As the winds continued howling we made our way to Bolo Hauz Mosque opposite the Ark Citadel fortress of Bukhara. I'd left my scarf and earmuffs in the hotel not expecting the weather to be so cold today.

The mosque had an outdoor and indoor section. The outdoor section has twenty giant pillars to support the roof. The mosque is actually said to have forty pillars when you see the reflection in the pool in front but it was windy causing too many ripples in the pool.

It was similar to the Idkah Mosque in Kashgar China which was a similar design to a large outdoor courtyard. We went inside to get out of the wind.

Luckily the indoors had heating so we stayed in here talking for a while. The outdoor pillars were made from local trees, which seemed strange as the old town seemed quite dry, barren, and dusty.

There was also interesting architecture on the interior of the dome. As my guide was talking you could hear the acoustics as all his words were loudly echoing even though he was just talking at normal tone.

We crossed the road to the Art Citadel fortress which has been closed for winter due to renovations. When the Russians attacked in the 1920s they destroyed about 75% of the original so we can only see 25% today of what was originally constructed.

The main gate had an upper terrace where there was a giant drum that would be banged in old times. This would summon people that something was going to happen. It could range from executions, whippings, or announcements.

The King had his seating area to one side and only he could order executions. Otherwise sentences were to be whippings. On average a person a day was killed to maintain fear and control over the population.

The walls are in various stages of decay and are being restored slowly by Unesco.

We made our way round to the rear to see Zindon which is the prison. This was not part of the tour and something I had asked to see. We had time since the Ark which was supposed to be part of the tour was now closed.

Aside from housing prisoners the prison is famous for housing two British explorers for almost two years, Stoddart and Connolly. While the British and Russians were competing for influence in Central Asia under 'The Great Game' Britain had sent an envoy to Bukhara

Unaware of local customs the envoy offended the King but not offering a gift. He was thrown into a dungeon pit where he remained for two years. He even made a false conversion to Islam hoping for his release.

Two years later another Briton in local disguise and beard arrived to try to release his countryman but was too thrown into the bug pit.

The pit is so called as aside from being dark it was swarming with bugs and all kinds of insects. After waiting for a greeting letter from Queen Victoria which never arrived the King finally had them both executed in the Registan Square in front of the Ark Citadel.

There are also colourized photos of the prison that were taken by a New Zealand photographer before the turn of the last century who had come to document central asia.