I got a share taxi from the Registan stop. The crooks wanted $50 to take me but I got it for $2.
Shakhrisabz is the birth place of Timur and where he built his greatest building, the Ak-Saray Palace. There is only the 40mtr high pishtak left standing but the Gate must have bee huge.
I was getting lazy and needed to get going again so I on a side trip to Termiz. Im only going cos I want to travel through the mountains again. I dont want to see Termiz, there is nothing there, just a few ruins around the town. It is at the border with Afghanistan and I will be able to at least see Afghanistan. The trip is what it is all about, through the mountains. Uzbek's biggest mountain is in the Hissar's and I will pass right through them ans the Zerafshan mountains.
On the way at Kitob they had a big police operation going and we got flagged over. The driver had to show all his papers and the cop got in and drove us around. They kept saying to various cops "tourista australian" so I knew I was a problem but I was not gonna move till I got to Shakhrisabz. After a while the cop pulled over and wrote down heaps of details then took us back to where we started and we left again. I have no Idea what it was all about.
Shakhrisabz is a really cool place, kinda country feel. I checked into the hotel then went to look at the three sights. Ak-saray is huge. Standing there makes you feel so small. I would love to have seen more of it. It is mostly unrestored so what you see is what it was. Then I walked up to Kok-Gumbaz Mosque and Khazrati Imam complex. These are mostly unrestored as well but they were starting resoration on one.
I found this outdoor bar near the hotel, the beer is 12% and only cost about $1.20 for a king brown. I had a few with the bloke who owns the bar. He has an aviary full of budgies and he didnt know they come from Australia. I ended up staying for dinner and staggered home late. I had meat on a stick cos it is a few weeks since I had that. I chose the horse cos Im sick of mutton fat.
Talk about mutton fat, up here the sheep have a huge hunk of fat hanging off their ****. The locals love it. The butchers cut it off and hang it in front of the shop. It looks like a pair of t*** without the nipples. You know usless fat. The fat sells for more than the meat. Go figure???
While I was there they turned on the fountain. Everyone came to see. Im actually back in Samarkand now and in the 2 days I was away they have turned on all the fountains here as well.
The weather has been tops. I was expecting to get a lot of rain cos April and May are the wettest months. I have only had a couple of showers and the temps here are starting to climb. The last couple of weeks it has been in the mid 20s and the last couple of days it might have got to the 30s.
You will have to wait a day or 2 for pics