Inside Central Asia (BBC) -- visit the "stans"

[eppur_se_muova]

Central Asia is farther from the ocean than any other area on Earth. Accessible only over land, the borders of this area have been defined by the empires which have encroached on it over the centuries: Persian, Macedonian, Chinese, Mongolian, Mughul, Ottoman, and Russian, and by the often fierce resistance of its inhabitants to those empires. Most of the outside world knew of it only as a blank spot on the map, the hinterland of hinterlands, or at best, as a largely desert region crossed by the caravans of the silk and spice trades.

During the era of the British Raj, central Asia became a chessboard of political espionage and intrigue contested by the British and Russian empires, each seeking to cut off the other from further advances deeper into the heart of Asia. This ongoing rivalry came to be known as "The Great Game", and formed the background for Rudyard Kipling's adventure novel Kim, which might be regarded as the precursor of the modern spy novel. The history of this 'cold war' has been described in a series of books by Peter Hopkirk, including a loving tribute to Kipling's novel. (Most published by Kodansha Globe, which is easily my favorite publisher.)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Peter%20Hopkirk&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/002-2855237-0684057

The center of Asia may also be familiar to fans of the physicist Richard Feynman, who developed a fascination with the tiny republic of Tuva, supposedly located at the exact geographic center of Asia, and home to a form of overtone singing usually known as 'throat singing' or khoomei.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393320693/qid=1152280837/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-2855237-0684057?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Tuva or Bust!
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00080AA2-BA32-1C73-9B81809EC588EF21 Scientific American article on throat singing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throat_singing
http://www.amazon.com/Huun-Huur-Tu/artist/B000APVFYA/002-2855237-0684057 Tuvan music group Huun Huur Tu. The singer Ondar has appeared on Letterman and with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.

BBC occasionally puts together 'In Depth' Web sites which collect together many different links on a topic -- maps, news articles, commentary, photos, etc., and some time ago began a site for central Asian links. With the fall of the USSR, central Asia has been in the news for several new reasons: the decommisioning of Soviet nuclear missiles, the spread of militant Islamic fundamentalism, the rise of post-Soviet local dictators, etc. Browse this site and learn more about a region of the world which has been hidden from outside eyes by a phalanx of hostile neighbors and a vast 'ocean of land'. Some of the links I found most interesting:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/asia_pac_khiva0_a_silk_road_oasis/html/1.stm photos of Kiva
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4501776.stm life after the bomb
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4400716.stm political reform
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456938/html/nn7page1.stm (general guide -- click on the tabs)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3192241.stm water problems
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/5064572.stm photos of Karakol

[WinkyDink]

1. I once heard a group of Central Asian throat-singers. The sounds are

awesome.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

2. Simon Reeve did a good little set of films about the 'Stans'

as part of the BBC Holidays in the Danger Zone which was very good. I don't know if it's floating around in the torrent world, but it's definately worth looking out for -- as well the Beeb it's also been shown on CBC.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/correspondent/3231291.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/stans.shtml
http://www.de44.dial.pipex.com/sr/page7/page7.html
http://www.cbc.ca/correspondent/feature_04-12-20.html

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Bookmarked! Thanks for the links.

I especially love the architecture. Many wonders in danger of crumbling into dust through years of neglect, though.