Uzbekistan - Samarkand

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Next was Samarkand, a much bigger city than Bukhara, with as much history, but without the warm fuzzy feeling. This very much felt like a big place - the people weren't as friendly and everyone seemed out to make a quick buck, but there historic sites were good (if heavily renovated due to earthquakes) and I got to stay in a traditional Uzbeki yurt in the Kyzylkhum desert before coming into town, with an obligatory evening camel-ride.

From Samarkand I travelled to the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, which is a huge, sprawling metropolis, with even less going for it than Tbilisi. I travel along the Ferghana valley, a militarised area where the taking of photographs is prohibited, and leave Uzbekistan behind, to enter the last of the countries in my tour of Central Asia - Kyrgyzstan.

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Photos

Muslim Mausoleum
On a street of the dead

Medrassa Madness
You can climb to the top of those minarets

View from the top
Told you so