Samarkand Archives - Solotravel

Registan, Samarkand

Quiet day today, that I plan on spending at the Registan in Samarkand. After the usual breakfast, which included being offered boiled or fried eggs both of which I couldn’t face! I wandered off down to the huge registan buildings. Past the fountains and the lion cum tigers. I gather somewhere in the religion in the past it did not allow statues of live animals thus the strange looking golden beasts. More like a lion than a tiger in my opinion!

It was already busy with people coming and going. Costing 13,000uz som I have a feeling that as the poor sucker of a tourist I was charged more! Only about $5 so I wasn’t too worried, they are all sharks looking for the US dollar here. I also feel that each are out to make as much money as they can, as you would, I guess, but unfortunately we are not all rich americans. I doubt that too many of them are that rich at the moment, either.

The courtyards , or madrassas are indeed worth seeing, that they are so old is a credit to the builders. The area is prone to earthquakes as well but the mosques still continue to stand as they have done for hundreds of years. The courtyards so cool to sit in even when the sun is very hot. It was very pleasant to sit and watch the world go by from a seat in a courtyard alcove.
Every alcove or space had its shop or seller of souvenirs. Some quite stunning items but alas lack of space continues to get in my way of buying anything. I have acquired a thick skin now so despite desperate pleas I can walk away!

The mind can only boggle at the number of mosaic tiles in this huge place, they cover a lot of space, and at great heights . How this was achieved must have been stunning in itself. The patterns of the tiles set beautifully . One of the courtyards I assumed was older than the rest as it had flagstones to walk carefully on, where the others had brick.

I have to watch all the time for steps that suddenly appear, the number of times since being in Asia I have been caught by the unexpected step and taken a tumble. As well as the rough roads , pavements and poor maintenance it is an ever present danger.
The apparent fascination with wedding dresses is quite marked and many shops I passed were selling or possibly leasing them. After watching the people here at the hotel, clean and wash many wedding dresses that were caught in the deluge of rain that struck before I arrived. Seeing brides at some of the sights around the city I found interesting. The girls looked very beautiful indeed.

The dreaded asian tummy bug which I had so far avoided struck, so it was just as well it was a local day. A dose of pills brought from home soon fixed it but spent the remainder of the day resting.I suspect it was the apricot drink I had on arrival here,the first try of something original! Not particularly fond of the food here, it is very much bread based, bread which I personally find dry, and tasteless. Tasting a pomegranate fruit for the first time , was easy once I discovered that it was the pips that got eaten! It didn’t do a lot for me tho .
Heading off to Bukhara today, just a short train trip of two hours. In actual fact I would rather be heading back to Tashkent. I have seen enough mosaics to last me the rest of my life!

Amazing Samarkand !

A pleasant Uzbek breakfast shared with a Polish couple who have been here two weeks and fly home on Mon. My favourite nuts, bread rolls and cake things you see everywhere, along with our own pots of green tea all eaten on the carpeted floor and small table.

My car for the day arrived soon after 9am. Our first brief stop was at the Registan, a massive place; I will see it tomorrow at my pace. From there we went on to the other mosques as well a look at the markets that were close by. The mosaics on all of them have been amazing and given the ages of the buildings , that range from the 1300’s into the 1500’s the preservation of them is impressive. They were very peaceful to wander in and generally very cool, shaded from the hot sun by trees and heights of the buildings.

The most popular, over run with tourists and local people. Of course, there were the usual entrance fees and backhanders for parking. I ventured into one of the local toilets for the many tourists there. As luck would have it half were closed and the remaining half for both men and women. Doors that did not close, squat toilets, flies and stench had me moving back to the car very fast. Not before seeing a donkey and its cart, waiting patiently in the hot sun for its owner.

I had the need for more som so it is off to the black-market dealers in a particular street. Why the individual felt the need to close the front doors ,as at the same time the sister of the driver took the US dollars from me walked across the pavement and gave the money to him was one of those moments , I had to ask ,Why…….

I returned to the hotel for lunch for a welcome break before continuing. This time we saw the Gur Emir Mausoleum. Built in the 1400s as a tomb for Timurs grandson, he himself was later buried in a tomb there, as well as other members of his family.

By now, I am suffering from an overload of decorative mosaic tiles! Samarkand is a UNESCO world heritage site, when you see these magnificent buildings, the tiles and the age they are, you can only be astounded. We enjoyed time outside the mausoleum as well. The arrival of a bride for a photo opportunity created some interest.

Across the road was the mausoleum for the Emirs advisors, which I found charming in both size and proportion. Not tiled as the others it was still a striking looking building with a beautiful courtyard.

The next stop was at the observatory of Ulug beck, both fascinating and interesting, with a museum to complement the archeological dig. I found the underground piece of the sextant amazing. Apparently, they managed to get calculations on the length of a year to within a minute of the actual time. This without any real instruments.

After here I wanted to go to a supermarket not ‘the markets’ so it is off down potholed roads that you would not believe, these are main roads not side roads. Some very deep and to be caught in one would cause major damage. Another driver seen in the middle of the road changing a tyre. Even my driver laughed and enjoyed my horror! They found a supermarket and I happily browsed the shelves looking for more food for the next few meals.

Samarkand is a beautiful city if you overlook the potholes, crazy driving, and disgusting toilets. The tree lined streets and courtyards of individual properties soften the sometimes-boring buildings. For the most part the architecture is both pleasant to see, and blends in with the surroundings. The many parks with statues and, just green space give it a lovely feeling. If only they would fix the roads!

The hotel has spent another day with out hot water, it is being blamed on the flooding they have experienced, and I suspect it’s more likely that it has been turned off to save money as there are few people staying here at present

Samarkand

Happily joined train 10 for the trip to Samarkand after another lovely breakfast, this time after chatting to some lovely Dutch ladies about their travels. I am forever grateful to the unknown men who pick up my case and carry it up the stairs for me, without their help I would have probably given up a week after starting this trip!

The seats were certainly different, not ones that you would wish to sit in all day. The four hours on the train were pleasant enough and I enjoyed trying to chat with a lovely lady very similar in age to me. She was self-taught in English so between us and the language translation in the Lonely Planet book we managed to have a conversation! Ever fascinated by the passing scenery it was obvious there had been a lot of rain in the last 24 hours or so, from the scoured banks of rivers. I hoped the railway line was secure as some of the damage looked to be very close to the rail lines. Met again at the station this time by a twenty-year-old student, after having another guy carry my bag for me from the train.

We finally made it to the hotel down small and tattered back streets but in a wonderful location. It is certainly a character-filled place! Set around a tree filled courtyard , strewn with muddied wedding dresses A welcoming apricot drink from a jar with the whole apricots still in it certainly different, as well as green tea as a welcome. Taken sitting outside under a canopy on a carpeted floor. I take the spiral staircase to the third floor and overlook the Registan, how cool is that!

Walking around the upstairs deck you can see several mosques. The roofs of buildings certainly appear dilapidated but sprout satellite dishes occasionally. My room overlooks a lovely courtyard filled by trees. It seems that all the rain they have had of late must have been a deluge, as there is about 40 dress dummies with out clothes, while all around in sodden and dirty piles are the remains of what appears to be wedding dresses! A depressing sight no doubt, if you are the owner of them. Mrs. is the hard worker, while Mr. plays at being “mine host” I guess it’s the patriarchal society they live in!

I wandered as I do, to check out the locality for food supplies and to get my bearings. The small shop or local food market thought I was American and were apparently impressed to know I was a Kiwi. I am sure they were pleased to sell me some of the yogurt they had in store. A product that in these countries is quite expensive. I didn’t stop very long as the rain still lingered the first rain, since landing in Shanghai over a month ago, been lucky in avoiding it.

The third floor room and ensuite are very pleasant, the floors covered with many patterned, oriental style mats. Oh, joy it has a fridge, which is great, something I have noticed in all these countries is the lack of cold food or drink. They have fridges, but inevitably the food /drink is never cold , so I relish a fridge and “cold” stuff!

Unfortunately, at this stage there is no hot water to shower, so guess what is on the list for tomorrow! I cannot fathom how to work the sink and bath plug system, either! The bed a comfortable (at long last after the hard beds of late) king size with single/double sheets if you could call them that, no pillows, just huge cushions , the duvet cover ripped and torn in the centre not a great look, but where does culture finish, and sloppy hotel keeping begin? I feel the basics should at least be a clean bed and pillows, not much to expect. At least I was not bothered by bed bugs which is always a bonus when you are traveling.

Sleeping was delayed when there was a lot of noise outside, drums and chants… a protest march, no less. Tomorrow the chap that picked me up is taking me around to see the sights for the day in his car, as he likes to think of himself as a translator. Will be nice to try this form of travel, as the streets here are very long and wide, and I just do not see my self covering the distances. While most of the main sites are within about five kms, it’s the kms walked around the sites themselves that are often the punishing ones! I can see and walk to the Registan easily, but the sheer size is going to take me some effort to see everything.