Many, many…. and I mean many……. years ago I read an article in a National Geographic about Ibn Battuta and his incredible journeys on the Silk Road….I was fascinated! Over the course of my travels I’ve touched on bits and pieces of it (Venice, Istanbul, Xian, Beijing etc.) but none of those places had all the great architecture and the rich history of Central Asia.
My friend Cheri starting putting this trip together back in the spring of 2020, never thinking that covid would have such an impact on the world for so long! For us a tour was the best way to go for this trip…because of Turkmenistan and all the logistics of getting around.
She organized a private tour through G Adventures. We had to have at least 10 people to do it. Initially we had 14 people on board but as covid carried on over the course of the next year we ended up having a number of people cancel just because of all the uncertainty…..only 8 were confirmed.
The original tour was for both Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. We really did not know if the trip would be a go until February 2022 when some travel requirements had been lifted or changed. G Adventures was arranging our visas for Turkmenistan (they are usually only issued thru travel/tour groups). At the end of March we were advised that we would not be able to go to Turkmenistan so the tour would be scaled back to only Uzbekistan.
Once we finally had confirmation that the Uzbek trip was a go we were all scrambling to make our other travel arrangements on short notice (air, hotels, trains, etc) around this part.
Our travelers were Rob and Cheri, Russ and Andrea, Alli and James and my daughter Lindsay and myself.
For all of us Uzbekistan was the middle part of bigger trips…..we were all travel starved!!! We all connected up in Tashkent on May 27 coming from different directions.
May 23 Mon
Steve and Di dropped Linds and me at the airport around 12:30. Big line up to drop bags. Had to take my hairspray out of my bag……gave it to the ladies at the Hertz car rental booth, lol.
Flight delayed by 1/2hr. Took 40 minutes to get thru security. Air Canada/Lufthansa code share to Frankfurt.
Lufthansa 747. We’d booked and aisle and a window hoping for an empty seat between us but no luck. At least he was a small guy!
747’s have to be one of the worst planes…..at least Lufthansa’s. Absolutely no leg room and the guy in front of me put his seat right back pretty much immediately after we took off! Couldn’t even cross my legs….argh.
OK flight, other than the legroom issue. Pasta and wine for dinner….was good. Set up my foot hammock and took a gravol and managed to sleep for about 4 hours then dozed on and off until they served breakfast and hour or so before landing.
May 24 Tues
Arrived in Frankfurt just after 11AM. Always crazy busy at this airport but got thru customs/immigration quickly with no issues.
Out to wait for the shuttle to the Holiday Inn Express (Morfelden-Walldorf)….and wait and wait and wait! Finally had to phone them…..they don’t have a shuttle at the moment???? Took a taxi 28E.
Got checked in and arranged for a pick up in the morning to get back to the airport (6E each). Would not recommend this hotel due to location and lack of amenities…..unless it has changed in the last year.
Was quite a nice day. Warmish and sunny. Napped for a couple hours and went down to check out the restaurant……also not open at the moment. Only for breakfast and pizza later. Nothing much around this Holiday Inn other than a holiday park across the street with a couple of restaurant/bar options, so that’s where we went. About a 5 – 10 minute walk to the “Radhaus Biergarten” for dinner. Fun place! All the campers come for dinner and drinks. Hung around there for a couple hours. Very good schnitzel and beer!
Back to the hotel and to bed. Long day(s)!
May 25 Wed.
Another long travel day but glad we broke it up so at least got a reasonably good sleep in last night.
Up at 6:30. Enough time to get organized, have breakfast and be ready when the driver came at 8.
Flight to Istanbul was at 11:40. Turkish Airways….excellent airline! Got checked in and wandered around until boarding.
Was a great flight. Had booked at the back of the plane so only 2 seats. Flight was approx 3.5 hours. My lunch was meatballs (kefte), rice, veg and a bottle of wine (v.g.). Linds had the pasta which was good too.
Arrived in Istanbul just before 4PM (one hour time change) so had about 3 hours to kill before our connecting flight to Tashkent.
The new Istanbul airport is massive!!! Because we were in transit we were directed to the area where we’d catch our next flight (B gate?). No security/immigration etc. Seems like we walked forever. Tons of restaurants, cafes and shops…..lots to keep you busy for 3 hours.
Headed to the gate and waited for the R and C and R and A to arrive. Their flight from Vienna was late so just made it before boarding started for the Tashkent flight!
Another great flight on Turkish Airways!! Linds and I ended up in the emergency row so extra legroom, which was OK but can’t keep anything under the seat, trays flip up from the armrest, screens are on the wall in front of you etc. Positive I guess if you need all that legroom but not something I’d pay extra for.
Approx 4.5hr flight to Tashkent. Fed us yet again! Great food and wine of course. Dozed on an off.
Arrived in Tashkent at just before 1AM! (2 hour time difference from Istanbul) No issues going thru customs/immigration, quick!. Because of the arrival time we’d booked the hotel for the night thank goodness!
Poor Andrea, a bunch of her credit cards and ID had fallen out of her wallet on the plane and didn’t notice until we were at the luggage carousel. They managed to get some of it back thank goodness, the rest we’ll have to check with Turkish Airways office in Tashkent later during the day.
Luggage came along, outside and found our driver. Even at that time of night the city looks amazing!! Big wide boulevards, lots of pretty treelined streets, huge buildings.
We’re staying at the Uzbekistan Hotel….a historic classic building built during the Soviet years. Massive hotel. Nothing open of course at 2AM for a drink or snack so got checked in and off to our room. Which is at the back of the hotel. We have a balcony that overlooks the city to the south I think. Hard to tell what’s all out there at this time of night though.
The room is rather shabby. Scratched up furniture, carpets need restretching, bathroom could use a redo….taps on crooked, toilet flush pull thing missing the knob, cracked linoleum and in some places pieces missing. But it seems to be clean enough and the beds are comfy so we’re good.
Can’t wait to get out exploring in the morning!
May 26 Thurs
Up around 7. Awake on and off. Slept OK but just not enough! Bright out around 4AM!
Our room overlooks the parking lot and out over the city but not too much to see. Lots of greenery and a few buildings.
The hotel doesn’t look much better in the daylight. Quite impressive just because of the sheer size of it from outside. Pretty gardens around it. Inside is another story. A bit rough around the edges. Could use new carpets and some updating. One or two elevators weren’t working. Ended up walking down. Seems to be a mishmash of businesses in the building with offices set up on the landings on some floors. Kind of strange.
Met everyone for breakfast just after 9. A big buffet with the usual variety of hot and cold food….Uzbek style so lots of middle eastern/asian options….and an egg guy for omelets, scrambled or fried! Good coffee.
Off to explore! Beautiful day. Warm and sunny. And find an ATM!
Walked thru the park across the street to Amir Timur Square. Very nice, clean and well maintained park with a huge statue of him in the centre.
Headed to “Broadway” (Saylgokh St), which is a pedestrian only street, a few shops selling snacks/junk food and ice cream, stands with games. Quite a few booths that were closed up. Not really any market type places with crafts or souvenirs. Apparently it’s not too busy during the day because it’s hot and there aren’t many tourists these days so they don’t bother setting up…..busier at night.
Found an ATM. 1 Million Som was just over $100CDN.
Traffic is crazy here. Very good roads though, wide boulevards and thankfully tunnels to get from one side of the street to the other!
Our plan was to head to the metro and check out all the stations but walked and walked in what we thought was the right direction but didn’t find one. Was good to just explore. Many BIG buildings, some very beautiful and some just a bit garish and over the top….almost like something you’d find on the Vegas strip! No names on most of them so no idea what they were. Lots of parks and green spaces. Streets are unbelievably clean! Everything very well taken care of.
We have two maps of Tashkent as well as google maps….which have pretty good details such as street names BUT have not seen many street signs! So we’re using landmarks, parks and hotels to figure out where we are.
Found the Turkish Airlines office and luckily they did have her DL and everything else except for one credit card….so all good with that.
Discovered a market (Alay Bazaar) across the street from where we were and while going thru the tunnel found a map of the new “green” metro line. Great market with fruit, veg, spices and household items. All the food items are beautifully displayed. The place is impeccably clean too. All very friendly vendors….got a few samples of things too! Fun.
Was lunch time so off we went just down the street to the Wyndham Hotel for drinks and snacks. Beautiful hotel!
Took a different route back towards the hotel and came across the metro line that we had been looking for earlier on the road right beside the hotel! Talk about getting twisted around by the map!
Cheri found a restaurant a block or two away and made a reservation for dinner for us. Was getting hot and we’d already walked for what seemed like miles (12,000 per my fitbit!) so everyone decided it was nap time.
We do have AC in the room but just barely and cannot find any control type things on the walls or on the unit…..ah well!
Met in the hotel bar just before 6 for drinks. Had a glass of Uzbek wine (white)……very sweet and really quite terrible. Will stick with beer from now on.
Dinner was at Toku. Sort of an Asian/Uzbek fusion I guess. Really nice modern décor and very helpful staff that thankfully spoke some English….we are so lucky! It seems to be a bit of a high end restaurant. Food was delicious! I had the filet which was done perfectly and very tender.
Had a good glass of rose wine to go with it. Linds had goulash and a beer. Not cheap though, came to close to $80 for both of us with tip. Fun place….lots of big groups. Got busier as the night wore on.
R, C, A and R went back to the hotel, Linds and I took a walk thru the park (yes at night….well lit and lots of people) and down “Broadway”. Tons more people, families with little kids etc., at 9PM. More food and arts and craft vendors open, lots of game places set up….a whole big area with ping pong tables, blow up castles and slides for kids, other arcade type things for adults (punching bags seem to be a big thing!). Buskers in the tunnels. Fun, lively place!
Got back to the hotel just after 10. Very tired (jet-lagged).
The metro and big Chorsu bazaar tomorrow.
May 27 Fri.
Slept terrible. Went right to bed and slept for a few hours then up and read a bit, dozed on and off and finally just got up around 6. Bed was quite comfy.
Met everyone for breakfast around 9. Egg guy wouldn’t do scrambled today??? Same as yesterday…..good variety of hot and cold, lots of pastries. Good coffee.
Headed out for our subway adventure! No signs in English so we stood around the ticket booth for a bit just sort of watching how it all worked. A guy in line must have seen our bewildered looks and asked if we needed help. 1400 som (about 15 cents CDN) for one way. Luckily once thru the gate the signs were pretty straight forward so no problem getting on the right train going in the right direction. Lots of signs everywhere here that use both the regular (Roman?) alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet letters. Uzbek language is “Turik” and written using roman letters. Was Russian until the Soviets left in 1991.
We got on and off at the stations suggested in our books along the way! They are pretty spectacular. Chandeliers, tons of beautiful tile work, mosaics, artwork on the walls, decorative pillars. Each one had a different theme. Sadly many needed some work. Lots of burnt out bulbs in the chandeliers, broken and cracked tiles and a good power washing would have brought out all the bright colours. That said, it’s still pretty amazing to see all the work that went into these when they were built. And the system is very efficient!
People, young and old, immediately got up to offer us their seats!!! And wanted to speak English with us. Said thank you but we weren’t going too far. They’d ask where we were from and how we liked Tashkent and Uzbekistan…..and they wanted to take pictures with us! We look like them, or most of them, so not sure why??? Lovely people and very proud of their county. Uzbekistan is a secular country. Separation of religion and church is in their constitution. They seem to really like their president… “he is a good dictator” ??? Main religion is Muslim but a number of others as well, Christian, Buddhist. The mosques CANNOT do the call to prayer in the city. Interesting!! Most women wear western clothing, some hijabs and the odd one fully covered.
The Chorsu market is huge! Both outdoor and indoor buildings that look like big circus tents. Pretty much all food but also the usual market stuff….housewares, clothes, shoes etc.. Beautiful displays of fruit, spices, pastries, candies etc.. The veg displays are picture perfect. Bunches of grape leaves tied up for dolmas, pyramids of oranges and tomatoes. Also a section for cheese (many different kinds…soft, hard, creamy) and pasta/noodles. Long counters of eggs all stacked up (no refrigeration of course). The meat section includes beef, lamb, chicken and horse!!
Outside are the trucks with piles of potatoes and yams. The Cherry Festival is going on so tons of cherries on display. It’s all quite neat and tidy and very well organized. Didn’t go up stairs where there is much more. A big area half covered/outside for “take out”. Many different options…lots of plov and dolmas, grilled meats and of course the bread….tons of it and you can walk right into to where they’re making and baking it in the big ovens. Great market…..smells, sounds and sights all amazing. And clean!!
Across the street there are a few blocks of shops and stands selling household items, kitchenware and furniture. Bought a fun Tashkent bread stamp for around $1 CDN.
Huge mosque off in the distance. Too hot and too far to walk so just made our way back thru the bazaar to the subway station. Got off at Independence Square. Wandered around a bit then found a nice little place to have lunch and some fries/snacks for lunch.
Back thru the park to the hotel and saw a bunch of kids in uniform (cadets maybe?) having their picture taken on the Timur statue.
Found James and Alli in the bar at the hotel. Had a beer and caught up with them and waited for our tour guide to arrive at 6. I bought some tomato juice to put in my beer!! I don’t like the wine so far and can’t drink a lot of beer unless I put tomato juice in it to kind of smooth it out (we call it a “Calgary Red Eye”). Rustam who had been sitting in there too quickly figured out who we were and came over and introduced himself. Nice guy. He went over everything about the tour etc. Had a ½ hour or so to clean up, change and head to dinner.
“Sultan Saray” was a 2 minute walk from the hotel. Nice place which luckily had picture menus lol. So between those and Rustam we managed to order dinner. Family restaurant so no alcohol served. I had the variety plate which had dolmas, samso, dumplings, beef ribs and a little piece of “innard” sausage. It was all really good. Supposed to be traditional food…..I guess we’ll find out over the next week or two.
Was pleasantly still warm even at 10.
Back to the hotel for a nightcap and off to bed.
Must be up and ready to go by 9 tomorrow morning. Samarkand!
May 28 Sat
Slept better. Usual breakfast. No issues checking out.
Nice medium size bus. Can spread out and have our own window seat.
Left just after 9 heading to Samarkand!
First stop was a liquor store to pick up some beer/wine for later and then a grocery store to grab some goodies for our lunch. Long drive today so will save time not stopping for a long lunch.
We mostly traveled thru farmland growing wheat, cotton, vegetables and grapes. Many little farming villages or compounds as opposed to individual houses. Sort of a main courtyard entrance with all the bungalows attached. These people own their own homes and the land the house is on. The government owns the farmland which they rent back to the farmers. Many pruned down mulberry trees planted along the highway. Once the trees develop new growth and leaves in summer they’ll put the silkworms in them….too cold in winter to leave them in the trees. Quite a big silk business here, one of their main exports.
Many stork nests…they use every light post or high spot of any kind. They’re huge!
We asked Rustam about all the Chevrolet cars here….and that most of them are white! Chevrolet has a big factory in Uzbekistan that employees around 10,000 people. White because of the heat….keeps the car cooler apparently.
The highway to Samarkand used to take a “shortcut” thru Kazakstan but for whatever reason that part of the highway can no longer be used, not exactly sure why. There are now barricades blocking the road so the bus, and any other vehicle, has to make a very strange u-turn and then backtrack on a road parallel to the one we were on. Why the Uzbeks haven’t just built a new road we’ll never know!
As we drove further it started to get hillier and quite dry. Kind of pretty, much like at home driving thru our Okanagan but not that dry. Stopped at a couple of places for breaks with absolutely disgusting bathrooms (squatty potty). Filthy and terribly smelly. Supposedly they’d been cleaned for us!! So surprising after seeing how clean and tidy everything was in Tashkent.
Arrived in Samarkand around 2. It’s quite spread out and the new part is a fairly large city with ½ a million people. Registon is the historic centre. Drove by on the way to the hotel…..massive, beautiful, impressive…just no words!!
Our hotel is the Registon Saroy. Cute little boutique hotel just around the corner from Registon. Very small rooms but a nice centre court yard. Got checked in and we were off on a walking tour and to the Timur tomb/mausoleum.
The street outside our hotel reminds me of Siem Reap except with a paved road. Many houses/properties in various stages of repair or renovation and/or just in disrepair. Ladies selling their Uzbek bread on the side of the road next to the hotel…..got samples as we went by. But no garbage, or very little…so impressed with the cleanliness of U, other than the bathrooms today!
A quick stop at Registon (5min walk from the hotel) just to have a look. We’ll spend the day there tomorrow. Pretty spectacular….just the sheer size of the buildings, the tile work etc. A couple of wedding parties getting pictures taken. Everyone wants their picture taken with us…..was invited to join the wedding party pics!! Pictures and to practice English. They, young and old, come right up to us even when Rustam is in the middle of talking…..he graciously just stops and lets them snap away.
Stopped at a craft/artisan/antique shop down an alley. Very pretty stuff…not cheap though. Linds found a collection of Japanese postcards from the turn of the century….why there I have no idea but they were pretty cool so she bought them (about $20CDN).
The tomb is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Under restoration so lots of scaffolding but very nice.
Beautiful well kept courtyard. Rustam explained the history etc. but was taking too long so Rob and I wandered off and into the mausoleum which was pretty spectacular. The inside is, or was, all gold.
Today it’s pretty well all gold paint. The detail and intricacies of the tile work and carving is unbelievable. You pretty much forget about the tombs that are in there and just sit and look at the walls and ceiling. Luckily only a couple people in there but by the time the rest of our group arrived other tour groups had come along and it was packed so you couldn’t appreciate all that was in there.
Wandered around the grounds looking at the ongoing restorations. Lion statues outside represent strength.
Carried on from there thru a park to see a Timur statue in the middle of the road/roundabout. R said it is very important to them to ensure that everyone knows he was truly their founding father. All Lenin and Stalin statues that were put up during the Russian occupation were replaced with Timur statues. The whole historic centre is a designated Unesco World Heritage sight.
Back on our bus to go to our “local family hosted” dinner. Drove by what used to be the Russian department store, GUM….now redone as a modern shopping mall.
Family has a big house with a large interior courtyard that’s set up to have these types of dinners. Cost is 110,000 som which is about $11CDN. Beer and wine for sale as well as vodka.
There was our table of 8, another table of 8 Brits and another table set up for a group of Italians that weren’t arriving until 9:30!
Dinner was the traditional Uzbek dish, plov, which is a beef, veg and rice one pot dish. Had a great little demo of how it is put together. A family member played some traditional Uzbek songs for us on a guitar.
Nice fresh raw veggies put out to put together a little salad. The most delicious little cucumbers ever!! Appies were two different kinds of somsa (meat and spinach), both really good.
They served the plov in two separate dishes, one for each end of the table. It’s topped off with quail eggs. First time having plov and it was good but not as flavourful as I was expecting. Dessert was a piece of cheesecake made with cottage cheese…very good and not overly sweet. Rustam did the tea pouring ceremony for us.
Good food, lovely family and just a great evening.
Drove by Registon on the way home to take pictures of it lit up at night…..oh yuck!!! Brightly coloured neon lights….a la Vegas!! I think it was really tacky to do this to such a magnificent historic site.
Back at the hotel around 10. Sat out in the courtyard having beverages and chatting for an hour or two.
Great day! Excited to explore more tomorrow.
May 29 Sun
Up early…..nice to have a little coffee maker in our room!!
Great little breakfast, continental style.
Right next door to our hotel is an old ruin of a small mosque. Some of the old tile is still beautiful.
Off to Registon. First Rustam gave us an explanation of all the buildings, the madrasahs and mosque, and the history of Samarkand. What an impressive site it is. So much great history here.
Over the centuries due to many factors, earthquake, war, weather and neglect, the site was pretty much a total ruin. Some restorations were started back in the 1920’s but only a few minarets were worked on. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that a complete restoration project was started and finally completed in the 1980’s.
The size of the buildings is incredible but all the intricate tilework and carving is amazing. The ridged domes mean they’re in the Persian design (as opposed to Central Asian??). Outside and inside the buildings are just beautiful….some original ceramic carving and tiles still exist but most is all restoration. I am just blown away by the detail that went into the decoration and the time that it took someone (historically and during the restoration) to do it all. Each pattern of tile and ceramic represents something spiritual or to do with nature. Some are outlined in black but I can’t recall why.
Spent all morning there and could easily have spent another hour or two. Some really nice little shops set up in the madrasahs. Bought a really pretty Christmas ornament! Beautiful woven jackets and scarves, leather purses etc. In one of the madrasah there are pictures showing the ruin and how the restoration was done.
Once back out in the square people wanted pictures. Lots of fun! A teacher came up and asked if her class could have a picture with us.
Walked thru a fun park where you can rent bikes for multiple people or go on a little rickshaw type ride. Booths selling candy and snacks. Passed the “Tomb of the Unknown People” and on to the Bibi Khanym Mosque. I think it was ruined centuries ago in an earthquake. The Russians started some restoration during their occupation but it was never completed….someone else is now working on it. More beautiful tile and ceramics.
To the Siyob Bazaar for a quick look around and an ATM.
Then lunch at a terrific little outdoor restaurant.
Had the best chicken kebab (anything grilled or done in a tandoor type oven seems to be called a kebab whether it is on, or ever was on, a stick??) Their grilled wings are so, so good. Really good French fries too. The ladies were making the samso in the oven right there….they get made and slapped up on the sides of the oven just like the bread.
After lunch it was to the Ulugbek Observatory. Sadly all except a little bit of the underground portion was destroyed because, even though he was Muslim, the higher ups decided what he was doing was blasphemous. He was an early day DaVinci…..born 5 or 6 centuries too soon. Nice park and museum dedicated to him. A great ruler but that was not what he wanted to be.
Shakhi-Zinda mausoleum and mosque complex next. Beautiful buildings in various stages of restoration. R. explained the difference between the original ceramic carving and the restored ones (more clearly defined openings and spaces) and about the black outline on some of the tile but don’t recall what it was. I am just blown away by the details that went into the decoration on these buildings and the time is must have taken people to do it all!!!
Inside the small mosque a mullah was carrying on a prayer session…..felt rather awkward being there so I moved on. The difference between a mullah and imam is that the imam is trained by a religious person/teacher and the mullah is self taught…both read prayer passages from the Quran. The mosque has doors from 1404-05….sign above translates to “the doors of paradise are open to the faithful”.
Beside the complex is a Muslim and Jewish cemetery!
Back to the hotel for an hour or so to have a bit of a break…..very busy today!
Before dinner we did a wine tasting! “House of D.L. Filatov Museum”. Wine from the Khovrenko Winery. Small but very nice and interesting wine museum about the Russians that started the wine business! Who knew!! Our tasting was lots of fun. The lady spoke only spoke Russian so Rustam translated everything she said.
Six different kinds wine, a brandy and a cognac with little snackie cheese and crackers to cleanse the palate. Some of the wines were pretty good. Rose was lovely but you can’t buy the wine there which was odd. Young girl from Russia was with us for the tasting. Her English was great. She was there teaching. Had been to school in the US and Norway, where her boyfriend was from. Fun chatting with her.
Dinner was at a local chain restaurant called Karimbek. I had the meatballs (good) and Linds and I shared a veg and rice side dish that was good. Fun busy place. They have a big room/hall at the back for parties. A big birthday party was happening so we got invited in to dance for a bit…..only James and I did. Mostly all women on the dance floor lol…..just like at home!!!
Back to the hotel around 10. We hung out in the courtyard (Rustam too for a bit) until almost midnight.
An amazing couple days in Samarkand! Can’t imagine it getting better than this!
What a long busy fantastic day!!
May 30 Mon.
Up early again…..had coffee in the courtyard. Same breakfast as yesterday. Was good.
On the road to our overnight in a yurt! First stop was at the Chashma Complex in Nurata. A sacred spring, a mosque and ruins from Alexander the Great when he came thru. Supposedly you can drink the water….but we didn’t. We did use it to wash our face and hands to become “youthful”! It’s kind of a family hangout. There’s a coffee and juice café, a mosque and the ruin site that is being excavated. You can take a short hike up the trail to see the ruins…..very early in the excavation so not a lot to see. The trail is lined with vendors selling souvenirs etc. At the spring R. grabbed a handful of grass to show how the fish keep the water clean. Didn’t see many fish at all until he thru in the handful then a zillion of them came from every direction to nibble on it. The fish are sacred too because of how they filter and clean the water (???). Fun place and interesting people watching. Lots of multi-generation family groups. Most of the old ladies were sitting on chairs in the shade! Had a call to prayer while there…..which is mesmerizing to me no matter where or how many times you hear it!
Stopped at a supermarket to pick up goodies for our lunch break at Lake Aydarkul. Much hotter here than Samarkand.
After leaving the spring the landscape changed from fields of cotton and vegetables and mulberry trees* to being much dryer, it’s called the “Red Desert”. Just little tufts of grasses and scrappy bushes. Passed a few towns along the way, each with at least one “Go’sht” stand….it means meat! Not a terribly interesting drive….not much to see in any direction once you hit the desert.
*There are two different kinds of mulberry trees, the ones with the little white sticky fruit that people knock off and eat and the other with red berries/fruit that are used in the silk making trade.
On the drive Rustam told us bits of info about how the president has created more housing for young couples just starting out. They can get either an apartment or a house with a 20yr interest free mortgage. These new housing projects are usually quite a ways outside of the city or town though. Each and every town has a caged in soccer court! Very little if any garbage along the roadside. Saw big herds of sheep and goats in the middle of nowhere! Had to stop on the highway at one point to let a bunch cross….not a house or building in site!
The roads, even the highways, are in pretty rough shape….R called them “Red Army Roads”. In the desert, once off the highway or main roads, they’re all just dirt roads. Lots of turtles!!??
Finally after what seemed like hours of bumping along (was in reality only one hour!) we arrived at Lake Aydarkul. Lots of shade structures…..because it is HOT! Very big and very pretty beach. There’s a covered area with tables and chairs and charpoy lounges. A little bar where you can get non-alcoholic drinks (we had our own beer). Some families having outings, A few kids in the water. Linds and James walked down and stuck their feet in…said it was warm. Quite a pretty spot.
Spent an hour or so there then back down the same bumpy road we came in on. Turned at a village in the middle of nowhere. R said it is a Kazak village. There is a mine (copper?) nearby somewhere that most of the men in the village work at. Small grocery store and a school and not much else. Other than being dry and dusty, it’s very neat and tidy.
Finally after another ½ hour of bumping along we arrives at Aydar Yurt camp.
A neat place! Probably a dozen or two yurts a main eating/gathering hall and a separate shower, wash up and toilet area….all incredibly clean! Central fire pit with benches and chairs.
We are in yurt #3. There are 5 beds, 2 of which were prepped for us with sheets and quilts. The yurts are traditional and quite nice inside. They smell nice…..camping kind of nice! You can clearly see the bones of the yurt and how they’re put together. The door doesn’t quite close and there are gaps here and there where you can see outside but comfortable enough and fun!
Walked up to see the camels, the two hump (bactrian) kind. They offer rides but we all declined. Sat outside around the firepit for a bit but the little green flies were driving everyone crazy. They land everywhere….on your arms, legs, face, in your hair, your ears and eyes…..yuck!! Moved inside to the “gathering” area to get away from them and had a great time having drinks and chatting with the people in there and the only other guests, a couple from Holland (?).
Took a little walk up the hill beside the camp to watch the sunset. Beautiful!
As soon as the sunset the little green flies disappeared!! They use camel wool or felt to line the main buildings and yurts because the acid works as a natural bug repellant!
Dinner was good-ish….soup and salads delicious. For appies there was breaded cauliflour, eggplant, a tomato and cucumber salad (those delicious little cukes!), a beet salad (v.g.) and kidney beans. Main was sort of a plov…..had cabbage in it, more rice and very chewy beef and only OK….again lacking in flavour, just so surprising when you consider all the wonderful spices here.
After dinner they had a big roaring campfire going……which is pretty incredible when you think about how little wood there is around here!!! Mostly just scrubby bits of bush and some skinny branches off what look like small dead trees. Entertained by a man and his son playing mandolyn type instruments and singing traditional songs. Rustam also did a song for us. Then some dancing, which we joined in on and made a mess of that!! Lots of fun!
Later once the fire had gone out the night sky was amazing. So many stars, in some places was like a sheet of white! Just something we don’t see very often.
Some the slats on Linds’ bed were broken so we just picked up all the bedding from that one and moved it to another….including the mattress! Beds seem pretty hard but we’ll see come morning!
What a great day!! Looking forward to Bukhara tomorrow!
My Travel Journals 