Things to see and do Choust

Visit one of the most famous cutlery shops in Uzbekistan. The traditional Uzbek knife is called the pitchok. It's said to protect against wounds and the devil. It is often stored in a black leather sheath decorated with bright colours. You will find them everywhere in Uzbekistan: on the Chorsu bazaar in Tashkent or in the merchant domes of Bukhara. But of course, nothing is better than watching the manufacturing process in the company of the blacksmith, choosing, negotiating and buying your knife directly on the spot, from the hands of the craftsman!

In this workshop we make the tioupés, the small caps that all Uzbeks wear and whose motifs define their region of origin. There are classic models and others, more elaborate, made of fabric or enhanced with silk or velvet, for ceremonies. The special feature of Choust skullcaps is that they can be folded up and stored neatly in one's pocket, like an origami. They take up no more space than a mobile phone and Uzbeks take great care of them.

This mosque is built near a source of holy water, a place of pilgrimage where the ancient Cultes cults and the cult of Islam's saints coexist.