We left Samarkand at the usual 8am start with full cars and spare fuel in the guides car. Our destination was a Yurt camp on the shores of Lake Aydarkul. The story goes that a Soviet Dam built on the major river leading to the Aral Sea was in risk of breaking so they diverted the water to a natural depression in the desert and created a new lake 200km long. It is still fed from the river. A contributor to the Aral Sea “disappearing”.

On the way I have been looking for opportunities to take photos of some of the modes of transportation. These were usually donkeys pulling all sorts of carts.

We had organised to stay at a Yurt camp so I will have to call this day…the day of animals! We knew there would be no internet and limited power and washing facilities…basically camping but a great experience.

Arriving at the camp we dropped our luggage in the yurt, had lunch and then drove our cars down to the lake. This was beautiful and swimming and relaxing in the shade was a good way to spend a couple of hours of a hot afternoon.

While there relaxing, a flock of sheep and goats came down to the lake for a drink!

Returning to the camp we rode camels.

Again animals are the theme and there were two baby camels penned while the mothers roamed around free. They wouldn’t go far from their babies!

A fabulous afternoon and we fell into bed not noticing the warm temperature or mattress on the floor of the yurt.

Today was a sightseeing day in Samarkand. Having seen some beautiful mosaic work yesterday, the mosaics continued today. Visited the Ulugh Beg Observatory. All that remains of the observatory is the sextant arc underground and there is now a museum on the sight. What an amazing astronomer who died at the age of 55. What he would have done if he had lived to a normal old age!

Fascinating museum. Then we visited Daniels tomb. This is not his final resting place but a memorial for him as he is buried in Iran. Having been renovated it is a lovely sight.

The Shak-i-Zindah is a street like complex of mausoleums. The tiling here is beautiful and every tomb is decorated in some way with the traditional blue tiles.

Bibi Khanum mosque was named after Temur’s first wife. This is partially in ruins but it can be seen how beautiful it would have been in its day.

The bazaar was worth a visit. Lunch was found and it was interesting viewing the stalls although not as large or as exciting as Bishtek.

One of the interesting aspects of the day was the acquiring of fuel for the cars. We had been told in the  morning that Samarkand had NO fuel and our guide would work on it. Late afternoon fuel was found and similar to exchanging money on the black market, this fuel was also back market. At a price at least 25 % more than retail we drove our cars to a yard where the garage had a small fuel truck. We managed to refuel all our cars and also fill jerry cans which would hopefully be adequate to get us all to the Turmenistan border in 3 days time. An interesting exercise!

Today we left Tashkent (Hotel Uzbekistan) to drive to Samarkand. Fairly dry scenery gave way to some farmland.

One of the features were the storks that were nesting on the power staunches.

Arriving in Samarkand we checked into the hotel and then proceeded mid afternoon to tour Registan Square. The tile work and beauty of the buildings was amazing. The oldest of the madrassahs housed the  astronomy work of Ulugh Beg, grandson of  Tamerlane.

We also then went to the mausoleum of Tamerlane (Amir Temur) and again the building was beautiful.

Dinner at a local restaurant was fantastic…local families dining and live music!

Today it was great not to have to get up and have the car packed to leave by 8am as we have 2 nights in Tashkent.

We headed off for a tour of the city at 9am. Our first stop was the Barakkhan Madrasah which was once a centre for islamic teaching. It now houses craft masters in small shops. An interesting explore.

We also visited the Kaffal Shashi Mausoleum and the library of Islamic literature which houses the Holy Koran book from the 7th century. It was fascinating to see this old manuscript under glass written on deer skin. It was also intriguing to view the other old books of the Koran from different centuries. Quite a library!

We walked from here to the Bazaar and the size of it made Bishtek’s of a few days ago small! Bread was being baked and the spices, meats and vegetables etc were intriguing.

A walk through the back streets allowed us to see the local city homes and the way most were built with mud and daub. Traditionally there were no windows opening onto the alleys and the rooms inside go off a central courtyard.

We caught the metro to 2 different stations where the decoration of the station walls represented the space program in one and a famous Uzbek poet in another. Fascinating to see each station different. Much more exciting than the Sydney stations!

Independence Square and the War memorial completed our tour. Both were interesting but the War memorial with its engravings of all those who died in World War II and the eternal flame and sculpture of the mother waiting her son and husband’s return was very moving.

Ian did some extra walking and visiting the Tamerlan museum.