After lunch we made our way over the border to Samarkand in Uzbekistan. A late afternoon visit to the Registan certainly brought out a few wows. It gave some of us the chance to climb one of the minarets in the cool of the evening.
Our day in Samarkand started with a visit to Timur or Tamerlane’s Tomb in the Guri Amir Mausoleum. This beautiful building houses the memorials to Timur, his two sons and two grandsons. Another visit to the Registan enabled us to learn more about the famous Madressas. A little to the north-east lies the Bibi-Khanym Mosque near the bazaar.
After lunch we visited Uleg Bek’s observatory, here can be seen a 30m astrolab built in the 1420’s to observe the stars. A short distance away is the Shahr-I-Zindah or Avenue of Tombs. These tombs mostly belong to Timur’s and Ulughbek’s families.
Driving to Bukhara the road passes through very arid landscape and a short way before the city an old Caravanserai with a well was visited. After lunch and a rest we were able to explore the city in the cool of the evening.
A guided tour of the city enabled us to visit the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, dating to the 10th century, this fine building has had little restoration and the Bolo-Hauz Mosque which although built in1718 has a painted porch built in 1917. The Arc dates back to the 5th century and was occupied up to 1920 when it was bombed by the Red Army. Behind the Arc is the Zindon or jail, which includes the ‘Bug Pit’ where Stoddart and Conolly, two British officers, were kept before their execution. A visit was also made to the Kalon Mosque and to the trading domes.
The road to Khiva again passes through a very arid landscape with views, at times, of the mighty Amu-Darya or Oxus River. The hotel here was in an old Medressa using the single scholar '‘cells'’ as bedrooms. My room had fine view of the Islom-Huja Minaret one way and the large courtyard the other. In the late afternoon we had a brief walk around the old town including a visit to the Kukhna Arc and the opportunity to climb to the lookout tower.
The evening meal was taken in the open-air courtyard of the old Medressa.
Khiva still retains its ancient walls and all the main buildings are located within these walls. Walking around the town with few tourists and locals was a delight. We visited the Kukhna Arc again, the Tosh-Khovil Palace, the Islom-Huja Medressa and Minaret (which some of us climbed) and the Juma Mosque with it’s 218 wooden columns some dating back to the tenth century.
The Khiva photos may also be seen with descriptions HERE
Early evening we left for Urgench to fly to Tashkent and London via Istanbul. We had crossed five land borders and visited Kyrgyzstan, China, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The group could claim residential links to Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Kenya, New Zealand, North Korea, South Africa, Switzerland and U.S.A. If I have left one out I expect that I will be told!
A GREAT trip.
This successful journey was made with the support of Wild Frontiers Adventure Travel (www.wildfrontiers.co.uk)
Click HERE to link to the first page of the Silk Road