Marco Polo Parts I - III

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At dawn, worshippers enter Khadimain Mosque in Baghdad
The vast mountain range in Ruwanduz, Iraq.
A Kurd village almost merges with the landscape in north-east Iraq.
With his AK-47 in hand, a Kurd shepherd leads his flock to pasture. Ruwanduz, Iraq.
A young Kurd shepherd holds up the newest addition to the flock.
Kurds celebrate Nawruz, the festival of spring, on the Little Zab, a tributary of the Tigris.
A wedding in Jundian: flakes of shaving foam rain down on the newly-weds.
Despite the happy occassion, war is never over for these wedding guests in Jundian, Iraq.
The expanse of low buildings in Mosul cannot have changed much since Marco's time.
The double dome in Baghdad, Iraq is dedicated to the dead in the war against Iran.
A devotee kisses the door of Khadiman Mosque.
At dawn, Khadimain Mosque is shown in its full splendor.
In the Fourteenth Ramadan Mosque, the faithful prostrate themselves. It is Friday, the Moslem holy day.
A two-hour service tests the devotion of the youngest members of this Nestorian congregation in Iraq.
Christian children pray in a home for impoverished families in Baghdad, Iraq.
In a market in Baghdad, copper pots being repaired are beaten and soldered on small anvils stuck in the ground.
An improvised and streamlined swing.
Gold-hunters sieve the river for waste from the nearby goldmiths' souk.
A group of dervishes celebrates the 62nd birthday of Saddam Hussein in Tikrit.
Everyone was celebrating in Tikrit but that day the guest of honor did not show up for the festivities.
Everyone was celebrating in Tikrit but that day the guest of honor did not show up for the festivities.
Children's games beneath the magnificent spiral minaret in Samarra, 1100 years old.
In the Old City the traditional architecture crumbles from neglect.
Skipping rope in the ancient Arab quarter of Ashar in Basra.
Veiled women head to the Jame Masjid, the Great Mosque in Kerman.
Still inhabited, the ancient houses in Kandovan are dug out of cones of eroded rock.
Still inhabited, the ancient houses in Kandovan are dug out if cones of eroded rock.
The bazaar in Tabriz is still famous for its jewelery and gold and silver ornaments.
Alamut, Castle of the Assassins, aerial view
In Yazd, the Towers of Silence were open-air burial places.
Votive Chapels at the base of the Zoroastrian funerary platforms.
Yazd bristles with dozens of Towers of the Wind.
The Jame Masjid (Friday Mosque) is a masterpiece of elegant polychromy.
Sunset inflames the crescent symbol atop the dome of the Jame Masjid.
Mighty Bam was built by the Zoroastrians in the twelfth century.
A girl embroiders fine silk with gold thread.
Traditional fishing in the Strait of Hormuz, off Bandar i Abbas.
In this extreme tip of Iran, the wind and water provide a comfort the interior lacks.
Troops loyal to Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance, aim the cannonof an old Russian tank.
Flying toward the Panjshir valley on a helicopter sent by Massoud.
Afghani officers surrounding Massaud, a fine strategist
With his fellow-soldiers, an officer in the Northern Alliance poses with his daughter.
A group of proud inhabitants in the province of Takhar advance on to Taloqan.
Women in traditional costumes heading for the Taloqan market, known as Taican by Marco Polo.
Women in Tradtional costumes heading for the Talqan market, known as Taican by Marco Polo
Rows of Russian armored vehicles rust in the streets and feilds of Afghanistan.
Completely veiled by her burkha, a woman takes her children to a doctor in Feyzabad, Afghanistan.
Still plentiful, sheep are one of Feyzabad's few local resources.
A new dawn in Feyzabad awakening from the roughness brought by years of war.
In Feyzabad, Afghanistan, like every other bazaar in the Middle East, basic goods make a colorful display in the bazaar.