We left the mausoleums behind in Khiva and headed further west across more desert to the remote town of Nukus in the province of Karakalpakstan near what is left of the Aral Sea.
As we arrived in front of our hotel in a shared taxi a group of 30 or so excited school kids stood between us and reception. And when they saw the guitar case they wanted a little concert. Soooo they all got their mobile phone cameras out and I played the only tunes I know and they clapped and cheered. My best ever audience on the pavement in Nukus ! superb.
A much bigger concert by Mr Navro'zbek Sobirov, apparently an Uzbek teenage legend took place that afternoon and I had no intention of missing it. Huge russian style stage so bizarrely layed out with the band in one corner and the singer running around at the other end. It was only when some girls ran on stage (upsetting the green policemen) and demanding an autograph while he was supposedly singing that I realised it was all a big play back show....ridiculous! Even I could do that!
If there is no concert in town from Rai or Sobirov when you visit Nukus, you can always check out the amazing Savitsky museum which houses an incredible collection of Avant Garde 1920-30s russian paintings ...apparently the second most impressive collection in the world after the paintings at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Sooo come to Nukus either for the "music" or the art collection or the desert or the Aral Sea!
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