I became aware of the Orient cities of Khiva and Bukhara in the early 2000s. Namely, about the website of Andrzej Wrotniak, read by, I suppose, Olympus fans worldwide. The site no longer exists. Olympus no longer manufactures cameras... oh well.

In any case, Andrzej had exhibited some photos that he had taken himself in Uzbekistan before the fall of the Iron Curtain. The photos were, of course, analog, a little dark and they looked like they were being taken on another planet. They had the aura of Star Wars Part I. Reason enough to take a look at the area for myself.