The ancient silk road was a web of trade routes connecting Asia with the Middle East and southern Europe. Silk was an ideal good to trade because it was very light to carry a long distance and had a high value. But the silk road traded all sorts of goods. They traded woolen goods and carpets, gold, silver, and precious stones, glass items, skins, cotton fabrics, embroidery, vases, bowls, glasses and dishes, medicines, perfumery, cinnamon, saffron, skins, tea, food items, dyes, ivory, sugar, animals, vegetables, wine, and more.

While nothing that I’m aware of is still delivered by camel caravans across the deserts, goods are still made and still shipped and people still sell goods all along the silk road. Khiva was no exception.

The main streets in Khiva’s inner town were lined with merchants. In the first photo, you can glimpse on the right side and see that warm hats were one of the most popular items. I guess I was surprised since the temperature was in the 90’s but I would assume that it gets very cold here in the winter. Cold winters plus I think those hats are traditional.

The truth is, I didn’t have to wander around town looking for merchants. I just followed Vicky around and got plenty of photos.

There has been some shifting of vendor appeal since our grandchildren, as you can see in the third photo. But the jewelry vendors are still in play as you can see in the fourth photo.

I will admit that even I found many items appealing. The last photo is some pottery and I liked the looks of it. There are also Khiva paintings behind the pottery.