Chust city and our leisurely drive to the border

The city of Chust is located in the northern corner of Fergana Valley, about 40km west of Namangan. This city is well known for its handmade knives. The craft has been handed down through generations of blacksmiths. Known locally as pichak, each knife serves a different purpose such as  hunting, cutting meat, cutting veg, peeling fruit etc.



The Chust knife and scabbard made of leather we bought as a souvenir at Chust bazaar.
The knife has the inscription reading "Chust" with stars and crescent and the year it was made (ie. 2013). It also came with a piece of note detailing the info of the blacksmith who forged it.

Chust knives have handles made of horns or bones and decorated with simple embroided patterns.

Margilan silk factory visit

Location: Margilan, 20km north of Fergana city, Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan

Date: 29 July 2013

Uzbekistan is the third largest silk producer in the world after China and India, though the volume produced still pales in comparison to the latter two countries. Nevertheless, Uzbek silk have in the past travelled along the old Silk Road to various countries such as China, India, Iran etc. Uzbek silk with its signature patterns are known as 'ikat' derived from the malay word meaning tied.

Today we visited a Silk Factory in Margilan that still preserved the old ways of producing silk.

Silk caterpillars feed on mulberry leaves and take a few days to spin the cocoon completely around its body. These cocoons are then immediately collected for processing into silk threads. They are not left to grow to the pupae stage to ensure than once unravelled, each cocoon is able to produce a single continuous strand of silk thread. This continous strand ensures stronger cloth once woven.