Samarkand paper

Near the city of Samarkand, in the village of Konigil, I suggest to visit during your tour in Uzbekistan a unique workshop where paper is produced using the same technology as many centuries ago. 

Here you can get an excursion of how the famous Samarkand paper is made. 

To make this paper they use the mulberry bark. First it is cleaned and boiled in a large pan. After it they beat off in large stupas to make a homogeneous mass. Next, they place the resulting mass in a tub of water, mix and filter it. The strained mass is pressed onto flazelin sheets. After that, the paper is removed from the sheets and dried for one day. To remove roughness on paper, craftsmen polish it on a marble table with a piece of marble. This kind of paper becomes strong and smooth. I recommend including this place during your tour in Uzbekistan. 

Today, such paper is used to restore ancient manuscripts. Also in this workshop you can purchase different lovely products from Samarkand paper. These are postcards, notebooks, masks, and even dresses, dolls and handbags.