Discover Rishton, Uzbekistan’s best-known pottery town, where more than 2000-year-old pottery-making, especially blue-glazed ceramics made with traditional ishkor glaze, continues to shape everyday life. After weeks exploring Uzbekistan’s Silk Road cities—Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva—we travelled east into the Fergana Valley, in particular the town Rishton, where people have been making pottery for more than 2000 years. Excavations at Sohibi Hidoya Archaeological Site (an an

Registan Square, an ensemble of three monumental madrasas, reveals the evolution of Islamic architecture, Timurid patronage, and the architectural history that shaped Samarkand over two centuries. Registan Square at night: Lights and shadows emphasize the depth and symmetry of the entrance portal Certain monuments become familiar long before we see them in person—Registan is one such. I had seen photographs of the square countless times over the years, yet nothing had prepare

Birding in Dosdewa, Karimganj, Assam, combines forest trails, streamside bird hides, visits to the Hathikhira Tea Estate, and chance encounters of Siberian blue robin, white-tailed robin, Asian stubtail, Van Hasselt's sunbird, and Cachar bulbul. Van Hasselt's sunbird (photo credit: Dr. Santhosh Mahalik) Dosdewa forest, located in the southern corner of Assam near the borders of Bangladesh, Mizoram, and Tripura, is one of the least known birding destinations in Northeast India