| Page Views: 340 Last Visit to Samarkand: June, 2008 | A Sandy Place in Samarkhand by coceng - last update: Jul 11, 2008 |
I stayed 2 nights in Samarkhand.
On the 3rd day evening, I took the night bus to Urgench.
5th June 2008 (Thursday) :
I arrived in Samarkhand from Tashkent.
The mashrutka stopped at a junction.
I asked Furgat where's The Registan would be as it would be easier for me to make it as a landmark to locate the place that I wanted to stay in.
I wanted to stay in Bahodir B&B.
Furgat asked me to guard his goods & he looked for a taxi.
Came the taxi, Furqat asked me to get in & I was hesitated as I didn't know what his plan would be.
I certainly didn't want to stay at his place.
But I got in the taxi anyway as the sun was so damn hot !
Furqat said something to the driver.
The driver drove me to Bahodir B&B !
Thank you so much Furqat !!
He even paid for the taxi ride.
Actually it's not that far from the junction as I later discovered when I wandered around Samarkhand but people's hospitality must be accepted with good intention.
I gave Furqat a souvenir from Malaysia.
What I gave him ?
I'm not telling.
When I travel, I always bring some souvenirs from my country.
Anybody who is nice to me, even strangers...men or women who make me feel good about their countries would be paid by me of souvenirs from Malaysia.
I know some tourists bring their photo albums to show to some locals, that's good too I guess.
Not me.
Anyway, entered Bahodir's place.
I liked the first impression.
A courtyard, surrounded by sitting areas, tables & chairs.
I checked in to the dormitory, accepted in.
Bahodir served me tea & bread & jam right away as a guest as his place.
Nice.
Per night would be USD 6, with breakfast.
Excellent.
My first day in Samarkhand, even my first day in Uzbekistan;
I didn't want to go out rushing to see the sights.
Later I said to myself.
I just wanted to chill out.
Talking with other tourists.
That's what I did.
I enjoyed those moments of no rushing.
At about 7 pm, I just went out to take some photos.
Could be nice seeing the sunset over The Registan, which was about 10 minutes away.
The place was closed of course.
The scenery was kinda serene.
At 8 pm, walked back to Bahodir's place.
They said they were preparing plov.
Ahh ! I had read about Plov.
It's Uzbekistan national dish.
Couldn't wait to try it.
They were preparing plov as well as I entered.
Basically, set a fire, put a large pot.
Put rice, some onions, some pieces of meat & wait.
Must be stirred & looked after.
I wanted to take a shower.
Went to the bathroom.
Nice bathroom with a large mirror.
I could see me naked from head to toe !
Couldn't remember the last time I saw myself naked from head to toe.
Laughed.
Out from the bathroom.
Sat at the table.
Other tourists were already at the table.
Plove was served, with salads, tomatoes & cucumber & onions.
I didn't touch the tomatoes.
Never like them.
I wonder why they exist anyway !
Plov was good.
Just like eating rice at home.
So creamy & tasty.
Oily...
The meat was not that many though.
I could have 20 pieces of meat in my plate at home, but there I had like 3 pieces only.
Didn't complain though.
After dinner, talked some more.
Talked & talked.
At 10.30 pm, went out again on my own.
Wanted to take some night photos.
Came to The Registan.
A guard approached me.
Asking me if I wanted to enter then I'd pay 30000 som.
No thanks.
He also suggested that he could let me in tomorrow if I wanted to take some sunrise photos from up the tower.
For lower price.
I said maybe.
Walked to another side of The Registan.
But the place was not brightly lit.
Took a few photos anyway.
Walked back to Bahodir's.
Knocked on the door.
The door was locked !
I thought the curfew time would be at 12 midnight.
Came out a lady saying something that I knocked the wrong door !!
SORRY !!
Bahodir's was next door.
Okay...
Came in to Bahodir's place, I said to his son that I knocked a wrong door.
He said no problem....with a smirk. |
I slept well that night.
On my left a Korean girl.
On my right a Japanese guy.
The rest of the white tourists stayed in their own rooms.
Maybe with their own big mirrors in their bathrooms as well ?
First day...Out.
6th June 2008 (Friday) :
I really didn't have any plan for today.
Kenneth, who's a historical professor told me that he would be going to Shakhrisabz with 3 Swiss students.
I asked if I could tag along.
Okay, he said.
Shakhrisabz was Tamerlane's birth place.
There, we could also see the ruins of his place.
I definitely wouldn't want to miss.
Especially being escorted by a history professor.
We 5 walked about 10 minutes where we could get a shared taxi, a sort of minivan vehicle.
These people with me, they really knew how to bargain !
I let them be.
It was so heated that many other drivers joined in the negotiation.
Amazing !
15 minutes later, a driver would accept 20000 som (4000 som each of us) to go to Shakhrisabz.
That was really a good deal.
Originally the driver wanted 30000 som.
The journey was about 2 hours.
Read about it on my Shakhrisabz page.
Back from Shakhrisabz, it was about 7 pm.
The sun was going down much faster.
I was dead tired.
Hot & dusty as well.
I rested for a while & then went out because Bahodir didn't want to cook plov again that evening.
I thought I tried shashlyks again as I liked them so very much when we had lunch in Shakhrisabz.
Walked around.
Went through the bazaar.
Couldn't find them.
I still had not managed to see The Registan & all Samarkhand would offer.
Maybe tomorrow, I planned for myself.
I finally managed to find shashlyks. Bought 2 sticks & half nan bread.
Cost me 2700 som.
Oh so good !
I love meat !
The good thing about shashlyks is that they don't put the tomatoes as well.
You know when we buy kebabs, the tomatoes would be inserted between the meats.
Not the case with shashlyks.
Great.
Before back to Bahodir's, I thought that I should capture some night sights again.
It was about 9 pm.
Some areas were really dark.
Walked further out & managed to capture Bibi Khanum & Shah-i-Zinda mausoleums.
Stunning.
Walked back.
While eating the shashlyks, Laurent suggested that I should see Khiva first instead of Bukhara.
That meant I would take the night bus, save a night's accommodation.
Good idea.
2nd night, out.
On my right & left were empty beds as the Korean & the Japanese left today. |
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 Comments for coceng about Samarkand | | | | |
iwys Sat Jan 10, 2009 21:47 UTC
I always enjoy reading your travel diaries. Samarkand is a place I've wanted to go to for years. I hope that I will get there eventually. |
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