Today was our first real day in Bukhara and we were both excited to see what it offered. We knew we had a fairly packed day ahead and a promise of a wonderful carpet shop! Our first point of call was the Ismael Samani Mausoleum which was centred in a large park. To be fair the park was very pretty but did look a tad tired and had remnants of its Russian rule in the shape of a Ferris wheel…
View PostOur original plan for today was head to Bukhara from Samarkand via Nurata but our driver had told us that the roads to Nurata had got considerably bad and would add an additional 3 hours of driving to a 6 hour day. We collectively decided to skip Nurata and head straight for Bukhara. The roads in Uzbekistan are awful to say the least. Pot holes the size of craters and lunatic drivers. The going was rough and bumpy and long.…
View PostWe awoke to yet another beautiful day in Uzbekistan – the weather was stunning for 99% of the trip, with only 1 day of rain I was a very happy bunny!! Which was good as today was an action packed day visiting 6 more sights of Samarkand! After breakfast we hopped back onto the bus and drove over to the Afrosiyab museum in the older area of Samarkand. Afrosiyab is the site of the ancient city of Samarkand, it was…
View PostWe all awoke at the crack of dawn to get ready to depart at 6:30am for our train to Samarkand. The weather had closed in bringing rain and wind. Wonderful. We all packed on to the bus and made our way to the station. Uzbekistan loves its security xray machines and almost everywhere we went our bags were scanned. The station was fairly quiet as far as English train stations go and there weren’t rows of people standing far too…
View PostWe arrived! We rested (this was very much needed) and then were ready to go. Alongside Amelia we had a local guide Tanya for the day. After lunch we headed out to our first site of the trip. Museum of Applied Arts, pulling up alongside a quite an unassuming building we entered a lovely courtyard with an oak tree providing the only shade. The exhibits of suzani and jewellery led us round and museum and gave a small taste of…
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