Markets and shopping along the Silk Road in the Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan reveal the flavors of the area.

Spices are so decoratively displayed. It is fascinating.

Other food items are packaged and arranged in artful ways.

Bread – I think I would love to do a trip that explored bread and bread making around the world. Smelling bread being baked – especially in different sorts of rustic ovens – is a huge draw. And tasting breads just out of those ovens is heavenly.

In this bakery I met this young boy. And when I asked him (pantomiming) if he also bakes bread, he demonstrated.

It is obviously a family business

These are the typical breads. It seems that each family (bakery) has their own design. The design in the middle is stamped on when the bread is just out of the oven and still very hot.

Most of these plates are hand painted.

These scissors were made in a blacksmith shop.

These are baby beds or carriers for nomad’s babies. The baby is placed on its back, swaddled, and covered. The whole bed is placed on the horse’s back. The babies of the nomads are moved from place to place in this fashion for the first year of their life. BTW, the round hole is the diaper area!