Samarkand
We are back after our holidays, and I will slowly share the trip with you. It might be over several entries as I have so many pictures, experiences and thoughts to share. In general it was a great trip. We really enjoyed traveling together with the Ross/Morris family, and the kids all got along wonderfully. The adults actually had time to speak about adult things because the kids were always busy playing together happily.
We started our journey with a train trip from Tashkent early in the morning and arrived in Samarkand around 10:30am. Our prearranged guides, Dennis and Amir, met us at the train station, and we set off immediately to visit an antique bazaar outside of the city. The ride itself was fascinating, looking at the region that is known for its fruit and potato growing. The cherry trees everywhere were already in bloom, and workers were tidying orchards. The fields were being prepared for planting. Sadly, we never made it to the bazaar as one of the car's lost a belt and we had to fix it in the next town after towing the car with the seat belts that are are rarely used by people in this country. In the long run it turned out for the better as Dennis was worried about the car and as a result took it to a mechanic before we left for Shakrisabz.
We were only a few kilometers away from our destination, but by the time we were done, it was lunch time, the kids were antsy and the bazaar would close upon our arrival there. We ended up going back to Samarkand and ate at a restaurant across the street from the Registan. The wind was blowing so much that day that our lunch was covered with dust, and we almost froze while walking around. The boys had left the hotel without a jacket, and I ended up buying Uzbek chapan's (our equivalent of a coat) for them. The Registan was a Madrassah where Moslem learning occurred. For more detail about this please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registan
I took way too many pictures of this building as the enormity and blue tiles is just fascinating for me. Within the Madrassah, no learning occurs anymore and it has become another location for handicrafts to be sold. Although the beauty of the building is overwhelming, it seems to me that consumerism has seeped into the pores of the building and it is missing something as a result of this.
After spending over an hour and half exploring the Registan, we headed back home to get jackets and the boys and I headed out to the Mausoleum that houses the tomb of both Amir Temur and his son Ulgubek. Amir Temur is the leader known for building Samarkand and the empire surrounding it. Ulugbek is his son who is known for continuing the empire, but is more famous for creating the first observatory that was able to see the planets before Copernicus was doing the same in Europe. The Mausoleum was a peaceful, spiritual place where we received a tour in Russian from an older Uzbek lady. Besides Ulugbek and Amir Temur you have Temur's teacher, and his grandsons, as well as his spiritual advisor. Above the spiritual advisor a horse tail was hanging from a large stick. The building itself is 36m in height, and the catacombs below are 5m high. The interior is decorated with 6kg of gold and the intricacy of the whole monument is amazing.
The last picture above was taken in the evening coming back from dinner. We returned to our hotel to get a a nice warm cup of chai(tea) that would become our staple drink during the week. Our room counted as the best room of the bed and breakfast in the home of the owners, and had a balcony with a wonderful view. The view included the Mausoleum we had just seen.
After resting for a while we went out to dinner at a restaurant called the Platan, which is a tree that you will see pictures of periodically during the next posts. The boys tried pizza, but were disappointed while the adults had sashlik. Namejs fell asleep promptly at 8:10 which would become his regular routine. He slept through the loud conversations and the celebration at the next table. We danced togehter with the group and congratulated a couple on their wedding anniversary. When we got back to the hotel we all fell into bed absolutely exhausted from our first day of vacation!
We started our journey with a train trip from Tashkent early in the morning and arrived in Samarkand around 10:30am. Our prearranged guides, Dennis and Amir, met us at the train station, and we set off immediately to visit an antique bazaar outside of the city. The ride itself was fascinating, looking at the region that is known for its fruit and potato growing. The cherry trees everywhere were already in bloom, and workers were tidying orchards. The fields were being prepared for planting. Sadly, we never made it to the bazaar as one of the car's lost a belt and we had to fix it in the next town after towing the car with the seat belts that are are rarely used by people in this country. In the long run it turned out for the better as Dennis was worried about the car and as a result took it to a mechanic before we left for Shakrisabz.
We were only a few kilometers away from our destination, but by the time we were done, it was lunch time, the kids were antsy and the bazaar would close upon our arrival there. We ended up going back to Samarkand and ate at a restaurant across the street from the Registan. The wind was blowing so much that day that our lunch was covered with dust, and we almost froze while walking around. The boys had left the hotel without a jacket, and I ended up buying Uzbek chapan's (our equivalent of a coat) for them. The Registan was a Madrassah where Moslem learning occurred. For more detail about this please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registan
I took way too many pictures of this building as the enormity and blue tiles is just fascinating for me. Within the Madrassah, no learning occurs anymore and it has become another location for handicrafts to be sold. Although the beauty of the building is overwhelming, it seems to me that consumerism has seeped into the pores of the building and it is missing something as a result of this.
After spending over an hour and half exploring the Registan, we headed back home to get jackets and the boys and I headed out to the Mausoleum that houses the tomb of both Amir Temur and his son Ulgubek. Amir Temur is the leader known for building Samarkand and the empire surrounding it. Ulugbek is his son who is known for continuing the empire, but is more famous for creating the first observatory that was able to see the planets before Copernicus was doing the same in Europe. The Mausoleum was a peaceful, spiritual place where we received a tour in Russian from an older Uzbek lady. Besides Ulugbek and Amir Temur you have Temur's teacher, and his grandsons, as well as his spiritual advisor. Above the spiritual advisor a horse tail was hanging from a large stick. The building itself is 36m in height, and the catacombs below are 5m high. The interior is decorated with 6kg of gold and the intricacy of the whole monument is amazing.
The last picture above was taken in the evening coming back from dinner. We returned to our hotel to get a a nice warm cup of chai(tea) that would become our staple drink during the week. Our room counted as the best room of the bed and breakfast in the home of the owners, and had a balcony with a wonderful view. The view included the Mausoleum we had just seen.
After resting for a while we went out to dinner at a restaurant called the Platan, which is a tree that you will see pictures of periodically during the next posts. The boys tried pizza, but were disappointed while the adults had sashlik. Namejs fell asleep promptly at 8:10 which would become his regular routine. He slept through the loud conversations and the celebration at the next table. We danced togehter with the group and congratulated a couple on their wedding anniversary. When we got back to the hotel we all fell into bed absolutely exhausted from our first day of vacation!
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