The Wandering Scot

An occasional travel journal.

Browsing Posts tagged Alexander

Ancient Babylon Rebuilt!

At first glance the Babylon site is a strange Disneyland vision of what Babylon ought to look like, with impossibly pristine new brickwork and fanciful towers and ramparts.  Just as though some Wizard has cast a magical “rebuild” spell.  But much of this fanciful reconstruction is built on original foundations.  Our site guide pointed at […]

The Oracle at Siwa

A visit to the Oracle of Amun in the Egyptian desert, with a lush oasis and prophetic donkeys.

Khojand (aka Khujand) is a sleepy industrial town in Northern Tajikistan. In an earlier age it was Leninabad. And in an even earlier one, it was Alexandria-the-Furthest. Yes, Big Alex was here, pursuing a Scythian army. In 329 b.c. he re-founded the existing city as Alexandria Eschate (“Alexandria the Farthest”) on the Jaxartes River. Unfortunately […]