Episode 14
There must be something in the air in Dushanbe as many people get ill there and my lot succumbed to another bout of something very nasty when we returned and we were stuck there for several more days before they felt well enough to head off. When we did set out again we had a revised plan as neither of my lot felt up to the approximately 12 trip to Samakand. Our revised plan was to take a share taxi back to Khujand, perhaps spend the night there, then cross the border into Uzbekistan and go on to Tashkent the following day. All plans are subject to change without consulting me.
We got a ride in a big 4 x 4 with a mother and daughter who were also heading to Tashkent, going right through that day so we thought we might as well join them.
After another hair raising trip over that mountain road, back through those same pitch black tunnels we were all somewhat relieved to arrive in Khujand not only in record time but also still in one piece. There we were transfered to another smaller van and whisked off to the border. Alas, it was a crossing only open to locals, not foreigners so we had to bid farewell to our new found friends, take another ride, this one with quite a sane driver. L wanted to know what was wrong with him. He drove at a reasonable speed, stayed on the right side of the road and generally seems totally unTajik in his driving attitude. He did however, try to charge us more for the trip than we had agreed upon before setting out. He had to settle for what we'd agreed.
The Tajik side of the border had no-one else around so, apart from the long walk in the hot sun we passed through the formalities in just a few minutes. Then another good walk to the Uzbek side, my lot flagging considerably by this with the heat and the fact that neither of them was fully recovered yet. Had no problems here either, no searches or anything and we were soon legally in Uzbekistan.
David got talking to another Mother-daughter combination who were also crossing the border and we agreed to share a taxi with them to Tashkent.
The trip was shorter than we had been expecting and the taxi delivered us right to the door of the hostel we had chosen. It turned out to be very good choice too with lovely rooms, a courtyard, kitchen and eating area and it was very handy to the main city centre. Sunrise caravan stay, it is called and my lot highly recommend this establishment.
Over the next few days we spent a good while trying to get a Russian transit visa but after all the process of filling in forms and waiting my lot couldn't get one as they wouldn't accept the electronic copy of the car papers, they wanted the original that is still in the car in Bishkek, hopefully, so it was all wasted effort.
We did however, enjoy a good look around this quite pleasant city. Although it is quite large it is well laid out with some lovely wide shady streets. The big shady trees are a variety of species including Oak and Plane trees. The oak trees are all dropping acorns at present. Mostly the streets are swept fairly clean and there is almost no rubbish laying about.
As in all the major cities in this region, there isn't any stray dog problem. In fact we have seen no dogs, except in Bishkek, apart from out in the countryside where the cattle, sheep and goat herders have a few dogs sometimes. Haven't even seen any small pet dogs anywhere. Not a lot of cats either, just an odd one now and again. Perhaps there has been some sort of 'clean-up' effort of these animals because rabbies is a real threat here. My lot agree that it is nice not to have stray half starved animals roaming around fouling the street.
The Uzbek president had passed away on September 1st, the National Independence holiday. He had been ill for some time. He was also very popular and some museums and the opera house are still offically in mourning and still closed. A trip to the ballet or opera for $2 or so is one of the things to do here but with no performances being held that was a please we had to forgo.
In the company of a Belgian fellow Paul, who was also staying at our hostel we did visit the Railway museum and looked at all the old locomotives that used to ply the routes all around Central Asia. We even got a very short ride on an old train. I enjoyed that.
There are some lovely monumental sized buildings around the city and also many lovely shady parks though which one can stroll and also rest in the shade. Even though we are now in September it is still very hot so exploring was mostly left until later in the day when the shadows were lengthening and some pretense of cooling off could be felt. In fact we had a couple of mornings that were decidedly chilly but it soon warmed up.
The national food throughout this region is Plov. It's a fried rice dish basically with some vegetables and a little meat added. It varies slighty from region to region, however it is consistantly very greasy because it is cooked in mutton fat or other animal fats. In Tashkent there is a Plov centre where huge great cauldrens of Plov are cooked up and a mound is served up on a plate with meat and/or hard boiled eggs on top. In the bottom of a nearly empty cauldren was a big puddle of fat that hadn't been absorbed by the rice, the sight and smell of that fat put my lot off having any.
A farily new fast train service goes from Tashkent to Samakand and my lot having had their fill of share taxis had decided it was the way to go. So they got tickets, none for me orf course and off we went fairly early one morning to catch it. It was a lovely trip. The train glided silently out of the station on the dot of 8am and we whizzed through the suburbs of Tashkent and out into the flat countryside. Tea and cake was served and enjoyed soon after departing.
The route passed mainly through agricultural areas where a wide variety of crops is being grown. There is some cotton, the major crop of the region, but also there are vegetables and fruit orchards and vineyards. The train reached a top speed of 230k's, it can get to 234k's per hour. Mostly we hovered between 150k's and 165's. Still, at that speed it soon eats up the miles and we arrived on the dot at 10.08am.
Soon we had found our hostel and settled in and found ourselves in a very central part of the city right near the Registan and only a short walk from the Bazaar and Shahr-I-Zinder, the avenue of mausoleums.
It was much hotter here than in Tashkent so again we waited until later in the afternoon before venturing too far. Then we set out and explored the wonderful sights of this 'silk road' city.
It is here in Samakand that the art of decorating with mosaics, predominately blue tile, reached its zenith. Although much has been restored particularly during the Soviet era it presents a stunning scene. Along with everyone else my lot did plenty of camera clicking mostly without my presence in front of the lens. I did however, cause a lot of comment and a few people wanted me to pose with them. Some even recognized me as a Mr. Bean bear.
Almost everything dates from the late 1300's due to the fact that Ghengis Khan had almost everything flattened when he and his armies roared through this region in the 13th century.
Everywhere there are souvenir sellers occupying every nook and cranny possible, even here where there are loads of tourists, the souvenir sellers seem to outnumber the tourists and we saw very few actually doing any business. They are all around the mosques and medressas, the only place they didn't inhabit was the mausoleums of Shahr-I-Zinder. This latter is the most lavishly decorated collection of buildings in the whole city.
While here we even visited the Presidents grave where people were gathering and a group of around 30 people at a time could go in and sit quietly while a prayer was said, view the grave then depart. Most people, not only the women were crying. My lot sat there dry eyed, can't see them crying their eyes out if/when Malcolm Turnbull, or even the Queen should happen to kick the bucket. God forbid!
We took a side trip to Shakhrisabz, the home town of Amir Temur, the 14th century hero of the region. Here he built a palace for himself, sadly all that remains of it is two towers, probably the entrance portals, that stand some 40m high and still retain some of the original mosaic work on the more weather protected sides.
A major landscaping project seems to have been undertaken in very recent times and a wide boulevard with lawns, gardens, trees, and plenty of ornamental pools with fountains that are all dry, extends from the mosque at one end, about 800m to the remains of the palace at the other end. The boulevard is about 100m or more wide with hotels and shops, all new and mostly empty off on both sides. Any ambience of it ever having any history beyond the immediate past has been bulldozed away. The palace portals look like they have been placed there as a background frame for the huge statue of Timur that dominates the boulevard.
Timur also built the mosque, mausoleum and tomb complex at the other end of this boulevard. No one is totally sure if he is actually buried here or in Samakand from what my lot have read.
Although there does not seem to be many tourists visiting here yet the souvenir sellers are taking up stalls all along the walkway, one hopes for their sake that the num
The trip down to this town took us past lots of very large vineyards and many orchards as well as the usual cotton fields and vegetable patches. We crossed a pass of around 2000m from the top of which we got a great view over the valley that is green from irrigation. a great contrast to the very barren and rocky hill sides.
Our last night in Samakand someone at the hostel found out somehow that there would be a light show at the Registan, so off we went at 10pm to see it. It was quite stunning and the photos and videos that L took really don't do it justice but it's the best we can do I fear.
© Lynette Regan September 17th 2016