Whoa Dick ! Let us just finish off with what I think is an interesting thought I had whilst in Samarkand. The Hubbard thought process goes something like this...
Emir Timur’s grandson, Ulugbek, who was around in the 1400’s (Grandaddy Timur the famous one died in 1405) was very interested in astronomy. So much so that he commissioned a ginormous sextant device on a hill neat the outskirts of the old city. It might be the first sextant ever invented. It is certainly the biggest. Here is the curved track of the sextant that is still preserved today. The Russians destroyed a lot of the observatory but because this was in the ground it was safe.
From this data it was found the earth was round, it went round the sun and the broad shape of the universe was worked out. Much of the findings were recorded in a publication called the “Zig” - no doubt a precursor to the prestigious modern day International Journal of Astronomical Research! In the period 1410 to 1450 this publication and associated knowldge made its way to Europe and a number of the findings were used by early explorers such as Vasco de Gama, Christopher Columbus and Magellan to help set up their navigation charts and techniques. This celestial navigation then allowed later sailing ships to sail from the West to the East. This ability to carry cargo from the East to the West then meant the death of the Silk Road travel routes as ships were vastly more efficient than camel trains over long distances and high mountains. Thus Samarkand went int decline as the Silk Road travel and trading then dried up.
Where is all this going Dick? Well, the point I am making is that Samarkand allowed the export of its astronomical knowledge to the West. The effect of this was to allow the sailing ships to undermine the need for the Silk Routes, very much to Samarkands great detriment. The “law of unintended consequences” was at at play you might say.
But here is the rub. Fast forward 550 years. For the last 30 years the US has allowed the exports of considerable IT technology to China. Now China is using this technology to build huge IT structures to then compete with the US to the deriment of the US. Think Huawei! And in little old New Zealand we make the same mistake by allowing the export of dairy farming technology, apple and kiwi fruit growing technology etc to our competitors round the world. Then it all comes back to bite us as they develop our technologies further and then use them unfairly compete with us
So I say that we should learn of the mistakes of Emir Temur’s grandson here in Samarkand in Central Asia some 550 yeas ago and guard our technological knowledge particularly when it is cutting edge technology by world standards. We are slow learners of history sometimes.
Goodness me, I am starting to sound like Gareth Morgan!
Anyway having got that off my chest it is now back to Bukhara. We are having a lovely time here . We are here for three days before we are allowed to cross the border into tightly controlled Turkmenistan.
Let the photos of Bukhara speak for themselves. All of this is within walking distance of the center of town.
The ark, a fortress now a museum.
And there is a new Emir in town
Being in Silk Road territory one has to visit a silk shop. I quickly glance at the time on my watch and tell Diana she has to get weaving. She promptly does!!!
And at sunset thre is “ dancing under the stars” rather than “dancing with the stars”.
It is all rather pleasant and decadent
And of course the local cuisine
And as the sun sets you see a mixture of the old and the new on the skyline
Tomorrow we are off to Turkmenistan. I have cleaned the bike as they do not allow dirty vehicles in Turkmenistan cities. And our Redhead is very dirty from some rough roads. In Ashgabat they apparently even wash the streets immediately before the presidential limousine coms by!
So we are not sure about internet connections in Turkmenistan. Maybe, maybe not ! So the next post may possibly be in eight days time after we crossed the Caspian Sea by ferry and arrived in Baku in Azerbaijan.
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