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ABOUT SAMARKAND
| Where I slept: |
in the Bahodir guesthouse: GO THERE 'cause it
so nice!!! (6$ for a big double room without bathroom) |
| Getting there and away: |
Tashkent- Samarcanda: bus, 5 hours (few $) Samarcanda-Khiva:
night bus, 12 hours. Terrible!! I don't recommend you!! It was so crowded and hot. My god,
it took one full day to rest after it. |
Samarcanda doesn't
disappoint its fame: the whole town with the Registan
and the several others huge mosques form a kind of unique
big monument. In addition considering that is the main
uzbek highlight, I didn't find that much touristy, anyway
less than Buhara.
What I mainly remember are the green
boulevard and the streams along them, that made the atmosphere
really fresher, even during the hottest days.
I spent definitely more days than
I planned, not to visit the monument but 'cause I enjoyed
my staying in the guesthouse. It was a pleasure to wake
up, have a tea, a chat with some crazy traveller (and
it was plenty), a stroll in the market and then spend
the afternoon studying russian, sipping tea and hassling
Bahodir (the supernice guesthoues owner) with my questions
about the russian language. The atmosphere reminded me
a lot the one that several years before I lived in the
heart of Iran, Esfhan. I found extremely nice people in
the town. In particular I knew a group of Uzbek students
who were quite eager to speak English who took me around
the town and in the Guri Amir mausoleum where they show
me how they prayed.
ABOUT SHAKHRISABZ
| Where
I slept: |
daytrip
(in Samarkand) |
| Getting
there and away: |
shared
taxi from Samarkand (2 hours) |
| Special
activities: |
enjoy
the trip to get there, apart in your car there isn't
a young girl throwing up as it happened to me |
Definitely
isn't not an unmissable place, but if you aren't rushing
and you want a break after some days in Samarkand I
think you can have a nice day trip there. Shakhrisabz
was Timur's hometown and still there're the ruins of
the old huge gate of his palace (you can climb up and
admire the landscape). However, more than such ruins,
what was interesting for me has been the car trip to
get there. The road snakes around the mountains that
from Samarkad towards Taijkistan slowly grow, and let
you to see the rural life of Uzbekistan that, staying
in the towns you can hardly feel.
ABOUT
KHIVA
| Where
I slept: |
private
house (5 $) after a tough bargaining of Olga (russian
travelmate). Clean and nice, even the family was
quite cold (in 3 days I'v almost never seen them).
It's plenty of such accommodations |
| Getting
there and away: |
Khiva-Buhara,
bus private taxi (40$, 8 hours I raccomend it
because it let you to stop where you want on the
way: for instance swim on Amu Daryaor see the
yurt in the deserts).
Samarcanda-Khiva: night bus,
12 hours. Terrible!! I don't recommend you!!
It was so crowded and hot. My god, it took one
full day to rest after it.
|
| Special
activities: |
for
sure you'll know a small girl called Berna, or
better she will find you!!. Don't miss a trip
in the desert to the ruins of the fortresses,
it's worthwhile. |
If Khiva was in Italy
it would be crowded of tourists, but in Uzbekistan
it manages to mantains its charm. In fact I didn't
meet many foreigners although the numerous souvenirs
shops show how the locals count on the tourism. Frankly
I didn't expect Khiva to be so cute, moreover it's
completely different from Buhara and from Samarkand:
don't skip it thinking it's enough with them, you
would miss a lot.
The interesting part is the
small town skirted by the huge mud walls. All inside
it's a labyrinth of narrow streets, mosques and houses
whose garden you can peek at from the half opened
wooden doors. It's worth spending two days mainly
hanging around in the early morning or late afternoon
(after 4.30 pm) due to the hotness (in summer I mean).
While the in the mid afternoon you can sit and sip
some tea under the shadow in a chaikhana (tea house).
Moreover don't miss a walk through
the town outside the walls; the people will not hesitate
to invite you inside one of the several tiny mosques
or kids to strike a pose for a picture. It's a different
world but it's still Uzbekistan
ABOUT
BUHARA
| Where
I slept: |
comfortable
guesthouse even with the bathroom! (5$ but after
and intense bargaining of the russian girl I was
travelling with; sorry, no way you'll get such
price) |
| Getting
there and away: |
Khiva-Buhara,
bus private taxi (40$, 8 hours I raccomend it
because it let you to stop where you want on the
way: for instance swim on Amir dariaXXX or see
the yurt in the deserts). Buhara.Samarcanda: train
(15 hours, better alternative to the awfull bus,
being a night train you won't really feel the
travel) |
| Special
activities: |
sauna
and painful massagge in a "russian banja" |
It was the last one I
visited after having been in Samarcanda and Khiva.
Although I didn't have big expectations, I really
appreciate it. It has nothing to do with both of them:
for a certain point of view is the most touristy,
but definitely it's far from being crowded. Anyway
it's evident that the entire old town lives on the
tourism and the souvenir stalls, guesthouses and restaurants
abound. But as usual a bunch of hundred meters further
from the main way you hardly will see foreigners and
you really feel its atmosphere, especially in all
the narrow unpaved streets snaking around the houses
and forming a kind of labyrinth.
This one around the old town
is a poor part of Buhara, but further, there's the
real town that is definitely the most russian town
I've seen in the country: green wide boulevards (prospekta),
huge squares, and soviet style buildings show the
past. I spent nice time wandering through the markets
buying russian books for uzbek students. It was quite
interesting to see the development that the soviet
government brought, in term of means of transport,
services, parks. even not pricelessly.
During my staying the weather
was so nice: hot but pleasant being dry and quite
ventilated.
What I mostly remember of Buhara? The swimming
pool in the old town where uzbek guys were diving
from the branches of the high trees, the green park
with rusty merry-go-rounds and the russian banja where
I had a sauna with a painful massage or better a skin
grinding!!!
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