Hotel B&B Davr Samarkand

... an optical illusion ceiling which was just fantastic. It looked like it was going up into a dome but Marat said that the ceiling was actually perfectly flat. It took me awhile to get centered and take a photo and I think I was always a tiny bit off center. A lot of gold in this mosque and stalactites decorated with gold and much blue and just a fascinating mosque, beautiful.

There were shops to the left of ...

... absolved. Wow, sure wish it were that easy because mine were the same.

There are mausoleums on each side of the avenue that runs from the top of the stairs to the back mosque. Each mausoleum is labeled with who is interred in the mausoleum and what the age is and in some cases they don’t know for sure who is there so they say that it is unknown but believed to be from a certain age. Each mausoleum except ...

... it to Samarqand (am I mad or what?) while Abdullo, Ziyodullo and I travel by car. Rustam, now responsible for me, has paid the medical and hotel bills. We arrive safely in Samarqand and after parking the bike in a lockup we head for Rustam's home, his wife and two young daughters. It is clear he is going to struggle financially with the cost of this episode. He cannot afford to put us up in a hotel ...

... the square would often offer tourists the chance to ascend one of the Registan's minarets for a better view of the square (for a fee of course – 2,000 som (under £1) according to 2007 rates) so we weren't surprised when one sidled up to and asked if we were interested. We were very interested until he mentioned the price – 50,0000 som (£20)! We laughed as hard as you can at a mean looking man carrying a baton in a police state and then walked off. Hopefully we would ...

... into the centre of Samarqand, The Registan, without too much bother and found our hostel, Antica. At $16 a night it's a little pricey for us but we were again welcomed in by the family who own the place with numerous pots of chai.

We're getting a little addicted to shashlikh so headed out to a cafe and gorged ourselves on sweaty meat and beer for £2 a head, and then wandered around the Registan medressas in the fading light.

Walking across town I was struck down with a bout ...

... been in. This is one of the cities they say could have been the location of the fabled 1001 Arabian nights. Occupied since around the 5th century BC Samarkand is blessed with a great water supply and a location at the base of a ring of tall mountains.

The Great Timur took control in 1370 and has been rewarded with a huge bronze stature located in the middle of a city intersection. He was responsible for most of the public building in the city and ruled ...

... the old Marakanda. The name Shah-i-Zinda means “Tomb of the Living King” and the mausoleum houses family members and favourites of Tamerlame and Ulugbek.

Despite our exhaustion, it was a hauntingly beautiful place with an atmosphere to match. Lola suggested that we should perhaps use this opportunity to “explore our spirituality”. By this time such a soul searching opportunity didn’t really appeal but we plodded obediently into one of the peaceful ...

... European, dignified and very attractive with pastel coloured buildings, white pillars and ornate white trimmings.

Our walk that afternoon was that of a walk with a mission. We were obviously feeling better and were more so when Alan found a shop selling beer. And cold beer too. Furthermore, we found a number of restaurants that looked pleasant and were only a couple of kilometers from our hotel.

That evening we ventured out for our first real ...

... of Allah and Mohammed wrıtten ın rather abstract Farsi (as opposed to arabıc whıch ıs often featured ın the photo's as the more calıgraphıc text ın glazed terracotta panels) Update. After travelıng through most of Asıa's Muslım countrıes we can say that the Ulugbek Medressa ın Samarqand ıs probably the best Medressa we saw. Esfahan's come close on account of the fact that most are stıll be used as Medressahs today.

... l Est i a l Oest, mirant se d igual a igual, vestides de diumenge, com les senyores que van al mercat d Urgut, molt mes daurades que entre setmana, amb un posat d alta dignitat que no arriba a lorgull; la tercera recull el duel amb elegancia, destensant l enfrontament amb un segon eix, que crea un quart centre i articula tot el conjunt com a tal. A Samarcanda el turisme te el ventre gros, pero encara es lluny d ofegar la ciutat.