a lot of crafting in Margilan. All of these were little compounds, with open courtyards and a combination of living and working space.

Pottery

Felting

This couple was fantastic, and we were treated to some hands-on lessons.

Weaving

I honestly didn’t enjoy the visit to this larger weaving shop. Dozens of people working in the basement with no windows, getting through a few feet of fabric a day. Everyone was friendly and smiling, but it was hard to feel good about the environment.

Silk

We bought a number of things at the shop across the street, mostly silk scarves.

Smithing

This guy was incredible. I have a number of videos of him working, and he let Roth (who has some experience) do a bit of work on that blade as well.

We had a tiny hotel more or less to ourselves in Margilan, and it was great to have time in the evenings to hang out and get to know the group better.

Bakhti drove us back to Tashkent after a few days, and then we had one more night before our flight out. We were a little loopy and exhausted at this point.

We flew out the next morning. That wasn’t quite the end of the trip for me and K, as we had a couple more stops on the way home. I’ll leave that for the next post.