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Published: September 22nd 2008
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b]After Tashkent we travelled to Samarkand . The actual countryside in Uzbekstan is quite boring - lots of cotton fields and not much else. The irrigation of the cotton is putting pressure on the water supply in rural Uzbekistan and they are also going through a long drought. The extra problem for the Uzbekis is that it is a country rich in natural gas but the source of the major waterways is in the neighbouring countries.
Back to the journey - we had a 6hr drive from Tashken to Samarkand. We arrived in Samarkand late in the afternoon and got our first glimpse of the amazing Registan. It turned out that the famous landmark of Central Asia was only about 5 minutes from our B+B - fantastic location. I was very excited to be in Samarkand as this was one of the places that I really wanted to visit ever since seeing the Friday Mosque in Esfahan all those years ago. Samarkand did not disappoint!
I got up early on the first morning as I wanted to get some photographs of the Registan before it was busy with tourists. The main other tourists here seem to be the
French ... not sure why but I must admit the place was never crowded out by the tourist buses. The guards that were looking after the place offered to open up the minaret for a view. There was another French guy there taking photos as well so we climbed the Minaret for a fantastic view over the courtyard. This seems to be a way of the local guards supplementing their income. (the ladies that work in the museum chase you around the exhibits trying to sell the friendship bracelets they make!)
Back to the story … after my early morning exploration I went back to the hotel for breakfast and then we had a city tour of Samarkand. We started at the Bibi-Khanym Mosque. According to Lonely Planet ‘ It was finished shortly before Timur’s death (Timur Tamarlene was the ruler of this region in the 1400’s and was also know as the ‘Tyrants’ Tyrant)….. not long after its completion it became a victim of its own grandeur” It collapsed completely in an earthquake in 1897. The Soviets did a lot of restoration and it looks fantastic, but walking through the interior there are large cracks that would not
survive any type of further quake.
Back to quoting the Lonely Planet guide book (don’t worry it won’t happen a lot) … ‘Legend says that Bib-Khanym , Timur’s Chinese wife, ordered the Mosque built as a surprise whilst Timur was away. The architect fell madly in love with her and refused to finish the job unless he could give her a kiss. The kiss left a mark, Timur noticed the mark on his return, executed the architect and ordered women to wear veils from then on so as not to tempt other men!”
Then we went to see the Shar-I-Zindah - the avenue of tombs east of Bibi-Khanym. They were well restored. Most belonged to Timur’s and Ulughbek’s (Timur’s grandson) families.
We moved on to see Ulughbek’s Observatory and the Gauri Amir Mausoleum (Timur and his sons and grandsons were buried here). The final visit was to the Registan, having a close look at all the Medressas. The first was built in 1420. The Sher Dor (Lion) Medressa was finished in 1636 and the Tilla-Kari Medressa in 1660.
It was a great day … a long day and my brain was full by the end (well
really just after lunch)..
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