Moving to Bukhara

At my 0800 breakfast, my host said that the Japanese guy was on the same train to Bukhara and we could go to the station together by taxi. That worked well and we got there about an hour before the 0943 departure on the fast train.

The journey was only about 1h30 this time and upon arrival I shared a taxi with the Japanese and an Italian to old town. We had tried to bargain the price down from a ridiculously high price but the Japanese bargained it down to a ridiculously low price (based on his outdated guidebook perhaps). A bit of a hassle did erupt when we had arrived and we agreed on a more reasonable price. All ended well.

Khurjin Hotel, was one block behind the main square. It was lovely, set in an ancient madrassah with a courtyard. Unfortunately my room wasn’t ready with my midday arrival so I went out for lunch before returning to my new and spotless room/bathroom for a rest.

Text continues after this gallery.

Bukhara was very different from Samarkand. Samarkand had a few stunning sights wheras Bukhara was a whole old city (albeit restored). The individual sights weren’t as stunning as Samarkand but there were many of them (madrassahs, mansions, markets and mosques), all stitched together with souvenir shops in between.

I explored the area around Labi Hauz (an old pond, one of many back in the old days) before heading to the area around the Kalyan Mosque and the Kalon Minaret.

Text continues after this gallery.

I met Fabrizio, the Italian, and continued to the Ark (fortress) together.  The Ark was more impressive from the outside than inside. There were a few bits and pieces of Uzbek history inside but nothing too captivating. I wandered to a mosque with a nice wooden front across the road before heading back for a rest.

Fabrizio and I had dinner together on a rooftop restaurant. I had my first beer in Uzbekistan and it was pricey at UZS20,000 (USD2.50) for large bottle. To put it into perspective a cheap kebab is around UZS12,000, tea UZS3000, soft drink UZS5000 and a restaurant meal UZS 15,000 to 20,000.

Anyway, I had been hanging out to try some Jiz (meat dish). It was nothing like what I had seen in the pictures (dry meat pieces with potatoes and tomato, cucumber garnish). In fact mine was better with a rich tomato gravy. Nice way to end my first day in Bukhara.