10/3: Onto Bukhara & Even More Fabulous Silk Road Sights!

Reading this post via email or mobile version? Want to read comments or enter your own? Want to see posts from other years or even previous posts from this year? Just click on the post title to access our full web page.

After not having any luck trying to get a shared taxi through Khiva's information center onto Bukhara, a six-plus hour drive away, our hotel owner arranged for a driver to take us all the way there for just $45, a very reasonable fee considering the long distance. We hoped this time we wouldn't be shuffled off to several drivers along the way like a package as had been the case on the drive from Nukus in northwest Uzbekistan to Khiva!

Much of the drive was on very bumpy roads so it wasn't the most relaxing of road trips! Even though we passed several police checkpoints, the driver didn't have to stop for some reason that we were never able to figure out.

For a good stretch, we paralleled the border with the neighboring country of Turkmenistan, according to what I understood the driver to say. 

This building stood out as went for long, long periods without seeing any signs of civilization at all, just endless desert landscape that looked like it would be great for off-roading enthusiasts. 

This was part of Lake Amu-Darya in Turkmenistan; the driver pantomimed the water wasn't good to drink. 

For a heavenly but all too brief stretch we were on some newly paid paved roads as again we saw Turkmenistan to our right. The road was so new, upside down pop bottles had been inserted on the road's edge to mark the 'breakdown lane!'

Our driver had to be so careful when a sudden sandstorm whipped up and made the drive more challenging. 

As this was fall, cotton picking was in full force as we neared some small towns. I would have liked to have asked the driver whether these were private farms or all owned by the government but couldn't because of our language barrier. 

We had thought we'd stop for lunch on the long drive but a ten minute gas stop/bathroom break was all we had. Lina - you would have hated that! What a relief to finally reach the holy city of Bukhara at 3. One of the oldest cities of Central Asia, its history stretches back some 2,500 years. According to our tour book, at its peak, Bukhara boasted 250 madrassas, 200 minarets and a mosque for every day of the year! The city hit its peak in the 9th and 10th centuries under the Samarid Dynasty when the city became a great center of Persian culture and science. The city was largely destroyed by Genghis Khan and the Mongols in 1220. The khanate, i.e. the political entity ruled by the khan, was revived in the 16th century under the extensive building programs of Abdullah Khan. The 19th century brought intrepid travelers to the city but even they described the city as "wearing a halo of departed glory." Ouch!

Our hotel was in the heart of Bukhara, just  a couple of minutes' walk down a lane from Lyab-i-Hauz, a stepped pool dating back to 1620 that was one of 200 that supplied the city with drinking water. It was one of the most beautiful and relaxing spots in the city with traditional architecture, shady poolside chaikhana or tea houses and ancient mulberry trees set around  the hauz or pool and one we often returned to during our four night stay. 

The hauz was commissioned by Grand Vizier Nadir Divanbegi who also commissioned the khanagha or pilgrim hostel and the mosque on the central square. 

We followed the women as they walked around the pool to the Monument to Hodja Nasreddin who I read was a historic figure that is basically the Uzbek version of Robin Hood! According to the charming story based mostly on a folktale, Nasreddin, a Sufi holy fool, stole from the rich and gave to the poor. As his humorous sayings and anecdotes are much loved throughout the Islamic world, I had to wait my turn to have Steven take my picture. Parts of the bronze monument were heavily worn where fans of the Hodja stories had climbed aboard for a photo.

Just behind the monument and facing the pool was Divanbegi Madrassa, originally built as a caravanserai or roadside inn for travelers, but when the khan mistakenly inaugurated it as a madrassa it had to be quickly converted as, once uttered, the edicts of a khan could never be revoked. 

Two mythological birds grasping white doves in their talons decorated the spectacular upper doorway. The Mongol-faced sun was apparently similar to the Shir Dor Madrassa that we would be seeing in several days in Samarkand, the last of the great Silk Road cities on our trip. I loved how the sky was the same mesmerizing blue as the tiles. 

We hadn't even entered the madrassa itself when these striking hand embroidered tote bags caught my attention. I knew then I was going to be in trouble as tote bags are my downfall. I priced them and even though they were what I considered to be quite reasonable, I wanted to wait and see what other designs might be available elsewhere and at what price as we hadn't been in the city then for more than an hour. It turned out similar tote bags were available at a dozen other places throughout Bukhara but when we returned a few days later to choose one of these, the shop was closed - drat. Luckily, I found another one that is very special - no idea what I will use it for but it is pretty! 

Once we'd walked a few more steps into the former madrassa, it was evident that Divanbegi was one big (and fantastic!) souvenir market - wow, this city could be dangerous to our wallets! These men were metal chasers - they tapped very appealing local designs onto metal plates. It wasn't long before we realized we would be seeing. and hearing, the rhythmic tap, tap of metal chasers throughout the city. The plates came in a variety of sizes (and prices, to boot!) and were just gorgeous pieces of art. 

Each of the former cells or rooms was now a souvenir shop with most specializing in just one or two items, like the brass plates, embroidered items - especially cushion covers, ceramics, cotton scarves and the list goes on. Poor Steven had enough before we got a third of the way around and this was just our first stop on our first day!

Back on the square around the pool, a newly married couple was having their photos taken.

The last building on the square was Kukeldash Madrassa, the largest one in Central Asia with 160 student rooms. It was built in 1568.

It was hard not to feel overwhelmed when the women inside the madrassa kept urging me to "Look, Look, Signora" at their scarves, suzanis, jackets, etc when we had entered to get a sense of the madrassa and not the souvenirs inside, as wonderful as they were.

The late afternoon sun cast a lovely glow on the sandstone rooms around the courtyard. 

In what became the norm in most very small 'museums' in Bukhara and later in Samarkand, Steven chose to wait while I wandered around a lot of them by myself for a few minutes as he often didn't care particularly about the subject matter. I normally take far more time than he when we're in big museums together as I like to read the descriptions, take a few (!!) photographs of what I'm seeing and just dawdle a bit longer than his generally quicker pace. There was a token entrance fee, of course, for each one so he figured he could just rest while I was inside and then learn all that he had missed after reading about it in the post, just like you're doing now!

This three room 'museum' depicted the living conditions of the religious education students. The doorways were so short, even I had to duck so I wouldn't hit my noggin, Lil Red!

The rooms were 'cozy' with a small area set aside for studying and an even smaller space for sleeping. To get a photo of the latter, I had to stand on my toes looking up through the one-foot deep narrow space! The sleeping area was certainly very Spartan, don't you think?!

There were exhibits in another part of the madrassa but unfortunately nothing was written in English so I was at a loss to understand what it was I was looking at. 

The ceiling design was so different from what we'd seen anywhere in Khiva. This was very simple but so lovely, I thought.

Detail of a wood door that I found very appealing at the madrassa: 

As we walked through the central square again, we saw a man cooking something in a huge tandoor oven, just as we'd seen at the small local market in Khiva. 

In a residential area a few blocks away was Chor Minor, which means four minarets, and was built in 1807. We soon realized it was one of Bukhara's quirkiest buildings as it resembled an upside down chair that had been the gatehouse of a destroyed madrassa. 

The climb to the roof above the dome was so much easier than climbing to the top of all the other minarets we'd climbed recently! What made it so nice was the existence of a handrail and also the 'hand grippers' - why didn't the other minarets and mosques have something so easy to install and hold onto?!

The latticework screens looked like a spider's web. 

Being on top of the roof just as the sun was setting was a perfect time, just as we'd discovered being on the city walls the last two nights in Khiva. 

Even though we'd only been in Bukhara a matter of hours by then, we already had a deeper appreciation for the city than we had for the 'gussied up' Khiva that seemed too sterile unless you got away from Ichan Kala, the area behind the city walls. 

Satellite dishes were everywhere in the neighborhood surrounding Chor. 

I thought the storks' nest atop one of the blue-green minarets was so adorable but Steven just rolled his eyes at that one! From the angle that we had arrived at Chor Minor and I'd taken the first photo of it, neither of us had seen the storks' nest. It was only visible after you paid to climb to the top or reached Chor Minor from the opposite direction and happened to look up.

As so much of Bukhara has been declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site, it wasn't surprising to discover that the storks and the nest were restored under their direction after they had fallen into disrepair.  

I know you've forgotten what I looked like after not seeing any photos of me at dusk in the last two posts, so here's another one!

A photo of Chor Minor showing the stork's nest from the other angle:

Zachary: When we saw these old army jackets full of old Russian medals I immediately thought of you! That was when I texted you to see if you wanted us to bring you back any, if you remember? We did get you some in Bukhara but not from this shop across from Chor Minor.

The shop also had some very attractive Oriental style carpets, traditional ikat-designed fabric coats and other souvenirs. 

We almost hit the dinner jackpot that night, each getting an order of delicious chicken shaklsih aka kebab and fries on the rooftop terrace of a restaurant halfway between Chor Minor and our hotel just by the central square. Our meal only cost $6 including a pot of tea, plus the service charge and ketchup. We didn't realize it then that most people make sure to reserve a table on the rooftop so when we returned the following night, we weren't as lucky dining in the open air! But, what did make it special was seeing an English couple sit at a table next to us that we'd shared breakfast with at the guesthouse in Khiva a couple of days beforehand! It was so ncie catching up with them.

Next post: Discovering more of beautiful Bukhara, Suellen!

Posted on October 22nd, 2018,  from Astana, Kazakhstan, on our last night in Central Asia before heading in just four hours to Barcelona, Spain, and the next part of this year's adventure!