I arrive at Samarkand to find it barricaded up with security officers closing down the inner city for the visit to the classic monuments here by the Chinese President and the Uzbek President. The resourceful Iranian businessman who is my companion for the day speaks the language and somehow we get a cab to take us up the bck routes to his hotel. The Iranian also negotiates a price for me aand suddenly the 4 star room is a steal at $55 rather than the normal rate of $100! I head off in the late afternoon and get most of the way into town by cab and walk the last kilometre along lovely green shaded boulevards which ar a balm to my eyes that have had almost 3 weeks of desert and shades of yellow.
Samarkand is Uzbekistan’s most glorious city! With a history that stretches back to 5 BC it became yet another key post on the silk road. In a familair plot it was obliterated by Genghis Khan in the 13th century before becoming the capitol of Timur’s empire in 1370. At its zenith this empire stretched from Kazakhstan in the north to China in the east and down to Delhi, Iran and all of Turkey to the Bosperus. His capitol became a centre of learning and culture in the Middle East. Ultimately it declined as the neighbouring Bukhara became more powerful.
The monuments here are on a truly grand scale and the centrepiece is the 3 massive blue tiled, mosaiced medressas set around a large square called the Registan. Early morning and I beat the tour groups and the ticket office and have the best of the light. I am surprised to find that all is open and by the time someone badgers me to pay I have already seen all I want to. At my next venue, the Bib Khanym mosque I utilise a trick that worked here at a mausoleum yesterday. I wander in amongst the middle of a large tour group and again I don’t have to pay. It is not something I will make a habit of but it was the challenge to see if I could get away with it. I did!
Gur e Amir mausoleum
Gur e Amir Mausoleum
This place is the closes to the capitol Tashkent and I have seen as many tour groups here as I have for the last 2 weeks but it is still easy enough to wander around between groups and get good pictures. Despite the tour groups the locals are truly friendly. Last night at dinner at a local restaurant I find I am being eyed off by a corpulent elderly Uzbek lady dresssed up to the nines. Finally she speaks up loadly and says “You tourist?” When I nodded she roars “I love tourists, I love you!” much to my embarrassment. Today walking near the Registan I am set upon by 8 teenage girls who all want to be photographed with me. It was a good five minutes before this celebrity managed to extricate himself from the poses and phone photos with the girls.
Registan
Ulugbek medressa
This is my last day in Uzbekistan. I am not looking forward to tomorrow’s border crossing into Tajikistan. The Uzbeks at my last departure point were particularly officious and intrusive and there was a big language barrier. No matter I wil prevail and tomorrow it is from the capitol, Dushanbe.