Another early start for the 270 km drive to Samarqand. Initially the road was quite good. Lots of people about. It is noticeable in Uzbekistan that the people don’t have mobile phones like they did in Iran. Every car that passed us in Iran a passenger or even the driver would pull out a phone & photograph us. Here they toot the horn & wave. As elsewhere anytime we stop, a curious crowd swarms around the car.
About 11am we stopped for something to drink & found a roadside stall which was selling tea & what looked like pasties. These were baked within a stone oven & clung to the side in grooves. A pastry covering was filled with meat & onion so we ordered two & some tea.
At a table next to us were 4 locals getting into the vodka (2 bottles were consumed whilst we were there). I don’t think there are any drink/drive rules here.
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| Stone oven pasties by roadside...delicious!! |
Once again the police were interested in us & we were pulled over 3 times. The first & third were just curious about the car & us & the middle one tried us on for speeding. Passports handed over and yet another stand-off. Eventually he got sick of us & motioned us on.
Further on about to enter a town we came across a tin cut out of a policewoman (have yet to see any female police!) in the middle of a pedestrian crossing, complete with baton in hand.
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| Policewoman cut-out to deter speeding motorists |
There were lots of towns on this stretch of road and school children seemed to be heading home (or out for lunch). The girls were all dressed in black skirts & pristine white blouses. I think I forgot to mention that the school girls in Turkmenistan wore long green dresses with braid trim & looked very elegant. The younger ones had lace bows in their hair.
Arrived in Samarqand about 4pm and ready for .some sightseeing It doesn’t seem as hot here as in Bukhara.
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| Car on entry to Samarqand |
Samarqand is one of Central Asia’s oldest cities, and a key Silk Road city. First to the Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum, a short walk from our hotel. This is where Timur, a ruler from the 1300’s and some of his descendants are buried. His stone was once a single slab of dark green jade. The story goes that Nader Shah (see entry for Mashad) carried it off to Persia where it was accidentally broken in two. From then on Nader Shah had bad luck so at the urging of his religious advisers had the stone returned to Samaqand.
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| Dome of Gur-E-Amir mausoleum |
Next was the Registan, a magestic complex of leaning towers, turquoise mosaics & an ensemble of madressas. Most of the buildings have been rebuilt after falling into disrepair. One of the madressas has a very good photographic display of how the complex was before restoration. The Tilla-Kari (gold covered) madressa has a gold leaf ceiling. Unusually the ceiling is flat but its tapered design makes it look domed.
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| Registan |
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| Gold ceiling in Tilla-Kan madressa |
Dinner was Uzbek Italian with pizza & pasta with beers & a very ordinary merlot.
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