July 3, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

A comfortable 32 degrees at 6 am! It is all relative!
Off to the Chor Minor (4 towers) madrassa (school). This is the picture on the front cover of the Central Asia Lonely Planet guide. Originally built in 1806, but was rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake. 5 hours on the "Golden Road" from Bukhara to Samarkand. Roads not to bad, but sections were pretty rough. It was a day of seeing donkeys! Donkeys tied up, pulling carts with water, straw, hay, people! Also lots of watermelon and melon stands. They are everywhere, even in what seems like nowhere! Also lots of work going on in fields. Many are cutting wheat by hand but there are some very old looking combines. The combine, then pick up the straw and load into big trailers.

Stopped about 3 hours into drive at Caravan Sarai (resting place/hotel from Silk road). This one has a well (Sarbado) which is covered with a dome and the sarai is across what is now the highway. These date back to 11th and 14th centuries. A small town close by.

There is also a free trade cargo zone here. A new airport in partnership with Korean Air.

In many places the kids are swimming in the irrigation ditches. It is another hot day!

Arrived in Samarkand about 4. The Hotel Zarina is very nice, there is even a small swimming pool.
This city has a 2750 year history as well. And was controlled by Alexander the Great, Ghengis Kahn and Amir Temur (died early 1400s). Visited Temur's mausolium. Very beautiful and very big! Also has his teacher, son and grandson buried here.

Also a short walk to the Registon, the main city square. But it is closed off for a practice session for a festival that will be held in August. Looks like a huge production given the number of people there!

July 2 Bukhara

Took the van to the Samanid Mausoleum. Then a short ride to the old city. Visit to the ARk Citadel and the Minaret Kalyan complex, markets and madrassas. A very nice city Over laod on mosques, minarets.......
Afternoon to wander around, shop and also an americano coffee!

July 1 Bukhara


8 hour drive to Bukhara. Long hot day in van. But so much easier than a 4 to 6 month camel ride. So hot that the van AC could barely keep up. A couple of stops in the middle of the desert. The heat and the wind were like opening the oven door. I have never felt anything like that. We followed the Oxus river for a long time. This would have been the route of the Silk Road merchants.

Drove through desert most of the way. AT first the sand was reddish but then it became more gold in colour. Not much other than sand and some short bushes. Then in the middle of no where there is a restaurant! I would guess the only reason it is there is that the Germans are building a concrete road. he road is amazing. It is so smooth, but then compared to some of the road anything would be smooth. Had about 100km of concrete but the rest was pretty rough going. 8 hours to do 450 km!

Got to hotel, Sasha & Son, which is very near the old city. It is very nice but there is a power problem in the city. Strange as part of the hotel is out of power and the other is not! The hotel is decorated in a Persian style. All the rooms are have flower type reliefs all very colourfully painted.

A short walking tour around the main square of the old city. A very nice fountain in the middle with a miniature mosque duck house in the middle of it. Quiet at first but later there were lots of people around.

The city dates back to about 2500 years ago, the same Khiva with a Persian/Arab influence to the buildings.
Took a short walk through the Jewish section of the old city, which is where the hotel is located. Difficult to tell except for the names of the several hotels in the area.

At 5 pm the thermometer on wall says 110 or 44 degrees! And that is in the shade. It seems to have cooled down to 30 degrees at 6 am in morning!


June 30 Khiva, Uzbekistan

Up early to fly to Urgench (from 1920s) to a very new airport and new city. 1 hour flight, then a 1 hour drive to the old city. Khiva, sort of translates to "OMG". Khiva is the oldest of the cities, dating back 2500 years. Amazing that in the 1 hour, drive the fields were full of cotton and rice. We are in a desert, no wonder the Ariel SEa is drying up, as all the water is taken from the river before it gets there. A short walk to the old city for lunch. A famous Uzbeckisan singer (Ichan Khala) s making a music video in the restaurant so we got some entertainment as well as lunch. There was also a model photo shoot in the tower overlooking the city.

Guy said temperature was 53 degrees in sun.
After dinner had a short Folk dance and singing group. Of course it was audience participation. I had to get up and be taught how to dance. All this with a hat made of sheep skin with long wool still attached. I had hair again.
But so hot! At end everyone got up.

Then to have some more shisha, mint and pineapple flavour. The mint was very good but did not taste the pineapple.


June 29 Tashkent Uzbekistan

Wow, very hot already in the morning, about 30 degrees.

Great breakfast! Yes they had real coffee!

Took a short taxi ride to the Mosque. All very new, the latest being 2006. A huge area which includes the mosque, masolium and madina (school/shops). The complex has a huge library in the middle where the 1st book of the Koran is kept. It dates back to 600 AD and written on deer skin. Only 7 were copied with 4 left - here, London, Istanbul and Cairo.

A quick stop at the local shop and ended up talking to a retired railway guy just outside the shop door. He was into soccer, so was very interested in the German woman. He followed Bavaria. Then a short walk to the market. The largest in Central Asia. Nice that we started at the sweet section. There were no cakes here as they are in a different location. Lots of everything. The bread making was very interesting and even better for eating right out of the oven. The interesting part is that the bread is stuck to the top of the oven wall to bake. These ovens are gas fired.

Lots of spices, meat, cheese, fruit (fresh and dried), nuts and vegetables.

Lunch at a small outdoors place at the market. Kabobs of minced lamb, beer and tea. According to the old guy from the shop chai or tea is the best for you on a hot day. The food was amazing. Turns out these were the best kabobs!
We did a walking tour of the various parks near the hotel. Independence, Memorial, and Victory Parks. Forecast was for 39 degrees so stopped for a rest about 4 and happy hour at 6 followed by dinner.