Bukhara, Uzbekistan to Khiva, Uzbekistan
Morning in Bukhara
Woke up early enough to take a walk around the Old Town of Bukhara while it was still quiet.
Snapshots from the drive
Curious what the Red Sand Desert looks like? This is it. The Ozzies said it reminded them of the interior of Australia. If you look carefully you can see the brand new rail line, brand new paved roads, all sorts of new infrastructure going in. In all honesty our ride was a bit rough. Next year should be a whole new experience for tourists.
River crossing – perhaps the border with Turkmenistan takes a jag and goes through here? I was unclear.
Just a view of what things look like in real life
Cotton harvest time!
Rest Stops
I like taking snapshots of things that are new to me. The driver saw me take a photo of the giant beers being sold on the side of the highway(!), made a boob gesture at me, and then laughed heartily. Then after lunch he wanted me to pose goofy in front of the life size camel sculpture in the desert. I wasn’t sure what was going on, til he went around back and took a wiz.
As you can see the rest stop really was in the middle of the desert. Taking a few steps in to take photos resulted in the find of my trip – a ram’s horn. Took it home and preserved it (see the What I Took Home page).
Is a person not supposed to think of the Chicago Bulls when they see that meat sign? And are those crackers really left with no cover until someone scoops some up? Do we have cotton seed oil so readily available?
Here is the quote from the rest stop:
Fois le bien et jette le dans la riviere: un jour il te sera rendu dans la desert – Rumi Konya
Entering Khiva
We stayed at the Potter’s Hotel in the Old City. Their family were potters for generations. They were expanding. I’m sure there will be even fewer residents and more hotels next year. We are told therre are 3,000 residents in the Old Town and 90,000 in the rest of the city.
The shape of the tombs is reminiscent of the ossuaries used by the Zorastrians. After the 19th century no one was buried inside the Old City. The water table is 2 meters down, so do not bury in the ground.
Dinner
Ate at a rooftop restaurant with lovely views. Within the restaurant there were performers, and outside the restaurant we think they were putting on a show for television.
Of course I had to eat the traditional green dill noodles (Shivit Oshi). Loved them so much I had them again for lunch the next day.
