As a follow-up to my year-end activities, including publishing a list of my own top ten 2019 travel pictures, I have also been publishing pictures that readers have submitted of their 2019 travels. My first installment of readers’ 2019 travel pictures can be found here, the second installment can be found here, and the third installment can be found here. In this post, I am publishing the latest round of readers’ travel pictures, including some very distinctive pictures from Central Asia.

 

But first, before the Asian pictures, I have this picture from California. This picture was sent in by Kelly Castriotta of Allianz.

 

 

 

Loyal reader Neha Yardi of Howden in Mumbai send in a series of pictures from Uzbekistan, including the three extraordinary pictures described below.

 

This is Registan – The Registan was the heart of the ancient city of Samarkand of the Timurid Empire, now in Uzbekistan. The name Rēgistan (ریگستان) means “sandy place” or “desert” in Persian. The Registan was a public-square, where people gathered to hear royal proclamations, heralded by blasts on enormous copper pipes called dzharchis – and a place of public executions. It is framed by three madrasahs (Islamic schools) of distinctive Islamic architecture. The place now has many small curio and souvenir shops where you can buy (bargain hard though) silk scarves, traditional fur hats, blue pottery, traditional ikat attire etc. and if I remember correctly there was also a café there where you can have nice coffee and relax.

 

 

This is the statue of Amir Timur in the Amir Timur maydoni (I guess it means a square) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A lovely park surrounds the statue where you could take a leisurely stroll amidst flowers and trees and locals sitting and reading on the park benches or playing cards, board games etc.

 

 

This is Mir-I-Arab Madrasah in the Kalon Mosque and Minaret complex in Bukhara in Uzbekistan. The structure is known for its intricate and stunningly beautiful blue tile work. You will find all shades of blue and various complex patterns which makes the structure look enormous and grand.

 

I think everyone will agree that these pictures are extraordinary, and I am very grateful to these contributors for sending their pictures in.

 

It has been a lot of fun publishing readers’ pictures, and I appreciate everyone that took the time to submit pictures. Unfortuately, all good things must come to an end, so I think this post will be my last edition of readers’ pictures. The flow of new picture submissions has basically stopped and so I think this is probably a good time to draw an end to this series. My thanks to everyone who participated, this has been a lot of fun.