Adventures along the Silk Road
Trip Start
Jul 20, 2004
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131
151
Trip End
Jul 20, 2012
Samarkand,
Uzbekistan
Monday, June 30, 2008
Dean Karnazes, an endurance athlete from California also participated in the Gobi March. He kept a blog for runnersworld which you can read here.
For videos and photos, check out the RTP website.
After the Gobi March 2008 race, I headed back to Urumqui by car just in time to make 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.
Bukhara - ??
One thing I noticed everywhere I went was the omnipresent police force; at least 2-4 policemen in every metro station and on every street corner and train and bus stations. The police force probably employes half of Uzbekistan's citizens. In addition, if you are a nostalgic for good old stinky East European cars, Uzbekistan is the place to go - Wolgas, Ladas, Moskviches, you name it. Compared to BJ, Tashkent feels like a step back in time; its a green city with lots of trees, parks, laid back people, few cars and no traffic jams, and no pushing and shoving in the subway. I stayed at Ali Tours B&B which is a laid back backpacker place that serves breakfast, has a swimming pool, and vodka nights with Ali (every night). Rooms come in a range between 10 and 25 dollars. The B&B is at central location close to Kosmonavtl metro (metro rides 300 sum). The Kyrg embassy is straight forward though it pays to be there early as your name is put on a list and you are called according to the number. Once you handed in your application, you have to go to a bank near the embassy where you have to pay $56.10!!!!! Make sure you take the 10 cents with you, otherwise, they will only return $3, the rest goes to the Uzbek treasury. I could pick up my visa the same day but others have waited between 2-3 days for their visa. After I got my visa, I went to the train station to buy my ticket to Bukhara.The train station was virtually empty and it was pretty fast to get a ticket. Don't forget your passport and tell them exactly what you want, the day, the time and the class.
Bukhara - another medressa
I paid 16000 sum for platzkartny to Bukahra which was perfectly fine. Everybody gets fresh sheets and you are ready to go for a nice sleep.Bukhara
I remember when I was a child learning about Central Asia in school and seeing pictures of fabled Bukhara and Samarkand. I knew then that one day I had to see these places with my own eyes. That day had finally come!
Bukhara does not have a train station; the nearest station is in Kagan, 16 km away. I took a marshrutnoe for 400 sum into the city, well almost into the city...... The driver made us get out of the van and walk; I found out later that President Karimov was in town and so the entire city traffic came to an halt and no cars/buses were allowed to drive into the center.
I went straight to Mubijon guesthouse where owner Mubijon, an old retired Olympic sprinter, is slowly restoring his 240 year old traditional Bukhara style house. When I got there, there were 2 french girls and me; the next day it was me and Alexander, an old travel hand from Oz. The room/or mattress was $6 and one had to use Mubijon's toilet and bathroom. The kitchen could have used some cleaning (so did Mubijon who I have not seen combing his hair the 4 days I was there). Tea and hot water was always available and for $2 he would have made breakfast. But why bother with making breakfast if we can go to the bazar at 6am and buy everything we need there. I loved especially the freshly backed round nan bread that became one of my stable foods in Central Asia.
Bukhara - beautiful blue tiles
I spent 4 days in this city, every day exploring another architectural marvel. My favorite places were the Ismail Samani mausoleum and Chor Minor. I got a little annoyed with the constant overpricing for almost everything from buying bread to souvenirs in the main center. A place where people dont try to cheat you is the bazar away from the tourist center. A bread should cost around 400 sum, a beer in the store 1000 and 1 L bottles of water between 400-600. In Bukhara, I met Dilfuza who has a little store in one of the Medrassas that functions as a souvenir market. After 4 extremely hot days, I decided to skip Khiva and head for Samarkand. At the bus stop in Bukhara, I met Claudia and we started to travel together to Samarkand (we paid 7000 sum for a hot bus ride without air conditioning).Samarkand
Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, prospering from its location on the trade route between China and Europe (Silk Road). At times Samarkand has been one of the greatest cities of Central Asia. It even was capital of Uzbekistan for a short while until Tashkent took over.
Arriving in Samarkand, we took marshrutnoe 17 to the bazar and headed for Bahodir's guesthouse. He had built a little oasis near the Registan; rooms of varying degree of comfort and price ranges. We got a room for $17 and were happy with it. The doorms were cheaper at $6 but looked like a dungeon (so did the bathrooms that went with the doorms).
Bukhara - Bolo-Hauz Mosque
Travellers at Bahodirs seem to stay there for longer than they had planned. There was a great international potpouri of travellers and exchanging travel stories made for endless hours of conversations and tea. Breakfast was included in the price and for an additional $2, they cooked up a storm of typical Uzbek food that kept me belly fool.Undoubtedly, the Registran is the most majestic and well known building of Samarkand. But my favorite were the Shah-e Zindah Tombs in the middle of Samarkand's cemetary. I preferred Samarkand over Bukhara since it was cooler and greener (but more modern). Bukhara still breezes history in and out whereas Samarkand tries to blend the old and the modern. Not wanting to endure another long and hot bus ride, I opted for the train back to Tashkent (8000 sum for the 11 o'clock train)3 days later.
On the train, I met Yuri/George who teaches English in Tashkent. We talked about anything and everything from american to chinese to uzbek life and english idioms and food. In Tashkent, we decided to meet up the next day and go to the Alisher Navoi theater. Meanwhile, I headed to the hotel Locomotif inside the Tashkent train station where Claudia was waiting. The hotel is clean and freshly renovated and at 8000 sum per person offers unbeatable value. In the evening, we met up with Mike, who works for Sundowners Travel, for beer and sheecha. The next day, Claudia left for Bishkek and I moved back to Ali Tour where I had left my luggage. I met up with George and along the way we met French Nicolas and off we went into the old town of tashkent to have lunch in a private house in a mahalla.
Bukhara - Bolo-Hauz Mosque - ceiling
Nadia, a friend of George joined us later and we had a wonderful time eating, drinking and chatting away until it was time to hit the road to go to the theater. What a lovely performance for 1000 sum!!!!! A mix of opera and ballet, well worth a visit and an enjoyable way to say goodby to Tashkent.Fergana
My last 2 days were spent in Fergana (from Tashkent I paid 15000 sum with shared taxi)where I stayed at hotel Ziyorat a classical pre-communist tourist hotel but clean and reasonably priced at $12. I took the time to go to Margilan to visit the Yodgorlik Silk Factory where Ms. Shahnoza Aliyeva gave my a private tour in English. The factory is now privately owned and employs 150 workers. I was shown the process of making silk by boiling cocoons and obtaining the silk thread from the cocoon (1 km per cocoon). Then I went on to see the dying room where most of the dye comes from natural products such as roots, beets or onions. The room where the women make the silk fabric by hand looked ancient but beautifully painted. In stark contrast, the room where silk fabric is produced with machines was extremely noisy (women there did not wear ear protection)and looked right out of a soviet time history book. The machines are still the original ones built in the late 18th century. After the silk factory, I spent some time exploring the town which has lots of mahallas (old neighboorhoods) and stuffing myself with bread and cheese at a local bazar chatting with the old women there. Back at the hotel, I met Kenjaboy who speaks English and works at the hotel reception. He can provide lots of information about the town and anything else you want to know. That night, I had my last Uzbek beer, a Sarbast Original and the next morning I left for Andijion and the border. The minibus to Andijion is 1500 sum and then I paid another 2000 sum for shared taxi to a checkpoint I thought is the border. However, the border was another 4 km away which I decided to walk and take in the last minutes of being in Uzbekistan. It was my way of saying goodby to Uzbekistan.
The border crossing was straight forward and within 15 minutes after crossing the border I was in Osh where I stayed at Osh Guesthouse for one night (dorm 195 som) before heading to Bishkek. The Guesthouse is basically a converted apartment which is in desparate need of cleaning. But the 2-3 guys who are in charge of the place are easy going and can help with information. The place is not far from the market and the minibus station. However, no alcohol is allowed in the Guesthouse (found out about this rule after I finished my ice cold beer).
