Uzbekistan

Day 10 May 22, 2023 Bukhara, Uzbekistan to Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Today is a travel day with a couple of stops. Lots of orchards and vineyards for awhile then the landscape changes to desert. The road is paved but has lots of ruts and bumps. It is so rough that you can’t sleep. We go in and out of several towns. A section of the highway is separate with concrete barriers. Once in a while there is a small opening for a crosswalk. At one of these crosswalks there was no opening so a lady just climbed over the barrier.

We came to a pottery village and stopped. This family has been doing pottery here for generations. They have a particular style and patterns. During the Soviet time this was illegal so the family took it underground in order to keep the knowledge. Today they are the only family doing pottery this way. The process is interesting but very time consuming. The clay includes cattails to help hold it together and give it more strength. They make their own colors and glaze. All of it is natural. We bought a refrigerator magnet for $3.

Off in the distance we saw a huge solar farm. They get most of their power from hydro and gas powered plants.

Back on the road for another hour and a half. Then we stopped for a snack break. They are selling local food which we tried and then we found the Magnum ice cream bars. They were about $0.87. That is the cheapest we have ever found them.

Two more hours of driving and we reached Samarkand. It’s about 3:00 pm when we got to the restaurant for lunch. Good thing we had a snack.

After lunch we went to the mausoleum of one of the famous Amirs. The mausoleum is beautiful. They are working on some of the areas around it. The building was built in 1380 and took 20 years to complete. At least three generations are buried here. The bodies are 3 meters below ground but the outer surroundings were brought to the surface. One of these is the largest single piece of jade ever mined. The decorations inside have been gilded with gold. It is truly incredible. The surrounding park has trees made from crossing a mulberry with a weeping willow. Strange looking trees are the result.

Traffic here is the worst yet. Hard to believe there are no accidents. The traffic lights flash green just before turning yellow and then red. Just before the light turns green the yellow light comes on. Vehicles are ready to more as soon as the light turns green. Everyone really needs to pay attention.

Seems to be more European influence here. Also more money because we have seen cars other than Chevrolet. They also have a tram system on some streets.

We had about an hour rest in the hotel before heading out for dinner. No one was hungry but we still managed to eat quite a bit. As usual the food was prepared differently than we are accustomed to but still very tasty.