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...

This morning I had breakfast in the historic dining room of the hotel. There were pancakes, jam, boiled egg, tea, and various breads, so not exactly an authentic Uzbek meal.I had arranged to meet my driver at 9am but got a call in my room about 15 mins early that someone was waiting for me. When I came down it was my guide for the dayAfter first welcoming me to his country, he was very surprised how somebody from Canada knew about Uzbekistan? The only info guides...

After a mammoth 9 hour drive from Khiva to Bukhara and with about an hour still to go before sunset I had some freetime to explore the historic city on my own before my guided tour tomorrow. I was more interested in finding something to eat so started wandering.The old town is very easy to reach from my hotel. After walking up a small dusty street for about a block the old town and first entrance gate immediately become visible.There were domed buildings with a p...

I was very excited about my hotel for the next two nights in Bukhara. This is a historic 19th Century Jewish merchants home that has been converted to a hotel. It has many historic features and my only concern was if it would be properly heated in the winter.After first showing me to a nice room in their new extension I asked if I could be moved to the original older wing. As it was low season the hotel was happy to oblige. I asked for a second floor room and was...

Today I had a mammoth 9 hour drive from Khiva to Bukhara so lots of time to kill chatting with my driver Anvar. Fortunately he spoke very good english so it made passing the time quite easy.We practically told each other our life stories and family histories. I had tried to play my music cd that was burnt for me in Khiva but because it was a DVD disc and not CD disc we got an error message.Anvar went to university in Turkey for four years and can speak Russian, E...