Mumbai

This megalopolitan monster - India's largest city - was originally an island archipelago, inhabited by fishermen and Buddhist monks. The islands were acquired by the Portuguese who gave them to Charles II as a dowry for marrying Catherine de Braganza. In 1668, the Crown offered the lease to the British East India Company for a mere $10 per annum.



They rapidly established their west coast headquarters here, carried out massive land reclamation and building projects, and transformed seven muddy islands into the colonial city of Bombay, the most important port on the Arabian Sea. Since then the city (which changed its name to Mumbai in 1995) has never stopped growing.

Traditionally, the first thing a visitor to Mumbai is shown is the Gateway of India, an Indo-Saracenic monument on the waterfront. The last British troops left India via this gateway in 1948 in a symbolic gesture of renunciation of this great city that had been the trading hub of their Empire.




Overlooking it is another of the city's most famous icons, the magnificent Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, built in 1903 by the "father of India industry", Jamsetji Tata, after he had been refused entry to a hotel because he was a native.

Mumbai is the commercial and entertainment centre of India, generating 5% of India's GDP and accounting for 25% of industrial output, 40% of maritime trade, and 70% of capital transactions to India's economy. Mumbai is one of the world's top ten centres of commerce by global financial flow, home to such important financial institutions as the Reserve Bank of India, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the National Stock Exchange of India and the corporate headquarters of many Indian companies and numerous multinational corporations.

The city also houses India's Hindi film and television industry, known as Bollywood. Mumbai's business opportunities, as well as its high standard of living, attract migrants from all over India and, in turn, make the city a potpourri of many communities and cultures.

Mumbai is the most westernised, cosmopolitan and frenetic city in India. Day and night, its streets teem with people of all complexions, cultures and creeds. It is a city of contradictions and extremes, where phenomenal wealth rubs shoulders with heart wrenching poverty. Migrants come from all over Asia, lured by dreams of Bollywood-the largest film industry in the world - and the promise of material success.

People continue to flock to this "city of gold", because whatever else about Mumbai, one thing is certain - it is a city of chance, where both dreams and nightmares are spun into reality.

Osh

Osh (Kyrgyz: Ош) is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "Capital of the South". It has served as the administrative center of Osh oblast since 1939. The city has an ethnically mixed population of about 220,000 (in 2003), comprising Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Russians, Tajiks, and other smaller ethnic groups.

The Fergana valley in the Tien Shan Mountains is the most fertile and densely populated region of Central Asia. Here, close to the Uzbek border, is the city of Osh-a modern town with a history going back at least 2,500 years. For hundreds of years it was a major intersection on the ancient trade route between China and the West, and a flourishing silk production centre.

Osh is a lively place, with the largest and most crowded outdoor market in all of Central Asia. The city's industrial base, established during the Soviet period, largely collapsed after the break-up of the Soviet Union and has started to revive only gradually.

The proximity of the Uzbek border, which artificially cuts through historically linked territories and settlements, deprives Osh of much of its former hinterland and presents a serious obstacle to trade and economic development. Daily flights link Osh - and hence the southern part of Kyrgyzstan - to Bishkek and the north, and the recent upgrading of the long and arduous road through the mountains to Bishkek has greatly improved communications.

The city centre is dominated by a 200 m (660 ft) hillock, the Takht-i-Suleyman, a 10th century Muslim shrine. At the top is a small 15th century mosque built by Baber - the founder of India's Mughul Dynasty.

The shrine is especially revered by childless women, who come here to pray for fertility, and the mountain is dotted with colourful prayer rags, tied to trees and bushes - a practice common all over the East. for the people of this region, the Takht - i - Suleyman is the holiest Muslim place after Macca and Madina.

Next to the bazaar is the Shahid Tepa - the largest mosque in Kyrgyzstan, originally built of wood in 1908. It has recently been renovated, with Saudi Arabian backing, to hold a congregation of 5,000.



And then there is the bazaar itself - the heart of Osh. The Jayma Bazaar is renowned as the largest, liveliest and most colourful open air market in the whole of Central Asia. It sells everything under the sun from spices and honey to bicycle parts and cloth.

The sight of Uzbek dealers recognizable by their tyubeteykas (traditional skullcaps) - waving wads of notes, peasant women in bold floral-print dresses picking over the vegetables, street vendors frenetically haggling and shouting, makes you forget for a moment that you are in one of the poorest places in Central Asia. This is, after all, still a city of traders.



Don't miss the Great Silk Road Museum. Statue of Kurmanjan Datka, "Queen of the South"- an incredible Kyrgyz woman who led the opposition to Russian expansion in the 19th century. Statue of lenin - one of the few remaining in Central Asia. The 16th century Rabat Abdul Khan Mosque.

Almaty

Almaty (Kazakh: Алматы; formerly known as Alma-Ata (Russian: Алма-Ата), also Verniy (Верный)) is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of 1,226,000 (as of 1 August 2005),[2] which represents 8% of the population of the country.

It was the capital of Kazakhstan (and its predecessor, the Kazakh SSR) from 1929 to 1998. Despite losing its status as the capital, Almaty remains the major commercial center of Kazakhstan.


The name "Almaty" derives from the Kazakh word for "apple" (алма), and thus is often translated as a city "rich with apples". The older Soviet-era Russian version of its name, Alma-Ata, originates from a mistake (the name literally means "Grandfather of apples").

In the surrounding region, there is a great genetic diversity among the wild apples; the region is thought to be the ancestral home of the apple, and the wild Malus sieversii, is considered a likely candidate for the ancestor of the modern domestic apple.

Almaty is the former capital of Kazakhstan, and is still its largest city. Most countries with diplomatic representation in Kazakhstan have moved their embassies to Astana, the new capital, in the past year or two. Some maintain consulates in Almaty.

Almaty is the financial, economic, and cultural center of Central Asia. The city boasts a large tourist, student, and expat community, and includes a diverse citizen base of Kazakhs, Russians, Uzbeks, Germans, Poles, Chinese, and many more.

Bearings: a small mountain range borders the city to the east and in the far south on a clear day you can the snow capped mountains. The city, in general, slopes from south to north (i.e. you are going south if you are traveling uphill).

Almaty is dangerous for western travelers after dark (and somewhat before dark). Agree taxi fares prior to entering a taxi or hailed car. Criminals prey outside expat hangouts and traveling in groups is safer.

Almaty's rather rural-sounding name means "apple rich" - after the renowned quality and variety of the region's apples. The reality, however, is rather different. Almaty is the commercial and cultural hotspot of central Asia, ready to make its mark on the tourist map.

In 1911, a catastrophic earthquake flattened the city. Only the Svyato Voznesenskiy (Zenkov) Cathedral stayed standing. This 54 m (180ft) high edifice is one of the most extraordinary wooden buildings in the world - it was made entirely without nails! It stands, gaudily painted like a giant dolls' house and surrounded by rose, in the 28 Panfilov Heroes Memorial Park in the city centre.

The main Zelyoni Bazaar is more than just a market, it is a cultural hotchpotch of produce and people from all over Central Asia. Artists display their work in Zhybek Zholy (Silk Road), know locally as Arbat. For a superb view of the city and mountains, take the cable car up to Kok-tobe (Blue Hill), or walk up past the marijuana fields.

Look out for Hotel Kazakhstan, a 102 m (335 ft) high modernist tower, the tallest building in the city, and the Central Mosque, built in 1999, a wonderfully elegant marble building with a huge blue dome.

The traffic is terrible - ageing cars rattle past in a cloud of exhaust fumes. But change is happening fast and things are improving all the time. Almaty is a city of pride, ingenuity and ambition, with a vibrant Asian arts and fusion music scene and a cosmopolitan population, poised to play its part on the international stage.

Don't Miss
Medeu in the Tien Shan Mountains.Tourist centre with Olympic size ice stadium and mountain water swimming pool in the summer. Barakholka flea market. Central State Museum. Museum of National Musical Instruments-in The House of Officers on the edge of Panfilov Park.

Taking a tour to Charyn Canyon 200 km (125 mi) away-the second largest canyon in the world. Arasan Baths-5 storey bath centre with eastern and Russian baths and hydrotherapy in Tulebaeva Street.