Got to station far too early for our train (see photo if I can manage to upload it!), so waited for ages to the Sharq was ready. We travelled business class, whcih meant a video monitor playing Uzbeki folk music at every pair of seats in an open carriage - not exactly quiet!
(OK, no more train station photos!). Taxi to hotel
Actually a bed and breakfast, a common form of private hotel in UZB and much closer to the people than the ubiquitous 4 and 5 star places.
The Registan was a bit of a disappointment, largely because there had just been some celebrations to mark 20 years of independence and the stage was still occupying the entire square. However, the Tamurid era buildings were still very impressive:
Samarkand is the ancient capital of Tamurlaine (Timur the Great), who, along with his successors, was responsible for creating a sytle of architecture, in particular the use of tiles, especially blue and especially for the domes, that was not really changed for 500 years.
Another feature that is also found in Iran is these handing carvings, often made of alabaster,
Persian influence is also apparent in the ribbing on this dome:
Samarkand is well endowed with these buildings, but they are rather sterile since they are no longer used for anything apart from as shops and as museums. In addition, a lot of clearing work has been done and walls built around the sites so that they are completely separated from the lives of ordinary Uzbekis. Even the bazaars have been modernised and sanitised (though I don't know when)
But it's still a fascinating place to visit, largely because it is part of a bigger city, half Russian, half Uzbek, with its own university and a life away from the tourist sites (although we didn't really explore that side of the place).
Considerable use is made of tiles (majolica), particularly in turquoise (Turkish blue - the peoples of cengtral Asia are largely Turkic in origin, the area having been known as Turkistan before Stalin divided it, rather arbitrarily, into republics.
Spent the first few hours, though, getting used to the heat and the time (though only 3 hours difference to home)
The first of many breaks consisting of tea, melons (ah the melons, the white ones were the best!) and grapes.
One of the most interesting and beautiful sites in Samarkand is Shahr-i-Zindah, an avenue of tombs around the grave of one of the Prophet's cousins that still is used as a place of pilgrimage.
A little out of town is Ulug Begh's observatory. Ulug Begh was the grandson f Timur, and was more interested in astronomy than suling the country. He was famous around the world as an astronomer, and is mentioned in a number of western publications from that time. All that remains of his observatory is his huge astrolab:
He was assassinated for his efforts, going ot show that while a little learning is a dangerous thing, a lot of learning can be positively life-threatening.
We took one day out from Samarkand to take a taxi for a 70 km ride over the mountains to Timur's birthplace, Shakhrisabz. The journey alone was worth the effort:
The town itself is of little interest (Timur's palace is but a ruin) except that it is a good example of a true Uzbek town rather than one that has been transformed by the Russian occupation.
So, having got used to the sum, the people (generally friendly and helpful), the heat, the food and the rather unpleasant tasting bottled water, we set off for Bukhara.
Buhkara (Boxara and other alternatives) is further along the silk road, and consist largely of an old historic town surrounded by a newer part. There's no real need to go out of the old town, although tehre isn't a bazar there. The old town is made up of lots of monuments (so many, one forgets what's what), centred around a sort of pond, now decorative but originally used for water supply (and the disposal of practially everything, including dead dogs - Boxara was regularly visited by epidemics of cholera and the like) until the Russians cleaned it all up in the 19th century
The buildings themselves are made up largely of mosques, medrassas and bazars, the latter only surviving in small parts. None of this is really used by anyone nowadays, with the exception of souvenir sellers and the like located in the bazaars and in fact in most other monuments. There is no doubt that the buildings are truly wonderful, again turquoise domes and magnificent tile work and impressive medressas and mosque courtyards. What is missing is a sense that it is still being used, that it still has a function apart from simply attracting tourists. It was also disappointing to find that the area of cafes allegedly located around the central pond had been taken over by one cafe owner, and had more or less become an eating place for passing tourists, although a few locals still seems to go and take their tea.
