Sherdor Hotel Samarkand

... 1220 with the arrival of Genghis Khan, who (like almost always) annihilated most of the city he conquered. Samarkand would have almost dropped off the map altogether if it weren't for the equally brutal tyrant Timur (Tamerlane) who made Samarkand his capital in 1370 and spent the next 35 years turning it into the most impressive city in Central Asia. Much of what stands in Samarkand today dates from Timur's time.

Before we could take in any of the sights we made a ...

... in some major road works, Baz and Tim managing to get through. This meant a 5 hour wait, during which Rick and I, and our vehicles, were the centre of attention! I lost count of the number of Uzbeks I talked to, and I particularly remember one moment when I sneaked away, sat down and had a quiet drink and when I looked up 20+ faces were staring intently to see what the 'Englais' would do next! It was a bit of a struggle at times but I ...

... 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 ...

Modern Samarkand stretches over an enormous area and being mostly designed on a circular basis it was quite difficult to get our bearings. There were many times that we embarked on a long walk trying to find a landmark site, only to find that we ended up in quite a different direction to that planned.

And so it was not until our fourth and last day in Samarkand that we did a formal tour and were finally able to gain an appreciation of this extraordinary city. This was probably ...

... even take in our decision.

Our trip from Bukhara to Samarkand was long and tedious. Alan was lying in the back seat of the car, almost delirious and only surfacing when we had to scream to a stop to let him out to be sick on the side of the road.

We now often joke that like Alexander the Great in the 3rd century BC, Alan left his DNA all along the Silk Road. It was not a case of rape and plunder but rather that of belch and chunder. It is ...

... At the Uzbek border it took around two hours, o all in all 2,5 hours to cross...not too bad at all. It was now 11.30am and needed to cycle another 100km's to get to Bukhara. It took forever as the headwind made us slow down so much that our speedometers showed 13km an hour!! Too depressing to look at, we stopped every 20 kms for a coke or some other sort of drink, to keep ourselves going. I don't think I have drank so much coke in my life, they should consider ...

... local ronec a l esquena del Magasin Dustlick, i el nostre aksakal un txitxarel lo llargarut i esprimatxat de bigoti negre i camisa barata dins els pantalons, que rebaixa sensiblement la nostra percepcio del tema. Ens fem unes fotos amb el seu Lada blau mecanic, i amb el seu Lada blau mechanic les anem a imprimir. Una hora despres llueixen, recolzades a dues ampolles buides de Coca cola, com trofeus de legitimitat, sobre la ...

... it to the airport where I was greeted by 100s of Uzbeks with tons of luggage. Urumqui must make a lot of money from Uzbeks going on a weekly shopping spree. ;-)) As I am writing this report on my day I crossed over to Osh, Kyrgyzstan, I reflect back on my travels in Uzbekistan. Tashkent I spent the first 3 days in the Uzbek capital waiting for my Kyrg visa and otherwise enjoying the metro stations of the city. One thing I noticed everywhere I went ...

... travelled to Tanzania together. I promise I'll give it back soon). Scott, Kate, and Zoe can fill you in on their experiences, which include meeting a "black market archeologist," but fate had a different plan for me. After brainstorming, we decided that I would take a Marshutka back to the restaurant and meet them in the hostel. Now, its important to note that nobody speaks English, but with the call # (#58) of our Marshuka, I was somehow confident this would be a simple ...