Melons, cotton and the Aral Sea

“The melons of Khwarizm have no equal in any country of the world, East or West, except it may be the melons of Bukhara.....Their rind is green and the flesh red, of extreme sweetness and firm texture. A remarkable thing is that they are cut into strips, dried in the sun, and packed in reed baskets....they are exported from Khwarizm to the remotest parts of India and China and of all dried fruits there are none which excel them in sweetness.”

It was unanimously decided as we daily munched our way through water melon and a yellow-fleshed variety that truly the melons here were the best in the world.