Blogs from Bukhara, Uzbekistan, Asia - page 2

We start our journey across the Kzyzlkum desert, from Khiva to Bukhara, 450km of sand and scrubland, which will take 9 hours. The first 200 km is on a recently-made smooth dual carriageway but after this we bump and bounce our way along a rough, frequently potholed road and eventually arrive in Bukhara shaken but not quite stirred!! We have our evening meal in the hotel, which is one of our worst meals so far, and unfortunately several of the group, including both WanderingPeter and Alison are struck down with a dose of "Bukhara Belly" which curtails our exploration of Bukhara somewhat. One or other of us, however, does manage to see the wonderful Kalon Mosque, the Kalon Minaret (1127), demonstrations of the famous Bukhara carpet weaving and a meal at the house of a miniaturist ... read more

The Sharq was less swift and sleek than the play on words with the name suggested, but was still a good choice, way better than another shared taxi or, even worse, a bus. Bukhara has an interesting mix of buildings – we found heavily restored (or perhaps newly built) places just a few metres away from tumbledown wrecks that looked ready to collapse, or in some cases were collapsing. By wandering around we found un-restored madrassas that were more accessible and interesting than many of the main tourist attractions. In one we came across a rehearsal for a modern ballet, in another a group of local old men were sitting around chatting, drinking tea and playing cards. Not wanting to sound too “Lonely Planet” it felt like we'd stumbled upon a bit of normal local life ... read more

The final part of the trip was visiting one of the oldest cities of Uzbekistan - Bukhara. When sightseeing, I got to visit the Museum of Water Supply. As you might already know, this part of Central Asia is arid and in the 13th-18th centuries, people suffered from lack of water needed for irrigation and melioration. I learned that very simple wheels made of wood and attached jars were used in order to elevate water from lower to higher levels. Geometric calculations and constructions were used at the time for making bridges over channels and rivers. What also amazed me about Bukhara was that in almost all historic and architecture memorials (madrasas - schools for men, mausoleums, and mosques), I could see tessalations involved in decorations made of stone and ceramic. So, enjoy the pictures and ... read more

Nurata mountains October 21, 2014 Bukhara has been a great place to chill out. We have stayed in an excellent guesthouse, Sarrafon B&B. The whole family were so welcoming and helpful. The guesthouse was right in the tourist centre. The rooms were spacious and clean and the wifi excellent. Abdul spoke very good English and his Dad some too. They helped change money, with directions, phoning future guesthouses and with how to get to Nurata even though he was offering his own inclusive tour to the area. In return we educated Abdul about AirBnB. With their LP reference they had a steady flow of independent travellers. We linked up with Larry and Suzie from Seattle for dinner one night. They were a very well travelled couple and we agreed we were both members of the non-cruising ... read more

Geo: 39.7659, 64.4223Sorry, another brief history lesson. Bokhara had been a city on the Silk Road for a long time but blossomed under the Samanids in the 9th and 10th century and at its height it had over 300 mosques and 100 medrassas (my other book says 250) which schooled pupils from as far away as Yemen and Andalucia and had a Royal Library containing 45,000 volumes. Here flourished many notable Islamic scholars, scientists, philosophers etc including Avicenna who at the age of 18 cured the ruler of a chronic illness and was granted access to the library - to which he later added many works. Wrecked by Ghengis Khan it flourished again in the time of Timur, though he had moved the capital to Samarkand.Suffering from a shortage of water the city was built around ... read more